China should straighten out its wealth managers, says central bank

China should straighten out its wealth managers, says central bank

Sat, May 10 2014

BEIJING (Reuters) – China should reorganize its wealth management industry as it is unduly raising funding costs and encouraging savers to behave like gamblers by chasing after lucrative short-term returns, a deputy governor of China’s central bank said on Saturday. Read more of this post

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, ageing warehouses lure global investors

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, ageing warehouses lure global investors

Sun, May 11 2014

By Stephen Aldred and Clare Jim

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s plans for a giant initial public offering in New York highlight vast potential for e-commerce in China – and the weak link the logistics industry must fix if explosive growth projections are to be reached. Read more of this post

Macau Casino Companies Decline on Card-Swipe Crackdown

Macau Casino Companies Decline on Card-Swipe Crackdown

By Vinicy Chan – May 8, 2014

Wynn Macau Ltd. (1928) fell the most in more than two years in Hong Kong trading, leading declines among operators of China’s only legal casinos, amid concern that a crackdown on illegal money transfers will pare demand. Read more of this post

China audits State Grid as corruption crackdown seen widening

China audits State Grid as corruption crackdown seen widening

Fri, May 9 2014

By Benjamin Kang Lim and Megha Rajagopalan

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is auditing the State Grid Corp of China, the utility said in the wake of a magazine report that one of the most senior executives in the world’s largest utility was under investigation. Read more of this post

Five-Star Hotels, Flashy Clothes: China’s Cadres Confess Their Sins

May 12, 2014

Five-Star Hotels, Flashy Clothes: China’s Cadres Confess Their Sins

When President Xi Jinping toured a poverty-stricken county in central China’s Henan province last week, locals were eager to impress him not only with their handmade local noodles, but also by their willingness to offer Mao-era self-criticisms. Read more of this post

Rule of law key issue at meeting of Communist Party leaders

Rule of law key issue at meeting of Communist Party leaders

Monday, 12 May, 2014, 3:50am

Central Committee plenum also likely to be held earlier than usual as Xi Jinping rallies party elite behind graft inquiry into ex-security chief Read more of this post

Gloom deepens for China property developers

Gloom deepens for China property developers

May 9, 2014 11:44amby James Kynge

The torrent of bad news for Chinese property developers shows no sign of letting up.

Unsold floor space continued to surge in April. Two small developers are reported to be slipping into financial distress. The total net profits of 117 domestically-listed developers posted a 27 per cent decline in the first quarter to Rmb9.65bn. The bearishness of investment bank analysts, meanwhile, is plumbing new depths. Read more of this post

Can Stand-Up Comedy Succeed in China? Some of the country’s top comics are experimenting with a new brand of edgy, boundary-testing humor

Can Stand-Up Comedy Succeed in China?

Some of the country’s top comics are experimenting with a new brand of edgy, boundary-testing humor.

ROBERT FOYLE HUNWICKMAY 6 2014, 4:01 PM ET

Comedian Mark Rowswell, a.k.a. Dashan, performs at a Chinese university. Joe Wong in his weekly CCTV comedy show, Is It True?  Read more of this post

China’s $50 Billion Asia Bank Snubs Japan, India

China’s $50 Billion Asia Bank Snubs Japan, India

By Bloomberg News – May 12, 2014

On the first evening of the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in the capital of Kazakhstan this month, delegates from 16 countries skipped the scheduled Romeo and Juliet ballet for dinner at the Great Wall restaurant to talk about forming a totally different lender. Read more of this post

Unemployment ‘tidal wave’ feared in next two years in Australia

Unemployment ‘tidal wave’ feared in next two years

May 9, 2014

Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Some analysts say the better-than-expected jobs data does not paint an accurate picture of the labour market. Photo: Louise Kennerley Read more of this post

Cheap buses lure travelers from rails, sky with new frills

Cheap buses lure travelers from rails, sky with new frills

Sun, May 11 2014

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Forget the grimy terminals and uncomfortable buses of the past. Discount U.S. carriers are luring a new generation of riders from young tourists to business travelers with amenities such as free Internet and leather seats. Read more of this post

