China signs deals worth USD 390 bn with ‘Belt and Road’ countries

China has inked trade deals worth USD 390 billion with the countries participating in its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative in the first four months of this year, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has said.

China has inked trade deals worth USD 390 billion with the countries participating in its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative in the first four months of this year, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has said.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping was proposed in 2013, and five years on, over 100 countries and international organisations have supported and got involved in this initiative.

The BRI aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting economies around the globe along the ancient Silk Route.

 “China and countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative inked trade deals worth USD 389.1 billion in the first four months. It represented a growth of 19.2 per cent year on year,” Commerce ministry spokesperson, Gao Feng was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua in a Global Times report.
 China’s non-financial investment in those countries increased 17.3 per cent from the same period a year ago to USD 4.67 billion, the spokesperson said, adding that business volume of outbound contract projects came in at USD 24.2 billion, up 27.7 per cent year on year.

China held the first round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Mauritius and the second round of FTA talks with Pakistan. It also signed an economic and trade cooperation pact with the Eurasian Economic Union. The FTA reached between China and Georgia has become effective.

“Construction of major projects have progressed well with a range of railways and infrastructures going smoothly,” Gao said.

By the end of April, China had built 75 economic and trade cooperation zones along the Belt and Road countries with accumulated investment of USD 25.5 billion, the report said.

More than 3,800 companies have joined the cooperation zones, paying nearly $1.7 billion in tax revenue and generating nearly 220,000 jobs, it said.

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How China’s Belt And Road Just Got A Big Boost From Europe’s TIR Convention

In 2016, China became a member of the UN’s TIR Convention, which enables transporters to ship goods through 73 partner countries by truck with just a single customs inspection, but it wasn’t until this month that their participation officially went into effect.

On May 18th, a caravan of trucks with large blue and white TIR plates departed in a ceremonial launch from Dalian in the northeast of China bound for Novosibirsk in Russia, 5,600 kilometers away. Having already undergone a customs inspection in the Dalian-bonded zone, these vehicles will not need to go through another for the duration of the journey, speeding up their transit time considerably. Why does this matter so much to China and its future economic prospects?

What is the TIR Convention?

Founded in Geneva in 1975, the Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) or International Road Transports convention is a multilateral treaty facilitated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to improve road transportation throughout the continent by removing en route customs inspections and on-site duty payments for approved carriers departing from select locations. This essentially allowed trucks to traverse dozens of European countries without needing to be checked at each border, which greatly improved the speed and efficiency of trade, decreasing the lead time of a journey by up to 80%.

With the creation of the European Single Market in 1993, TIR was rendered moot for intra-European transit. However, as globalization kicked into high gear throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the TIR was expanded to include countries outside of the EU, eventually attracting 73 member states across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and East Asia, making it the go-to customs arrangement for international ground transport which is currently speeding up 1.5 million border crossings per year.

The TIR has also been adapted from its original vision of being solely for road transport and has become truly multimodal, allowing for rail, river and sea legs to be included if at least one part of a journey is done by truck.

Now that China is part of the TIR picture, goods can be shipped from some of the biggest manufacturing centers in the world more rapidly and cheaper. Going the other way, the TIR allows manufacturers from other member states to get their products to China’s booming middle-class market by land more efficiently than they ever could before–in theory, anyway.

“As well as opening up new, more efficient and cost-effective trading routes for China’s manufacturers to the rest of the world, the TIR Convention will open up reciprocal trading routes for external manufacturers into the country,” said Umberto de Pretto, the Secretary General of the IRU, a major international road transport organization with over 100 member countries.

