the future of digital currencies, snippets

Minister of Finance Lan Foan attended and delivered a speech at the launching ceremony of the China-World Bank Group Global Ecosystem and Transformation Center. On December 8, the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank jointly held the launching ceremony of the China-World Bank Group Global Ecosystem and Transformation Center (hereinafter referred to as the Global Center). Lan Foan, Minister of Finance, delivered an opening speech with Peng Anjie, President of the World Bank, and signed a memorandum on the Global Center and an agreement on the renewal of the China-World Bank Group Partnership Fund. Liao Minyi, Vice Minister of Finance, and Philo, Vice President of the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, made closing remarks. More than 100 Chinese and foreign representatives from more than 20 embassies and international organizations in China, as well as relevant domestic departments and research institutions attended the event. Lan Foan emphasized that in the past decade, the central government has invested nearly 6 trillion yuan to fully guarantee the construction of beautiful China. The "gold content" of China's ecological environment has improved significantly, and the "green content" of its development has increased significantly. At the same time, China has assumed the responsibility of a big country, demonstrated its role as a big country, and achieved a major transformation from a participant to a leader in global environmental governance. China is willing to take the global center as a bridge, share China's experience in ecological protection and development, and embark on the road of green transformation together with other countries.Sources: The Bank of Japan tends to keep interest rates unchanged next week. Five sources familiar with the Bank of Japan's thinking said that the Bank of Japan tends to keep interest rates unchanged next week because policymakers tend to spend more time examining overseas risks and clues about salary increase next year. Any similar decision will increase the possibility that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates at its meeting in January or March next year, when there will be more information about the wage increase next year. The source also said that there was no consensus within the Bank of Japan on the final decision, and some people in the Committee still believed that Japan had met the conditions for raising interest rates in December. This decision will depend on each member's belief in the possibility of achieving wage-driven sustained price increases in Japan. If upcoming events, such as next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve, trigger another sharp fall in the yen, thus intensifying inflationary pressure, the Bank of Japan may also agree to raise interest rates. But overall, many BoJ policymakers seem to be in no hurry to pull the trigger.South Korea will gradually reduce the rice planting area to cope with the decline in demand. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of South Korea said on Thursday that South Korea will strive to gradually reduce the rice field area to solve the problem of declining demand and adopt environmentally-friendly planting methods. Due to the change of diet structure, the annual rice consumption of Koreans has decreased, and the per capita rice consumption has dropped significantly from 61 kg in 2018 to 56.4 kg in 2023. At present, the total area of rice fields in South Korea is about 698,000 hectares, and the government says it plans to reduce the area of rice fields by 80,000 hectares next year. In addition, by 2029, the planting area of environmentally friendly rice will be expanded from 35,000 hectares this year to 68,000 hectares. The government will also allocate 244 billion won (about 170 million US dollars) to subsidize farms that grow strategic crops other than rice, such as wheat, beans and barley, which is an increase from 186.5 billion won this year.

According to the Japan News Agency, Japan's House of Representatives is expected to pass an additional budget for fiscal year 2024 on Thursday.South Korea will gradually reduce the rice planting area to cope with the decline in demand. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of South Korea said on Thursday that South Korea will strive to gradually reduce the rice field area to solve the problem of declining demand and adopt environmentally-friendly planting methods. Due to the change of diet structure, the annual rice consumption of Koreans has decreased, and the per capita rice consumption has dropped significantly from 61 kg in 2018 to 56.4 kg in 2023. At present, the total area of rice fields in South Korea is about 698,000 hectares, and the government says it plans to reduce the area of rice fields by 80,000 hectares next year. In addition, by 2029, the planting area of environmentally friendly rice will be expanded from 35,000 hectares this year to 68,000 hectares. The government will also allocate 244 billion won (about 170 million US dollars) to subsidize farms that grow strategic crops other than rice, such as wheat, beans and barley, which is an increase from 186.5 billion won this year.Renhe Pharmaceutical invested in Jiangxi to establish a health industry company. According to the enterprise search APP, Jiangxi Renhe Jiuniuai Health Industry Co., Ltd. was recently established, with Xin Li as the legal representative and a registered capital of 1 million yuan. Its business scope includes: food Internet sales, health food production, health care services (non-medical), health consulting services, sales of first-class medical devices, sales of agricultural and sideline products, etc. Enterprise survey shows that the company is jointly held by Renhe Pharmaceutical and Xin Li.

Spring Festival travel rush's first day train tickets will be sold on 31st of this month. The student booking service was launched today. It was learned from China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. today (12th) that Spring Festival travel rush will be launched on 14th of January next year in 2025, and Spring Festival travel rush's first day train tickets will be sold on 31st of this month. In view of students booking tickets during Spring Festival travel rush, Railway 12306 launched a new function today.The 10-year main contract of treasury bond futures rose in the afternoon, hitting a record high. The 10-year main contract of treasury bond futures rose in the afternoon and now rose by 0.17% to 108.335 yuan, hitting a record high. In addition, the 30-year main contract rose by 0.27%, the 5-year main contract rose by 0.07%, and the 2-year main contract rose by 0.03%.This year, the amount of M&A transactions involving listed companies in Hong Kong has reached 38 billion US dollars, which has triggered a rare bidding war. This year is expected to be the busiest year for M&A transactions involving listed companies in Hong Kong in the past decade, with industries ranging from skin care products to logistics real estate, and the bidding war has also warmed up. It is reported that China Mobile's bid for Hongkong Broadband may face competition from American private equity firm I Squared Capital. Bi Hua, chairman of Fenmei Packaging, is negotiating with Qihao Capital to jointly counter the privatization offer of Shandong Xinjufeng. The data shows that the scale of M&A transactions for listed companies in Hong Kong has reached $38 billion this year, the highest level since 2017, including the merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, a smaller competitor, to become the largest brokerage firm in China.