Researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, conducted a robot survey of the deposit about 350 kilometers off Chiba Prefecture from April to May.

The area with cobalt-rich crusts was found nearly 30 years ago. It contains a large amount of cobalt and other rare metals.

The researchers say the surface of a submarine volcano at the depth of 1,500 to 5,500 meters was covered with the crusts.

The crusts extend for about 950 square kilometers and are more than 10 centimeters-thick. That's about 2 times as thick of cobalt-rich crusts found in other areas of the world.

An official at the agency says it is surprising such a huge amount of mineral resources are found near Japan's main island of Honshu.

The official says the agency hopes to conduct research on the presence of more resources and the technical feasibility of marine resource development around Japan.

The update of the multilateral development lender's Global Economic Prospects report marked the first time in several years that its June forecasts were not reduced from those published in January due to rising growth risks.

The World Bank's 2017 global growth forecast of 2.7 percent compares to its 2.4 percent estimate for 2016, a figure that was increased by a tenth of a percentage point since January.

The World Bank said advanced economies were showing signs of improvement, especially Japan and Europe, while the seven largest emerging markets - China, Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Russia - were again helping to drive global growth.

"With a fragile but real recovery now under way, countries should seize this moment to undertake institutional and market reforms that can attract private investment to help sustain growth in the long term," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

The bank boosted its 2017 growth forecast for Japan by 0.6 percentage point since January to 1.5 percent, while the euro zone's forecast was increased by 0.2 percentage point to 1.7 percent. In both cases, a pickup in exports and unconventional monetary easing are helping to support growth.

The World Bank said U.S. growth also is improving but it shaved 0.1 percentage point off its forecast for 2017 to 2.1 percent after weak growth early in the year caused by a pullback in consumer spending it viewed as temporary. It slightly lifted its 2018 U.S. growth forecast to 2.2 percent.

It left unchanged its forecast that China's growth would slow to 6.5 percent from 6.7 percent last year and predicted that commodity exporters Argentina, Brazil, Nigeria and Russia will see recessions end and positive growth resume this year.

But the World Bank warned that new trade restrictions could derail the recovery in trade that is benefiting many advanced and developing economies, citing actions being contemplated by the Trump administration.

Such restrictions could fall disproportionately on China and other Asian economies, the bank said.

"Significant disruption to China's exports would undermine its growth with large spillovers on the region," the bank said in the report. "Furthermore, trade-restricting measures in the United States could trigger retaliatory measures."

It said exports and investment in Mexico also could be negatively affected by the looming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, causing spillovers to Central America as well.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

The global audit, tax and advisory services major accords high regard to the fintech segment, which refers to online payment systems and other financial services offered digitally. KPMG will persuade Chinese companies to upgrade their systems so as to integrate fintech into their operations, he said.

"China is indeed taking the lead in global fintech," said Wang Lipeng, a partner at KPMG. "Fintech is bringing profound changes to the Chinese economy and industrial reforms."

He attributed China's lead in fintech to two key aspects: the fast-growing internet-related businesses; and the government's encouragement for innovation and entrepreneurship.

"Fintech benefits a lot from a culture of innovation and experts driving the development of internet-based businesses," Wang said.

According to a report by DBS Bank and EY, 40 percent of online consumers use electronic payment tools. China's investment on fintech last year was $8.8 billion, much higher than the previous year's level.

China is now home to four fintech unicorns－starups whose valuations have grown to $1 billion and above.

Ant Financial, from the Alibaba stable helmed by Jack Ma, leads the pack. It is followed by Luafx, a peer-to-peer lending platform powered by Ping An Insurance; Qufenqi, an online retailer that allows monthly installments; and JD Finance, a financial subsidiary of JD.com Inc, one of China's biggest online marketplaces.

Their rapid growth has lured traditional banks to fintech services. According to China Merchants Bank, it has earmarked 790 million yuan ($114 million) to encourage innovation in fintech projects.

In March, the bank agreed to grant 1 percent of its annual profit to fintech-related project innovation.

The bank also plans to intensify its efforts to adopt mobile technology, cloud computing, big data and blockchain technologies in its operations.

Industry observers, however, said fintech services should be adopted in a conscious way, not as a fad. Sringent risk management in enterprises holds the key, they said.

Chen Shengqiang, CEO of JD Finance, said in a recent message to the China Banking Regulatory Commssion that risk management is the very foundation of the fintech business.

Mongolians will choose their 5th President on June 26, Monday, and the standing candidates are Parliament Speaker M.Enkhbold, representing Mongolian People’s Party, former Member of Parliament Kh.Battulga, representing Democratic Party and former Member of Parliament S.Ganbaatar, representing Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party.

The General Election Commission handed over certificates of candidacy on May 27, Saturday.
Kh.Aminaa

Mongolia saw economic growth of 11.6 percent in 2013, 7.9 percent in 2014, 2.4 percent in 2015 and 1.0 percent in 2016. The main factor of decreasing economic growth was the fall of minerals on the world market, as well as the economic declines in neighboring countries. Other causes can be named, such as the repugnant monetary policy and irresponsible and costly actions conducted by the previous government and the Bank of Mongolia, of which actions did not comply with the Government Budget Plan. The authorities, however, have been taking immediate measures including tightening monetary policy and amending some laws and regulations.

“Today, actions are being taken to slow down the economic decline. The International Monetary Fund has been collaborating in this effort. The government debt is intended to be limited within 88 percent of the country’s GDP in 2016, 85 percent in 2017, 80 percent in 2018, 75 percent in 2019, 70 percent in 2020 and 60 percent in 2021”, said the Minister. 
B.Amarsaikhan

PM J.Erdenebat underlined ‘- Trade turnover between the two countries has increased since visa-free travel for Mongolian citizens to Russia took effect. When an intergovernmental agreement on supporting regional and cross-border cooperation is adopted, the widening relationship will develop further to higher level”.

They agreed to actively cooperate in exports of meat and meat products and supply of breeding animals. The parties also noted the necessity of powerful, reliable infrastructure to intensify newly-restoring multilateral cooperation between bordering regions. "The two countries are connected with railway and international roads and there are broad possibilities to improve the quality of this infrastructure and develop tourism businesses" highlighted the parties.
B.Ooluun