In Today’s Talking Points: China Planning to Make E-Commerce Groups Liable for Fake Goods; Chinas Central Bank Intervenes to Calm Markets After Tariff Turmoil; Chinese Stocks Heads into Uncertainty; China Growth Numbers More Positive Than Forecasts
China Planning to Make E-Commerce Groups Liable for Fake Goods
E-commerce giants such as Alibaba, JD and Tencent will soon be held liable for fraudulent goods sold on their websites, according to a draft legislation to be put forward before China’s parliament soon. The legislation marks a shift in the approach to regulating the country’s $1 trillion e-commerce market, which currently is plagued by the sale of fake products. Previously the websites were not held accountable for fake goods sold on their platforms, and consumers would not be able to sue them for not receiving the advertised product. According to the new legislation, problems with products will now be the parent company’s problem, where previously Taobao/TMall would only have to take down the fraudulent sellers’ store. By extending responsibility to the platform, regulators are hoping to close a loophole and further prevent the sale of fraudulent goods.
Read more on Financial Times
Chinas Central Bank Intervenes to Calm Markets After Tariff Turmoil
Chinas central bank intervened on Wednesday after President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods, setting off volatility in Chinese domestic markets. The People’s Bank of China called for investors to stay calm and rational after the Shanghai exchange dropped to a two-year low. The Peoples Bank also injected RMB 40 Billion into the financial system, signalling that it plans to cut the capital requirements for banks. This caused the Shanghai index to rise 0.3% in the morning up from its drop of 5%.
Read more on Financial Times
Chinese Stocks Heads into Uncertainty
With the trade tensions and slowing Chinese economy, analysts are concerned that the Shanghai Composite Index is heading downwards. Amidst slower economic forecasts of Chinese economic growth and the uncertainty of the global trade markets, the index is currently at its lowest point since June 2016. The Shanghai Composite Index is also noted as one of the worst performing index this year, down almost 20% since the January peak. Analyst will be keeping tabs on the index with ongoing trade disputes expected to have a profound impact.
Read more on Bloomberg
China Growth Numbers More Positive Than Forecasts
There is a growing amount of optimism among Chinese businesses in the Chinese economy. Recent promising figures regarding infrastructure development, economic confidence and economic growth remains positive in China. Key figures include the entrepreneur confidence index rising for the ninth consecutive quarter, rising to 75.8 from 74.2 in the first quarter of 2018. The business climate index held study at 58.5 percent in the second quarter, 3.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year. GDP also grew at 6.8% per year in Q1, above the predicted 6.5% economists agreed on.
Read more on XinHua