Why this matters

Hard infrastructure—roads and rail lines and airports—mean little without the soft infrastructure which makes them viable. Countries don’t only need to “build it” but they need to come up with policies and agreements with other countries to maximize the potential of these new infrastructural offerings. Some of these agreements come in the form of trade organizations, customs zones and multinational economic areas, while others are along the lines of initiatives like China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or conventions like the TIR. As we previously covered on Forbes:

The first stage of China’s Belt and Road initiative, which aims to create a network of interconnected trade stations across Eurasia, is customs. Getting rid of the red tape to allow goods to traverse this massive land mass as efficiently as possible is key to making these routes sensible and profitable. The aim is to make land borders nearly as easy for goods to flow across as the open ocean, and this is being done step-by-step.

Later this month, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is going to have its summit in Qingdao, and it should not go without notice that every member of the group has already ratified TIR.

How the TIR Convention helps China’s Belt and Road

IRU press photo

Truck with TIR plates departing from Dalian.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a large-scale endeavor to create and enhance economic and political corridors across Eurasia and Africa, and programs such as the TIR Convention ultimately provide a major boost towards these ends. According to the IRU, the TIR convention has the potential to increase the volume of total trade between China and the other countries of the Belt and Road by $13.6 billion.

It currently takes between 8-12 days to transport products door-to-door by truck between an inland city in China and Europe. This is roughly four times faster than shipping by sea and around 50% faster than rail. Now with China being a full-fledged member of the TIR, shipping overland between China and Europe becomes an increasingly attractive option for manufacturers looking to get their products to the other side of Eurasia.

Production moving deeper inland

The impact of the TIR convention and China’s participation in it is magnified many-fold by the geographic redistribution of manufacturing to inland areas throughout Eurasia.

Beginning in the early 2000s, China’s “Go West” policy saw the all-out rebuilding of the country’s transportation infrastructure and the large-scale migration of companies inland from the prosperous cities of the east coast to then-backwaters like Chongqing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Wuhan and Xi’an.

Chongqing City, China. (Photo by: Prisma Bildagentur/UIG via Getty Images)

This movement has gained momentum in recent years with the Belt and Road initiative, and even cities in China’s far west, such as Horgos and Kashgar, have been primed to become major manufacturing centers.

These development gave new relevance to overland trans-Eurasian transport, as the places where goods were being manufactured in China were suddenly very far from any seaport and significantly closer to their target markets in Europe, so it no longer made any logistical sense to truck products thousands of kilometers east in order to ship them back west again.

It is no coincidence that most of the TIR gateways in China are emerging BRI transport hubs:

Dalian: a major multimodal transport hub on the Pacific.

Erenhot: a new city and trade station on the border of China and Mongolia that sits at the heart of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.

Horgos: a massive conurbation of development that extends across the China/Kazakhstan border.

Manzhouli: a major BRI hub on the China/Russia border.

Suifenhe Port: another China/Russia trade hub.

When you add to this picture the emerging special economic zones in other parts of Eurasia–such as those on the Kazakhstan side of Khorgos, Alyat in Azerbaijan, Malaszewicze in Poland, and dozens of others–along with mega-transportation projects like the Western Europe-Western China Expressway, which runs from the east coast of China all the way to the Baltic Sea at St. Petersbur–it is looking as if the the geospatial distribution of manufacturing and the way goods are moved across Eurasia could have the potential to be significantly altered in the near future.

SOURCE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2018/05/31/how-chinas-belt-and-road-just-got-a-big-boost-from-europes-tir-convention/#34ab6f8a2517

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BRI to promote regional connectivity and prosperity: Masood

