| 31. | CAPITAL MANAGEMENT |
The Group’s primary objectives when managing capital are to safeguard the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern, so that it can continue to provide investment returns for shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders, by pricing products and services commensurately with the level of risk and by securing access to finance at a reasonable cost.
Management regularly reviews and manages its capital structure to maintain a balance between the higher shareholder returns that might be possible with higher levels of borrowings and the advantages and security afforded by a sound capital position, and makes adjustments to the capital structure in light of changes in economic conditions.
Management monitors its capital structure on the basis of total debt-to-total assets ratio. For this purpose the Group defines total debt as the sum of short-term debt and long-term debt and payable, and finance lease obligations. As of December 31, 2016 and 2017, the Group’s total debt-to-total assets ratio was 17.2% and 15.8% respectively, which is within the range of management’s expectation.
Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries are subject to externally imposed capital requirements.