what does cryptocurrency do Top stories

South Korea will gradually reduce the rice planting area to cope with the decline in demand. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of South Korea said on Thursday that South Korea will strive to gradually reduce the rice field area to solve the problem of declining demand and adopt environmentally-friendly planting methods. Due to the change of diet structure, the annual rice consumption of Koreans has decreased, and the per capita rice consumption has dropped significantly from 61 kg in 2018 to 56.4 kg in 2023. At present, the total area of rice fields in South Korea is about 698,000 hectares, and the government says it plans to reduce the area of rice fields by 80,000 hectares next year. In addition, by 2029, the planting area of environmentally friendly rice will be expanded from 35,000 hectares this year to 68,000 hectares. The government will also allocate 244 billion won (about 170 million US dollars) to subsidize farms that grow strategic crops other than rice, such as wheat, beans and barley, which is an increase from 186.5 billion won this year.South Korean police tried to search Cheongwadae's office again.This year, the amount of M&A transactions involving listed companies in Hong Kong has reached 38 billion US dollars, which has triggered a rare bidding war. This year is expected to be the busiest year for M&A transactions involving listed companies in Hong Kong in the past decade, with industries ranging from skin care products to logistics real estate, and the bidding war has also warmed up. It is reported that China Mobile's bid for Hongkong Broadband may face competition from American private equity firm I Squared Capital. Bi Hua, chairman of Fenmei Packaging, is negotiating with Qihao Capital to jointly counter the privatization offer of Shandong Xinjufeng. The data shows that the scale of M&A transactions for listed companies in Hong Kong has reached $38 billion this year, the highest level since 2017, including the merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, a smaller competitor, to become the largest brokerage firm in China.

The main contract of CSI 500 stock index futures (IC) expanded to 1.00% in the day and is now reported at 6104.4 points. The main contract of CSI 500 stock index futures (IC) stood at 6100 points, rising by 0.99% in the day.Spring Festival travel rush's first day train tickets will be sold on 31st of this month. The student booking service was launched today. It was learned from China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. today (12th) that Spring Festival travel rush will be launched on 14th of January next year in 2025, and Spring Festival travel rush's first day train tickets will be sold on 31st of this month. In view of students booking tickets during Spring Festival travel rush, Railway 12306 launched a new function today.India's SENSEX30 index opened 0.06% lower at 81,476.76 points. Among the constituent stocks, State Power of India opened 0.79% higher, Mahengda Information Technology rose 0.56%, and Tata Motors rose 0.5%; In terms of decline, HDFC BANK opened 0.74% lower, Bharti Telecom fell 0.68%, and Unilever of India fell 0.53%.

According to the Quarterly Report of the Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong's capital market has benefited from the success of the interconnection mechanism with the mainland stock market since the third quarter, as well as the breakthrough in contact with the Middle East market. The net capital inflow of Hong Kong Stock Connect is strong. After the optimization of ETF Connect, the number of eligible Hong Kong ETFs has increased to 16, with a total market value of over HK$ 300 billion. Cross-border wealth management investment in the south has increased by over 60% since optimization, and the net subscription of Hong Kong funds has reached RMB 8.8 billion. The CSRC is considering the license applications of 15 virtual asset trading platforms, and it is expected that several operators will be licensed during the year. Liang Fengyi, Chief Executive Officer of China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that the ETF market in Hong Kong has achieved several new milestones this year and will devote itself to building a global hub. (Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission)Israel's Mossad Director held talks with Qatar's Prime Minister on promoting the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza. Two Israeli sources revealed that Israel's Intelligence and Secret Service (Mossad) Director Barnea visited Doha, Qatar, on the 11th and held talks with Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad. The two sides focused on promoting the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.Renhe Pharmaceutical invested in Jiangxi to establish a health industry company. According to the enterprise search APP, Jiangxi Renhe Jiuniuai Health Industry Co., Ltd. was recently established, with Xin Li as the legal representative and a registered capital of 1 million yuan. Its business scope includes: food Internet sales, health food production, health care services (non-medical), health consulting services, sales of first-class medical devices, sales of agricultural and sideline products, etc. Enterprise survey shows that the company is jointly held by Renhe Pharmaceutical and Xin Li.