Xi Says China Must Adapt to ‘New Normal’ of Slower Growth

Xi Says China Must Adapt to ‘New Normal’ of Slower Growth

By Bloomberg News – May 11, 2014

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the nation needs to adapt to a “new normal” in the pace of economic growth and remain “cool-minded” amid a slowdown that analysts forecast will lead to the weakest expansion since 1990. Read more of this post

Maple, resting on laurels: Canada has not learned every crisis lesson

Maple, resting on laurels: Canada has not learned every crisis lesson

May 3rd 2014 | Ottawa | From the print edition

CANADA weathered the financial crisis well. No bank needed to be rescued: the World Economic Forum anointed Canada’s banking system the soundest in the world. Mark Carney was exported to the Bank of England in large part because of his work at the Bank of Canada. Stephen Harper, the prime minister, took to describing Jim Flaherty, who died on April 10th just weeks after leaving the cabinet, as “the best finance minister on the planet”.

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The Communist Party: The gatekeepers; A string of arrests sparks debate about the role of leaders’ all-powerful assistants

The Communist Party: The gatekeepers; A string of arrests sparks debate about the role of leaders’ all-powerful assistants

May 10th 2014 | BEIJING | From the print edition

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China’s provincial economies: Unhappy convergence; Poorer provinces are suffering most as the economy slows

Provincial economies: Unhappy convergence; Poorer provinces are suffering most as the economy slows

May 10th 2014 | HONG KONG | From the print edition

CHINA’S economy is slowing: GDP grew by 7.4% in the first three months of this year, compared with 7.7% in the final quarter of 2013. Just one of 31 provinces hit its growth target. The pain is being felt most keenly in the underdeveloped if resource-rich west and south-west of the country; Yunnan saw the biggest drop in growth of any province.

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Italian banks: Neither borrowers nor lenders; Weak banks are squeezing the life out of the Italian economy

Italian banks: Neither borrowers nor lenders;  Weak banks are squeezing the life out of the Italian economy

May 10th 2014 | MILAN | From the print edition

“I’M SCARED to ask the banks for help,” says Alessandro Amati, the boss of Axel Elettronica, an Italian electronics firm. “It doesn’t seem they want to help concretely, just words.” The complaint is a common one among Italian businesses about a banking system that, on paper at least, ought to be one of Europe’s soundest. Total bank assets in Italy stand at a relatively modest 2.6 times GDP, compared with 3.2 times in the whole of the euro area. Italian banks generally shunned the sorts of toxic financial instruments that brought down banks in America and Germany. And the country has not experienced a housing bust on a par with that in Ireland or Spain.

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Shadow banking in China: Battling the darkness; Every time regulators curb one form of non-bank lending, another begins to grow

Shadow banking in China: Battling the darkness; Every time regulators curb one form of non-bank lending, another begins to grow

May 10th 2014 | JINGJIANG | From the print edition

IN THE town of Jingjiang, a few hours’ drive from Shanghai, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is making 21 huge container ships for Seaspan, a Canadian shipping firm. An enormous sign declares, “We want to be the best shipyard in China.” It is certainly among the most profitable, earning 3 billion yuan ($481m) last year. But only two-thirds or so of that came from building ships. The rest came from lending money to other companies using a local financial instrument called an entrusted loan. This puts Yangzijiang at the forefront of another industry: shadow banking. Read more of this post

Daydream believers: Korean unification is less likely to be gradual and peaceful than nasty, brutish and quick

Daydream believers: Korean unification is less likely to be gradual and peaceful than nasty, brutish and quick

May 3rd 2014 | From the print edition

THIS seems an odd time for South Korea’s leaders to be talking up the prospects of reunification with their country’s evil twin. The economic gap between the rich south and dirt-poor north of the peninsula grows ever wider, implying mounting reabsorption costs for South Korea. And under its latest Kim-despot, the 30-ish, callow but ruthless Kim Jong Un, the North seems as hostile as ever, threatening new nuclear and missile tests and this week conducting live-fire exercises near the disputed maritime border. In response to Barack Obama’s visit to Seoul in late April an official “Peaceful Reunification” committee thundered that the North “must settle its final scores with the US through an all-out nuclear showdown”. And misogynistic bile was spat at the South’s president, Park Geun-hye: a “dirty comfort woman for the US and despicable prostitute selling off the nation”. Read more of this post