Inner Mongolia police return fugitives from abroad www.xinhuanet.com

HOHHOT -- Three suspects were returned to China as part of the Fox Hunt campaign against economic fugitives, police in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region said on Thursday.

Wooden materials to be exempt from import duties www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Law on Customs Duty Exemption approved on May 10, 2018 took effect from January 1, 2019.

Third Mongolian in finals of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World www.news.mn

Mongolian baritone Ch.Badral has got through to the final stage of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2019 – but, we will have to wait as the grand conclusion of the competition is scheduled for 17-22 June. The event will be held in Cardiff, which is the capital city of Wales. Ch.Badral is among 19 opera singers who have been selected for the final stage from over 400 participants.

World may face ‘low price scenario’ for oil this year if OPEC plan fails, JP Morgan warns www.rt.com

Global benchmark Brent will remain at around last year’s lowest point in 2019 if OPEC members do not stick to the agreed output cuts, JP Morgan’s head of Asia Pacific oil and gas believes.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied oil producers sealed a deal on production cuts in early December in an attempt to boost the market. The cartel and its partners agreed to curb crude output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), briefly sending oil prices up, before they slumped to the lowest point in more than a year.

Asia's economy deemed to be swayed by China slowdown in 2019 www.asia.nikkei.com

SINGAPORE -- China will again shape Asia's economic outlook in 2019 as the region's largest economy faces internal and external challenges, including trade tensions with the U.S.

Economists expect China's growth to slow versus 2018, affecting economies across Asia. All eyes are fixed on Beijing's response.

In line with global trends, the regional economy is likely to see slower growth in 2019, estimates by economists and governments suggest. According to Japanese investment bank Nomura, one of the key challenges faced by Asia is China's expected slowdown, especially in the first half of the year.

In 2018, China's growth slowed gradually, with gross domestic product expanding by 6.8% on the year in the first quarter, by 6.7% in the second quarter and by 6.5% in the third quarter, as the government cut back on infrastructure spending to try to reduce debt at the local level. Weaker car sales added to the slowdown.

Ting Lu, Nomura's chief China economist, expects much slower growth in the coming months. Pointing to the weak auto sales, which were a drag on consumption figures, he said, "We believe this kind of decline will extend all the way into the first half of [2019]." Lu also predicted sales of construction equipment will also drop in the first half of the year due to the replacement cycle and the end of stimulus measures aimed at encouraging purchases.

In addition to domestic factors, the U.S.-China trade fight will likely weigh on the Chinese economy. Data show that U.S. tariff increases on Chinese exports have started to bite, with the Chinese government's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index showing declines in export orders over the past few months through November 2018.

HSBC, a bank, said in a recent report that an escalation of the trade war could shave 0.7 to 0.8 percentage point off China's GDP growth in 2019. According to the latest China economist survey compiled by Nikkei, the country's economic growth is forecast to slow to 6.2% in 2019 from 6.6% in 2018.

Given that likelihood, market watchers are turning their attention to the steps the government will take to keep the economy ticking over. The leadership under President Xi Jinping already hinted at more fiscal stimulus, such as bigger tax cuts, at the annual Central Economic Work Conference in mid-December.

"The external environment is complicated and severe, and the economy faces downward pressure," the conference statement said. It called for "bolder and more effective measures" to implement a "proactive fiscal policy." The plan is to expand tax cuts and fee reductions beyond the roughly 1.3 trillion yuan ($188 billion) authorized for 2018.

A slowdown in China would have ripple effects across Asia, as it is a major trading partner for most countries in the region. That would also affect the region's market confidence. Most economies in Southeast Asia started to cool in the second half of 2018 as U.S.-China trade tensions escalated.

At the same time, growth in the technology sector is slowing worldwide, which will dent the growth of electronics exporters. The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics in November predicted the chip market as a whole will grow by just 2.6% in 2019, compared with 15.7% in 2018, due to weaker demand for smartphones.

Output of electronics in places like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan may suffer. Sales at Taiwan's Largan Precision, one of the world's largest manufacturers of lenses for smartphone cameras, dropped nearly 30% on the year in November.

Another potentially destabilizing factor in Asia in 2019 is elections, and the political uncertainty that may result.