Islamabad – Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir has said that Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is truly a milestone in the history of mankind which will pave the way for promoting regional connectivity and shaping up a new civilization of coexistence.
The President – as the keynote speaker – made these remarks while addressing the 2nd International Maritime Symposium on the “Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the Geo-economics of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), Prospects for Pakistan, the Region and Beyond” organized by the Institute of Maritime Affairs here in Islamabad. The event was graced by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the chief guest. The event was presided and hosted by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi.
The President during his address congratulated the Institute of Maritime Affairs and the Bahria University for organizing this timely and substantive seminar which he said would help shape the mindset relating to maritime trade unleashing Pakistan’s full potential.
President Masood Khan said that the BRI is a global initiative not just restricted to Pakistan or the Indian Ocean. He added that BRI encompasses 68 countries, 62 percent of the world population and one-third of the world’s GDP spanning three continents – Asia, Africa and Europe – launching a new wave of connectivity and inclusive economic prosperity.
Highlighting the importance of Pakistan in the project, he said that due to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor we assume a position of centrality and pre-eminence in the project as we will provide China direct land access to the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. The BRI will have huge transformative effects that will propel economic and social development activities in and around the Indian Ocean Region.
The BRI project, said the President, will inject fresh impetus to global growth creating new supply chains in the Indian Ocean by accelerating the pace of economic activity in and around the Indian Ocean. He said under this initiative, plans are underway to invest US $ 1 trillion in infrastructure, energy and industrial projects on an unprecedented scale.
President AJK said that the Indian Ocean will no longer be considered by India as its exclusive domain where previously it would give limited and conditional access to other nations. Now, he said, the Indian Ocean will be shared by all for use of marine resources, enhanced economic activity, investment, trade and maritime security.
President Masood Khan highlighting the importance of maritime trade, said that our seaports are a great asset towards making Pakistan a focal point of commercial and transit trade activity in the region. He added that Pakistan is passing through a phase of economic transformations that will revolutionize national and international trade, development and generate huge employment opportunities throughout Pakistan.
Underscoring the priorities of Pakistan in the general backdrop of these developments, the President said that, firstly, we must formulate a comprehensive long-term foreign policy on the Indian Ocean region which should be an integral part of our current foreign policy. IOR, he said, will face existing and new threats that include piracy, terrorism, proxy wars and spying. He said that global warming and heating up of the Indian Ocean must be tackled which threatens biodiversity in these waters and the evident fear that smaller island states in the Indian Ocean risk extinction.

SOURCE: https://pakobserver.net/BRI-to-promote-regional-connectivity-and-prosperity-masood/

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Cost of CPEC coal power projects per MW 40pc higher

ISLAMABAD: The lowest ever price for one megawatt in the International Competitive Bidding (ICB) for Jamshoro coal power project of 1320MW headed by ADB has exposed the bitter fact how costly Port Qasim and Sahiwal coal power projects under CPEC coal projects, reveals the latest official document available with The News.

This has questioned the ability of authorities concerned who negotiated the PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) at higher prices with Chinese contractors for said coal power plants installed under CPEC umbrella.

The EPC per MW cost through recently held ICB for first phase of 660MW of Jamshoro power plant has been achieved at $0.578 million whereas the EPC cost of Port Qasim and Sahiwal coal power project per MW under CPEC coal projects is $1.21 million per MW showing that the cost of one MW of the said coal power plants under CPEC is 40 percent higher than that of Jamshoro coal power plant. The EPC cost is reflected in the final tariff.

This means that the said two coal power plants of 1320MW each under CPEC coal projects are getting unjustified Rs60 billion ($550 million) per annum due to over pricing of these projects, a senior official at Power Division told The News.

Nepra had extended the upfront tariff of 8.3 cents per unit for both Port Qasim and Sahiwal based on the inputs provided by PPIB (private power infrastructure board) and central power purchase agency (CPPA).“So, Nepra cannot be blamed for such a higher tariff.”

However, the expected tariff of Jamshoro coal power plant keeping its EPC cost of $0.578 million per MW will be around at 6.3 cents per unit. The official said the total production of Port Qasim and Sahiwal coal power plants stands at 18.7 billion unit in a year that will cost the consumers of Pakistan Rs231 billion.

Managing Director of PPIB Shah Jahan Mir, when contacted, said that Nepra has provided the upfront tariff of 8.3 cents per unit to both Port Qasim and Sahiwal coal power projects which was higher even than the tariff PPIB had proposed.

