China to Move Slowly on One-Child Law Reform

China to Move Slowly on One-Child Law Reform

LAURIE BURKITT

Nov. 17, 2013 2:39 p.m. ET

China is easing its one-child policy as part of a blueprint of economic and social reforms drawn up by the Communist Party leadership. Professor and demographer Feng Wang tells Deborah Kan why the country needs more babies to support its aging population.

BEIJING—China’s family-planning agency is projecting a slow rollout for an easing of its one-child policy, signaling the government’s reluctance to quickly amend a law that has been in place for decades. Read more of this post

China Reshapes Landscape for Firms From Alibaba to GM

China Reshapes Landscape for Firms From Alibaba to GM

China’s planned economic reforms are poised to reshape the competitive landscape, allowing private firms such as Alibaba Group Holdings Inc. to compete with state-owned banks, and easing the one-child policy to bolster markets for companies from Nestle SA (NESN) to General Motors Co. (GM) China’s financial sector is set to change with plans that include a new registration system for initial public offerings and allowing qualified private investors to set up small-to-medium sized banks. That has progressed in the past few months as Tencent Holdings Ltd. (700), Asia’s biggest Internet company, is part of a group applying for a banking license in China. Read more of this post

China Adopts “New” GDP-Boosting Accounting System

China Adopts “New” GDP-Boosting Accounting System

Tyler Durden on 11/18/2013 11:02 -0500

China’s GDP is about to undergo the same magic that US GDP received earlier in the year. The “Chinese system of National Accounts” will see five significant adjustments that are expected to (surprise) boost the size of the nation’s estimate of its GDP. The National Bureau of Statistics is considering making the changes to reflect the latest economic and social developments and implement the reform guidelines unveiled at the 3rd Plenum recently. From the addition of research and development – intellectual properrty – (just as the US did) to including mark-to-market changes (read rises) in employee stock options and real estate in consumption data, the Chinese appear dead set on making a once-unbelievably goal-seeked number into an entirely fantastical representation of reality (which of course enables moar higher manipulation as to avoid any debt-to-gdp hurdles that the real world might see as a concern). Read more of this post

1964, 1969, 1972: the cream of China’s entrepreneurial crop

1964, 1969, 1972: the cream of China’s entrepreneurial crop

Staff Reporter

2013-11-19

The years 1964, 1969 and 1972 were golden for the birth of Chinese entrepreneurs who now populate the upper echelons of China’s tech industries, according to the Chinese-language book Outliers, published in 2009. Take the top four icons in the industry, all born in 1964: founder of Kingsoft Computer Qiu Bojun, CEO of Legend Group Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Sohu Zhang Chaoyang and founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma. Read more of this post

Australian kangaroo exporters look to hop into meat-hungry China

Australian kangaroo exporters look to hop into meat-hungry China

2:28am EST

By Colin Packham

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Once considered pet food, kangaroo meat could soon be sold to China as a luxury product, to encourage Chinese consumers to do something few Australians will – eat it. With a booming middle class, China’s appetite for meat is expected to rise nearly 17 percent over the next eight years, the World Trade Organization says. Read more of this post

Lego in Asia: Who dares, plays; A toymaker taps into a new market for selling to pussycat mums

Lego in Asia: Who dares, plays; A toymaker taps into a new market for selling to pussycat mums

Nov 16th 2013 | SINGAPORE |From the print edition

SQUEEZED between the boutique cafés and posh handbag shops in a Singapore shopping mall, Joey Tan is offering something very different, even radical, to the city-state’s consumers: play. Her shop, a franchise of “bricks4kids”, is selling classes for children to play with Lego bricks, and her idea is clearly taking off. Read more of this post

Asia Is Personal-Care Product Makers’ Growth Market

Asia Is Personal-Care Product Makers’ Growth Market

By Caroline Winter  November 14, 2013

Makers of personal-care products target emerging markets in Asia for a simple reason: That’s where the growth is. Euromonitor International forecasts sales in China of such goods will rise 8 percent, to $37 billion, in 2014.

