In today’s talking points: Venture capitalist cautions about Australian start-up companies expectations; UN Secretary-General discusses sustainable development goals; China’s business confidence grows; Chief Chinese Bitcoin exchange announces end to trading amid crackdown.
Venture capitalist cautions about Australian start-up companies expectations
William Bao Bean, a partner at Chinaccelerator’s venture capital fund owner SOSV, has cautioned Australian start-up companies against expecting to reap big earnings through expanding their products into China. According to Mr Bao Bean, products that were made for an Australian market rarely succeed in China. He instead encourages those businesses looking to expand, to first start domestically. Despite Mr Bao Bean’s recommendations, Chinaaccelerator has recently invested in two Australian grown start-up companies: Chozun travel service, and QLC careers platform.
Read more at: AFR
UN Secretary-General discusses sustainable development goals
During the 9th annual UN Private Sector Forum, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed the business community, the financial sector and the private sector’s role in adopting new financial models to help meet the sustainable development goals (SDG). The SDG agenda for 2030 aims for “peace, prosperity and dignity for a healthy planet”. Guterres indicates that the aim for the future is to have the SDG 2030 Agenda be ingratiated into financial and business sector policy making. The forum included more than 300 attendees including chief executives, government leaders and UN and civil society leaders.
Read more at: China Daily
China’s business confidence grows
Business confidence among Chinese entrepreneurs has hit its highest level in five years, according to China’s central bank’s quarterly index. The People’s Bank of China posted the entrepreneur confidence index at 68.7 per cent for the third quarter of 2017 – an increase of 3.3 percentage points from the second quarter – following a survey of more than 5000 companies. The index is the highest since the first quarter of 2012. Xinhua reports that more than 66 per cent of those surveyed classified the macro economy as “normal,” while just 30.7 per cent described economic activity as “relatively cool”.
Read more at: Xinhua
Chief Chinese Bitcoin exchange announces end to trading amid crackdown
A major Bitcoin exchange in China has declared it will halt trading, as regulators clamp down on the industry. BTCC’s announcement that it will stop buying and selling Bitcoin on September 30 comes just over a week after authorities declared they were banning initial coin offerings. The state-backed National Internet Finance Association warned last week of the concerns around virtual currencies, saying they can be exploited for money laundering. While news of BTCC’s decision to stop trading saw the value of Bitcoin plunge, the BBC reports it has since recovered “some ground”.
Read more at: BBC