Economy

Biggest Investor in Australian Agriculture

China is now the biggest investor in Australian agriculture， according to a report from Australias Foreign Investment Review Board. During the fisical year ending June 2014， China invested A$ 632 million in Australian agriculture， almost twice as much as the year before.

The report shows that China is the top destination for Australian agricultural exports， accounting for about one-fifth of the total. Beef and infant-formula powders have recently drawn strong interest from Chinese buyers.

A report by The Wall Street Journal states that China and Australia clinched a free-trade deal last November in which Australia lifted restrictions on livestock exports and eased its scrutiny of investments by Chinese enterprises. Australia still currently forms just a small part of Chinas global agricultural investment portfolio： of Chinas US $43 billion investments in overseas agri-businesses over the past 10 years， Australia has accounted for only US $1.5 billion.

Statistics also show that Chinese investment in Australian mining projects dropped by one third during the same period to A$ 5.85 billion.

Chinas move into Australian agriculture has been more tentative than its comparative rush into mining. Agricultural investors are mostly private enterprises. They tap local expertise and retain existing managers， rather than trying to gain full ownership of farms， or launch major greenfield projects.

Guidelines Issued on Big Data Promotion

Chinas State Council issued guidelines in September to boost the development of big data. The act， signed by Premier Li Keqiang， aims to craft a new model for social governance in the coming five to 10 years， one that emphasizes precise management and multi-dimensional cooperation.

The model provides for establishment of a transdepartmental data-sharing platform by the end of 2017， and the setting up of a unified platform for governmental data before the end of 2018， one that allows citizens access to public data resources， including credit， transportation， public health， employment， social insurance， geography， culture， education， science， agriculture， finance， environmental and weather services.

Big data refer to a set of new technologies for data collection， storage and analysis to uncover hidden values from data sets that are diverse， complex and on a massive scale.

By 2020， China will cultivate a batch of internationally competitive software programs for big data processing， analysis and visualization and hardware platforms to support the running of those softwares， together with 10 world leading enterprises in this field and 500 firms focused on big data applications， service and product development.endprint

RMB to USD Exchange Rate to Be Stable

The RMB-U.S. dollar exchange rate is relatively stable； the stock market is already roughly where it should be， and the financial market is expected to become more stable， according to Zhou Xiaochuan， governor of the Peoples Bank of China， in a statement made at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held in Ankara， Turkey.

Zhou briefly introduced the recent situation in Chinas financial market. He said that the Peoples Bank of Chinas reform of the RMB exchange rate formation mechanism in August is an important step towards marketization reform of the RMB rate. The Chinese currency was devalued to a certain extent after this reform， but there have been no substantial changes in the fundamentals of the Chinese economy， and a large surplus still remains in its foreign trade. There is hence no basis for the RMB to continue devaluing over the long term.

China Eyes Seven Percent Economic Growth

Chinas economy has entered a new normal status and the economic growth rate is forecast to hover around seven percent in the coming four to five years， announced Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held in Ankara， Turkey from September 4 to 5. Lou emphasized that the Chinese government will largely disregard quarterly economic fluctuations and stick to its macroeconomic policies.

There are two primary reasons for making such a prediction. First， Chinas rapid growth rate， which has held to around nine to 10 percent in the past years and been highly dependent on policy support， is no longer tenable. Excessively swift growth has led to a capacity glut and a mass increase in inventory that will take years to digest. The next five years will be painful as China aims to achieve primary goals of economic restructuring by 2020. During this period of reform， domestic consumption， not investment and export， will mainly drive Chinas economy. Second， Chinas economic cycle differs from that of the developed nations that generally initiated the process of deleveraging after the global financial crisis. China， however， launched its fast leveraging process between 2009 and 2010， thereby achieving a yearly growth of around 10 percent. The country contributed as much as 50 percent of global economic growth. Now that China has instituted its process of deleveraging， its economic growth will fall to seven percent， but still make up a 30 percent contribution to global economic growth.

Lou indicated that the huge potential of the Chinese economy lies in reform， and that China is unswervingly promoting structural reform.endprint