the future of money is digital currency, Top stories

Central Economic Work Conference: Effectively loosen the burden on the grass-roots units, so that cadres who want to be officers and know how to be officers can be officers and get things done. The Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 11 to 12. The meeting stressed that it is necessary to strengthen the party's leadership over economic work, persist in doing things first, enhance confidence, face difficulties, and work hard to ensure that the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee are implemented. It is necessary to strengthen positive incentives and stimulate the endogenous motivation of entrepreneurs. Effectively loosen the burden on the grassroots, so that cadres who want to be officers and officers can be officers and do things. Unswervingly punish corruption and maintain a fair and just market environment and a clean and honest business environment. Persist in seeking truth from facts and being pragmatic, and resolutely oppose formalism and bureaucracy that are keen on showing up to the top, not being responsible for the bottom, and not considering actual results. (Xinhua News Agency)Lian Ping: The Central Economic Work Conference released a strong financial afterburner signal to lower the RRR or cut interest rates at the end of this year or early next year. Lian Ping, chairman of the China Chief Economist Forum and president of the Guangkai Chief Industry Research Institute, said in an interview that the Central Economic Work Conference mentioned that "a moderately loose monetary policy should be implemented" and "lowering the RRR and cutting interest rates at the right time", which means that it is expected to intensify next year. Combined with the current domestic and international situation and liquidity situation, it is expected that the RRR cut and interest rate cut will land at the end of this year and early next year. Regarding "exploring and expanding the macro-prudential and financial stability functions of the central bank", Lian Ping believes that, on the one hand, the monetary policy should be reasonable and moderate, with a steady pace, so as to avoid a big deviation from market demand; On the other hand, monetary policy should explore and expand related fields and innovate constantly in maintaining financial stability. The functional connotation of the subsequent central bank is expected to be further enriched, and its coverage function may be extended to the whole financial field. "Next, whether it is the real estate market or the stock market, we need to build a long-term mechanism for financial stability." Lian Ping said. (SSE)Apple's iOS 18.2 integrates ChatGPT or helps the future sales of iPhone 17. Citigroup maintains a "buy" rating. Citibank pointed out that the iOS 18.2 update released by Apple basically meets expectations and predicts that there will be more highlights in future updates. In the detailed analysis, Atif Malik, an analyst at Citigroup, said that some basic functions of Siri in the latest system version have been taken over by ChatGPT, but this did not affect his view on the phased introduction of Apple Intelligence functions. He thought that this strategy would not significantly change the difference between the update cycle of iPhone 16/17 and the previous cycle. Malik maintains a "Buy" rating on Apple and a target price of $255. For the future, Malik is optimistic about the update of iPhone 17, and predicts that Apple will achieve 227 million units, 246 million units and 253 million units in 2024, 2025 and 2026 respectively.

The European Central Bank predicts that inflation will decline in 2025, and the European Central Bank currently predicts that inflation will cool down slightly faster than predicted in September. The bank's latest forecast shows that the average inflation rate in 2024 and 2025 is 2.4% and 2.1% respectively, while the previous forecast is 2.5% and 2.2% respectively. After cutting interest rates by 25 basis points, the European Central Bank said in a statement: "The anti-inflation process is on the right track." The bank said: "Domestic inflation has declined slightly, but it is still at a high level, mainly because wages and prices in some industries are still adapting to the past inflation surge, but there is a great delay." The European Central Bank maintains its inflation forecast of 1.9% in 2026, and predicts that the average inflation rate in 2027 will be 2.1%.US President-elect Trump: We will reduce the corporate tax to 15%.Central Economic Work Conference: Deepen the comprehensive reform of capital market investment and financing, and open up the blocking points of medium and long-term funds entering the market. The Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 11 to 12. The meeting proposed to give play to the traction role of economic system reform and promote the implementation of landmark reform measures. High-quality completion of the deepening and upgrading of state-owned enterprise reform, the introduction of private economy promotion law. Carry out special actions to standardize law enforcement involving enterprises. Formulate guidelines for the construction of a unified national market. Strengthen supervision and promote the healthy development of platform economy. Make overall plans to promote the reform of the fiscal and taxation system and increase local independent financial resources. Deepen the comprehensive reform of investment and financing in the capital market, open up the blocking points of medium and long-term funds entering the market, and enhance the inclusiveness and adaptability of the capital market system.

Wang Jing, National Endowment Insurance: Opening the market for individual pensions nationwide will usher in a period of historic policy opportunities, and the five departments jointly issued the Notice on the Full Implementation of the Individual Pension System. Wang Jing, head of the market channel department of the national pension insurance, said that after the individual pension is pushed nationwide, it is expected that the market will usher in a historic period of policy opportunities. All kinds of financial institutions will build differentiated and diversified product systems around people's diversified life-cycle pension financial needs, and provide comprehensive services with characteristics and quality, especially for flexible employees and new employment forms, which will further stimulate the whole society's active awareness of pension, accumulate pension financial funds and effectively promote the development of the real economy. (Securities Society)Analysis: The initial application data in the United States unexpectedly rose, and the number of initial jobless claims in the United States unexpectedly rose last week. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits continued to increase at the end of November compared with the beginning of the year, due to the cooling of labor demand. The US Department of Labor announced on Thursday that as of the week of December 7, the number of initial jobless claims increased by 17,000 to 242,000 after seasonal adjustment. Economists had expected that the number of initial jobless claims last week was only 220,000. The jump in initial jobless claims last week may reflect the fluctuation after the Thanksgiving holiday, but it may not mark a sudden change in the job market. The number of initial jobless claims may still fluctuate in the next few weeks, which may make it difficult to understand the job market clearly.Lian Ping: The Central Economic Work Conference released a strong financial afterburner signal to lower the RRR or cut interest rates at the end of this year or early next year. Lian Ping, chairman of the China Chief Economist Forum and president of the Guangkai Chief Industry Research Institute, said in an interview that the Central Economic Work Conference mentioned that "a moderately loose monetary policy should be implemented" and "lowering the RRR and cutting interest rates at the right time", which means that it is expected to intensify next year. Combined with the current domestic and international situation and liquidity situation, it is expected that the RRR cut and interest rate cut will land at the end of this year and early next year. Regarding "exploring and expanding the macro-prudential and financial stability functions of the central bank", Lian Ping believes that, on the one hand, the monetary policy should be reasonable and moderate, with a steady pace, so as to avoid a big deviation from market demand; On the other hand, monetary policy should explore and expand related fields and innovate constantly in maintaining financial stability. The functional connotation of the subsequent central bank is expected to be further enriched, and its coverage function may be extended to the whole financial field. "Next, whether it is the real estate market or the stock market, we need to build a long-term mechanism for financial stability." Lian Ping said. (SSE)