Supermarkets Offer Personalized Pricing

Supermarkets Offer Personalized Pricing

By Olga Kharif November 14, 2013

Kimberley Cornwell’s husband is on a high-protein diet, and he usually eats eggs for breakfast. So when a Safeway (SWY) shopping app offered a deal a few months ago on 18 eggs for $1.89, she took it. Cornwell had never given the store any information about her family’s health or fitness needs. The Chicago recruiter is a member of Safeway’s Just for U program, which uses complex algorithms to sift through shopping data to guess her needs and produce special personalized offers. “Sometimes I’d see something, and it’s a good deal or something I’d like to try,” Cornwell says. “I can usually save $10 to $20.” Read more of this post

Work ethic, comic hero make Koreans hot shots in car design

Work ethic, comic hero make Koreans hot shots in car design

4:19pm EST

By Norihiko Shirouzu and Hyunjoo Jin

(Reuters) – In today’s auto industry, where famed Japanese quality and durability are increasingly a given, design is king and, among designers, South Koreans are hot property. From General Motors’ bold Chevrolet Camaro to the quintessential British gentlemen’s Bentley, more top models carry the flair and signature of a group of designers from South Korea, which some have dubbed “Asia’s Italy” for its impact on car design, fashion and aesthetics. Read more of this post

The riskiest part yet of the Fukushima clean-up is soon to begin

The riskiest part yet of the Fukushima clean-up is soon to begin

Nov 16th 2013 | FUKUSHIMA |From the print edition

AMONG the twisted metal and random debris that litter much of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the fourth reactor looks in relatively good condition. A new structure covers the damage from a hydrogen explosion that blew its roof off days after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the plant in March 2011. But the building is still unstable, and its spent-fuel storage pool highly dangerous. This month Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) will start plucking out over 1,500 radioactive rods from the pool in order to store them more safely. Over the pool a crane waits to start the procedure, and a yellow radiation alarm stands at the ready. Experts call the operation the riskiest stage of the plant’s clean-up so far. Read more of this post

Reforming Japan: The thicket of reform; Though appearing committed to big structural change, the prime minister is moving too slowly

Reforming Japan: The thicket of reform; Though appearing committed to big structural change, the prime minister is moving too slowly

Nov 16th 2013 | TOKYO |From the print edition

ONE farmer in central Japan has long kicked against the system. Shigeaki Okamoto, in Aichi prefecture, abandoned the family tradition of growing chrysanthemums—symbol of the imperial family—for market, because it tied him to Japan Agriculture (JA), the giant state-sponsored co-operative that stifles much of farming. Instead Mr Okamoto learned to grow strawberries, which he could sell outside the JA system. But now the government listens less to JA and more to rebels like Mr Okamoto. He has helped design rules on farming for a series of new “special economic zones” that are part of the plans of the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to revive the economy. Read more of this post

Diaper makers target Asia in challenge to P&G

Diaper makers target Asia in challenge to P&G

JIJI

NOV 18, 2013

Japanese manufacturers of paper diapers for babies are boosting business in Asian economies outside Japan to attract demand from an expanding class of middle-income earners benefitting from economic growth. Unicharm Corp., the leading disposable diaper maker in Japan, and domestic rivals Kao Corp. and Daio Paper Corp. have seen sales grow in the region and anticipate a further demand. Read more of this post

Standstill: SBY and Joko Remain in Gridlock as Rain Begins and Car Sales Soar

Standstill: SBY and Joko Remain in Gridlock as Rain Begins and Car Sales Soar

By Novy Lumanauw on 4:20 pm November 15, 2013.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sought on Thursday to reinforce the merit of his administration’s policy to boost sales of low-cost green cars in Indonesia in response to criticism that the boom in cheap vehicles would hasten the capital’s road to gridlock, and worsen traffic in other urbanized parts of the archipelago. Read more of this post

Plans to Exclude SOEs as State Assets Raising Fears in Indonesia; fears that stripping the state audit body of its authority to conduct audits of the companies will destroy the firms and worsen corruption within the companies

