A report by Rhodium Group and the Mercator Institute for China Studies estimates that Chinese direct investment in the EU surged 76 per cent to €35.1bn in 2016. EU acquisitions in China, by contrast, fell for the second consecutive year, to €7.7bn. The imbalance was particularly sharp in Germany. Source: FT
Libya rejects a European Union’s plan to establish migrant centers there to stop asylum seekers arriving in western Europe and it will not be swayed by financial inducements, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said. Source: Reuters
The first families of Boers, descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa, could soon be moving to Russia to escape rising violence against farmers. Some 15,000 Boers want to leave South Africa and become farmers in Russia. Source: RT
Italian bonds fell on concern that Finance Minister Giovanni Tria, whose appointment brought a relative calm to the nation’s markets, may be forced to step down. Source: Bloomberg