The first big electoral test in the region is scheduled for Feb. 24, when Thai voters head to the polls for parliamentary elections that will mark a milestone in the country's return to civilian rule.

"Even if a general election passes smoothly, political uncertainty is likely to remain a drag on Thailand's prospects," according to a report by Capital Economics. Pointing to the short-term risk from civil unrest, the report says, "Another outbreak of protests and violent conflict, similar to those observed in 2010 and 2014, would deal a significant blow to the economy."

Indonesia will hold a presidential election in April, and there will be midterm elections in the Philippines the following month. India will also have a general election in May. Clouds on the political horizon are already affecting the region's third-largest economy, with central bank chief Urjit Patel resigning in December over policy differences with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Some emerging economies may need to continue raising interest rates to keep local economies stable as the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at more interest rate increases at its December policy meeting. On Dec. 20, stock indexes in emerging markets dropped when the Fed implied two rate hikes might be coming in 2019, on the heels of four the previous year.

Fed tightening tends to pull in capital to the U.S. from emerging markets, and that could cool domestic consumption and investment.

One positive factor would be lower oil prices, which peaked in late 2018. As many Asian economies rely heavily on domestic consumption, lower oil prices could help moderate inflation and boost consumer spending.

Apple stock loses $55 billion on China slowdown www.cnn.com

New York (CNN Business)Apple has a big China problem, and it's making investors very nervous.

Apple (AAPL) warned investors to expect lower sales from the holiday quarter due primarily to "lower than anticipated" iPhone sales in China amid an ongoing trade war with the United States, as well as other factors like the company offering cheaper iPhone battery replacements, according to a letter from CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday.
After decades of expansion, the Chinese economy is slowing down. Growth in 2018 is set to be the weakest since 1990. And 2019 looks even worse. The world's second largest economy, China is feeling the effects of a darkening trade outlook and government attempts to rein in risky lending after a rapid rise in debt levels.
China is a huge market for Apple, making up about 15% of its revenues globally.
"While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China," Cook wrote in the letter. He pointed in part to "rising trade tensions" with the United States.
Apple now expects revenue for the three months ending in December to be about $84 billion, down from an earlier estimated range of between $89 billion and $93 billion.
The iPhone has been Apple's chief moneymaker for years, accounting for nearly 60% of Apple's total sales in the three months ending in September.
The company's shares were briefly halted after hours before Cook's letter was made public, and fell as much as 8% when trading resumed. That wiped up to $55 billion off of the company's stock market value.
While Cook focused on the impact of China, he did note in the letter that the number of people upgrading to new iPhones was "not as strong" as the company had hoped in other more developed markets.
In particular, he pointed to fewer carrier subsidies, a stronger U.S. dollar making devices more expensive abroad, and Apple's decision to offer $29 battery replacements for the iPhone. The latter policy was introduced to ease an outcry after it was discovered that Apple was slowing down older iPhones.
But this admission about upgrades could fuel investor concerns about weaker demand for the new lineup of pricier IPhones introduced in the fall. Multiple iPhone parts suppliers cut their sales outlooks in November.
With Apple's iPhone unit sales flatlining, Apple has shifted to trying to get consumers to pay more for each device. In October, Apple shocked investors by saying it planned to stop disclosing the number of iPhones sold each quarter.
In his letter to investors, Cook touted continued traction in Apple's "non-iPhone businesses," including wearable devices and supplementary services, like iCloud, Apple Pay and the App Store. But he admitted that the downward revision of its sales forecast is "disappointing."
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the day Tim Cook released a letter to investors.

Mongolia’s transgender beauty queen who refuses to stay hidden despite backlash on social media www.scmp.com

Make-up artist Solongo Batsukh braves Mongolia’s below-freezing temperatures in just a skimpy black dress and light pastel pink coat – the country’s trailblazing transgender beauty queen wants to look good in any weather.

“I don’t like to look puffy,” the 25-year-old says as she drives to a beauty salon that hired her to promote its products and services via Facebook live videos.

It’s with this typical bluntness, confidence and attitude that taboo-breaking Batsukh strutted into the country’s first ever Miss Universe Mongolia competition in October.

