Would You Like Fries With Those Spicy Pork McBites?

NOVEMBER 14, 2013, 6:38 PM

Would You Like Fries With Those Spicy Pork McBites?

By AMY QIN

With competition heating up in China’s $174 billion dollar fast-food market, McDonald’s is seeking to up its game by capitalizing on the country’s increasingly voracious appetite for pigs. The result? Spicy Pork McBites. Read more of this post

Property in China: Haunted housing; Even big developers and state-owned newspapers are beginning to express fears of a property bubble

Property in China: Haunted housing; Even big developers and state-owned newspapers are beginning to express fears of a property bubble

Nov 16th 2013 | SHANGHAI |From the print edition

IN CHINA, property prices can keep going up forever. At least, that is what optimists seem to think. They point out that the country is undergoing the largest urbanisation in history. The throngs of migrants from the countryside all need homes, the argument runs. China’s swelling middle classes, many of whom live in shoddy 1980s housing, are also eagerly moving to fancier flats or McMansions. The result has been a spectacular property boom over the past decade. Read more of this post

My sisters as micro-lenders

My sisters as micro-lenders

2013-10-26 02:11:31

Lending in the Shadows

SCMP, South China Morning Post, 24 October 2013,

by Joe Zhang *

Twice a year I travel to Jingmen in central China to visit my parents and siblings. Last week, I was there on a new mission: to review the work of my sisters as shadow bankers. Shadow banking is lending activities outside regular banks. Despite what some would say, it is a reputable business on the mainland. It fills a legitimate need. Despite some lingering stigma, the industry is not one I am ashamed to be in. Read more of this post

Local $1.6 Trillion Debt Pile Impedes Rate Freedom: China Credit

Local $1.6 Trillion Debt Pile Impedes Rate Freedom: China Credit

By Justina Lee – Nov 14, 2013

Chinese local governments’ $1.6 trillion in bank borrowings are a major obstacle to the freeing up of interest rates in the world’s second-largest economy, according to BNP Paribas SA and Capital Economics Ltd. The financing arms of municipal authorities owed lenders 9.7 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion), or 14 percent of all loans, in mid-2013, according to China Banking Regulatory Commission figures. Most have weak credit profiles, Moody’s Investors Service said in a Nov. 5 report, noting that only 53 percent of 388 such companies it surveyed in June had enough cash to cover estimated debt payments and interest this year without refinancing. Read more of this post

Leaders remain undecided on property tax

Leaders remain undecided on property tax

Friday, 15 November, 2013, 3:50am

Victoria Ruan victoria.ruan@scpm.com

Pilot schemes launched in 2011 in Shanghai and Chongqing are unlikely to be extended to other cities for time being, reform planner says

The nation’s top leaders had not reached a consensus on expanding pilot trials of property taxes in the near future, despite assertions made at the third plenum that fiscal and tax reforms would be accelerated, according to a senior researcher who has long been involved in the nation’s reform planning. Read more of this post

Infiniti to Target Young Chinese Buyers Who Find BMW Commonplace

Infiniti to Target Young Chinese Buyers Who Find BMW Commonplace

Nissan Motor Co. (7201)’s luxury Infiniti brand plans to attract younger Chinese buyers who are more open-minded about trying out new cars because they find an Audi, Mercedes or BMW too commonplace. Luxury buyers in China, the world’s largest auto market, are younger than the average owner of premium cars globally and are less concerned about a brand’s heritage than its present-day image, Johan de Nysschen, president of Infiniti, said in an interview in Hong Kong. Read more of this post

Chinese Developers Move Beyond Shopping; Building a Deluxe Mall Isn’t Enough; Firms Add Rafting, Skiing, Riding

Chinese Developers Move Beyond Shopping

Building a Deluxe Mall Isn’t Enough; Firms Add Rafting, Skiing, Riding

WEI GU

Updated Nov. 14, 2013 7:29 p.m. ET

To make a big profit as a Chinese property developer, it used to be that all you needed to do was build a mall and stuff it with luxury brands. But as Chinese get richer and have more time for leisure, they want more than just shopping, and developers are moving to meet the demand, providing venues for horse riding, rafting, skiing and more. Read more of this post

