China’s wealth management products total $2.62 tril

China’s wealth management products total $2.62 tril

Sunday, June 22, 2014 – 12:58

Reuters

BEIJING – China’s wealth management products totalled 12.8 trillion yuan (S$2.62 trillion) as of the end of May, state media said, quoting the vice central bank head. Read more of this post

Tax-driven mergers: Inverse logic; The rush of firms fleeing America for tax reasons is set to continue

Tax-driven mergers: Inverse logic; The rush of firms fleeing America for tax reasons is set to continue

Jun 21st 2014 | NEW YORK | From the print edition

AMERICA is a land of immigrants, but some of its biggest companies are keen to emigrate, driven abroad by high tax rates and America’s “worldwide” system of taxation, which grabs a share of their foreign profits. The preferred method of exit is the “tax inversion”, which uses a cross-border merger—generally one that also has some sort of industrial logic—as the pretext for reincorporating in a more tax-friendly place. Medtronic, a maker of medical devices, is the latest and largest firm to change its nationality in this way. Read more of this post

Leviathan as capitalist: State capitalism continues to defy expectations of its demise

Leviathan as capitalist: State capitalism continues to defy expectations of its demise

Jun 21st 2014 | From the print edition

IT IS now 25 years since Francis Fukuyama published “The End of History?” and ignited a firestorm of debate. Today there are many reasons for thinking that he was wrong about the universal triumph of liberalism and markets, from democracy’s failure in the Middle East to the revival of religious fundamentalism. But one of the most surprising reasons is the continuing power of the state as an economic actor: far from retiring from the business battlefield in 1989, the state merely regrouped for another advance. Read more of this post

Riding the rich, grey Chinese wave: China’s largest private-sector conglomerate has been a skilful surfer of changing business trends

Riding the rich, grey Chinese wave: China’s largest private-sector conglomerate has been a skilful surfer of changing business trends

Jun 21st 2014 | SHANGHAI | From the print edition

RETIREMENT homes can be depressing places, but Starcastle comes as a pleasant surprise. This upmarket development for pensioners in Shanghai is a joint venture between Fosun Group, a Chinese conglomerate, and Fortress Investment Group, an American private-equity firm. Visitors find a colourfully decorated apartment building filled with energetic oldies. By the entrance, a giggling gaggle admires the herbs and flowers; nearby, residents practise tai chi and calligraphy; others are in a classroom, learning to use WeChat, a mobile-messaging app.

Ask a trio chatting in the centre’s open-air café why they chose this place, which caters to people keen on living independently while still getting meals and nursing as needed, and their answers point to a powerful trend. Since time immemorial, Chinese children have been expected to take care of their aged parents—but rising incomes and shifting norms are changing things. The 93-year-old former boss of a hotel chain insists such stylish retirement homes, previously unheard of in China, are the future: “It’s very advanced, it’s convenient… and the kids stop worrying.” Read more of this post

Investors Just Threw A Ton Of Money At Unusually High-Risk Bonds For A Project That Doesn’t Make Money

Investors Just Threw A Ton Of Money At Unusually High-Risk Bonds For A Project That Doesn’t Make Money

MYLES UDLAND MARKETS  JUN. 22, 2014, 12:19 AM

“Where can you get 12% yield?”

Investors just took on a ton of risk to finance a new Florida passenger railway project being undertaken by Fortress Investment Group, reports Reuters’ Natalie Harrison and Shankar Ramakrishnan.

The project, called All Aboard Florida, plans to use existing freight railway on the east coast of Florida to carry passengers. Read more of this post

More than half a million votes were cast for full democracy in Hong Kong by the second day of an unofficial online poll organized by activists and labeled illegal by China

Hong Kong Democracy Poll Gets Half a Million Votes by Second Day

By Natasha Khan June 21, 2014

More than half a million votes were cast for full democracy in Hong Kong by the s Read more of this post

How Inherited Wealth Helps the Economy

How Inherited Wealth Helps the Economy

JUNE 21, 2014

By N. GREGORY MANKIW

An undated photograph shows John D. Rockefeller, wearing a bow tie, and family members

Is inherited wealth making a comeback?

