In January， the worlds second largest economy lost spending power and turned its focus away from manufacturing towards the service industry， leaving Australia with a surplus of raw materials and no demand. This， on top of the declining oil industry saw a downward trend in the Australian market to start off 2016.

As the worlds largest producer of iron ore， and having just emerged from a substantial coal boom， Australia felt the squeeze from Chinas slowdown.

As Australias main trade partner， Chinas slowdown directly affected their economy， with the Australia dollar devalued almost 10% at its low， and Australia nearing the bear market. Consumer confidence was also affected， as the Westpac Consumer Confidence Index indicated， showing a decrease of 3.5% from December 2015.

But economists， such as those at the Australian company Clime Asset Management， believe that as undeniable as the impact of the Chinese slowdown was， “it is overused and is a convenient smokescreen for avoiding proper economic analysis of the difficult outlook for Australia” that “has arguably been in a bear market for the last 9 months”， as indicated by the 20% correction over the past 8 months.

Some thought that too much had been invested into the coal-mining industry due to the huge boom that seemed unsustainable as a long-term source of income， as well as in the property sector， which also appeared to have reached its zenith.

The Australian market rose slightly along with the oil prices that were stimulated by the demand due to the US blizzard， but within days， oil resumed its decline， bringing the ASX back below 5，000 points.

Generally， on the S&P/ASX50， the various sectors declined at the start of January， but made at least some recovery towards the end， with the exception of metals and mining industries， lifting the Australian market back into positive territory. This was in spite of the negative reaction from Wall Street to the announcement on Jan. 29th from the Federal Reserve Board （FRB） who stated that they would “maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at ？ to？%”， and did not rule out a rate hike in March.

In any case， Treasurer Scott Morrison believes that the Australian economy will survive the year intact， as like China， its economy is being restructured to focus on the service sector. “Synchronization is taking place between the Australian economy and the Chinese economy，”Morrison stated， but admitted “certainly there is volatility” as an explanation as to why Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would not attempt an early election.endprint

The Bank of America Merrill Lynchs Alex Joiner has predicted a GDP growth rate of 2.7% in 2016 compared with 2.3% in 2015， suggesting that Australia will pull through. The hope is that over the coming year， the weak Australia dollar will encourage exports in more sought after service industries.

China Invests Heavily in Football

China broke the world record three times in ten days for the highest amount paid for a football player during the winter transfer window.

On Jan. 27th， Jiangsu Suning signed Chelseas Ramires for US$35 million. A week later， Guangzhou Evergrande paidUS$45 million for Atlético Madrids Jackson Martinez， and Brazilian Alex Teixeira joined Jiangsu Suning for US$53 million.

In total， China spent US$365 million， compared to Britain who spent the second largest amount at around U$240 million.

A 50-point plan to expand football in China， released last year， listed targets including qualifying for， hosting and winning a world cup.

President Xi， a self-proclaimed fan， believes that football promotes collectivism and patriotism， and is important for diplomatic relations.

The benefits are also financial： “more Chinese fans…means larger commercial values for the clubs in the Chinese market，” said Gu Xin， an analyst at Yutang Sports.

But sceptics believe there is a long way to go before China is a leading international player. The Chinese Football Association is 93rd internationally and 11th in Asia on the football rankings and has only ever qualified for one world cup， being knocked out at group stage.

Beijings Billionaires Outnumber New York Peers

Beijing overtook New York as the city with the largest number of billionaires， according to luxury magazine and research firm， Hurun Inc.， totalling100 billionaires –32 more than last year. New York came in second with 95. China also came top worldwide， with 568 billionaires， compared to the United States535.

The annual list， which is calculated in US dollars based on Jan. 15th， was begun in 1999 by Rupert Hoogewerf， who commented in a press release that “despite its own slowdown and failing stock markets[sic]， China minted more new billionaires than any other country in the world last year”.

Chinas billionaires have a net worth of US$1.4 trillion， while the number of billionaires in China has grown 80% since 2013.endprint

In terms of cities， Moscow came third， followed by Hong Kong in fourth and Shanghai joint fifth with London. India was the country with the third highest number of billionaires， followed by Germany and the UK in fifth place.

Bill Gates remained the richest individual worldwide， as for 16 out of 25 previous years， while Snapchats Evan Spregel， 24， was the youngest listed. Chinas richest man， Wan Jianlin was 21st.

Worldwide， Hurun reported a record-breaking 2，188 billionaires.

China Plans 30 Nuclear Power Plants along Silk Route

China has set a target of building around 30 nuclear power units in countries along the Belt andRoad Initiative routes by 2030， according to Sun Qin， president of China National Nuclear Corp.

He said 70 countries in total are already planning or developing their own nuclear power projects，and it is estimated 130 more nuclear power units will have been built by 2020.