Plans to Exclude SOEs as State Assets Raising Fears

By Rizky Amelia on 8:20 am November 18, 2013.
Excluding state-owned enterprises from state assets and stripping the state audit body of its authority to conduct audits of the companies will destroy the firms and worsen corruption within the companies, experts and activists say. Read more of this post

Investors in Indonesia account for only 0.2 percent of the country’s total population, the lowest in the region

Indonesia has fewest local investors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Tue, November 19 2013, 12:19 PM

Investors in Indonesia account for only 0.2 percent of the country’s total population, the lowest in the region, an executive in capital market supervision says.
“Compared to other Asian countries, Indonesia also has the lowest number of publicly listed companies,” Nurhaida, commissioner at the Financial Services Authority (OJK), said in Citibank’s 2014 capital market outlook seminar on Monday. Read more of this post

A North Jakarta Fishing Community Learns How They Are Being Cheated

A North Jakarta Fishing Community Learns How They Are Being Cheated

By Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata on 9:05 am November 18, 2013.

Members of the Muara Angke fishing community in North Jakarta make their living from the sea, but it is a living that many residents say is increasingly at risk from pollution and environmental degradation. So when one of Indonesia’s corporate law firms recently organized a class in Muara Angke, residents packed a community hall to learn about fishery and environmental laws, and to be briefed on city bylaws and regulations for running a small business, including the process to secure a business permit (SIUP) and certification for home-based food businesses. Read more of this post

Industri Jamu dan Farmasi Sido Muncul, Indonesia’s largest herbal medicine company, is looking to raise as much as Rp 990 billion ($85 million) in an IPO

Tolak Angin Maker Targets IPO

By Francezka Nangoy on 10:49 am November 19, 2013.

Sido Muncul president director Irwan Hidayat. (JG Photo/Dhana Kencana)

Industri Jamu dan Farmasi Sido Muncul, Indonesia’s largest herbal medicine company, is looking to raise as much as Rp 990 billion ($85 million) in an initial public offering in December to help financing planned investment. In a meeting on Monday, the company announced that it would offer 1.5 billion shares, or a 10 percent stake, in a first-time share sale in early December. Read more of this post

Indonesia’s Graftbusters Battle the Establishment

Indonesia’s Graftbusters Battle the Establishment

By Kanupriya Kapoor & Randy Fabi on 9:49 am November 17, 2013.
An inspector general of Indonesian police had just withstood eight hours of interrogation on the night of October 5, last year at the Jakarta headquarters of Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency when a commotion erupted outside. Read more of this post

Onions Bring Tears to RBI’s Rajan as Prices Surge: India Credit

Onions Bring Tears to RBI’s Rajan as Prices Surge: India Credit

Record onion prices and the soaring cost of rice and coriander are frustrating Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan’s battle to curb inflation while supporting growth in Asia’s third-largest economy. The wholesale-price index for onions, a staple food for India’s 1.24 billion people, has climbed 155 percent this year, hitting an all-time high of 820.5 in September, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The index, set at 100 in 2004, has almost quadrupled in 12 months. A broader measure for food is up 19 percent in 2013, while spot prices for coriander climbed about 29 percent and basmati rice advanced 40 percent. Read more of this post

The Battle for India’s Waistline

November 19, 2013, 9:23 AM

The Battle for India’s Waistline

SAPTARISHI DUTTA

With its before and after shots of dramatic weight-loss, the latest election poster from India’s main opposition, could, at first glance, pass for a Slim-Fast ad.

The youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, known as Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, posted the picture on its Facebook page showing an obese man who supposedly slimmed down during the Congress party’s time in office as he struggled to buy enough to eat because of high food prices. Read more of this post

Taj Hotels and Orient-Express: Two luxury hotel chains will not be checking in together

Taj Hotels and Orient-Express: Two luxury hotel chains will not be checking in together