Yes, says Thomas Piketty, author of the best seller “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” Inherited wealth has always been with us, of course, but Mr. Piketty believes that its importance is increasing. He sees a future that combines slow economic growth with high returns to capital. He reasons that if capital owners save much of their income, their wealth will accumulate and be passed on to their heirs. He concludes that individuals’ living standards will be determined less by their skill and effort and more by bequests they receive. Read more of this post

Panasonic to sell birthplace of its TV business: report

Panasonic to sell birthplace of its TV business: report
Sunday, June 22, 2014
AFP

TOKYO — Japan’s electronics giant Panasonic will sell the plant where it first got into the television business half a century ago as it shifts away from the money-losing division, a report said Saturday.

The company plans to sell 60 percent of the plant’s 120,000-square meter site in Ibaraki, near the western city of Osaka, to Japan’s major homebuilder Daiwa House by early next year, the business daily Nikkei said. Read more of this post

China Resources sealed billions in deals without tenders, auditor finds; In one case, auditors find HK-listed power unit sealed HK$14.7b deals outside usual practice

China Resources sealed billions in deals without tenders, auditor finds

Saturday, 21 June, 2014, 3:14am

Eric Ng eric.mpng@scmp.com

In one case, auditors find HK-listed power unit sealed HK$14.7b deals outside usual practice

China Resources sealed billions of yuan worth of contracts without going through a tendering process, the National Audit Office has discovered. Read more of this post

Family businesses on the wane; Fewer family businesses are being passed on to successive generations, a new report finds

Family businesses on the wane

Fewer family businesses are being passed on to successive generations, a new report finds

Family businesses will contribute more than £120bn to the UK economy by 2018 Photo: AFP

By Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor

7:00AM BST 20 Jun 2014

Family businesses are no longer being passed down to the third generation, new research has found. Read more of this post

Migrant Exodus Puts Strain on Ailing Thai Economy

Migrant Exodus Puts Strain on Ailing Thai Economy

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre on 03:04 pm Jun 21, 2014

Samut Prakarn, Thailand. Lek Numthong, who supplies foreign laborers for construction sites on the fringes of the Thai capital, normally has a truckload of workers eager to make a day’s wage. But his pick-up has been all but empty for a week.

Only two Burmese workers are sitting in the back.

About 200,000 Cambodians, a key component of the migrant workforce, have turned tail and gone home. The clumsy rhetoric that apparently precipitated their departure may be the first misstep in the efforts by the generals now running the country to revive an economy battered by months of political turmoil. Read more of this post

Tata Motors’ Tale of Two Shares

Tata Motors’ Tale of Two Shares

ABHEEK BHATTACHARYABy

Updated June 20, 2014 8:25 a.m. ET

Tata Motors 500570.BY -0.13% ‘ once-lonely Class A shares are getting some overdue respect. There’s reason to think the love fest could continue.

India’s most valuable car maker gives investors the choice between two stock listings. There are regular shares. And then there are Class A shares, which carry a tenth of the main stock’s voting rights, though pay a higher dividend.

Read more of this post

America Inc. Wakes Up to Wage Inflation

America Inc. Wakes Up to Wage Inflation

JUSTIN LAHART

June 20, 2014 4:34 p.m. ET

Even as the U.S. job market has improved, companies have been slow to pay workers more. But they may now be approaching the time when they have to cut bigger paychecks to compete. What’s more, they appear to be getting ready for this. Read more of this post

China Metal Probe Weighs on Copper Outlook

China Metal Probe Weighs on Copper Outlook

CHUIN-WEI YAP

June 21, 2014 5:10 a.m. ET

BEIJING—Hedge funds and other money managers are building up short positions in the global copper market, according to U.S. data, riding on allegations of fraudulent metal-backed financing in China to amplify pressure on prices of one of the world’s most heavily traded metals.

