Fosun, Striving to Be the Berkshire Hathaway of China

JANUARY 10, 2014, 6:17 AM

Striving to Be the Berkshire Hathaway of China

By NEIL GOUGH

Fosun International aspires to be China’s answer to Warren E. Buffett’s investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway, and it wants to be sure everyone knows it.

On Friday, the Shanghai-based Fosun announced that it had won the bidding for Portugal’s biggest insurance company with an offer of 1 billion euros, or $1.4 billion, beating out the American private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Read more of this post

CSR Train Cars, Parts Shipped to Australia Tainted with Asbestos; Products produced by China’s biggest train maker found to contain carcinogenic material, and company working to keep news from spreading

01.09.2014 19:54

CSR Train Cars, Parts Shipped to Australia Tainted with Asbestos

Products produced by China’s biggest train maker found to contain carcinogenic material, and company working to keep news from spreading

By Staff reporters Wu jing and Lu Bingyang

(Beijing) – Train cars and parts exported by CSR Corp. Ltd., China’s biggest train maker, to Australia have been found to contain hazardous materials, and CSR is working to make sure the news is contained. Read more of this post

Crisis Risk Flagged by Haitong as Debt Snowballs: China Credit

Crisis Risk Flagged by Haitong as Debt Snowballs: China Credit

China’s second-biggest brokerage said record debt threatens to trigger a financial crisis as borrowing costs jump to unprecedented highs despite a cooling economy.

Liabilities at non-financial companies may rise to more than 150 percent of gross domestic product in 2014, raising default risks, according to Haitong Securities Co. The ratio of 139 percent at the end of 2012 was already the highest among the world’s 10 biggest economies, according to the most recent data. That compares with 108 percent in France, 103 percent in Japan and 78 percent in the U.S., figures from the Bank for International Settlements and the World Bank show. Read more of this post

Chinese Firm Linked to CNPC Suspected of Fraud in Iraq

01.03.2014 15:07

Chinese Firm Linked to CNPC Suspected of Fraud in Iraq

Investigators at Iraqi state-owned company say Hermic used fake documents to win bids for oilfield engineering contracts

By staff reporters Huang Kaixi and Yu Ning, Hong Kong correspondent Wang Duan, and intern reporter Qi Huiquan

(Beijing) – Just after the December 29 celebration of the Muslim holiday Ashura in southern Iraq, heads of the Iraqi subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) received a letter titled “Suspending all activities of Hermic.” Read more of this post

Chinese Car Makers Not Ready for U.S. Market

Chinese Car Makers Not Ready for U.S. Market

Stringent Safety and Emissions Standards Present Steep Hurdles

COLUM MURPHY

Jan. 9, 2014 4:55 a.m. ET

SHANGHAI—When top executives from the world’s major auto makers descend on the Motor City for the Detroit auto show next week, Chinese auto industry executive Wang Shunsheng won’t be there. Read more of this post

China’s Toxic Debt Doctors Prepare for Surgery; Banks and governments are gearing up to shift non-performing loans to locally controlled asset management companies

01.08.2014 17:44

China’s Toxic Debt Doctors Prepare for Surgery

Banks and governments are gearing up to shift non-performing loans to locally controlled asset management companies

By staff reporters Wu Hongyuran and Huo Kan

(Beijing) — Regulators eager to resolve China’s local government debt conundrum are setting standards for an emerging class of asset management companies (AMCs) responsible for settling bad loans without Beijing’s help. Read more of this post

China’s Liquidity Paradox; In short, China’s liquidity troubles are rooted in the recent buildup of leverage, which has triggered debt deflation

China’s Liquidity Paradox

01-09 17:51 Caijing

In short, China’s liquidity troubles are rooted in the recent buildup of leverage, which has triggered debt deflation.

By Zhang Monan

BEIJING – Consider this: Despite China’s swelling foreign-exchange reserves – the result of persistent current-account surpluses – market and interbank short-term interest rates are soaring. How did this happen, and what should policymakers do about it? Read more of this post

China’s Financial Squeeze; The bill for a borrowing binge starts to come due

China’s Financial Squeeze

The bill for a borrowing binge starts to come due.

