Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers a speech during an inspection to the navy under the Northern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, June 11, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] JINAN - President Xi Jinping has stressed building an elite maritime force to resolutely accomplish various missions entrusted by the Party and the people. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the call during an inspection to the navy under the Northern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on June 11. Xi emphasized the need to resolutely implement the Party's thinking on strengthening the military for the new era and continue to enhance the political loyalty of the armed forces, strengthen them through reform and technology, and run them in accordance with law. Xi also spoke of the need for the navy to meet the requirements of transformation. Xi visited a submarine force around 3:30 pm Monday as a summer breeze rustled through the trees on the coast of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. At port was a new-type submarine which had taken part in the recent naval parade in the South China Sea. On the hull, soldiers stood in formation waiting to be inspected. Xi went aboard and chatted with them, asking about their work and life. The president said he is always concerned about soldiers who spend years of their life on submarines deep under the sea. As he learned that the soldiers were dedicated to their career, worked hard, and had accomplished their tasks, Xi nodded his head in appreciation. The president then went down into the cabins to learn about the weapons and ammunition. He encouraged soldiers to remain firm in ideals and convictions, build a strong team, and train themselves to excel in skills. Xi signed his name on the logbook. Before leaving the dock, Xi walked toward another submarine nearby and waved to the soldiers. Xi inspected the training of the submarine force at a comprehensive simulation facility. How is simulation-based training going? Can the facilities meet the demands? Are there any challenges? the president asked. He was pleased to learn that the soldiers benefit a lot from the training and spoke of the need to continue to improve training infrastructure. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a submarine during an inspection to the navy under the Northern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, June 11, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] Xi watched a group of trainees undergo a sonar recognition exercise. He joined to test them and gave a thumbs-up to a soldier who gave the correct answer. Xi met with senior navy officers at the navy headquarters of the Northern Theater Command and took a group photo with them. He listened to the command's naval work report and gave an important speech. Xi spoke of the need to grasp the changes of national security circumstances, speed up preparations for military struggle, including battle planning, capacity building and command system building. Xi said the intensity of training needs to be enhanced, its modules to be innovated, and its supervision to be strengthened. He stressed the need for targeted training, training for commanders, and training under combat conditions. He called for efforts to implement the requirements for the transformation of the navy, accelerate the work to improve elite combat forces, and focus on tackling areas of weakness and making breakthroughs. Forward-looking plans and top-level designs are also needed to promote the transformation and development of naval air forces, Xi said. Xi also stressed the absolute Party leadership over the armed forces and ceaseless work to improve Party conduct, enforce Party discipline and fight corruption. Ideological work within the military should be strengthened and combat capability should be regarded as the criterion for military building, Xi said. He urged the navy to coordinate with civilian departments, innovate in institutions and mechanisms and development models to improve military-civilian integration. On Thursday morning in Jinan, capital of Shandong, Xi met with senior officers of troops stationed in the province. CMC Vice Chairman Xu Qiliang attended the events. custom rubber bandswristband creationslap wristbandscustom livestrong braceletsfestival braceletsballer bandscustom made rubber braceletscustom rubber wristbandsflash drive wristbandprinted wristbands
HONG KONG - Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Thursday that it has bought Hong Kong dollars from the market for 13 times since last Thursday, which is a normal operation in accordance with the design of the Linked Exchange Rate System (LERS).On April 12, HKMA's weak-side Convertibility Undertaking of 7.85 HK dollars against the US dollars was triggered during London trading hours. HKMA said there is no huge short selling of Hong Kong dollars and the risks are under control after the interventions.Officials and economists here believe that HKMA is capable of dealing with the fluctuation of Hong Kong dollars, and the act of HKMA can normalize Hong Kong interests, reduce sell-off activities and stabilize the exchange rate of Hong Kong dollars.The HKMA bought HK$816 million (about $104.08 million) from the market on April 12, which was the first time since 2005, when three refinements to the operation of the LERS were introduced.As of Friday, HKMA has already bought about HK$51 billion from the foreign exchange market since its first intervention, leaving the surplus in the banking system at HK$128.52 billion on Thursday.The LERS was established in 1983. The introduction of the three refinements to the operation of the LERS in 2005, which included the shifting of the existing weak-side Convertibility Undertaking by the HKMA to sell US dollars to licensed banks from 7.80 to 7.85; since then, the Convertibility Zone lies between 7.75 and 7.85.When the exchange rate between HK dollar and US dollar reaches 7.85, HKMA will buy HK dollars from the market, reducing the capital flows in the local market, which in turn, causing the interest rate of HK dollars to rise and narrowing down the interest rate gap between HK dollars and US dollars. The pace of Hong Kong currency capital flow slowed down, causing the weakening of HK dollar.Howard Lee, Deputy Chief Executive of HKMA, told Xinhua that recently the weak-side Convertibility Undertaking of 7.85 HK dollars against the US dollars has been triggered frequently, as the US interest rate hike first sparked in December, 2015, and there has been six times in total. However, Hong Kong interest rate has never followed suit. Investors then sold off Hong Kong dollars and bought in US dollars, causing a fall of the Hong Kong currency value.Lee said that in the past ten years, there has been about HK$1 trillion entering Hong Kong market, and the arbitrage act is normal. According to HKMA, they have not seen any huge short selling of Hong Kong dollars.Lee said that Hong Kong has enough foreign reserve to deal with the situation. As at the end of January 2018, the monetary base was HK$1,700.5 billion, backing assets was HK$1,836.5 billion.Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said that Hong Kong has sufficient financial resources to handle the fluctuation of the exchange rate.Chan said he is confident that Hong Kong can handle the extreme case in event of major money outflow.Cheng Shi, Chief Economist of ICBC International Research Limited, said that HKMA's act of buying Hong Kong dollars from the market can normalize Hong Kong interests and stabilize the market expectation.Resilience of Hong Kong's banks and financial system has enhanced since the financial crises in 1998 and 2008, according to HKMA.However, Lee added that HKMA will stay alert and strengthen bank capital and liquidity management and introduce counter-cyclical prudential supervision measures for property mortgage business.The HKMA will also monitor foreign exchange and money market operations, and co-operate with the Securities and Futures Commission to conduct cross-market surveillance.