He said the PPAs cannot be reviewed unless and until the regulator feels that tariff needs to be reviewed based on new tangible facts. Former member Energy Planning Commission Shahid Sattar said that authorities in Pakistan needs to review the power purchase agreements (PPA) with the top management of both Port Qasim and Sahiwal coal power plants and bring down the tariffs of the said two projects as per international standards. He said that Pakistan’s authorities and the regulator should keep in view that country needs to bring down the cost of down business for competing the products of other economies in the international market.

The official said that the government of China holds competition in the country and then nominates the lowest bidding company for projects in Pakistan. Now, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has also made competition a necessary condition. Competition either under Nepra conditions or under Chinese government supervision, however, has not yielded required results of reasonable and fair costs.

 SOURCE: https://goo.gl/kb7frt
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Standard Chartered Bank to play key role in second phase of CPEC

ISLAMABAD: Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) on Wednesday announced to play a key role in the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and it will provide different kinds of services including solutions to the Chinese currency RMB, hedging in RMB, currency risks, and cash management.

“After the successful completion of the first phase of CPEC where most of the funding in projects was based on Government to Government transactions, the second phase is now ready in which mainly, the private sector and financial institutions will be involved, especially in services and insurance areas,” said the SCB Head of Global Banking, Jean Lu while addressing a press briefing here today.

She said Pakistan had been a special partner to China for decades and with the launch of CPEC, the bilateral relations had further strengthened.

She informed that experts from Standard Chartered’s Greater China Region hosted road shows in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to outline the benefits of, and investment opportunities from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), together with Renminbi internationalisation.

The purpose of these roadshows was to enable our clients to take advantage of the benefits presented by the China-led BRI project, which is also bringing more opportunities for Pakistan and China, she added.

The B and R initiative, the biggest advocate of globalisation in the world today, is aiming to boost trade and growth of investment across Asia, extending to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

She said the total trade between China and BRI countries exceeded $3 trillion between 2014 and 2016, and the momentum has continued in 2017, despite subdued growth in global trade.

The BRI initiative has made significant headway in the past four years, and has gained support from more than 100 countries and international organisations, and more than 80 of them have signed cooperation agreements with China, she added.

Standard Chartered Pakistan CEO said that the bank was currently engaged with around 100 Chinese companies who were interested to invest in various sectors of Pakistan.

He said that with the passage of time, the trade volume will increase between the two countries and in this regard, the SCB will have a key role in providing RMB solutions to investors as they will be able to trade-in their own currencies instead of USD.

Many countries, like Pakistan, he said have robust demand for infrastructures, as they move toward further industrialization, move up the value chain, as well as absorb fast-growing populations.

He informed that the bank has been in Pakistan and China for more than 150 years.

“Our longstanding and deep-rooted presence in both countries along with 70 percent of footprint overlap with B&R countries equips us with in-depth knowledge of prevailing political, economic and cultural environments making us an indispensable partner in this extra ordinary progress,” he added.

“It is therefore incumbent upon us to assist our valued clients to capitalize on these enormous trade opportunities created through better connectivity between them and the rest of the world. This roadshow emphasize our promise to be ‘Here for good, while demonstrating our capabilities in providing comprehensive set of products, services and solutions to our existing as well as prospective clients who are looking to embark upon their growth journeys along the Silk Road”, he added

 

SOURCE: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/04/26/standard-chartered-bank-to-play-key-role-in-second-phase-of-cpec/

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UPS targeting Pakistan’s growing international trade and CPEC

LAHORE: UPS, the international global logistic company is entering into a partnership with local logistics and shipping titan TCS, as it eyes Pakistan’s growing international trade and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for opportunities.

This partnership with TCS is intended to assist in reducing the cutting time and cost of shipments into and out of Pakistan reported Dawn.

President UPS, Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa (ISMEA) region, Mr. Jean-Francois Condamine was on a visit to Lahore recently to open the country’s second ‘Gateway’.

