18-12-15 FDA reforms encourage pharmaceutical manufacturing China’s Food and Drug Administration Summary have published long awaited reforms designed to accelerate the regulatory review of new drugs and increased options for manufacturing those already approved. The new policy expands the types of drugs that qualify for the fast tracked review process as well as providing …
Financial Services Talking Points 17-12-2015
2015-12-17 Trade-weighted index to keep yuan stable China aims to maintain a stable yuan by valuing it against a basket of foreign currencies to create a flexible exchange rate system, rather than pegging only to the USD. The People’s Bank of China has released a trade weighted index, with the US dollar, euro and the …
AustCham briefing: Chinese Economic Expectations 2016
The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday unveiled its major economic tasks for 2016, the first year of the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan. The overall theme is boosting growth within a proper range for the country. Increased urbanisation and Hukou reform: To reduce housing inventories, more migrant rural workers should be issued with urban-residency permits, …
Energy & Resources Talking Points 16-12-2015
16-12-15 Japan to go back to nuclear Japanese nuclear reactors are set to restart and increase percentage renewables in their energy make up. Japanese natural gas imports will drop to 77 million mt by 2020 from a record high of 86 million mt in 2014. Kyushu Electric restarted some of its reactors after a 23-month …
Education Talking Points 15-12-2015
2015-12-15 NSW government rejects TAFE funding claims The NSW government has rejected claims nearly half of the state’s TAFE funding will need to come from the private sector next year. A leaked government document has reportedly shown that direct state government funding for TAFE’s income will be reduced to half in 2016, with the rest …
Food & Agribusiness Talking Points 14-12-2015
14-12-15 Fonterra predict milk price revival Fonterra has expressed signs of revival in the dairy industry with projections of NZ$4.60 per kg of milk solids vs only NZ$3.85 from a projection just earlier in the season. Despite a fall in Fonterra’s benchmark Global Dairy Trade Auction, Fonterra remains bullish for the rest of the …
Announcement of ChAFTA’s Implementation Date
Dear Members, j j Australia’s Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb AO MP, has announced that the China – Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) will come into force shortly with the first round of tariff cuts to begin on December 20 and a second round on January 1 2016. j j AustCham Chair Tracy Colgan has …
Financial Services Talking Points 10-12-2015
2015-12-10 Inaugural ACRI-NAB Australia-China Business Engagement Index Published The Australia-China Relations Institute in partnership with National Australia Bank have published the first-ever report comparing attitudes of Chinese and Australian business leaders towards bilateral engagement. Two polls were conducted in parallel, with NAB surveying 580 Australian business leaders and ACRI surveying 1000 Chinese-resident business leaders. Some …
Energy & Resources Talking Points 09-12-2015
09-12-15 Crude oil prices plummet Crude oil prices hit 7 year lows, on the back of the OPEC summit held in Vienna. OPEC’s decision to keep production at high levels has led to oversupply, whilst some see it as a natural downward pressure on the value of oil. Whilst China has experienced some economic slowdown …
Education Talking Points 8-12-2015
08-12-2015 The world more educated than ever OECD data shows more people are going to school and university than ever before. A third of adults in OECD countries held a tertiary-level qualification in 2014. South Korea has demonstrated a considerable increase in upward mobility as measured by the number of young people going to university …