BRICS News

Industrial profit growth may have fallen but the PMI has gained ground indicating the economy has not run out of steam [Xinhua]
Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) appear to show that industrial growth may have slowed in 2017.
During the period January to October growth in profits from major industrial companies slowed to 21.9 per cent.
During the same period in 2016, profits had grown by 23.3 per cent.
The slowdown peaked in November this year when profit growth was at 14.9 per cent, compared to 25.1 per cent in the same month last year.

London is a very popular shopping destinations for hundreds of thousands of Chinese every year [Xinhua]
It’s a Christmas boon in London as retailers prepare for what they believe will be a record Boxing Day in terms of peak sales with Chinese tourists expected to spend $1340 or more.
According to the Centre for Retail Research, Chinese shoppers are spending more in the UK this year and will account for 20 per cent of all sales from non-EU tourists in London alone.

It’s been a difficult few months for Zuma but will ANC chief Ramaphosa now recall him? [Xinhua]
The recall of President Jacob Zuma by the African National Congress (ANC) will be the first test of the new leader of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Unlike the recall of former President Thabo Mbeki however, South Africa does not have the luxury of waiting ten months, as Moody’s Investors Service gave the South Africa government 90 days starting in late November to put things right.

File photo of the C919, China’s first homemade large passenger aircraft, at a plant of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), in Shanghai, east China in November 2015 [Xinhua]
China on Sunday announced that it had successfully test flown its second wide-body locally manufactured passenger plane, the C919.
According to local media, the C919 took from from Shanghai Pudong International airport for its two-hour maiden flight, and tested major aviation systems.
The first C919 made its maiden flight in May 2017.

Recovery in gross operating surplus should boost Company Income Tax collections  
Is the South African economy finally turning a corner? [Xinhua]
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) said at its media briefing on the 2017 Tax Statistics on Tuesday that it expected a turnaround in tax collections as the economy improved after a slowdown in 2016.
“We expect a turnaround in company tax collections as the economy improves, but this will come with a lag,” Dr Randall Carolissen, the SARS head of revenue and research said.

While China has more than 750 million internet users, the number of online users in Southeast Asia is expected to hit 450 million by 2020 [Xinhua]
Internet research and development has seen a boon in the Southeast Asia region as data indicates that the internet-based economy there is expected to hit at least $200 billion in the next 7 years.
In 2017 alone, the internet economy in Southeast Asia is expected to top $50 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing and lucrative industries in the world.

Putin, left, last visited Egypt and met with El-Sisi in February 2015 [Xinhua]
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the strategic ties with Egypt during his one day trip to Cairo.
He arrived in Cairo for a scheduled visit and left a few hours later.
He had made a surprise visit to Syria earlier in the day, where he also met with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad at a Russian air force base there.

Transaction value rose by 8.4 per cent y/y to R2.5 billion ($183 million) on Black Friday
Is the South African economy on the rise again? [Xinhua]
Although Black Friday and Cyber Monday are American shopping “inventions”, South Africans did not follow American behavior slavishly as in the US, Cyber Monday had a higher online transaction value than Black Friday, whereas in South Africa Black Friday was more popular than Cyber Monday.

Putin is to meet with Erdogan on Monday to discuss the issue of Jerusalem and Middle East tensions [Xinhua]
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Saturday Washington of further instability if the US embassy is moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Last week, US President Donald Trump reversed decades of foreign policy and declared his country’s recognition of Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel. He also signed an executive order to move the embassy there.

South African GDP growth held back by inventory depletion as resurgent demand outpaces ability to deliver the goods  
File photo: The Mall of Africa in Midrand, near Johannesburg, South Africa [Xinhua]
South African final demand, which is the demand from households, government, fixed capital formation and net exports, but excluding the change in inventories, surged by 3.6 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (q/q) seasonally adjusted annualised (saa) basis in the third quarter after a 2.9 per cent gain in the second quarter.