China-ASEAN FTA – CCTV

China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement came into effect at the start of the new year.  CCTV9 reports:

Happy New Year Asia & Oceania

Asia and Oceania ushered in 2010 a few hours ago.  Here’s a window into the celebrations which took place across the region.

CSA will start with none other than China, The country which unarguably had the most people around the world wishing one another a happy new year at the same time… Not because they have 1.4 billion people, but rather because the entire country is in one time zone, that of Beijing.  Happy New Year China!  I’ll be seeing you soon (CSA will be updated from China as of 2010).

China

Top Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao on Wednesday watched Peking Opera at the National Center for the Performing Arts in a gala to mark the New Year. (Xinhua Photo)

Soldiers in NE China celebrate new year with local ethnic people. (Xinhua Photo)

Vocalist Kang Mao of Chinese rock band "SUBS" performs at a rock gala to celebrate the New Year in Beijing December 31, 2009. Picture taken December 31, 2009. (REUTERS)

Taiwan – China

A person holding an umbrella watches fireworks exploding from the world's tallest completed skyscraper Taipei 101 during New Year celebrations in Taipei January 1, 2010. (REUTERS)

Australia

Sydney, Australia - Celebrates New Years 2010 (Photo via Newsfromrussia)

Singapore

Fireworks light up the skyline of the financial district to usher in the New Year on Jan. 1, 2010 in Singapore. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Japan

People release balloons as the Tokyo Tower is illuminated to celebrate New Year at a countdown event at the Zojo-ji Buddhist temple in Tokyo January 1, 2010. (REUTERS)

South Korea

Christians sing a hymn during a prayer to celebrate the New Year at Imjingak pavilion near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, about 52 km (32 miles) north of Seoul, January 1, 2010. (REUTERS)

Indonesia

Fireworks explode above downtown Jakarta's Welcome Monument, Indonesia, early Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Asian Stock Markets; weekly roundup

Newswire: South-South / Emerging Market Cooperation

[China - ASEAN] - China to Boost Cooperation With Asean on Investments – Bloomberg

China wants to boost cooperation with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to develop trade and increase investment, said Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

[ASEAN] - Five Asean Nations May Form Rice-Trade Body, Thai Official Says - Bloomberg

Five Southeast Asian nations may set up a rice-trade association next year to cooperate in stabilizing rice prices, a Thai official said.

Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will also cooperate on other issues related to food security and production, said Chiya Yimvilai, a spokesman at a meeting of Asean economic ministers in Bangkok. The countries would also work together on developing rice products, he said.

[Venezuela - Russia] – PDVSA, Russian Group to Start $30 Billion Oil Venture – Bloomberg

Petroleos de Venezuela SA and a group of Russian oil companies plan to spend $30 billion on a joint venture in Venezuela’s Orinoco region.

The 40-year venture will seek to produce crude in the Junin 6 area and may expand to other Orinoco blocks, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told reporters in St. Petersburg today after meeting with Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez. Russian investors will include OAO Gazprom, OAO Rosneft, OAO Lukoil, TNK-BP and OAO Surgutneftegaz. The venture will be signed “in the coming months,” Sechin said.

[Mexico - Uruguay] – Mexico/Uruguay sign strategic association accord and advance trade – MecroPress

Mexico president Felipe Calderón and Uruguay’s Tabare Vazquez signed on Friday in Montevideo a Strategic Association accord to strengthen political dialogue and bilateral trade relations in the framework of the 2004 free trade agreement.

[Mexico - Colombia - Venezuela - Ecuador] - Mexico offers to mediate between Colombia and Venezuela and Ecuador – MecroPress
Mexican president Felipe Calderón on an official visit to Colombia offered his country’s mediation in the conflict between Bogotá and neighbouring Ecuador and Venezuela.

[Peru - Brazil] - Brazilian President to visit Peru to strengthen strategic alliance – Andina
The next arrival to Lima of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will contribute to create a new strategic alliance to face Asian markets when signing several trade agreements, the President of Peru-Brazil Integration Chamber Miguel Vega Alvear.

“The arrival of Brazilian President will strengthen the progress achieved up to now in this Peru-Brazil strategic alliance and it will create a new stage in which both countries can face Asia-Pacific markets,”

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Hong Kong, Taiwan Approve Exchange-Traded Fund Cross-Listings

[Breaking News] — Bloomberg

Financial regulators in Hong Kong and Taiwan agreed to allow cross-listing of exchange-traded funds in the two markets, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission said on its Web site yesterday.

Jim Rogers: Speak Mandarin, Don't Buy America

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKslM3KDLmY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1]

China: Stimulus Working

Click here to view the Reuters video — China: Stimulus Working

[Reuters Video] – China’s central bank says the $580 billion stimulus measures are having a better-than-expected impact on the economy, with more action likely.