Jan. 8, 2014 12:01 p.m. ET

Recent numbers and announcements out of Beijing suggest that one of the biggest global risks for 2014 is a Chinese economic slowdown. Five years after unveiling the most massive economic stimulus program the world has ever seen, the bills are coming due. And while a crash remains unlikely, deleveraging could uncover some nasty surprises in the financial system. Read more of this post

China’s Culture Watchdog Writing Game Console Rules as Ban Lifts

China’s Culture Watchdog Writing Game Console Rules as Ban Lifts

China’s Ministry of Culture, one of the government bodies that monitors media content, will be responsible for drafting new rules on video-game consoles after a 14-year-old ban was lifted. Read more of this post

China’s Credit Hole Seen Limiting 2014 Growth Prospects

China’s Credit Hole Seen Limiting 2014 Growth Prospects

China’s new credit probably fell by a record in the second half amid a crackdown on speculative lending, limiting prospects for economic expansion this year as policy makers focus on controlling financial risks. Read more of this post

Bitcoin Exchanges Scramble in China; Central-Bank Stance Forces Changes; Alibaba’s Taobao Shuns Virtual Currency

Bitcoin Exchanges Scramble in China

Central-Bank Stance Forces Changes; Alibaba’s Taobao Shuns Virtual Currency

CHAO DENG

Updated Jan. 8, 2014 1:00 p.m. ET

Bitcoin exchanges in China are trying to maneuver around tight rules imposed by the central bank, even as the virtual currency faces a new challenge now that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s giant online shopping site has banned the sale of bitcoin and related items. Read more of this post

Beijing Tests Tools to Tackle Bad Debt; Provinces Set Up ‘Bad Banks’; Asset Exchanges Spring Up

Beijing Tests Tools to Tackle Bad Debt

Provinces Set Up ‘Bad Banks’; Asset Exchanges Spring Up

DINNY MCMAHON

Updated Jan. 9, 2014 11:43 p.m. ET

China is gearing up for a spike in nonperforming loans and is experimenting with state-owned institutions that can take over bad loans. The WSJ’s Jake Lee speaks with Dinny McMahon about how Beijing is trying to combat the growing problem. Read more of this post

Beijing Should Scrap the GDP Target; Obsession with GDP Growth Pushes the Bureaucracy to Borrow and Spend, Often Recklessly

Beijing Should Scrap the GDP Target

Obsession with GDP Growth Pushes the Bureaucracy to Borrow and Spend, Often Recklessly

ANDREW BROWNE

Jan. 7, 2014 8:31 a.m. ET

China is the only major economy left in the world that sets hard growth targets. The WSJ’s Andrew Browne tells Abheek Bhattacharya why it should stop. BEIJING—An alarming surge in local government debt reflects China’s obsession with gross domestic product growth, which encourages officials at every layer of the bureaucracy to borrow and spend, often recklessly. Read more of this post

Beijing anticorruption efforts boost local dry foodstuffs

Beijing anticorruption efforts boost local dry foodstuffs
Saturday, January 11, 2014
By Kathryn Chiu , The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Upmarket dried ingredients imported from mainland China dropped 10-20 percent from last year at the Dihua New Year’s market on China’s anticorruption campaign, while Taiwan’s homegrown dried foodstuffs increased by the same rate. Read more of this post

Because it’s no longer worth it: Foreign cosmetics-makers are scaling back their ambitions in China

Because it’s no longer worth it: Foreign cosmetics-makers are scaling back their ambitions in China

Jan 11th 2014 | SHANGHAI | From the print edition

BEAUTY is big business in China. The country’s cosmetics market is worth $26 billion a year, making it the third-biggest in the world. Euromonitor, a research firm, believes it will grow 8% each year from now to 2017. Read more of this post

After China’s biggest drug bust was made last month, Tom Phillips visits the tiny village responsible for producing a third of the country’s Methamphetamine supply

Inside China’s ‘Breaking Bad’ village

After China’s biggest drug bust was made last month, Tom Phillips visits the tiny village responsible for producing a third of the country’s Methamphetamine supply

By Tom Phillips, Boshe, Guangdong province

6:05PM GMT 07 Jan 2014

A smashed lock and a scuffed red doormat reading, “Stay safe!” adorn the entrance to the unusually opulent three-story villa. It was here that Cai Dongjia, surrounded by expensive redwood furniture and gaudy faux Corinthian columns, ruled as Communist Party chief of Boshe, a farming community in China’s southern Guangdong province that has existed since at least the 13th century. Read more of this post

Caixin Explains: What the Central Gov’t Thinks of Shadow Banking

01.10.2014 19:39

Caixin Explains: What the Central Gov’t Thinks of Shadow Banking

The cabinet gave regulators and others its thoughts on the opaque sector, then essentially left the matter in their hands

By staff reporters Zhang Yuzhe, Huo Kan and Wu Hongyuran

(Beijing) – A notice on shadow banking released by the State Council, the country’s cabinet has been circulating online since October and was recently confirmed by sources from major banks to be authentic. Read more of this post

A Peek at China’s Local Debt Mess

A Peek at China’s Local Debt Mess

By Dexter Roberts January 09, 2014

For months, investors have wondered about the scale of China’s local government debt. A report issued on Dec. 30 by the National Audit Office offers some clues. Borrowing by provinces, counties, and townships reached 17.9 trillion yuan ($2.96 trillion) as of June. Read more of this post