Mr. Francois said the country’s market is very rich and it provided a plethora of opportunities to develop business in Pakistan.

Regarding the ‘Gateway’, the United Parcel Service ISMEA President stated it is a place where the company would handle all the company’s volumes coming in and going out of the country.

He added this would provide a way to enhance shipment for exporters. Mr. Francois shared business-to-business (B2B) ventures were growing in stride around the world and Pakistan’s dealings with rest of the world had shown glimpses of the coming of digitization and business-to-consumer trends.

Also, the UPS ISMEA president said the company’s partnership with TCS was commercial and both had worked together for the last 2.5 years.

Mr. Francois shared United Parcel Service’s partnership with TCS was very natural since the latter had a 65 percent market share in Pakistan and the former was a global behemoth in the logistics space with a presence in over 220 countries.

While talking about CPEC, Mr. Francois highlighted UPS had a presence in all those countries where the corridor project is connecting.

He said CPEC was an extension of seaports connecting continents, which was very significant for UPS too.

The UPS ISMEA president stated this corridor was about the connecting of geographical blocs which includes China, Europe, Middle East and East Africa and offers a major opportunity for the company.

Mr. Francois said the company had a presence in China and was in Pakistan now to take advantage of any opportunity which comes UPS’s way.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping vows to open up economy

BOAO/BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday promised to open the country’s economy further and lower import tariffs on products including cars, in a speech seen as conciliatory amid rising trade tensions between China and the United States.

While most of the pledges were reiterations of previously announced measures, Xi Jinping’s comments sent U.S. stock futures, the dollar and Asian shares higher.

Xi Jinping said that China will sharply widen market access for foreign investors, a chief complaint of the country’s trading partners and a point of contention for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which has threatened billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods.

The speech at the Boao Forum for Asia in the southern province of Hainan had been widely anticipated as one of Xi’s first major addresses in a year in which the ruling Communist Party marks the 40th anniversary of its landmark economic reforms and opening up under former leader Deng Xiaoping.

Xi Jinping said China would raise the foreign ownership limit in the automobile sector “as soon as possible” and push previously announced measures to open the financial sector.

“This year, we will considerably reduce auto import tariffs, and at the same time reduce import tariffs on some other products,” Xi Jinping said.

He also said, “Cold War mentality” and isolationism would “hit brick walls”.

Chinese officials have been promising since at least 2013 to ease restrictions on foreign joint ventures in the auto industry, which would allow foreign companies to take a majority stake.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He promised at the World Economic Forum in January that China would roll out fresh market openings this year, and that it would lower auto import tariffs in an “orderly way”.

Foreign business groups welcomed Xi’s commitment to reforms, including promises to strengthen legal deterrence on intellectual property violators, but said the speech fell short on specifics.

EASING OF TENSION

Xi’s renewed pledges to open the auto sector come after Trump on Monday criticized China on Twitter for maintaining 25 percent auto import tariffs compared to the United States’ 2.5 percent duties, calling such a relationship with China not free trade but “stupid trade”.

Trump’s move last week to threaten China with tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods was aimed at forcing Beijing to address what Washington says is deeply entrenched theft of U.S. intellectual property and forced technology transfers from U.S. companies.

Chinese officials deny such charges and responded within hours of Trump’s announcement of tariffs with their own proposed commensurate duties.

The move prompted Trump last week to threaten tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese goods, which have yet to be identified, and none of the announced duties have been implemented yet.

Beijing charges that Washington is the aggressor and spurring global protectionism, although China’s trading partners have complained for years that it abuses World Trade Organization rules and practices unfair industrial policies that lock foreign companies out of crucial sectors with the intent of creating domestic champions.

While China has recently expressed optimism that the two sides would hammer out a trade deal, Chinese officials in recent days have said negotiations would be impossible under “current circumstances”.

