Foreign Supermarkets Hand over Register Keys to Domestic Rivals; CP Lotus and Tesco are heading for the door, leaving Chinese companies with bigger operations – and even bigger questions on handling them

10.25.2013 19:35

Foreign Supermarkets Hand over Register Keys to Domestic Rivals

CP Lotus and Tesco are heading for the door, leaving Chinese companies with bigger operations – and even bigger questions on handling them

By staff reporters Qu Yunxu and Yu Ning, and Hong Kong correspondent Dai Tian

(Beijing) – Mergers and acquisitions have never been rare among supermarket operators in China. There have been frequent deals involving domestic and foreign companies, as well as private and state-owned players. Now, an increasing number of foreign supermarket owners have shown they intend to quit the market, selling their assets to Chinese operators. On October 14, domestic supermarket operator Wumart Stores Inc. said it would buy 36 CP Lotus stores in northern and eastern China from Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group). The transaction is worth HK$ 2.89 billion. Read more of this post

The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

October 26, 2013

The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

By MATT RICHTEL

Geoff Vuleta was in the crowd at a Rolling Stones concert last year when Keith Richards lit up a cigarette on stage, the arena’s no-smoking policy be damned. Feeling inspired, Mr. Vuleta, a longtime smoker, reached into his pocket and pulled one out himself. People seated nearby shot him scolding glances as he inhaled. So he withdrew the cigarette from his mouth and pressed the glowing end to his cheek. Read more of this post

China’s Coming Economic Slowdown; History shows that every economic miracle eventually loses its magic. How much longer can China sustain such astounding growth?

China’s Coming Economic Slowdown

History shows that every economic miracle eventually loses its magic. How much longer can China sustain such astounding growth?

JOSEF JOFFE

Oct. 25, 2013 7:49 p.m. ET

The big question of the 20th century has not disappeared in the 21st: Who is on the right side of history? Is it liberal democracy, with power growing from the bottom up, hedged in by free markets, the rule of law, accountability and the separation of powers? Or is it despotic centralism in the way of Stalin and Hitler, the most recent, though far less cruel, variant being the Chinese one: state capitalism plus one-party rule? Read more of this post

India and China Leave Asian Century Stalled

India and China Leave Asian Century Stalled

This week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made his last visit to China as India’s head of state, a prolonged exercise in great-power pageantry and platitudinousness. After all, we are allegedly living in the Asian century, though we may have to wait a little longer for these two countries to jointly turn the balance of power in the world eastward. In Beijing, Singh did his bit to keep to the Asian century script. “More than ever before, the world needs both countries to prosper together,” he said. “What is at stake is the future of India and China; indeed, what may be at stake is the future of our region and our world.” Speaking at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party — a “rare honour,” according to one Indian newspaper — he also said: Relations between India and China are unique in the world. We are two continuous ancient civilizations. We are neighbors with a long history of cultural, spiritual and economic ties. We both embarked on a new phase of our political histories around the same time. Today, we are the world’s two most populous nations, engaged in a process of socio-economic transformation of our people on a scale and at a pace unprecedented in human history. Read more of this post

Bottled Water Sales Rising as Soda Ebbs

October 25, 2013

Bottled Water Sales Rising as Soda Ebbs

By STEPHANIE STROM

Few things are more American than Coca-Cola.

But bottled water is washing away the palate trained to drain a bubbly soda. By the end of this decade, if not sooner, sales of bottled water are expected to surpass those of carbonated soft drinks, according to Michael C. Bellas, chief executive of the Beverage Marketing Corporation. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Mr. Bellas, who has watched water’s rise in the industry since the 1980s. Read more of this post

India traders “cheating consumers” with onion prices: food minister

India traders “cheating consumers” with onion prices: food minister

POSTED: 26 Oct 2013 22:23
India’s ruling Congress government has accused traders of cheating consumers as it struggles to reduce the cost of the vegetable known as the “poor man’s food” ahead of a string of state polls.

NEW DELHI: India’s ruling Congress government has accused traders of cheating consumers as it struggles to reduce the cost of the vegetable known as the “poor man’s food” ahead of a string of state polls. Read more of this post

An ad campaign for a skin-whitening product in Thailand has sparked a debate over whether having lighter skin leads to better-paying jobs and higher social status in the Southeast Asian country

Whiter-Skin Ad Campaign Spurs Debate Among Thais

WARANGKANA CHOMCHUEN

Oct. 25, 2013 11:27 a.m. ET

BANGKOK—An ad campaign for a skin-whitening product in Thailand has sparked a debate over whether having lighter skin leads to better-paying jobs and higher social status in the Southeast Asian country. Social media sites were filled with messages that explored the role of skin color in Thai society following a recent ad campaign by Unilever‘s ULVR.LN -0.64% Thailand operation for its Citra Pearly White UV Body Lotion. Read more of this post

Brown Considering Ban on Investing in 15 Coal-Related Companies

Brown Considering Ban on Investing in 15 Coal-Related Companies

Brown University is considering a ban on investing in 15 companies that mine or burn coal, requiring the Ivy League school to sell some existing holdings. The 54 members of Brown Corp., the university’s governing body, are meeting this weekend at the campus in Providence, Rhode Island, and plan to discuss a recommendation to divest, according to Marisa Quinn, a spokeswoman for the school. Any actions taken at the meeting, which could include a vote on the issue, would come tomorrow, she said, declining to elaborate. Read more of this post

Indonesia’s Islamic parties in decline

Indonesia’s Islamic parties in decline

Friday, October 25, 2013 – 09:56

Salim Osman

Senior Writer

The Straits Times

WHEN former Solo mayor Joko Widodo was elected Jakarta governor in September last year, he became an overnight sensation for defeating the widely experienced and well-regarded incumbent Fauzi Bowo. But when he was touted as a presidential candidate because of the high ratings he received from pollsters, he became the source of disquiet among Jakarta politicians envious of his meteoric rise. Read more of this post

Export Slowdown Threatens World Economy

Export Slowdown Threatens World Economy

When HSBC Holdings Plc’s economists from around the world recently pooled their forecasts, virtually all had a similar source of growth in mind for the region they monitored: exports. The impossibility of every nation being able to sell more than it buys means some of the analysts must be wrong — unless the rest of the solar system becomes a source of demand for the globe’s products, Stephen King, HSBC’s chief economist, told an Oct. 16 conference in London, flashing a slide of the planets. “Export claims are just far too optimistic,” said King, a former U.K. Treasury official. Read more of this post

SEC Goes Fishing for Fraud in Puerto Rico

SEC Goes Fishing for Fraud in Puerto Rico

Many municipal-bond funds own at least some debt issued by the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico because the tax advantages and high yields boost returns. So it was interesting to find an article in the Bond Buyer reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission is “probing” some mutual funds because they invest in Puerto Rican debt. According to a letter from the SEC’s San Francisco office obtained by the newspaper, the agency is checking whether funds “are adequately disclosing the risks involved.” The SEC is also asking for the funds’ “policies and procedures used to value portfolio positions,” including “copies of the most recent stress test” and “Value-at-Risk analysis.” Read more of this post