Economy

Record 257 Overseas M&A Deals Sealed in the First Three Quarters of 2015

Chinese mainland enterprises secured a record 257 overseas mergers and acquisitions in the first three quarters of 2015， surpassing the total of the whole of last years deals， with an aggregate value hitting US $45.2 billion， rising slightly compared with the corresponding period of last year， according to a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers （PwC）.

Privately owned companies continue to be key players， deals they sealed amounting to nearly three times that of state-owned enterprises for the same period. Investors in privately owned enterprises mainly look to overseas manufacturers with advanced technology and consumer companies with brand and customer assets， according to the report.

The report also showed that listed companies led the Chinese mainlands outbound M&A deals， accounting for 62 percent of the total in the first three quarters， and that the average volume of transactions pitched much higher than that of non-listed companies.

“From a financing perspective， easy monetary policies， low interest rates and reserve ratios， and a significant surge in Chinas stock market in the first half of 2015 have helped to drive the deals，”said Li Ming， PwC Chinas advisory service leader in Central China.

Zhuang Shuqing， international tax service head of PwC China， pointed out that a slew of initiatives taken by the Chinese government， and the set up of financial institutes such as the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB） are supportive measures to encourage Chinese enterprises to conduct outbound M&A， especially in sectors such as infrastructure and public service.

China Launches National E-commerce Platform to Support Agriculture Sector

China launched last November a national e-commerce platform that serves rural areas through the supply and sales of agricultural products.

Set up by the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives， the website www.gxyj.com aims to match the supply and demand of daily consumer products and agricultural production materials and produce via online-to-offline cooperation. Users can trade online by means of services that range from online payment to logistics to quality certification， according to Wang Zhengwei， chairman of China Co-op E-commerce Ltd.

The e-commerce platform also includes specific zones for specialty produce and direct-sale products which provide rural and urban consumers with convenient， safe， quality online shopping services.endprint

China will over the next three years establish a sound e-commerce infrastructure and policies while nurturing a batch of influential agricultural e-commerce brands， according to the joint plan released last September by the Ministry of Agriculture， the Ministry of Commerce， and the National Development Reform Commission.

Alipay Launches O2O Payment in Taiwan

Alipay， Chinas leading electronic payment platform， launched its cross-border onlineto-offline （O2O） services to cover Taiwan in the fourth quarter， allowing Alipay users to make purchases using their Alipay accounts on the island， Ant Financial， Alipays operator， announced at the end of October.

Alipay is the first third-party payment provider to receive approval for the use of the QR code scanning service in Taiwan in cooperation with a local bank， E.SUN. The new payment service is expected to apply to over 3，000 merchants by the end of 2015， including department stores， supermarkets， souvenir shops， and business districts.

With the launch of this service， Alipay users no longer need to convert RMB into New Taiwan dollars or take cash with them. They are able to find merchant introduction and exclusive discount information on the Taiwan page of the Alipay mobile apps travel section.

In recent years， the number of mainland tourists to Taiwan has surged. Data from Taiwans tourism department show that mainland tourists made 3.98 million visits to Taiwan in 2014， 11 times more than in 2008.

Alipay currently dominates Chinas mainland third-party payment market， accounting for nearly 80 percent of the market based on transaction value. On the Chinese mainland， Alipay is connected to over 200，000 offline merchants and 900，000 taxis and car rental firms. In overseas markets， about 50，000 merchants accept Alipay payment.

Pension Funds to Enter Stock Market in 2016

China will implement new rules on pension fund investments as of 2016， said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security （MOHRSS） at a press conference at the end of October.

Officials are studying how best to transfer surpluses of funds from local governments to the provincial level governments and allocate them to authorized institutions to perform investments. Funds will be gathered and transferred through a unified process， said MOHRSS spokesperson Li Zhong.

It is calculated that funds totaling RMB 2 trillion can be invested. As the new regulations stipulate that up to 30 percent of the net assets of pension funds may be invested in the countrys stocks， equity funds， and balanced funds， about RMB 600 billion could， theoretically， go into the stock market. The provincial governments will specify the capital scale， while authorized institutions will decide on the timing of the investment， according to the MOHRSS and Ministry of Finance.

Currently， Chinese pension funds may be invested in bank deposits and treasuries only. According to the new rules， pension funds may also be invested in the countrys major infrastructure projects， stocks， stock rights， stock market index futures， and treasury futures.

By the end of 2014 nine provinces and municipalities had seen the total accumulative balance of the pension funds exceed RMB 100 billion. According to MOHRSS statistics， 852 million Chinese citizens were included under the nations pension scheme as of the end of September 2015.endprint