Friday, October 31, 2014
See eyes fresh growth after deal with artist Nicholas Tse
Entertainment and media company See Corp saw its share price open up 76 per cent to hit HK$0.87, the highest it has reached in about 11/2 years, following a deal that made popular actor, musician and entrepreneur Nicholas Tse Ting-fung the firm’s single biggest shareholde
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Thursday, October 30, 2014
Xiaomi continues self defence after Apple slam
A trans-Pacific war of words that began with critical remarks made by Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) chief designer two weeks ago is continuing, with the foreign face of Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi giving fresh remarks on the copycat controversy in his company's defense.
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Outlook improving for white-collar jobs in Asia, recruitment agency says
The number of online job adverts for white collar roles rose 20 per cent in the third quarter, according to the latest recruitment agency report to hint at a rosy outlook for Asia's job market, even in Hong Kong.
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Wednesday, October 29, 2014
World Bank says Occupy protests fail to impact HK’s business climate
The World Bank says the month-long Occupy Central movement has not impacted Hong Kong’s overall business climate and rates the city as the world’s third easiest place to do business in an annual report.
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Maanshan Iron share price jumps after sterling third-quarter profit
Maanshan Iron and Steel’s share price surged after it posted a better than expected third-quarter profit and said it expected a fourth quarter profit sizeable enough to more than offset the total loss in the first three quarters of the year, helped by lower raw material p
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Tung and Hong Kong government’s ‘gloom and doom’ propaganda hokum
We are living in a very strange world when government officials and their backers make it their business to talk down the economy and spread despondency while government opponents studiously abstain from the gloom fest.
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Climate change takes on more urgent tone
Last week, the European Union announced new climate change mitigation and energy policies. The package would reduce carbon emissions by at least 40 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030 – a clear advance on previous promises.
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World Bank urges Beijing to phase out hard economic targets
Chinese leaders should phase out hard economic targets in a bid to focus more on tackling the key challenges in structural reforms over the next few years, the World Bank said while releasing its China Economic Update on Wednesday.
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SFC hopes through train wait, with rules settled, won’t be too long
Securities and Futures Commission chief executive Ashley Alder has expressed hope that the launch of the stock scheme linking the Hong Kong and Shanghai markets will not be too far away, while confirming that the SFC has completed its preparations.
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Casino operator Wynn Macau’s revenue slumps 5.6pc in third quarter
Net revenue at casino operator Wynn Macau dropped 5.6 per cent to US$942.26 million in the third quarter, dragging down revenue at its US-listed parent Wynn Resorts and reflecting a build-up of pressures on Macau casinos.
via South China Morning Post - Business feed http://www.scmp.com/article/1627316/casino-operator-wynn-macaus-revenue-slumps-56pc-third-quarter
Chinese oil trader buys record number of Mideast crude cargoes
China National United Oil, a unit of the country's biggest energy company, bought a record number of Middle East crude cargoes through a trading platform used to determine benchmark prices for Asia.
via South China Morning Post - Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/1627138/chinese-oil-trader-buys-record-number-mideast-crude-cargoes
CNR, CSR merger likely to rattle global competition
Foreign rolling stock makers like Alstom and Siemens have good reason to feel nervous over the anticipated merger of China's two leading train makers, China CNR Corporation and CSR Corporation, analysts say.
via South China Morning Post - Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1627139/cnr-csr-merger-likely-rattle-global-competition
SoftBank taps India with stake in Snapdeal
SoftBank Corp has agreed to buy a US$627 million stake in Indian online retailer Snapdeal, seeking to tap into potentially huge e-commerce growth in the market with the world's third-biggest internet user base.
via South China Morning Post - Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1627039/softbank-taps-india-stake-snapdeal
China fake invoice evidence mounts as Hong Kong trade gap widens
The gap between China's reported exports to Hong Kong and the city's imports from the mainland widened in September to the most this year, suggesting fake export-invoicing is again skewing China's trade data.
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Beijing pushes for merger of mainland train makers China CNR and CSR
The central government is pushing for the merger of China CNR Corp and CSR Corp, the mainland's two biggest train makers, to form a giant capable of boosting high-speed train exports, according to mainland media.
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Private sector rushes in where government fears to tread
We're pleased to see that EzeeCube, a start-up company we wrote about in June, appears to have achieved lift-off. It recently completed one of Asia's most successful crowd funding campaigns this year.
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Chart of the day: Stressful times for DAX
The results of stress tests and the asset quality review of Europe's 130 biggest banks showed who needed to clean up their act - and how much bigger the bad debt really is, at €879 billion (HK$8.65 trillion).
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Mobile business lifts Baidu's revenue
Beijing-based Baidu is expected to post solid 53 per cent year-on-year growth in third-quarter revenue to US$2.19 billion when it reports its earnings after the US market closes today, according to a Barclays report.
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Chinese developers' bond returns boosted by property easing measures
Developers are leading returns in the mainland's bond market for this half and are planning more offerings as Premier Li Keqiang opens financing channels and eases property restrictions to shore up the slumping industry.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Hong Kong political impasse could compromise city’s future
My disappointment with the August 31 decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress stems from my fear that Hong Kong might have lost the chance of electing a chief executive through universal suffrage in 2017.
