The price is a blight: The rich world, and especially the euro zone, risks harmfully low inflation

The price is a blight: The rich world, and especially the euro zone, risks harmfully low inflation

Nov 9th 2013 |From the print edition

WHEN central banks adopted “quantitative easing” (printing money to buy financial assets) and other unorthodox means to buoy economies holed by the financial crisis, many feared that the result would be out-of-control inflation. Asset prices have certainly soared. But consumer prices have not. Indeed, the growing fear is that rich countries may be entering a twilight zone of ultra-low inflation. Read more of this post

Britain is surpassingly good at selling songs and talent shows on TV

Britain is surpassingly good at selling songs and talent shows on TV

Nov 9th 2013 |From the print edition

TWO MPS WITH quite different views employ the same metaphor for modern British politics. At times, they say, it is “like the X-Factor”. They mean it can be tawdry and shouty. But there is an obvious difference, too. “X-Factor”, a talent show created by Simon Cowell, is far more popular. Despite a glut of reality shows on television, an episode of “X-Factor” can draw as many as 10m viewers in Britain. It has conquered the world, too. Versions of it exist in about 40 countries, from Colombia to Kazakhstan. It is in the vanguard of British exports of reality-TV formats—a small industry, but one that Britain unquestionably dominates. Read more of this post

Where will the boot land next? Investors and companies struggle with the arbitrary nature of new taxes and regulations; 2014 will be a busy year at the polls, with votes in Brazil, India and Indonesia plus America’s mid-terms

Where will the boot land next? Investors and companies struggle with the arbitrary nature of new taxes and regulations

Nov 9th 2013 |From the print edition

WHEN economists talk of political risk, they usually mean war, terrorism or, at the very least, national elections. And 2014 will be a busy year at the polls, with votes in Brazil, India and Indonesia (among the big emerging markets), plus America’s mid-terms. Countries with a combined population of more than 2 billion will be endorsing or rejecting their current governments. Read more of this post

Chinese Activists Challenge Beijing by Going to Dinner; Over Unassuming Meals Members of Civic Group Try to Lay Groundwork for Democratizing China

Chinese Activists Challenge Beijing by Going to Dinner

Over Unassuming Meals Members of Civic Group Try to Lay Groundwork for Democratizing China

JOSH CHIN

Nov. 6, 2013 1:14 p.m. ET

BEIJING—A new crop of grass-roots activists is vexing China’s authoritarian government by organizing around a simple event: dinner. On the last weekend of every month, government critics gather for unassuming meals in as many as 20 cities across the country to discuss issues from failures in the legal system to unequal access to education. The gatherings are intentionally low-key, organizers say, but their overall goal—to lay the groundwork for democratizing China—isn’t. “It’s not illegal to eat dinner together,” says Zhang Kun, a 26-year-old former employee of an advertising company who started helping to organize the meals after meeting other activists online. “That’s our motto: Change China by eating.” Read more of this post

Investors Cool to 2 Chinese Bank Offerings Anhui Huishang Bank and Bank of Chongqing; “The stand-alone financial profiles of many L.G.F.V.’s are very weak”

NOVEMBER 6, 2013, 6:49 AM

Investors Cool to 2 Chinese Bank Offerings

By NEIL GOUGH

Two Chinese banks that sold nearly $2 billion worth of shares in Hong Kong stock market listings received lukewarm receptions on Wednesday from investors concerned about how China’s financial system would cope with a potential deluge of bad debt that could swamp the country’s economy. The Huishang Bank Corporation, a regional banking group based in eastern Anhui Province, priced its initial public offering at the bottom end of the marketed range on Wednesday, raising 9.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $1.19 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the deal, who declined to be identified because the information was not yet public. Also on Wednesday, shares of Bank of Chongqing closed down slightly on their first day of trading in Hong Kong after the company raised 4.2 billion dollars in a share sale. Read more of this post

Park’s promise of second South Korea miracle risks ringing hollow

Park’s promise of second South Korea miracle risks ringing hollow

4:08pm EST

By Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Park Geun-hye took office in February pledging a “Second Miracle on the Han River”, a reference to her father’s rapid 1970s industrialization, but nine months into office little has materialized. On the face of it, there is little wrong with what is one of Asia’s industrial powerhouses, but longer term the lack of a viable domestic economy based on services means the world’s fastest ageing country could face a major collapse in growth. Read more of this post

Trading Delayed as 650,000 South Koreans Take College Entry Test

Trading Delayed as 650,000 South Koreans Take College Entry Test

By Heesu Lee

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) — South Korea’s stock market opens an hour later than usual and flights will be barred from take-offs and landings for 40 minutes to reduce noise as more than 650,000 students take their college entrance exams today. Police will be mobilized and rush-hour schedules for buses and trains extended to help students reach 1,257 test centers 30 minutes before the 8:40 a.m. start. The military will halt drills to avoid disturbing the candidates, for whom a high score and entry to a top university all but guarantees a prestigious job with the civil service or at one of South Korea’s chaebol, including Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. Read more of this post

