Economy

China Sees a Big Leap in Mobile Payments

Last year 125 million Chinese made payments by mobile phones， an increase of 126 percent over the previous year， and the volume of payments rose by 707 percent. Users who pay by smartphone now outnumber those who pay by other means like bank cards and the Internet， according to the 2014 China Internet Financial Development Report， published in August by the Internet Society of China （ISC） and Finance World， a Xinhua News Agency magazine.

However， Shi Xiansheng， deputy secretary-general of the ISC， warns that mobile operating systems are open platforms and therefore more vulnerable to bugs and malware. He urged improved technical precautions by operators， banks and the third party payment platforms， and strict supervision of third party payment platforms. Shi also suggested that authorities introduce unified safety standards and strict regulations on mobile payment in order to better protect consumers rights.

Alibaba Invests in U.S. Game Maker Kabam

On August 1 Alibaba confirmed that it had invested US $120 million in San Francisco-based mobile games producer Kabam. To increase its mobile games presence， Alibaba will team up with Kabam and publish the latters mobile games including The Hobbit： Kingdoms of Middleearth， and Fast & Furious： The Game. Sources with Alibaba said the games will be put on its instant messaging app Laiwang and online shopping site Taobao.

Previously， Kabam CEO Kevin Chou said the deal with Alibaba would bring resources， infrastructure and distribution to help bring Kabams games to China and elsewhere in Asia.

Alibaba launched its own mobile game platform in January.

China has more than half a billion Internet users and there are many opportunities in its mobile games market， worth RMB 12.5 billion （US$2 billion） in the first six months of this year.

Chinas Non-manufacturing PMI Retreats in July

Business activity in Chinas non-manufacturing sector slightly slowed in July， an official monthly survey shows. The Purchasing Managers Index（PMI） of the non-manufacturing sector came in at 54.2 percent in July， down 0.8 percentage points from June， according to a report jointly released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing（CFLP）.

The non-manufacturing PMI tracks activity in sectors including construction， software， aviation， railway transport， and real estate. Julys reading marked the lowest level in six months， but still well above the 50-mark that demarcates the difference between expansion and contraction.

To support faltering growth， Chinese policymakers have accelerated investment in railways and infrastructure， increased fiscal spending， and selectively eased monetary policies. Helped by these efforts， Chinas economy showed signs of recovery in the second quarter， with growth edging up from 7.4 to 7.5 percent.

Domestic Passenger Plane Entails Huge Industrial Chain

China completed the assembly on July 31 of the nose of the first C919， a domestically designed large passenger jetliner. Final assembly is expected to start in the latter half of this year， to prepare the plane for its maiden flight in 2015. Orders have been received for 400 C919 planes. The production chain for the aircraft has a total value of more than RMB 100 billion.

China is expected to acquire around 1，600 more large passenger jetliners by 2020， and by 2050 roughly 3，000 planes will need to be replaced or added in flight. Chinas demands for large passenger planes rank second in the world， according to Huang Yumin， a researcher with China Aviation Industry Development Research Center.

“Large planes” refer to those with a gross weight of over 100 tons in flight， for either military or civil use. The world market for passenger planes has long been dominated by Boeing and Airbus. With its high quality and improved functions， the C919 model with 150 seats is one of Chinas first efforts to break into the world airliner market.