SOURCE: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/04/10/chinese-president-vows-to-open-up-economy-reduce-tariffs-by-year-end/

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All trade with China suspended at Sost Port as traders protest new custom rules

ISLAMABAD: Importers and exporters in Pakistan have suspended all kinds of trade with China via the land route at Sost Port in protest against the introduction of new customs rules under which transactions and clearances are done through a computerized system.

“The online clearance and processing of shipments are being introduced in an area where internet is not available. How can exporters and importers ensure the compliance of the system being launched here when the area is deprived of internet facility,” said the leaders of Gilgit Baltistan chambers of commerce while announcing suspension to trade with China from Wednesday (today).

According to them, the customs officials are introducing an online clearing system, WEBOC, at the Sost border despite the fact that the area lacks internet facility. Besides, importers, exporters and traders are unaware of the new system.

The chambers of commerce of different districts, traders associations, custom clearances agents association and other trade bodies have jointly decided to suspend the trade for an indefinite time.

According to a leading importer, like other ports of the country, the custom officials are introducing the WEBOC system, an online webportal to file import/export GD for mandatory customs clearance required for processing of containers upon its arrival. This is a step towards making a paper-less environment and to minimise interaction between importers and exporters and customs officials. However, the issue of the absence of internet facility in the Khunjrab area of GB has been making the introduction of the online system very difficult.

Talking about another major reason to boycott the import and export in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), GB Chambers of Commerce President Nasir Ali Raki, said, taxation system in GB was unacceptable for the exporters and importers of the area. “If Gwadar can be declared as tax free zone under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), why not GB, which the gateway of the corridor? All trade bodies here have decided to keep the bilateral trade suspended until the area is treated in the same way Gwadar is being treated,” he said while talking to Pakistan Today.

He said as the people of the area have stood against imposition taxes and successfully forced the government to withdraw the unlawful taxes, another movement will be started in favor of declaring the area a tax free zone under CPEC. “We are consulting the political parties to make the move successful. We will not let any container to cross the border until the lawful demands of traders are met,” Raki said.

It may recall here that the Khunjerab Pass was reopened for trade and travel between Pakistan and China on April 1, after remaining closed for four months owing to snowfall. Under an agreement between Pakistan and China, the border is usually closed on Nov 30 and reopens on April 1 every year. The dry port will be made all weather keeping it opened for trade throughout the year once the commercial trade under CPEC starts on this route.

Soon after the reopening of the land route, local traders had complained about not being issued passes to start import and export activity by the local government for issuance of computerized passes. Officials at GB Government had claimed that a project had been launched to issue computerized border passes. “The format of border pass will be changed from manual to computerized till the end of May,” they said, adding they had already informed Chinese authorities and the foreign office about the development.

SOURCE: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/04/10/all-trade-with-china-suspended-at-sost-port-as-traders-protest-new-custom-rules/

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China promises to open its financial sector to foreign investment by end-2018

BOAO: China laid out a clearer timetable on Wednesday for opening its financial sector to more foreign investment in China by the end of 2018, as Beijing looks to fend off growing criticism from the United States and others that it unfairly limits competition.

People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang said that China will allow foreign firms to compete on an equal footing with domestic companies in the sector.

Though the specific details offered were mostly incremental and repeated previous pledges, China for the first time said it would implement a number of the measures by the end of this year, with some steps promised to be put in place as early as June.

They include allowing foreign firms to invest in trust companies, financial leasing, auto finance and consumer finance, plans that were announced last year. The People’s Bank of China PBOC also confirmed it wants to set up a planned trading link between its stock markets and London by end-2018.

Foreign businesses and China’s trading partners have long complained about a lack of implementation of reforms announced years earlier, and that outside firms continue to face unofficial restrictions even after some sectors have ostensibly been opened up.

China’s official pledges, made at the annual Boao Forum for Asia in southern Hainan province, echoed previous promises from Beijing to open the financial sector but comes at a time of heightened pressure on China from the United States over trade and access to its massive markets.