Its industry in a slump, Chinese Baijiu company Shuijingfang-Diageo hires American CEO

Its industry in a slump, a Chinese Baijiu company hires American CEO

Jim Rice, a successful American businessman who helped companies like Tyson Foods adapt to the China market, has been selected by top Baijiu company Shuijingfang to be its next CEO during a time of crisis for the alcohol industry.

by Rob Schmitz

Marketplace Morning Report for Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Jim Rice became CEO of Shuijingfang baijiu company nearly a year ago. It was terrible timing. “About the time I arrived, the industry started to go on a slide,” Rice says, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s new austerity measures, “My sales are down 50 percent. We’ve just given a warning to the stock market that our profit will be down between 80 percent and 100 percent.” Read more of this post

Shanghai FTZ slow to deliver on the hype

Shanghai FTZ slow to deliver on the hype

Thursday, Nov 07, 2013

Fiona Chan

The Straits Times

It has been just over a month since Shanghai’s free trade zone was launched to much fanfare on Sept29, lauded as one of China’s most significant economic experiments to date. As the first such zone within mainland China, the 28.78 sq km territory will allow the exchange of goods without tariffs and with easier customs approvals, providing a big boost to trade. Read more of this post

Wahaha’s billionaire Zong Qinghou: Daughter does not understand China’s enterprise development and the situation overseas; 宗庆后:女儿不懂中国企业现状 也不清楚国外情况

宗庆后:女儿不懂中国企业现状 也不清楚国外情况

2013-11-06 08:30 来源：京华时报字号：1214

饮料巨头娃哈哈跨界进入白酒业的传闻终于得到证实。昨天，娃哈哈集团在北京宣布进军白酒业，而首款酱香酒——领酱国酒也正式亮相。娃哈哈集团董事长兼总经理宗庆后称，在白酒行业处于低谷之际，娃哈哈是抄底“饮酒”，150亿元的投资可能还不够。 Read more of this post

There Is No Room for Greed in Gathering News; Behind corrupt news, a corrupt system

11.06.2013 19:03

There Is No Room for Greed in Gathering News

China’s peculiar media environment makes it easy for journalists to succumb to temptation, a situation that will exist until the media is allowed to be independent

The full facts of the dramatic arrest and subsequent confession of New Express reporter Chen Yongzhou are not yet known but there is no escaping the problem it revealed. The painful truth is this case exposes the unforgivable practice of “rent-seeking” in Chinese journalism. Given the important role news media play in society, such corruption cannot be tolerated – even people who continue to speak up for the reporter and the newspaper involved would agree with that. Read more of this post

Hu Shuli: Rent Seeking in the Media is Unforgivable; 新闻寻租不可恕: 新闻媒体身为公器，使命重大，无论现实有多艰难，新闻寻租绝不可恕

新闻寻租不可恕

来源于 财新《新世纪》 2013年第42期 出版日期 2013年11月04日 | 评论（636）

新闻媒体身为公器，使命重大，无论现实有多艰难，新闻寻租绝不可恕

财新《新世纪》2013年第42期

直到现在，人们还是无法得知《新快报》记者陈永洲被拘捕事件背后的全部真相。不过，始于10月22日的这起事件，在舆情的一波三折中戏剧性展开，其间所曝光的事实充满反讽却不容回避。应当承认，我们面对的是一起相当复杂的、涉嫌新闻寻租的严重事件。当前仍有一些声音，事实上在回护涉事记者和媒体。我们认为，新闻媒体身为公器，使命重大，无论现实有多艰难，新闻寻租绝不可恕。 Read more of this post

Failure to end China’s labor camps shows limits of Xi’s power

Failure to end China’s labor camps shows limits of Xi’s power

4:17pm EST

By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping has been blocked in efforts to dismantle the country’s labor camp system in a clear sign that he has yet to cement his grip on the ruling Communist Party a year after gaining power, leadership sources said. Xi, whose father was sacked as vice premier and then imprisoned for seven years during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, is deeply opposed to the use of labor camps for arbitrary detention and his failure to close them suggests he is not as strong as he appears, the sources said. Read more of this post

English May Be Losing Its Luster in China

November 7, 2013, 8:00 AM

English May Be Losing Its Luster in China

SHANGHAI–Marina Wang used English every day when she worked at a British company in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. But her use of the language dropped to virtually zero when she quit to work for a Chinese bank in her home province of Hubei. Though she majored in English in college, she doesn’t miss speaking it. “My new job offers greater economic stability and allows me to live near my parents,” she said. “English is not required because I communicate mainly with Chinese customers.” Read more of this post

