Research and development in China, India, Brazil and South Africa has made BRICS on the cutting edge of providing cheap medicines and saving lives, but pitting these countries at odds with the EU and US over patents [Xinhua]
BRICS member countries are likely to turn to the World Trade Organization in what is shaping up to be a dispute with the EU and US over pharmaceutical patents.
China is one of the biggest importers of South African maize [Xinhua]
The 79 per cent increase in the 2017 maize harvest compared with 2016 will boost South Africa’s economic growth by one percentage point, John Purchase, the chief executive officer of the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) told The BRICS Post.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet with delegates attending the first meeting of Sino-German Advisory Committee on Economy in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2014 [Xinhua]
China overtook the US and France to become Germany’s biggest trading partner in 2016, official data showed on Friday.
German imports from and exports to China rose to $180 billion last year, the Federal Statistics Office told Reuters.
Germany has maintained strong relations with China during German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 11-year tenure.
The First Sherpa Meeting of the 9th BRICS Summit in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu Province, concluded on Friday [Xinhua]
China has set four main goals for the 9th BRICS summit which it will host in Xiamen in east China’s Fujian Province in September.
During the first BRICS Sherpa meeting in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province State Councilor Yang Jiechi outlined the four goals:
Oil prices continue to waver above $50 a barrel, improving prospects for Russia’s economic recovery [Xinhua]
Russia’s Ba1 (government bond) sovereign rating has been upgraded from negative to stable by Moody’s international rating agency.
The ruble, rand, real and a host of other EM currencies have registered strong growth against the dollar recently [Xinhua]
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a rally of sorts going on in emerging markets, defying all the factors stacked up against such a trend.
Conventional wisdom has it that with the US Federal Reserve promising to raise interest rates at least three more times this year, capital outflow from emerging markets will increase, sending their currencies plummeting.
A new “Trump rally” is in full swing with stocks on the rise from Asia to Europe to the US [Xinhua]
Dow Jones rallied on Monday extending Friday’s gains as the dollar returned to an upward trend against the Japanese yen and Canadian dollar.
US stock futures were registering new records on the heels of President Donald Trump’s announcement that a new tax policy was imminent.
China’s foreign investments are up and its exports have risen year on year in January 2017 [Xinhua]China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Friday reported that exports in January surged 7.9 per cent year on year, beating forecasts and suggesting the economy may be steadily back on track.
The preliminary figures mark a reversal of December’s downward trend when the GAC reported that exports had fallen 6.1 per cent.
The GAC says that the surge is the greatest in two years. In dollar terms, it says, Chinese exports to the US grew by 9 per cent.
South African President Jacob Zuma, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Michel Temer at the BRICS Summit in Goa, India on 16 October 2016 [Image: BRICS2016]
During a question-and-answer session on Facebook Live, India’s Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said that countries should carry out reforms and spending policies which benefit the people independently of assessments by the major ratings agencies.
BP reported a higher net income in the Q4 of 2016, but still well below market expectations [Xinhua]
With oil prices largely stabilizing in 2017, energy companies are expecting to return to profits after two years of sustained losses.
But they may have to wait a bit before they are at pre-2014 levels.
On Tuesday, oil giant British Petroleum (BP) reported a net income – $400 million – that was below the analyst forecast of $560 million for the fourth quarter 2016.