These positions are likely to further weigh on the outlook for the red metal, as the effects of an official probe on metal stockpiles in the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao continue to ripple across global markets. The port’s operator has confirmed that Chinese authorities are investigating allegations of fraud relating to stockpiles of metals, though the government hasn’t commented publicly. Read more of this post

Congress after the cataclysm: Long India’s dominant party, the Gandhis’ machine now barely functions as the opposition

Congress after the cataclysm: Long India’s dominant party, the Gandhis’ machine now barely functions as the opposition

Jun 21st 2014 | From the print edition

IS THE patient dead or merely stunned? The Indian National Congress party was so battered in last month’s general election that recovery may be beyond it. Founded in 1885, the party that did most to extract independence from Britain in 1947 and dominated Indian politics for much of the subsequent seven decades managed to win just 44 seats of 543. One senior Congressman, who boasts a decent record of predicting elections, admits that was beyond his worst imaginings. The “cataclysmic” result constitutes the “most serious crisis” in the party’s long history, worse even than the bleak late 1970s after Indira Gandhi had suspended democracy. He likens the political change now under way to the country’s passing from a first to a second republic. Read more of this post

Indonesia’s next president: The apparently anointed president finds himself in a tough scrap

Indonesia’s next president: The apparently anointed president finds himself in a tough scrap

Jun 21st 2014 | JAKARTA | From the print edition

DURING a recent televised debate between the two men vying to become Indonesia’s next president, Prabowo Subianto strode across the set to hug his startled rival, Joko Widodo. A theatrical gesture meant to convince viewers that even a fiery-tempered former special-forces general has a softer side, it was still a striking show of civility in a race that has turned much nastier since it narrowed to a two-way contest. Read more of this post

Shanxi plans big growth from ‘red tourism’

Shanxi plans big growth from ‘red tourism’

Xinhua

2014-06-21

“Red tourism” is gaining popularity in China as the government pumps money into developing sites related to the Chinese revolution.

Northern China’s Shanxi province in particular is trying to accentuate the historical credentials of its revolution-era bases so it can attract tourists and enjoy faster growth. Read more of this post

3D printing industry begins to boom in China

3D printing industry begins to boom in China

Xinhua

With products ranging from stem cells, shoes and mini-statues, 3D printing has started to boom in China amid the industry’s rapid development worldwide.

Qingdao Unique Products Develop Company announced that adipose-derived stem cells and corneal stromal cells exported via a biological 3D printer had survived for nine days. Read more of this post

YPD Region in S. Korea emerges as the Mecca of global knitwear industry

Region in S. Korea emerges as the Mecca of global knitwear industry

2014.06.20 17:

“When buyers in Los Angeles order fabrics for knitwear, it takes about two months for Chinese companies to deliver them to their office. But companies in Yangju, Pocheon and Dongducheon (YPD) in South Korea can perform the job just in a month as both the process from the beginning to shipment and transportation take two weeks respectively,” said Gwon Byung-hee, chief of a textile exporter based in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
YPD is emerging as the heart of the global knitwear production, as the apparel consumption pattern is shifting from woven fabrics to more luxurious knitwear especially in developed countries. The success is believed to have stemmed from the fact that YPD has about 3,000 companies specializing in each phase of the textile production such as knitting, dyeing and post-processing and the firms’ cooperation system is working very well because they are located in one hour car-ride distance. As a result, large textile fashion companies such as LG Fashion and Kolon are flocking to YPD to set up knitwear production plants and research institutions.  Read more of this post

Mahathir Thwarts Sultan’s Power Grab

Mahathir Thwarts Sultan’s Power Grab

Written by Our Correspondent

SAT,14 JUNE 2014

Intervention saves PM Najib’s political standing

Malaysia’s aging former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had to act earlier this week to save Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak from embarrassing legislation that would have given the Sultan of Johor executive powers to run the housing authority of the country’s second biggest state. Read more of this post

How big can BlackRock get? With more than US$4.4-trillion in assets under management, BlackRock is the largest money manager in the world by a wide margin

How big can BlackRock get?