Dirty Clash of China’s Heavy Equipment Heavies

11.06.2013 15:32

Dirty Clash of China’s Heavy Equipment Heavies

Rival machinery manufacturers Sany and Zoomlion have been fighting an ugly battle that just got uglier

By staff reporters Zhang Boling and Yu Ning

(Beijing) – The dramatic fall of a media mercenary has exposed a quiet, dirty war for clients, government favors and respectability between two of the world’s largest heavy-equipment manufacturers. It’s a years-long war that’s been largely hidden from the public eye, on a battlefield littered with charges and counter-charges of espionage, slander and back-door deals in the Hunan Province city of Changsha, home base for rivals Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co. Ltd. and Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. Read more of this post

China’s local govt debt raises alarm

China’s local govt debt raises alarm

By Valarie Tan
POSTED: 07 Nov 2013 09:44
Economic reform is likely to be the centrepiece of the Chinese government’s 3rd Plenum which begins this weekend and the worrying debt pile amassed by municipal governments may come in for some attention at the meeting.

BEIJING: Economic reform is likely to be the centrepiece of the Chinese government’s 3rd Plenum which begins this weekend and the worrying debt pile amassed by municipal governments may come in for some attention at the meeting. A national audit that began in July is reportedly completed and it is estimated that local government debt has doubled in the last two years. Analysts say harsh measures to rein-in the borrowing may be planned. At the infamous ghost city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia, the local government is said to have spent an estimated 350 billion yuan (US$57.4 billion) on ambitious infrastructure projects in 2012 – a 20-fold jump from just 17 billion yuan in 2000. It is one example of mounting loans taken out by local governments in China to spur investment and boost growth numbers, prompting Beijing to order a national audit in July. Analysts estimate that local debt will total between 14 and 20 trillion yuan last year, nearly double that of 2010 during the last audit. The worry now is whether governments can pay back what they borrowed. Read more of this post

China Scraps Floor Price for Air Fares to Boost Budget Travel

China Scraps Floor Price for Air Fares to Boost Budget Travel

China scrapped a rule that required airlines to keep a minimum domestic ticket price as the world’s most-populous nation seeks to spur air travel demand. Eliminating the floor level for fares will help carriers attract more travelers by offering cheaper prices, the People’s Daily reported today, citing Xia Xinghua, the civil aviation regulator’s deputy director. The regulator may also consider adding a budget air terminal in the planned second airport in Beijing, Xia was quoted by the Beijing Youth Daily today. Read more of this post

F&N’s Bondholders Potential Barrier to Property Unit Spin Off; Risking a default should bondholders not accept its proposal would be short-sighted and may damage F&N’s ability to raise funds in the future; F&N won’t enforce clause on Heineken competition

F&N’s Bondholders Potential Barrier to Property Unit Spin Off

Fraser & Neave Ltd. (FNN), seeking to amend default conditions on S$808.25 million ($650 million) of debt to spin off a property unit, faces its first test with early bondholder votes due today, consent solicitation documents show. The beverages and property conglomerate, controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, asked debt holders to waive certain default clauses and allow the company to buy back the securities on or before June 30, 2014 for a fee, according to Oct. 28 announcements to the Singapore stock exchange. The company is offering to pay 100 cents on the dollar and a fee worth half of the note’s coupon and the accrued interest at the so-called call-option, the documents show. Read more of this post

Onion crisis in India after tiny bulk reaches all-time high of 100 rupees ($1.62) per kilogram in some areas

News From the Onion in India

Politicians are humbled by a tiny bulb, and market forces.

Updated Nov. 6, 2013 6:36 p.m. ET

Ample monsoon rains helped most Indian crops this year, and one might think that’s good news for the governments of the five states holding assembly elections over the next two months. However, onions grow better in dry weather. And when the price of this staple food rises, as it has recently to an all-time high of 100 rupees ($1.62) per kilogram in some areas, Indian voters are known to toss the incumbents out. For example, an onion shortage helped the Congress Party take back the Delhi state government from the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1998. This year it could be the BJP’s turn to make Congress cry over their onions. Read more of this post

Peter Woo’s Harbour Centre Buys Former Government Building in H.K. City Center for HK$4.4 Billion For Conversion Into a Hotel; The conversion will give its second hotel in HK after Maroc Polo HK Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui

Harbour Centre Buys Building in H.K. for HK$4.4 Billion

Harbour Centre Development Ltd. (51), controlled by the family of billionaire Peter Woo, bought a former government office tower in Hong Kong’s city center for HK$4.4 billion ($568 million) for conversion into a hotel. The Hong Kong-based real estate company, a listed unit of Wheelock & Co. (20), has until the end of 2018 to convert the 27-level, 325,073-square-foot 1960s-era Murray building into a hotel, while preserving its exterior, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing yesterday evening. The conversion will give Harbour Centre its second hotel in Hong Kong; it also owns the Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui district. The city government is selling some of its older office space after erecting a new headquarters for itself on the waterfront. Woo, chairman of Wheelock, is Hong Kong’s seventh-richest person with a fortune estimated at $7.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s the son-in-law of deceased shipping tycoon Pao Yue-Kong. Separately, Swire Properties Ltd. (1972) bought a commercial site in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay district from the government for HK$2.64 billion and Sino Land Co. (83) bought a residential site in the Sai Kung area for HK$850 million, according to a statement posted on the government’s website yesterday. Both buyers are Hong Kong-based real estate developers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Fellman in New York at jfellman@bloomberg.net

E-Cigs Wafting Into Workplace 25 Years After Smoking Ban

E-Cigs Wafting Into Workplace 25 Years After Smoking Ban

When John Castellano feels like a smoke, he simply heads to the break room at Kraft Foods Group Inc. (KRFT)’s Garland, Texas, factory. The 39-year-old technician has been able to indulge his habit in common areas at work since he started using electronic cigarettes, which emit vapor rather than smoke. E-cigs are “very liberating,” said Castellano, who used to join the other nicotine addicts at the factory’s designated smoking area. Read more of this post

Oil Industry May Invoke Trade Law to Challenge Export Ban

Oil Industry May Invoke Trade Law to Challenge Export Ban

The U.S. oil industry, riding a domestic energy boom, is preparing to challenge restrictions on crude exports, possibly by arguing that limits designed to keep petroleum in America may violate international trade rules. “Export issues are something we’re going to have to address,” John Felmy, the chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute trade group said in an interview. “It’s a debate we have to have.” Read more of this post

Toyota Raises Profit Forecast After Abe Helps Weaken Yen

Toyota Raises Profit Forecast After Abe Helps Weaken Yen

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the world’s largest automaker, raised its full-year profit forecast by 13 percent as the weaker yen boosted earnings from Prius and Lexus vehicles exported from Japan. Net income will probably rise to 1.67 trillion yen ($16.9 billion) in the year ending March 31, the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker said in a statement today. That compares with the previous forecast of 1.48 trillion yen and the 1.82-trillion-yen average of 22 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Read more of this post

Japan mis-labelling scandal spreads to luxury food

Japan mis-labelling scandal spreads to luxury food

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 – 19:06

AFP

TOKYO – Japan’s hotels, restaurants and food shops were being warned Wednesday over dishonest labelling amid a growing scandal that is threatening to undermine the country’s reputation for safe, high-quality produce. The direction comes as top department stores became the latest Japanese firms to admit they had been selling food with labels falsely claiming high-quality or expensive ingredients. “It’s extremely regrettable as it seriously undermines consumer confidence,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press conference, speaking about the widening scandal. Read more of this post

Abe Risks Ire of Rice Farmers, Consumers With Latest Proposals; Japan Leader Intensifies Campaign to Push Through Politically Difficult Economic Change

Abe Risks Ire of Rice Farmers, Consumers With Latest Proposals

Japan Leader Intensifies Campaign to Push Through Politically Difficult Economic Change

TOKO SEKIGUCHI and MITSURU OBE

Nov. 6, 2013 11:52 a.m. ET

TOKYO—As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intensifies his campaign to push through politically difficult economic change, he took one step forward and one step back Wednesday, proposing a reduction in long-standing protections for rice farmers while watering down a pledge to liberalize online sales of medication. In a surprise move, Mr. Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a plan that called for ending production rationing and across-the-board cash handouts to farmers in five years, curbing support for a key bloc that has kept the party in power for most of the postwar period. Read more of this post

Indonesian village no longer grape paradise

Indonesian village no longer grape paradise

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 – 10:27

The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

INDONESIA – Two decades ago, I Nyoman Mudita was one of the most prolific grape farmers in Banjar Tegeha village in Banjar district, some two kilometers northwest of Singaraja, the capital of Buleleng regency in north Bali. It was the time when the village, with its rich volcanic soil, was renowned as Buleleng’s black grape centre, a variety of grape originating from Probolinggo, East Java. In France, this black table grape variety is called “Alphonse Lavallee”. Read more of this post

Colleges Cut Alternative Investments to Recoup Losses

Colleges Cut Alternative Investments to Recoup Losses

U.S. college endowments are cutting holdings of alternative investments, such as private equity, as many seek to recoup record losses from four years ago. Colleges on average allocated 47 percent of their investment portfolios to alternative assets in the 12 months ended in June, down from 54 percent the year before, according to a preliminary report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Commonfund Institute. Read more of this post