Although she fell short of representing her country at the Miss Universe contest in Thailand on December 17, her participation shed light on a group living on the edges of a deeply patriarchal country with conservative views about sexual orientation. Had she won, she would have joined Miss Spain’s Angela Ponce as the first transgender contestants in Miss Universe’s 66-year history.

“I wanted to inspire as many women as possible,” Batsukh says. “But I’m still proud that I got the chance to compete in this contest, and the ‘Solongo’ I created was a true winner in my heart.”

Her participation did not please everyone, provoking some negative reactions on social media.

“The world would have a negative image of our country if a man represents us while there are thousands of beautiful and real women in our country,” one person wrote on the Facebook page of Miss Universe Mongolia. But Batsukh isn’t deterred by such abuse.

Born Bilguun Batsukh, she grew up as a boy in the semi-arid central province of Dundgovi. She could not pinpoint her gender identity until she learned about different gender orientations as a university student in her early 20s.

It was when she started working as a programme officer at Youth for Health, a non-governmental organisation that provides safe-sex education for LGBT people, that she realised she was a woman born in a man’s body. She started wearing wigs, putting on dresses and taking hormone therapy.

Batsukh is among the few LGBT people who have dared to come out in Mongolia, where some 80 per cent of the community remain in the closet, according to a UN survey.

“It is extremely difficult for transgender people to be employed,” said Baldangombo Altangerel, legal programme manager at the LGBT Centre.

A video of a young transgender woman who had repeatedly been beaten in the streets went viral in Mongolia last year, highlighting the prejudices LGBT people face.

Batsukh wants to dispel the image that transgender women can only be sex workers or strippers living on the fringes of society. She flaunts her wealth, regularly travels abroad and is a celebrity in her country of 3 million people.

Batsukh found fame in 2014, when she represented Mongolia in Miss International Queen, finishing in the top 10 of the international transgender beauty pageant organised in Thailand. She pursued a modelling career and became a make-up artist.

“I had to reveal myself [as transgender] so I could correct the misunderstandings in society. If we keep hidden, society will keep on hating us. They don’t know us,” she says.

Batsukh has used her public image to speak up on television and social media, fighting against perceptions that transgender people are suffering from mental illness. But she has tough words for Mongolia’s transgender community, too, complaining that they should focus on working rather than talking about human rights.

“Instead of saying ‘We’re human like everyone else’, we need to prove ourselves through our actions. Just show others that we’re making a living like ordinary people,” she says.

Batsukh has seized on the popularity of her Facebook page, which has more than 120,000 “likes”, to create a reality show featuring women seeking a makeover. The beauty queen will help the women lose weight, change hairstyles and apply make-up.

Sarangoo Sukhbaatar, 25, who works in a cashmere company and was among 25 women competing to be among the five participants, says she trusts Batsukh’s ability and skills to transform her looks.

“Solongo truly understands what women feel,” says Sukhbaatar, who started following Batsukh on social media two years ago. “Her goals and patience inspire me. If a man can be beautiful like her, women can be much more beautiful than we are today.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: She is transgender and a beauty queen taking on prejudice

Stock trades reach all-time high at MNT 210 billion www.zgm.mn

Along with the economic growth of over 6 percent, stock trades at the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) reached its record high of MNT 210 billion in 2018. Aside from four new IPOs and one seasonal issue, Erdene Resource Development Corporation issued a dual-listing. These five firms raised over MNT 30 billion from the domestic stock market. In specific, primary market trades accounted for 15 percent of total trades. This shows that new IPOs intensified both primary and secondary market trades last year. However, the Cabinet decided to cease the primary market trades of Government securities starting from November 2017, which was also one of the reasons behind active stock trades as investors turned to stocks amid lack of Government securities according to some experts.

MIAT leases two Boeing 737 Max aircraft www.news.mn

In 2017, the leading national carrier MIAT Mongolian Airlines decided to expand its fleet by leasing two 737 Max aircraft from the global leasing company Avolon. The first of the planes is due to arrive on 21 January, 2019.

Renewable energy in Mongolia on the rise www.news.mn

The percent of renewable energy in Mongolia reached a record high in 2018 rising to 16 percent of total electricity production