Nov 16th 2013 | MUMBAI |From the print edition

INDIA and Orient-Express have never rubbed along. The luxury hotel firm’s buccaneering founder, James Sherwood, visited the country in the early 1990s and had “a nightmare”. His private jet was delayed for an age in Mumbai while officials checked that the bottles in its on-board bar were sealed correctly. He signed a deal to run the Lake Palace Hotel in Rajasthan (pictured), owned by local royalty. The deal collapsed when lawyers discovered that Mr Sherwood’s interlocutor was not the real Maharana of Udaipur, but his brother. Read more of this post

Interview: Raghuram Rajan plans ‘dramatic remaking’ of India’s banking system

November 18, 2013 10:54 am

Interview: Raghuram Rajan plans ‘dramatic remaking’ of India’s banking system

By James Crabtree, Lionel Barber and Victor Mallet in Mumbai

India’s central bank governor Raghuram Rajan is planning a “dramatic remaking” of banking in Asia’s third-largest economy, with an expanded role for foreign groups, more licences for domestic private sector institutions and a push to shake-up state-backed banks in advance of a new era of robust competition. Read more of this post

India Weighs Investment Cap in Pharmaceutical Sector; Proposal Would Bar Foreigners From Owning More Than 49% of Makers of ‘Rare and Critical’ Drugs

India Weighs Investment Cap in Pharmaceutical Sector

Proposal Would Bar Foreigners From Owning More Than 49% of Makers of ‘Rare and Critical’ Drugs

RAJESH ROY And KENAN MACHADO

Updated Nov. 18, 2013 10:01 a.m. ET

NEW DELHI—India is considering sharp new limits on investment in the country’s pharmaceutical industry that would bar foreign companies from taking control of makers of “rare and critical” medicines, a senior government official said Monday. Read more of this post

A strongman is not the solution to India’s troubles

November 17, 2013 7:57 pm

A strongman is not the solution to India’s troubles

By Ramachandra Guha

Congress misrule has led to stalling growth – but Modi alone cannot fix it, says Ramachandra Guha

In the first weeks of 1967, the New Delhi correspondent of The Times wrote a series on “India’s Disintegrating Democracy”. “Universally believed to be corrupt”, the “government and the governing party have lost public confidence and belief in themselves as well”, he remarked. But he also thought that, among Indians, there was “emotional readiness for the rejection of parliamentary democracy”. They were due to vote in what the Times man saw as “the fourth – and surely last – general election”. Read more of this post

Hong Kong Seeks to Build REIT Business Amid Regional Competition

Hong Kong Seeks to Build REIT Business Amid Regional Competition

Hong Kong needs to attract more real estate investment trusts and allow new types of investment funds as it seeks to compete with other Asian financial centers, the city’s Financial Services Development Council said. Hong Kong should amend its rules on REITs, including giving them an exemption from profit tax on rental incomes, according to one of six reports published by the council today. The city should also allow the establishment of open-ended investment companies, encouraging fund management firms to choose the city as their domicile, the reports said. Read more of this post

The U.S., Crude Oil Refinery to the World

The U.S., Crude Oil Refinery to the World

November 14, 2013

1. The U.S. has become the world’s fueling station, sending more gasoline, diesel, and other refined petroleum products abroad than ever before. Exports of these fuels have almost tripled in 10 years.  

2. In 2011, the U.S. became a net exporter of refined oil products for the first time since World War II.

3. Exports are forecast to keep rising as European refiners close, domestic crude production rises, and demand swells in emerging markets.

Solar Energy Shakeout: Concentrating vs. Photovoltaic

Solar Energy Shakeout: Concentrating vs. Photovoltaic

By Ken Wells and Mark Chediak November 14, 2013

Sometime next year, BrightSource Energy’s $2.2 billion Ivanpah solar power station will become fully operational and begin feeding enough green electricity to California’s two largest utilities to power 140,000 homes. Located in the Mojave Desert, 45 miles south of Las Vegas, the 392-megawatt plant works like a giant reflector. Its 173,500 computer-guided solar mirror arrays focus sunlight onto three 45-story towers. The heat generated by the sun’s concentrated rays boils water inside, creating steam to run electrical turbines. Spread across 3,500 acres of public land, Ivanpah is the largest plant of its kind. It may also be among the last of its kind ever built in the U.S. Read more of this post