Agricultural company New Hope Group has struck a $300 million deal to build a massive pig-breeding base in Sichuan province， playing to Beijings campaign to improve food safety by boosting large-scale production. The new deal with the government of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in northwestern Sichuan also plays to another recent Beijing campaign to raise living standards for Chinas poorest people， and will help pull at least 5，000 locals out of poverty， according to an announcement on the companys website. Under the plan， New Hope will build eight farms to raise 30，000 pigs for breeding， and about 130 centers to raise pigs for slaughter. Like many agricultural and livestock industries， pigraising in China is transitioning from family farming to intensive， large-scale facilities. Beijing is encouraging the drive to encourage greater efficiencies， and also to raise standards to prevent food-safety scandals that have become common with the countrys rapid economic rise. One of the biggest deals in the sector came in 2013， when domestic pork producer WH Group purchased U.S. giant Smithfield Foods Inc. for $4.7 billion. WH was back in headlines late last year when it announced a smaller deal to buy another major U.S. pork processor， Clougherty Packing LLC， for$145 million. Chinas Ministry of Agriculture unveiled a plan in 2015 aiming to raise the proportion of facilities with annual production of 500 pigs or more to 52% by 2020， up from the 2014 level of 41.8%. Farms with capacity of more than 5，000 pigs are eligible for subsidies of at least 500，000 yuan （$74，800） to upgrade stalls. In March 2016， New Hope started building pilot large-scale pig farms around a village in northern Liangshan， one of Sichuans poorest areas. So far， two farms with annual capacity of more than 1，000 pigs have been built， providing jobs for 81 locals， said a New Hope employee who is in charge of the project.

Alibaba Teams Up With Hometown to Boost Rental Market

The hometown of e-commerce giant Alibaba is tapping the companys technology prowess to set up an official online property rental platform， as the central government encourages cities to offer more housing options to residents amid a shortage of affordable homes. The housing security and management bureau in Hangzhou signed an agreement with Alibaba and Ant Financial， the online payment service provider backed by its billionaire founder Jack Ma， to use their information verification and credit-scoring technologies in service of the government， the two sides said in separate statements. The project will “resolve the multiple prominent problems in the house rental market such as fake information， volatile relations between landlords and tenants， and irregular rental practices，” the bureau said in its statement. Last year， the State Council， Chinas cabinet， ordered local governments to develop the rental market， to help meet rising demand for housing in towns and cities and rein in surging property prices. In July， the government told local authorities in areas with net population inflows to provide more support for renting， including setting up government-backed rental platforms. Hangzhou was among 12 cities selected to roll out pilot programs. Boosting the rental market is “a key measure to implement the policy that‘homes are for living and not speculating on，” the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said in a joint statement with eight other central government bodies in mid-July， referring to comments made by President Xi Jinping in December. The agencies said the policy was also an important way to accelerate “new-style urbanization，” a plan announced in 2014 that emphasizes the need for a more peoplecentered and environmentally friendly development path for cities.endprint

China Boosts Trade With Africa

Chinas trade and direct investment with Africa have risen significantly this year， spurred on by a global economic recovery， higher commodity prices and the Belt and Road initiative. The value of Chinas imports from Africa in the first six months of the year jumped 46%， hitting $38.4 billion， according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. That included minerals， chemical and agricultural products. China s exports to Africa grew 3% to $47 billion. South Africa， Angola and Nigeria were Chinas three biggest trading partners in Africa. Meanwhile， Chinas direct investment in the continent rose 22% to $1.6 billion in the same period， ministry spokesman Gao Feng said. The growth is a reversal from declines in overall trade between China and Africa since 2015， due to global economic recovery， rising commodity prices and Belt and Road projects， said Jianping Zhang， a research fellow who focuses on Africa at the Chi- nese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation， a government think tank affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce. The Belt and Road， also known as “One Belt， One Road，”is a program under way to strengthen Chinas relations with countries in Asia， Africa and Europe， primarily through infrastructure investment and construction. African countries complain that China maintains a trade imbalance with them in its favor. In 2016， the whole 54 countries of Africa recorded a $35.4 billion deficit with China on total trade of $149.2 billion， according to statistics provided by the Chinese Commerce Ministry. Some African countries are urging China to tackle the trade imbalance. In an interview with the Financial Times in May， Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta called on China to open its market to more than commodities. But some analysts attribute the trade imbalance to Africa not offering much other than commodities that China wants.

China Now Has 751 Million Internet Users， Equivalent to Entire Population of Europe

Chinas population of internet users rose 2.7% over the first six months of the year to 751 million， exceeding the population of Europe， a new report showed. The rising figure， reported by the China Internet Network Information Center （CINIC）， indicates how the rise of mobile internet services such as online food delivery has driven growth in Chinas online population and its internet penetration. Chinas internet penetration rate rose to 54.3% by June 30， still well behind some European countries like Iceland and Norway，which have more than 95% penetration， as well as more-wired Asian countries like Japan and South Korea， which have penetration rates of nearly 90%， according to the U.S.-based Internet Society. In China， 96.3% of internet users had access through their cellphones， an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the end of last year. Among mobile internet applications， food delivery， wealth management and bike-sharing put up some of the biggest growth numbers. At the end of June， online food delivery services had 274 million users， a 41.4% increase from the end of 2016， making it the fastest-growing sector. The biggest food-delivery services， including Meituan and Ele.me， had more than 6 million daily active users， according to data firm Trustdata. The number of people that used internet services to manage their money grew 27.5% over the first six months to 126 million， according to the CINIC report. As the market for wealth management products has grown more regulated， the yields on these investments have declined. A few years ago， some startups such as peer-to-peer lenders that were eager to attract users promised annual interest rates that exceeded 20%. Concerned about financial risks， the State Council， Chinas cabinet， issued plans last year to counter fraud in internet financing. The platforms have since begun to adjust their business models， leading to lower rates.endprint

Chinas online payment industry has also taken off over the last six months， hitting a record 502 million online payment users， making China one of the most cashless countries in the world. Leading digital-wallet operators such as Alipay， owned by Ant Financial Services Group， and WeChat Pay， embedded in Tencents popular messaging app WeChat， have also sought to expand to the U.S.， Europe and Southeast Asia， catering to Chinese tourists who travel abroad and are used to making online payments.

Chinas Leaders Set Out Economic Agenda for Rest of 2017

China will focus on containing systemic financial risk， pushing ahead with structural reform， deepening a crackdown on financial irregularities， and maintaining controls over the property market in the second half of the year， the countrys top leaders said. The announcement， made after a meeting of the Politburo， the group comprising the ruling Communist Partys most senior 25 officials led by President Xi Jinping， sets the tone for economic policy for the rest of the year. The leaders vowed to guard against systemic financial risks， and to maintain continuity and stability in policies to “create a good environment” for the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party later this year， when a major reshuffle of high-ranking officials will take place. The meeting， which focused on the economy， also reiterated that the governments proactive fiscal policy， and prudent and neutral monetary policy， will be maintained. The Politburo statement suggests that leaders are less worried about supporting growth after better-than-expected gross domestic product （GDP） data gave the government a window of opportunity to focus on longer-term reforms. GDP increased by 6.9% in the first half of 2017， official data showed this month， beating the governments full-year target for growth of about 6.5%.endprint