China will raise foreign ownership limits to 51 percent in securities, fund management, futures and life insurance companies “over the next few months”, the People’s Bank of China PBOC said in a statement on its website.

The gradual removal of those ownership limits was first announced in November when an official said the move would take effect immediately following the drafting of related rules.

President Xi Jinping promised on Tuesday to open the country’s economy further and lower import tariffs on products like cars, in a speech seen as an attempt to defuse the increasingly bitter dispute with the United States and possibly open the way for the start of negotiations after both sides threatened tit-for-tat tariffs.

INSURANCE SECTOR MEASURES

The government also will not set foreign ownership limits for investment  in wealth management companies set up by commercial banks by the end of 2018, the People’s Bank of China PBOC said.

However, despite the gradual opening of China’s financial services sector in recent years, foreign firms still only account for a tiny fraction of the market, and the new moves are unlikely to lead to significant changes as big state-invested companies have a commanding presence in those businesses.

China also said on Wednesday it was accelerating a plan originally announced in November to lift the foreign ownership restriction in life insurance companies, following Xi’s pledge the day before to speed up the opening up of the insurance sector.

China will raise the ownership limit to 51 percent within a few months and fully scrap the restriction in three years. In November, China said it would lift the limit to 51 percent goal in three years and fully remove them after five years.

The government will also remove a requirement that foreign

insurers must have a representative office in China for two years before they can set up a company, further easing foreign access to the insurance sector.

On trade, Yi said China and the United States should deal with their issues in a rational way and that the China-U.S. goods and services trade should balance out in future.

SOURCE: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/04/11/china-promises-to-open-its-financial-sector-to-foreign-investment-by-end-2018/

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Import of 27 bogeys from China for Orange Line Metro Train completed

LAHORE: The last three bogeys for the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) reached Lahore on Wednesday, concluding import of all 27 bogeys to the metropolis.

Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab and the OLMT steering committee chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan said that out of 27 train sets, 14 train sets have been parked at metro train depot at Dera Gujjran while the remaining are at metro stabling yard in Ali Town.

Speaking to media after the weekly progress meeting, he said that work is underway to lay a rail track and install electrical and mechanical equipment.

A goodwill gesture: PR reduces Green Line fare

Chinese contractors ‘CR-NORINCO’ have employed additional workforce for early completion and partial trial run of the project, he added.

Hassaan further said that the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has been tasked for designing ornamental lightening system for illumination of the track as per international standards.

The train will be operated with electricity and construction of an electric sub-station near University of Engineering and Technology (UET) at Grand Trunk Road which has been completed for this purpose, he added.

The official said the Lahore Electricity Supply Company (LESCO) has already completed development of the sub-station, assuring to make it functional as and when required.

He highlighted that first four metro stations from Dera Gujjaran to Mehmood Booti will be completed during the current week while the target has been set for completing Pakistan Mint Station and Nichelson Road stations by the conclusion of next week.

More than half of the track work at has already been completed, Hassaan said.

Pakistan Railways reduces Green Line’s fares by 10%

The participants of the meeting were told that so far, 86.41 per cent civil work on the project has been completed. Progress of work on package-I (from Dera Gujjaran, Grand Trunk Road to Chauburji) has reached 91.27 per cent, 81.05 per cent on package-II (from Chauburji to Ali Town) , 87.10 per cent on Depot near Dera Gujran and 88.20 per cent on Stabling Yard near Ali Town.

Progress on electrical and mechanical work on the project is around 53.92 per cent.

Hassaan said that he had directed for completing, rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, affected by the ongoing civil work, by the conclusion of this month to end the inconvenience to the general public as well as local traders.

He urged the relevant departments to finalise shifting of utility services for this purpose before the carpeting of roads.

Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) Chief Engineer, senior officials of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), LESCO, WASA, PTCL, Sui gas, traffic police, Pakistan Railways, Rescue 1122, Civil Defence and other concerned officials attended the meeting.

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