Beijing will issue a sovereign digital currency

Beijing will issue a sovereign digital currency

Chinese investment in Europe fell 80% in the first half

London: "Middle East"

BEIJING (Reuters) – The central bank is "almost ready" to issue a sovereign digital currency for the country, a senior official of the People's Bank of China said on Tuesday. Mu Changchun, deputy director of the payments department of the People's Bank of China, made the statement Saturday night at a forum in Heilongjiang Province in the north of the country.
The People's Bank of China formed a research team in 2014. Explore the possibility of launching a digital currency for the country in order to reduce the cost of traditional paper money transactions and strengthen the control of decision makers on the money supply. But China has given little details on its plans so far.
Mu said the issuance of a digital currency would be based on a "binary" system in which the central bank and financial institutions would be legitimate issuers.
He added that the country's digital currency would not rely solely on blockchain technology, as currently available technologies would not be able to handle the volume of transactions in China.
The Chinese digital currency, currently the most widespread in the cryptocurrency sector, after the "balance" of Facebook, which has sparked controversy in the financial community, ended with the announcement by the giant of social networks that the possibility of not offering Libra for good.
This took place after the G7 finance ministers questioned the prospects for the digital currency of Libya, which Facebook plans to launch, insisting that there are difficult regulatory issues that need to be resolved in advance.
French Finance Minister Bruno Lemerre said in previous statements: "We can not accept any currency with the same strength and the same role as sovereign currencies".
The Chinese announcement of Sovereign Digital Currency comes after the United States had called Beijing "currency manipulator" last week, and the Chinese central bank responded that it "deeply regretted it".
The US Treasury took the decision last week after China allowed the yuan to depreciate sharply against the dollar. The movement is largely symbolic, as it generally opens the door to negotiations and royalties, measures already taken by the United States.
Washington accuses Beijing of wanting to gain an unfair competitive advantage at a time when the world's two largest economies remain stuck in a trade war. A weaker yuan makes Chinese exports cheaper, giving a boost to the gloom of the Chinese economy.
In a statement, the People's Bank of China said that this note was another form of "protectionist behavior" of the administration of President Donald Trump, and warned that this would have "a significant impact on global finance." Yesterday, the dollar fell slightly to 7.0925 yuan in overseas transactions after the Chinese central bank set the daily price of the yuan at a level above market expectations.
This has dispelled some fears that Beijing is using its currency as a weapon in its trade war with the United States.
All eyes will be on Chinese data on retail sales and industrial production for July, forecast on Wednesday, to measure the impact of the longstanding dispute with the United States on domestic activity.
The dollar fell against the yen to 105.40, remaining close to the seven-month low of 105.25 hit Friday. The euro also fell to 118.16 yen and close to its lowest level since April 2017. Similarly, the pound has reached levels never seen since 2016 at 126.69 yen after falling more than eight yen in just over two weeks.
The latest pound sterling is traded at 1.2020 USD and is seeking support at 1.1979 USD, its lowest level since January 2017. The euro has slightly increased against the dollar at 1.207 USD.
China's investment in Europe fell by 80% in the first half compared with the same period in 2018, according to a semi-annual study by Ernst & Young, a business consulting firm released on Monday.
China invested $ 2.4 billion in European companies in the first six months of the year, including 81 acquisitions and acquisitions of shares, according to the study, noting that most of them were small ladder.
The study revealed that China had made no acquisitions in Germany and had only invested 505 million dollars in German companies. China has only invested $ 10 million in Germany in 2018.
The company said the persistent trade dispute between the United States and China, which has slowed the Chinese economy, is one of the main reasons for the decline in Chinese investment. It has been forbidden for CGCC to provide electricity to Germany in the summer of 2018.
In December, Germany tightened restrictions on foreign companies taking back shares in some local companies.
Under the new laws, the government could not approve a foreign takeover of more than 10 percent in German companies for reasons of national security.

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