“But we also face very strong competition in the international nuclear market，” he said.

“Countries like Russia， South Korea， Japan and the United States are all exploring the global nuclear market aggressively.”

Belt and Road destinations are those along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road，an initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping to strengthen regionaleconomic integration and infrastructure connectivity.

Currently China has 30 nuclear power generating units with a capacity of 28 million gigawattsand another 24 units are under construction， according to data from the National EnergyAdministration.

CNNC is one of Chinas three nuclear giants.

It has been accelerating the building of its flagship nuclear project using Hualong One， a third-generation nuclear reactor design， in Fuqing， Fujian province， and hopes to leverage thisdomestic experience to boost its nuclear technology exports.

The operator has already reached bilateral agreements on nuclear energy cooperation withcountries including Argentina， Brazil， Egypt， Britain， France and Jordan， Sun said.

But he emphasized there was no need to hit full self-sufficiency in nuclear， because many generalcomponents can be bought through international suppliers.

CNNC has already exported six nuclear reactors， five miniature neutron source reactors， twonuclear research facilities and one experimental reactor.

Sun said the company is looking ideally to cooperate with countries throughout the whole nuclearpower industry chain.endprint

It actively promotes localization of its technology and strives to establish integrated industrialsystems for countries involved with the Belt and Road， Sun said.

China Tops in Digital Payment Adoption Worldwide

China has the highest adoption rate in the world for technology-enabled payment systems， according to a report released on Wednesday.

The report， from the market research firm Nielsen， is based on a survey of 13，000 respondents in 26 countries.

The survey showed that 86% of Chinese respondents said they paid for online purchases during the past six months via digital payment systems compared with a global average of just 43%.

“Chinese consumers have more payment choices for products and services than ever while digital payments will continue to win over more Chinese consumers due to its convenient nature，” said Kiki Fan， managing director of Nielsen China.

The increasingly popular payment method is part of the rapidly evolving purchasing behavior of Chinese consumers.

About 98% of the respondents in China， the worlds largest e-commerce market， said they had made purchases online.

The majority of them still make online purchases via computers， but the number of those who use mobile devices to make purchases is growing fast and is significantly higher than the average in other surveyed countries.

At 71%， food-related businesses topped the list of purchases made via smartphones while event ticket purchases stood at 51%.

The rising use of digital payments has attracted numerous players to the Chinese market.

Apple Inc launched its contactless payment system Apple Pay in the Chinese mainland last month. It allows users of the iPhone 6 or more advanced versions， certain iPads and Apple Watches to pay by their devices in bricks-andmortar stores.

The new service immediately became a hit.

Apples rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to bring its own mobile payment service to China in midMarch.

Chinas Internet giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd have already taken about 90% of the mobile payment market， but industry observers said the competition is just about to start.

Kevin Dallas， chief product officer at payment-technology provider Worldpay， a major payment processing company listed in London， said that with more young people becoming smartphone users in China， only time can tell which company will be the winner of the mobile payment market.endprint

“The only sure thing is that the market is going to be bigger and bigger and the competition will be fiercer and fiercer，” he said.

Chinese Tourist Wave Splashes into Japan

Chinese visitors to Japan more than doubled their hotel stays in 2015， and they are spending more on personal items rather than on goods such as electrical appliances.

The number of nights visitors from the Chinese mainland stayed in hotels in Japan rose more than 111% year-on-year to 16.46 million in 2015， while the number of visitors from Taiwan who stayed in Japanese hotels climbed 34.9% to 10.71 million， according to Japan Times.

Increased incomes， easier visa policies and more flights triggered the boom in Chinese visitors， according to a report by Ctrip， a leading online travel agency in China.

Shopping tastes have also changed. Whereas many Chinese consumers once mainly purchased household goods， such as toilet seats and refrigerators， more are opting to spend their money on clothes， cosmetics， pharmaceuticals and food， the report said.

The spending power of Chinese tourists has given a significant boost to department stores and other retail sellers in Japan， while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been stepping up efforts to increase the number of foreign tourists to 20 million annually by 2020， the report said.

Chinese tourist wave splashes into Japan

The tourism agency said that Chinese visitors - more than 5 million of them - visited Japan in 2015 and account for one-fourth of Abes 2020 target. They spent $12.2 billion in the country.

Liu Xiaoxiang， a 27-year-old computer sales company owner in Hangzhou， Zhejiang province， took his fiancee to Japan in January.

“I spoke Chinese all the time as the salespeople in Japan often speak fluent Mandarin. The bargain prices for luxury goods and the food there impressed me，”he said.

Yu Qiang， a researcher at the University of International Relations， said China and Japan are trying to improve their relationship， and better ties will surely result in even more Chinese going to Japan.endprint