A Chinese Tycoon Vanishes: Wison Says It Believes Chairman’s Detention Is Related to Probe of State-Firm Officials

A Chinese Tycoon Vanishes

Wison Says It Believes Chairman’s Detention Is Related to Probe of State-Firm Officials

JAMES T. AREDDY

Jan. 10, 2014 7:50 p.m. ET

XINGHUA, China— Hua Bangsong, one of China’s richest men, controls a vast engineering-services empire, Wison Group, which develops chemical plants for the nation’s major oil companies and international giants like Germany’s BASF SE.BAS.XE +0.89% But the 48-year-old hasn’t been seen by colleagues since August, when he was detained by Chinese investigators. Read more of this post

Asian democracy must serve the common man; The emergence of forces to challenge imperfect democracies is welcome – but dangerous

January 8, 2014 5:44 pm

Asian democracy must serve the common man

By David Pilling

The emergence of forces to challenge imperfect democracies is welcome – but dangerous

This is the year of the election in Asia. After last week’s violence-marred contest in Bangladesh, which has left the country in a state of hiatus, elections will follow in fairly rapid succession in Thailand, Afghanistan, Indonesia and India. By the end of May, an electorate representing more than 1.7bn people, roughly a quarter of humanity, will have had its say in five countries. Read more of this post

Billionaire Cheng’s Company to Buy Macau Junket Operator

Billionaire Cheng’s Company to Buy Macau Junket Operator

International Entertainment Corp. (1009), the company controlled by the family of Asia’s fourth-richest man, Cheng Yu-tung, agreed to pay as much as HK$7.35 billion ($948 million) for a Macau gambling-junket operator, seeking to tap a casino boom in the Chinese city. Read more of this post

Biomedical research budgets: The party’s over; But if you want to go to the after-party, it’s in Asia

Biomedical research budgets: The party’s over; But if you want to go to the after-party, it’s in Asia

Jan 11th 2014 | NEW YORK | From the print edition

LIKE many other things, biomedical research is moving east. A paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine by a team led by Justin Chakma of Thomas, McNerney & Partners, an American venture-capital firm, shows a marked shift in spending from Europe and North America to Asia. In China, where the most recent five-year plan has made such research a priority, the amount disbursed increased, in real terms, by an average of 33% a year between 2007 and 2012. In Japan it was up by an average of 6% each year. In the United States it fell by 2% a year. As a consequence, America’s share of the total shrank from 51% in 2007 to 45% in 2012. Read more of this post

Shui On Land CEO Resigns as Billionaire Lo Takes Active Role

Shui On Land CEO Resigns as Billionaire Lo Takes Active Role

Shui On Land Ltd. (272), the Chinese developer that’s been selling assets to cut debt, said Chief Executive Officer Freddy Lee quit after less than three years and billionaire Chairman Vincent Lo will resume a more active role. Read more of this post

India Bets on Modinomics, Whatever It Is

India Bets on Modinomics, Whatever It Is

Asia has grown inordinately fond of “-nomics,” slapping the suffix on grand-sounding growth programs in such places as Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and China. Read more of this post

India May Keep Gold-Import Curbs Past March to Contain Deficit

India May Keep Gold-Import Curbs Past March to Contain Deficit

India should retain curbs on gold imports at least until March to stabilize the current-account deficit that weakened the rupee to a record low last year, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said. Read more of this post

India Removes Hurdle for Posco Project Before Park Visit

India Removes Hurdle for Posco Project Before Park Visit

India cleared a key hurdle for Posco’s 520 billion-rupee ($8.4 billion) steel plant a week before South Korean President Park Geun Hye’s visit, signaling the project may move forward after an eight-year delay. Read more of this post

Lactalis to Buy Carlyle-Backed Indian Dairy Producer Tirumala; India was the No. 3 producer of liquid, or non-powdered, cow’s milk in the world in 2013, behind the European Union and U.S.

Lactalis to Buy Carlyle-Backed Indian Dairy Producer Tirumala

Groupe Lactalis SA, the maker of President brand cheeses, agreed to buy Indian dairy producer Tirumala Milk Products Pvt. from Carlyle Group LP (CG) and its owners, in its first acquisition in the South Asian nation. Read more of this post

Indian Standard Time Breaks Down

Indian Standard Time Breaks Down

The northeastern state of Assam (population 30 million) is associated in the Indian imagination mainly with lush tea gardens and a long-running insurgency that seeks to establish an independent Assamese state. But last week, Assam rebelled against an order perhaps even more tyrannous on an everyday level than the one embodied by distant New Delhi: It announced it would soon secede from Indian Standard Time. Read more of this post