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China Telecom in catch-up mode on 4G services
China Telecom Corp, the country’s No 3 wireless network operator, saw a decrease of 4 million subscribers in the nine months to September as its rivals stepped up deployment and marketing of advanced 4G mobile services.
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Standard Chartered operating profit sinks 16.4pc as markets, regulations weigh
Standard Chartered’s operating profit fell 16.4 per cent in the third quarter of the year to US$1.53 billion from US$1.83 billion during the same period last year, the British-based bank said in a statement on Tuesday.
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Earnings growth in Chinese industrial sector slows further
Profits from China’s industrial sector eked out a slim gain last month after a decline in August in official figures that highlight a sharp drop from the double-digit growth rate that closed out the first half of this year.
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Shandong Chenming Paper and Hong Kong unit in fundraising plans
Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings and its wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary, Chenming (HK), plan to issue up to 13.8 billion yuan (HK$17.4 billion) of commercial paper and a US$500 million bond respectively, Chenming Paper said on Tuesday morning.
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Foreign wind power firms struggle to succeed in China
Overseas wind turbine makers have seen their market share on the mainland shrink and two Sino-foreign joint ventures have either ended in divorce or struggled to flourish in the world's largest wind power market.
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Yuan milestone as onshore direct trade with Singapore dollar starts
The yuan will start onshore direct trading with the Singapore dollar today, a milestone in Beijing's ambition to globalise its currency and offering cost savings that should make the yuan more popular in Southeast Asia.
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New Asia bank part of China's agenda
Let's get it clear right away that this is not about helping poorer Asian countries build waterworks, power stations and roads. This is about Beijing pushing to have itself recognised as No 1 in Asia.
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Monday, October 27, 2014
Nurturing Hong Kong’s local and international entrepreneurs
Hong Kong's entrepreneurship incubation programmes are nurturing a new generation of businesses, both from here and abroad. The city has the potential to become a popular entrepreneurship hub in Asia, according to regional experts.
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Weibo: Zuckerberg charms China at Tsinghua, Xiaomi events
Chinese tech executives have been buzzing for much of the past week over Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) founder Mark Zuckerberg, who was working hard to charm many of China's high-tech elite on a semi-official visit to Beijing.
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Sponsorship goal for HK Arts Festival a tall order amid market uncertainty
Corporate sponsorship of Hong Kong’s biggest annual arts event has doubled in the past 10 years. While increased support from local companies reflects a greater willingness to promote the arts, the state of the economy remains a factor in corporate largesse.
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Cash-strapped Agile Property gains some credit breathing space
Embattled mainland developer Agile Property Holdings has gained some breathing space over the terms the terms of a HK$2.67 billion loan that had been thrown into doubt with the detention of its former chairman Chen Zuolin.
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China faces hurdles on path to Asia-Pacific free-trade deal
China is seeking to leverage its status as host of the Apec summit to advance talks on an Asia-Pacific free-trade deal and a joint push against corruption, but work on other agreements is standing in the way.
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Oung brothers a step closer to cementing control of Paladin
A convicted fraudster and his fugitive brother moved a step closer to cementing their control over Hong Kong listed Paladin through a convertible note offer that values the company at a fraction of its book price.
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Christie's gives thumbs up to Shanghai FTZ
Most foreign investors might be getting impatient with the slow progress at Shanghai's much-toted Shanghai free-trade zone (FTZ), but the mainland's 29 square kilometre "mini Hong Kong" has got a thumping approval from Christie's.
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Weak inflation worries US central bankers
After months of focus on slack in US labour markets, the Federal Reserve faces a new challenge: the possibility that weak inflation may be so firmly entrenched it upends the return to normal monetary policy.
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Italy fares worst as 25 major euro zone banks fail ECB health test
Twenty-five of the euro zone's 130 biggest banks have failed a landmark health check and ended last year with a collective capital shortfall of €25 billion (HK$243 billion), the European Central Bank said yesterday.
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Pulling the strings
In one of the worst political gaffes since US President Clinton protested, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", Chief Executive CY Leung officially explained the truth behind Hong Kong's business-led governance.
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Congested Kwai Tsing port suffering from huge traffic jam on water
Gridlock at Kwai Tsing container port in Hong Kong impacts everyone. Stacks of containers occupy virtually every open space in the yard. Cranes and trucks rush around and there is almost no vacant berth.
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Sunday, October 26, 2014
Facebook's Zuckerberg seeks China entree at Tsinghua
I previously wrote that Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) plain-spoken CEO Tim Cook should consider buying a second home in China due to his frequent visits to the country, and the same could be said for Facebook's (Nasdaq: FB) more brash founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
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Saturday, October 25, 2014
Beijing warned not to cut wind power tariffs
Beijing should think twice before cutting wind power tariffs because such a move could see the wind power industry fall short of Beijing's development target for 2020, mainland wind farm developers have warned.
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China aluminium demand hit by cooling property market
The mainland's aluminium smelters are likely to increase the supply of metal in the domestic spot market for the rest of the year because a slowdown in real estate investment has cut demand from aluminium users.
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