Jonathan Ratner | June 19, 2014 7:50 AM ET
With more than US$4.4-trillion in assets under management, BlackRock Inc. is the largest money manager in the world by a wide margin, but that has some investors worried that its growth will inevitably slow down.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Eric Berg, however, is confident BlackRock is being very disciplined in launching new products that can help increase AUM over time and is targeting market leadership in key markets to help boost overall growth. Read more of this post

China’s Real-Estate Wrongs

YAO YANG

Yao Yang is Dean of the National School of Development and Director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University.

JUN 20, 2014

China’s Real-Estate Wrongs

BEIJING – China’s real-estate sector has been a source of serious concern for several years, with soaring property prices raising fears of overheating in the housing market. But, with price growth easing, it seems that the government’s campaign to rein in property risk is finally taking hold. The danger now is that the housing market will collapse – bringing China’s economic prospects down with it. Read more of this post

A Love-Hate Relationship: Why Guangdong’s Financial Health Is So Tied to Property

Jun 20, 2014

A Love-Hate Relationship: Why Guangdong’s Financial Health Is So Tied to Property

China’s southern province of Guangdong was the first beneficiary of Beijing’s policy of opening up the economy to the outside world, becoming an export powerhouse and a magnet for foreign investment. It was also among the first local governments given a chance to issue bonds on its own – without Beijing holding its hand – as part of the central government’s plan to expand the financing channels of better-managed provinces and cities. Read more of this post

Family, Corruption and Sage Words From a News Agency; The Chinese language is revealingly rich in mordant sayings about the nexus of family, officialdom and corruption

Family, Corruption and Sage Words From a News Agency

By CHRIS BUCKLEY

June 20, 2014

The Chinese language is revealingly rich in mordant sayings about the nexus of family, officialdom and corruption. When a man becomes an official, one saying goes, even his “chickens and dogs become immortals.” And a commentary by the state news agency Xinhua that appeared Friday, laced with similar phrases, was likely to be worrisome reading for Ling Jihua, once the powerful gatekeeper to the Communist Party’s leadership. Read more of this post

China quietly launches probe of foreign non-government outfits: media

China quietly launches probe of foreign non-government outfits: media

6:18am EDT

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has quietly begun a probe into the operations of foreign non-government bodies in the country, to prepare for tighter regulations in future, as part of a security drive ordered by a new national panel headed by President Xi Jinping.

Non-government organizations have mushroomed in China in recent years, and can have a confrontational relationship with the government, especially if they work with sensitive groups, such as sex workers or drug addicts. Read more of this post

Westports sets world record for container productivity

Updated: Friday June 20, 2014 MYT 5:35:57 PM

Westports sets world record for container productivity

KUALA LUMPUR: Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd container operations team has scored another first when set a new world record for container terminal productivity, notching an impressive 793 moves in one hour.

This feat was achieved over the China Shipping container vessel, CSCL Le Havre (9572 TEU vessel), which operated on the AEX7 East service in the network linking Asia and Europe.  Read more of this post

THE booming presence of developers from China in Johor has not only ruffled feathers among local developers but also sparked concerns of the Singapore government due to the massive land reclamation works

Updated: Saturday June 21, 2014 MYT 6:55:54 AM

Stormy property landscape

BY NG BEI SHAN

THE booming presence of developers from China in Johor has not only ruffled feathers among local developers but also sparked concerns of the Singapore government due to the massive land reclamation works.

Following the high-profile entrance of Guangzhou-based Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd, which launched 9,000 units in Danga Bay at one-go in 2013, all eyes are now on other developers from China who are expected to adopt carpet bombing kind of development. Read more of this post

Palm oil industry needs to invest more in downstream activities

Updated: Saturday June 21, 2014 MYT 7:08:59 AM

Palm oil industry needs to invest more in downstream activities

BY DANIEL KHOO

Money to be made: Pemandu is pushing for the palm oil industry to capture the full potential of downstream activities, especially in the finished segments that generate high value income such as oleo-derivatives.

THE local palm oil sector which has been driven by the upstream segment in the past decades is set to change its course through increased contribution from the downstream segment in the coming years, according to the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), and Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Read more of this post