Russia's Rosneft inks oil production & supply deal with China www.rt.com

Russian oil major Rosneft has announced a strategic cooperation agreement and long-term oil supply contract with CEFC China Energy Company. The deal was sealed on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China.

140,000 smartphones, tablets hacked for attacks www.nhk.or.jp

NHK has learned that 140,000 smartphones and tablets across the globe have been hacked in order to launch major cyberattacks against firms.

Four things to watch at the Brics summit www.bbc.com

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are meeting amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
The summit of the so-called Brics nations brings together the five fast-growing economies, who are seeking a greater say in world affairs.
Economic ties will top the agenda at the three-day gathering in Xiamen, China which began Sunday.
But North Korea's nuclear test and a border standoff between China and India could also colour discussions.
So what are the four key things to watch out for at this meeting?
1. 'Growing the pie' without 'touching the cheese'
While US President Donald Trump has pushed a protectionist trade agenda, pulling the US out of the Trans Pacific Partnership and renegotiating the North America Free Trade Agreement, China is striking a very different tone.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told the meeting that there is little to fear from closer trade ties.
"We should push for an open world economy, promote trade liberalisation and facilitation, jointly create a new global value chain, and realise a global economic rebalancing," President Xi Jinping told Brics business leaders and senior officials in a speech on Sunday.
"The development of emerging markets and developing countries won't touch anyone's cheese, but instead will diligently grow the world economic pie," he said.
But many countries have criticised China's trade policies, saying they discriminate against foreign businesses.
Even within Brics, trade is heavily tilted in China's favour, which has led to complaints from fellow members.
China's vice minister of commerce, Wang Shouwen, also suggested China was interested in establishing a free trade agreement with Mexico.
The Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is attending the dialogue at the invitation of the Chinese president.
2. One Belt One Road
The sheer scale of China's massive international infrastructure project - known as One Belt One Road - means it is often on the agenda at high level economic meetings like this one.
The project aims to expand trade links between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond through infrastructure investments.
"I am convinced that the Belt and Road initiative will serve as a new platform for all countries to achieve win-win cooperation," said President Xi.
But the initiative has made India in particular quite uneasy, as it includes projects worth $62bn (£48bn) to be implemented in its neighbour and rival Pakistan.
Also, tensions between China and India remain high after a border standoff, which was resolved just days before the conference.
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a galleryImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin visit an exhibition ahead of the BRICS Summit
3. The New Development Bank
Construction began over the weekend on headquarters in Shanghai for the New Development Bank (NDB), which is the Brics alternative to the World Bank.
The NDB was seen as the first major Brics achievement after the group came together to press for a bigger say in the world's financial affairs.
The bank aims to address a massive infrastructure funding gap in the member countries, which account for almost half the world's population.
To date, the NDB has invested in 11 projects, lending $1.5bn in 2016 with an additional $2.5bn in loans set for this year.
Still, the bank is small potatoes when compared with the World Bank, and some have questioned China's commitment, given it heads up the bigger Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
4. The nuclear elephant in the room
The conference had an unwelcome surprise in the form of North Korea's sixth nuclear test on Sunday.
China's official Xinhua news agency reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of the Brics meeting, and agreed to "appropriately deal" with North Korea's nuclear test.
China said it strongly condemned the nuclear test and urged Pyongyang to stop its "wrong" actions.
The US President suggested on Twitter that the US might stop "all trade with any country doing business with North Korea".

China is an obvious target of his comments, given that it is North Korea's largest trading partner.
Some critics, however, have suggested that this is very unlikely, as it would do significant damage to the US economy because China is also America's largest trading partner.

Expo to boost trade and investment ties www.chinadaily.com

The China-Northeast Asia Expo will help to boost trade and stimulate investment through the promotion of regional economic integration, according to officials from Northeast Asian countries.

This year's expo runs from Sept 1 to 5 in Changchun, the capital of Jilin province in Northeast China.

The expo will "have important implications for the countries in the region to introduce their own policies and practices, exchange information and inform the direction of future cooperation", said Zanimah Saulu, Mongolian vice-minister of food agriculture and light industry, at the opening ceremony.

Expo to boost trade and investment ties

Northeast Asia consists of China, Russia, Mongolia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Japan, a market with a population of 1.7 billion and over 20 percent of the world's GDP.

The region boasts favorable transport conditions, covering a vast area with rich human resources, fossil fuels, and forest and marine resources.

A senior Chinese official said: "Although China has run a trade deficit with several countries in the region, we do not engage in trade protection and we are willing to further expand our imports from these economies to meet diversified needs."

China is also ready to sign high-standard trade agreements with all parties, said the official, when delivering his speech at the opening ceremony.

All parties in this region should explore opportunities for collaboration in sectors such as the internet, high-end and intelligent manufacturing, and modern services, said Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce.

Thanks to its unique geographical location and market potential, Northeast Asia is considered one of the most attractive areas for linking states around the world and strengthening their cooperation and investments, according to Ku Ponthae, vice-foreign economic minister of the DPRK.

In 2016, the trade volume between China and the other five countries of Northeast Asia amounted to $605.9 billion, accounting for 16.4 percent of China's overall foreign trade, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

In the same year, these five countries' combined investment in China reached about $7.85 billion, with China's total investment in the above countries also maintaining growth.