Cheapskate China Wins No Friends in Philippines

Cheapskate China Wins No Friends in Philippines

As hundreds of thousands of Filipinos struggled to find food, water, shelter and the bodies of loved ones in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, China quickly dipped into its world-leading $3.7 trillion of currency reserves and came up with … all of $100,000. That was Beijing’s first miserly offer of aid to the storm-tossed Philippines. By Thursday, an international outcry over China’s stinginess shamed it into upping its pledge to a modest $1.6 million worth of relief materials such as tents and blankets. But the damage was already done. Read more of this post

China cake millionaire at home in his six castles

China cake millionaire at home in his six castles

Thursday, Nov 14, 2013

Tom Hancock

AFP

CHONGQING, China – As the greatest urbanisation drive in history swells China’s cities with ranks of identikit apartment blocks, one culinary businessman is indulging his architectural appetite with a visual feast of extravagant, outlandish castles. “I don’t have any hobbies, except for planting trees and building castles,” said Liu Chonghua, standing on a crenellated turret atop the largest of the six he has constructed. Read more of this post

Alipay’s Yuerbao grows from 55.6bn to 100bn within 1.5 month

BEIJING – NOV 15TH, 8:33 | TAGS: YUEBAO FUND ALIBABA INTERNET FINANCE

Alipay’s Yuebao grows from 55.6bn to 100bn within 1.5 month

On November 14th, Tianhong Fund announced on its microblogging account that the scale of Yuebao, a monetary fund product, has exceeded 100bn yuan and its investors are about to reach 30m. Yuebao was launched on June 13th this year and became the first public offering of fund of over 100bn yuan in the country. Its report of the third quarter shows the scale of Tianhong Zenglibao Monetary Fund, which practically operates Yuebao, had reached 55.653bn yuan by the end of September, with around 13.67m investors. It had already become the biggest fund in the market then. The rapid expansion of Tianhong Zenglibao Fund may owe much to the promotion of Alibaba’s “Double Eleven” promotion.

‘Tuhao’ may become part of English glossary

‘Tuhao’ may become part of English glossary

2013-11-15 01:36:45 GMT2013-11-15 09:36:45(Beijing Time)  Shanghai Daily

China’s new buzzword, tuhao, may be in next year’s Oxford English Dictionary. The word caught the attention of the dictionary’s editing team after BBC’s recent program on influential Chinese words. “If its influence continues, it is very likely to appear on our updated list of words,” said Julie Kleeman, project manager with the editing team. Kleeman told the Beijing Youth Daily that tuhao has some similarities with the English word bling, which refers to expensive, ostentatious clothing or jewelry. Both the words have existed for long but later on took a new meaning. Read more of this post

Schooled by success: The start-ups Aussie Rich-listers are investing in

Ben Hurley Reporter

Schooled by success: The start-ups Rich-listers are investing in

Published 13 November 2013 07:28, Updated 14 November 2013 00:44

Australia’s wealthiest families are putting themselves at the forefront of technological innovation, backing the next generation of disruptive start-ups using their money, business nous and connections. Read more of this post

Gold Seen Flowing East as Refiners Recasting Bars for Asia

Gold Seen Flowing East as Refiners Recasting Bars for Asia

Gold demand in China, India and the Middle East surged in the 12 months to September while European sales contracted, underscoring a shift in the global bullion market from west to east, according to the World Gold Council. China’s demand for jewelry, bars and coins rose 30 percent to 996.3 metric tons, while usage in India gained 24 percent to 977.6 tons, WGC data showed. European demand fell 11 percent, with drops in France, Switzerland and the U.K. Asia and the Middle East’s share of global sales grew to 68 percent in the 12 months from 65 percent, while Europe’s fell to 8.3 percent from 11 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Read more of this post

There’s A Logical System Behind IKEA’s Strange Product Names. It turns out they are part of a system created by dyslexic founder Ingvar Kamprad, who wanted to avoid relying on numbers

There’s A Logical System Behind IKEA’s Strange Product Names

GUS LUBIN NOV. 13, 2013, 3:52 PM 4,793 1

The other day I went to IKEA and bought four Pax, a Malm, a PS Gullholmen, an Ofelia, a Blanda Matt, a Mysa Ronn, and a few other essentials. To many that list may be incomprehensible, yet there are enough customers around the world who swear by IKEA’s cheap and stylish, albeit flimsy, products that surely some readers will understand. Where do these crazy names come from? It turns out they are part of a system created by dyslexic founder Ingvar Kamprad, who wanted to avoid relying on numbers. Here’s the system:

• Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs: Swedish placenames
• Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place names
• Dining tables and chairs: Finnish place names
• Bookcase ranges: Occupations
• Bathroom articles: Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays
• Kitchens: grammatical terms, sometimes also other names
• Chairs, desks: men’s names
• Fabrics, curtains: women’s names
• Garden furniture: Swedish islands
• Carpets: Danish place names
• Lighting: terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats, nautical terms
• Bedlinen, bed covers, pillows/cushions: flowers, plants, precious stones
• Children’s items: mammals, birds, adjectives
• Curtain accessories: mathematical and geometrical terms
• Kitchen utensils: foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries, functional descriptions
• Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks: colloquial expressions, also Swedish place names Read more of this post

Retailers are selling women scores of men’s dress shoe styles redesigned with different proportions or new materials

Manolo Blahnik Women’s Wingtips Seen Curbing Shoe Slump

Wingtips aren’t just for men anymore.

Retailers such as Saks Inc. and Barneys New York Inc. are selling women scores of men’s dress shoe styles redesigned with different proportions or new materials. The footwear — think embellished smoking slippers and python-skin Derby flats — is fetching prices more typical of high-fashion stilettos than casual Oxfords, helping chains boost sales in an area where growth was flagging. Read more of this post

McDonald’s Acknowledges Service Has Suffered; Burger Giant Says It Erred by Adding Too Many Menu Items Too Quickly

McDonald’s Acknowledges Service Has Suffered

Burger Giant Says It Erred by Adding Too Many Menu Items Too Quickly

JULIE JARGON

Nov. 14, 2013 7:26 p.m. ET

McDonald’s Corp. MCD -0.56% came out with its strongest acknowledgment yet that its customer service in the U.S. has suffered recently, and that it blundered by introducing too many new menu items too quickly. Jeff Stratton, president of McDonald’s USA, said the chain introduced several new products and limited-time offers this year to give customers more variety. Read more of this post

Rio Tinto’s most important growth project has suffered another setback, with financing of the Oyu Tolgoi expansion in Mongolia delayed indefinitely

Rio Tinto’s Mongolia mine hits another snag

November 15, 2013 – 9:17AM

Peter Ker

Rio Tinto’s most important growth project has suffered another setback, with financing of the Oyu Tolgoi expansion in Mongolia delayed indefinitely. Rio said ongoing quibbles with the Mongolian Government remained unresolved, meaning that a global effort to raise $US4 billion for the second stage of the mine could not be completed in the near term. Read more of this post

Protection for the US sugar industry is losing political support; Sugar has cost taxpayers $278.2m in 2013

November 14, 2013 7:31 pm

Commodities: A sweet deal

By Gregory Meyer in New York and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington

The US government’s vast assets include office buildings, mineral resources, aircraft carriers and national parks. This year it added mountains of sugar. Warehouses from North Dakota to Louisiana are piled high with 296,500 tons of the sweet crystal, since October 1 the property of the Department of Agriculture. In coming days, the agency says it plans to sell off its stocks at a “substantial loss per pound”. Sugar has cost taxpayers $278.2m in 2013. Read more of this post

South Korean soap operas hook foreign audiences

November 13, 2013 3:52 pm

South Korean soap operas hook foreign audiences

By Simon Mundy

Eyes bulging at the steaming plate before her, Lee Soo-­kyung eagerly wolfs down a mouthful of rice, unperturbed by the film camera hovering a chopstick’s length from her face. But the constant interruptions by Park Joon-wha give the actress, her pretty features offset by a frumpy collared shirt, little chance to enjoy the meal. Read more of this post

Kimchi deficit’ can’t dull ardour for traditional dish in South Korea

Kimchi deficit’ can’t dull ardour for traditional dish in South Korea

Friday, 15 November, 2013, 3:50am

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

It’s the season for spicy cabbage, despite worries that the country imports more than it exports

It’s kimchi-making season in South Korea, with households across the country preparing and laying down stocks of the ubiquitous spicy side-dish for the coming winter. But many foreign visitors, including the most intrepid foodies, will probably leave without ever tasting a Korean-made version of the national dish of fermented, chilli-soused cabbage. Read more of this post