Business Briefs

Online Housing Rent tech giant Alibaba has signed an agreement with the government of its home city of hangzhou to use the companys technology to create an online system for house rentals on August 9. the system will cover apartments put up for rent from all sources， including the government， individuals， real estate developers and agents. People seeking rental housing in hangzhou， capital of east chinas Zhejiang Province， will be able to use the application and website created by Alibaba for every stage in the process， from searching for apartments to signing contracts and payment. the smart house renting system， as it is called， will be supported by Alibabas big data， online payment technology and commerce credit system and can prevent fraudulent deals. the chinese Government is prioritizing the development of its rental market to rein in runaway home prices in big cities.

App Economy china continued to see a booming mobile app market in the first half of 2017 with over 4.02 million mobile apps. Mobile games boasted the largest number of apps with 1.17 million as of the end of June， followed by daily life services and e-commerce， according to the report released by the Ministry of industry and information technology. the report also showed that chinese above-scale firms in the internet sector and related industries raked in $42.68 billion in h1， up 24.9 percent year on year. e-commerce platforms were the biggest winners， reporting total revenue of $16 billion， up 42.9 percent year on year. the latest report from the china internet Network information center showed that china had about 751 million netizens and 724 million mobile internet users as of the end of June.

Steady Employment china continued to see a stable job market in July， with the unemployment rate at a relatively low level， data showed on August 14. the countrys urban surveyed unemployment rate was around 5.1 percent in July， lower than that for 2016， according to the National Bureau of statistics. the surveyed rate in major chinese cities continued to stay at a relatively low level of less than 5 percent. some 8.55 million new jobs were created in chinas urban areas from January to July， 200，000 more than the same period of last year. the chinese Government aims to create 11 million new jobs this year.

Recovering Economy the tunisian economy is expected to grow by over 2 percent this year， despite high unemployment and inflation rates， according to the countrys statistics agency. the North African countrys economy grew 1.9 percent year on year in the first half of 2017 with contributions from the agricultural and service sectors， the National institute of statistics said on August 15. Foreign trade registered a year-on-year growth rate of 15.9 percent in the first seven months of 2017， the agency said， adding that the unemployment rate reached 15.5 percent while inflation stood at 5.6 percent by July this year. the international Monetary Fund （iMF） said that tunisias economic growth is expected to pick up， while significant macroeconomic challenges linger.

Stronger Stock Exchanges the east African securities exchanges Association（eAseA） instructed its technical committee to accelerate the implementation of the common infrastructure of the capital markets at its 29th meeting in July held in Nairobi. the idea is to allow investors to be able to access in any of the financial markets of the region through a single platform. the four markets （Rwanda， Kenya， tanzania， and uganda） want to attract more investors， said Geoffrey odundo， ceo of the Nairobi securities exchange. eAseA was established in 2010 with the primary objective of promoting the growth and development of capital markets in the east African community and on the African continent. the eAseA secretariat has adopted key strategic initiatives as it looks to develop a five-year strategic plan. These initiatives are aimed at increasing the product offering of each market， building the capacity of market intermediaries， ensuring continuous public education and awareness campaigns， and supporting integration of market infrastructure.

Rising Consumer Confidence chinese consumers continued to show more willingness to spend as well as optimism about personal income growth and employment opportunities thanks to a stabilizing economy， according to the latest survey from global market research firm Nielsen. Chinas Consumer Confidence index （cci） reached 112 points in the second quarter of 2017， up 2 points from last quarter and the highest score since the fourth quarter of 2013. Nielsens cci measures perceptions about local job prospects， personal finance and immediate spending intentions. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism， respectively. the Nielsen report showed that personal finance grew to 69 from 66 while perceptions about local job prospects increased to 68 from 66. Moreover， immediate spending intentions reached 56， up from the previous level of 55.