Kang Sung-cheon, deputy minister of the ROK's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Northeast Asian countries will diversify their trade and will also boost trade in services in the interests of mutual benefits." The Chinese government has recently announced moves to encourage foreign investment, reduce investment restraints and streamline investment procedures.

It is hoped that all countries will make efforts to further promote their investments, Kang said.

"A free trade agreement is a good idea. It can significantly reduce tariffs, promote free trade and stabilize investment trends."

Contact the writers at jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn and hanjunhong@chinadaily.com.cn

Moody's: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to sustain strong credit profile www.moodys.com

Singapore, September 04, 2017 -- Moody's Investors Service says that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's (AIIB, Aaa stable) credit profile is underpinned by robust capital adequacy, a strong governance framework, and solid shareholder support, notwithstanding the absence of a lengthy track record of operations.

Drones to support mobile communications www3.nhk.or.jp

Invest Mongolia 2017 conference kicks off www.mongolia.gogo.mn

ULAANBAATAR (GoGo Mongolia) - "Invest Mongolia 2017" Frontier`s 11th annual conference is taking place in Shangri-La hotel Ulaanbaatar during Sep 4-5. 

Invest Mongolia is one the of the largest events in Mongolia, which serves as a platform of bringing in delegates from the Government of Mongolia, key industries' players, financial institutions, global investors and medias attracting close to 1000 delegates where they get a chance to talk about several socio-political and economic development throughout the year.
What`s new this year?
The impact of the IMF program and whether the Government will take investor friendly measures to increase FDI.
The overview of Mongolian Economy including updates on legal, accounting and other regulatory changes
The progress and its impacts of OT underground and other major projects to the economy
AIIB and its involvements to the infrastructure development in Mongolia
The Mongolian Banking Industry and the Bank Strategies
The development of the non-mining sectors including the Real Estate
The foreign Investment in Mongolia: Concerns & Opportunities
The outlook of the Bond Market and the possible measures to increase the credit rating. 
The key speakers of the conference are:
Armando Torres, Member of the Board of Directors and CEO, Oyu Tolgoi
S.Batbold, Governor of Capital City and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar City
Neil Saker, Resident Representative, IMF 
Prof.Christian Strenger, Member of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Asset Management
Graeme Knowd, Managing Director, Moody's Investors Service
Peter Akerley, President & CEO, Erdene Resource Development
Erdembileg Ochirkhuu, First Deputy Governor, Bank of Mongolia
Nyamaa Buyantogtokh, Secretary of State, Ministry of Finance
Ganbold Gombo, Vice President/CFO, Erdenes Mongol LLCChristopher Melville, Managing Partner, Hogan Lovells.

International business community shows confidence in BRICS cooperation www.xinhuanet.com

XIAMEN, China, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The international business community at the BRICS Business Forum inaugurated here Sunday expressed confidence in cooperation built by the BRICS bloc grouping Brazil, Russia, India, China and Russia, hoping such cooperation can be furthered in future.
About 1,200 business elites from more than 600 enterprises gathered here to attend the two-day forum, an important side event of the BRICS summit in Xiamen City of southeast China's Fujian Province.
"The BRICS is never about short-term fluctuation of economic activity. It's always about complementarity," Jeremy Stevens, an economist with Standard Bank, Africa's largest bank headquartered in South Africa, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the business forum.
In a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged that BRICS countries have encountered headwinds of varying intensity affected by complex internal and external environments, but he is upbeat about the countries' growth outlook.
Together, the five countries now represent 44 percent of the world's population and 23 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), up from 12 percent a decade ago.
"I'm very positive about BRICS and we'll continue to support China in its endeavors to facilitate trade and investment," Stevens said.
Amid the rise of trade protectionism, Stevens said Xi's speech was "so great" as he mentioned Xiamen, one of China's earliest special economic zones, in his opening remarks to remind the world "how important being open to trade and investment."
Atul Dalakoti, executive director of the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, also hailed Xi's speech as "comprehensive, strategic and future-looking" and expressed his confidence in BRICS.
"The intent is there. They (BRICS countries) intend to do things, to change things, to look for drivers for growth," Dalakoti told Xinhua, adding that such determination should be followed by concrete policy decisions and "that will make a real difference."
Looking to the future, Dalakoti said he hoped that starting from the Xiamen summit, there will be a new consensus among the BRICS countries that they need develop their economies "with a much closer relationship."
Li Yong, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, told Xinhua that he believed the BRICS countries will enjoy great potential for cooperation in the future.
"As long as the five countries explore their advantages, their cooperation will go smoothly which will be like 'adding wings to a tiger'," Li said.

Bitcoin price surpasses $5,000 for first time www.rt.com

The price of Bitcoin surpassed $5,000 for the first time, reaching a historic new high for the cryptocurrency, before quickly dipping back below the record-breaking mark.

Bitcoin hit a high of $5,013.91, according to the CoinDesk index, on Friday and stayed above the mark for 10 minutes of trading, before falling back to a low of $4,867.19.

Hyundai seeks to draw young professionals away from Mercedes and BMW www.asia.nikkei.com

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor unveiled its mid-size luxury sedan under premium brand Genesis on Friday, targeting young professionals in their 30s and 40s who have thus far preferred the German brands of Mercedes-Benz and BMW.