Hong kong farmers market

Bloomberg filepix for illustration purpose only - A + A HONG KONG (June 30): In 1996, the year before Hong Kong’s historic return to Chinese rule, two property tycoons from the British colony — Lee Shau Kee and Li Ka-shing — broke into the list of the world’s top 10 richest people for the first time. A quarter century later, that exclusive club no longer features anyone from the city, showing how the territory has failed to keep up with creating wealth. Despite being touted as one of the world’s freest markets, Hong Kong has barely seen any new homegrown billionaires reach the world’s top 500 in the past 25 years, barring a handful, including a son of Li’s and some mainland entrepreneurs with local citizenship running businesses outside Hong Kong. The reason, in part, is due to the special role real estate has continued to play in Hong Kong’s US$368 billion economy. Under a colonial-era policy, the government for decades has relied heavily on land auctions to … [Read more...] about Hong Kong’s broken billionaire factory shows city losing step

China's President Xi Jinping speaks upon his arrival via high-speed rail, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China June 30, 2022. - A + A HONG KONG (June 30): Hong Kong has overcome its challenges and "risen from the ashes", China's President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, as he arrived in the former British colony to celebrate 25 years since its return to Chinese rule. Xi is to swear in the global financial hub's new leader, John Lee, on Friday during his first visit to the city since 2017, which is also his first known trip outside the mainland in more than two years, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Wearing masks, Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, stepped off a high-speed train to be greeted by children waving flowers and Chinese and Hong Kong flags who chanted, "Welcome, welcome, warmly welcome" in Mandarin. "Hong Kong has withstood severe tests again and again, overcoming challenges one by one," Xi … [Read more...] about Hong Kong has ‘risen from the ashes’, China’s Xi says on rare visit

A woman takes pictures of Chinese and Hong Kong flags decorating a street, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China June 30, 2022. - A + A HONG KONG (June 30): Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday for events to celebrate 25 years since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule and the inauguration of the city's new leader John Lee. Xi's visit, via high-speed rail, is his first to the city since 2017 and the first known trip outside mainland China in over two years amid the Covid-19 epidemic. Xi, wearing a mask, stepped out of the train to be greeted by children and other people waving flowers and Chinese and Hong Kong flags, while chanting "Welcome, welcome, warmly welcome" in Mandarin. Outgoing leader Carrie Lam and her husband were among those who welcomed Xi at the train station. The city's streets had been festooned with red China flags and posters … [Read more...] about Chinese President Xi arrives in Hong Kong for handover anniversary

Bloomberg filepix for illustration purpose only - A + A HONG KONG (June 30): China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp, the world’s largest travel retailer, is set to relaunch a planned Hong Kong listing that could raise around US$2 billion to US$3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The offering by the state-owned operator of duty-free businesses across China, Hong Kong, Macau and some Southeast Asian cities could launch as early as August or September, said the people, asking not to be identified as the information is private. IFR first reported the details of the plan. A representative for CTG Duty Free didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Shanghai-traded company decided to suspend a listing last December, joining a slew of others amid a choppy market. It was aiming to raise about US$5 billion, Bloomberg News has reported. The company refiled its application on Wednesday. At US$2 billion, the share sale could be the … [Read more...] about World’s largest travel retailer CTG Duty Free said to revive US$3 bil Hong Kong listing

Amid the bitter US.-China trade war, a largely unnoticed development is the attempt by big U.S banks to compete in China's rapidly-growing financial sector. China recently announced specific dates when it will begin allowing full foreign ownership of mainland-based financial services companies. The China Securities Regulatory Commission said foreign ownership controls on futures firms, fund management firms and securities firms will be scrapped next year on January 1, April 1 and December 1, respectively. “China is very determined to reform its financial markets and knows that without the major American players, it is very hard to talk about having a truly internationalized market,” observes Michael Pettis, a professor of finance at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, per a detailed report in Bloomberg . “It also makes sense for China to accommodate a very important source of lobbying support, especially as there’s so little in the U.S. right now," he added. … [Read more...] about Big Banks Rushing for Piece of $43 Trillion China Market Amid Trade War

In the run up to the 25th anniversary celebration of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule on Friday (July 1), Hong Kong director Stephen Chow has granted a rare interview to China's CCTV. In the interview, Chow expressed hopes that Hong Kong filmmakers can take advantage of China's huge market. He told CCTV's Zhu Dan that he has dreamt of becoming an actor since he was a child, as he loved watching movies when he was young. Chow, who turned 60 last week, started his career as an extra in 1980 before going on to become an established comic actor in movies such as All For The Winner (1990), Fight Back To School (1991) and King Of Comedy (1999). Chow then turned his hand to directing, helming movies with themes ranging from culinary in The God Of Cookery (1996), sport in Shaolin Soccer (2001) to fantasy in CJ7 (2008). Zhu noted that there were many Chinese elements in Chow's movies, likely referring to movies such as Forbidden City Cop (1996) and Kung Fu Hustle … [Read more...] about Stephen Chow hopes HK filmmakers can take advantage of China’s huge market

- A + A (June 30): Valuations are starting to turn attractive for South Korea bonds amid signs the market has overpriced how much the most hawkish central bank in emerging Asia may raise rates. Won forward rates are pricing in about 125 basis points of hikes over the next six months, far above economists’ forecasts for how much the Bank of Korea will move. This points to an improving environment for won bonds, the biggest loser among emerging-Asia’s sovereign debt this quarter as inflation quickened to a 14-year high and bets on rate increases jumped. Increased flows into Korean debt may help ease pressures on the won, which last week reached a 13-year low. The country is vulnerable to soaring imports exacerbated by a weak currency. It also means that Korean bonds may start to diverge from other emerging markets in Asia, where the risk of interest-rate swaps and yields moving higher is clouding the outlook. “We see value in Korean government bonds, as the market … [Read more...] about Bond traders bet market has swung too far on Korea rate hikes

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the first half of 2022 on a disappointing note as selling pressure picked up the pace while key Asian markets also closed lower. The bellwether FBM KLCI has so far this year lost 123.31 points or 7.86% from 1,567.53 on Dec 31, 2021. The index closed the final day of the first half 7.26 points lower or 0.5% to close at 1,444.22. In the broader market, laggards outnumbered gainers 521-to-327; about 2.26 billion shares changed hands valued at RM1.97bil. “Markets are getting slammed as we head into the quarter-end, with global growth worries dominating and gas flows into Europe topping the laundry list of concerns on the continent,” SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said. He said the broader narrative remains unchanged, with growth worries dominating on the back of central bank tightening and the Fed road show pushing its hawkish front loader tone. “More broadly, price action continues to act poorly with growth worries … [Read more...] about Bursa ends 1H on a disappointing note, KLCI closes 7.26 points lower

- A + A (June 30): It was an unusually frigid December weekend when Cheng Wei summoned his inner circle to his Beijing office. The founder of Didi Global Inc, dressed entirely in black, told his lieutenants to slash spending by a fifth in 2022 and begin layoffs after staff return from Lunar New Year vacations. He delivered his bombshell flanked by a giant Powerpoint slide that read: “Don’t live with illusions. Face reality.” “We had a tough year,” said the reserved billionaire known as Will, who that day seemed even gloomier than normal, according to people briefed on the gathering. “But next year will be even tougher.” That sombre gathering encapsulated what many in the room already suspected — the ride-hailing champion once feted for running Uber Technologies Inc out of China was no more. In its place was a defeated shell worth a fifth of its value at the peak, bleeding users, blocked from raising funds for cherished projects — and whose executives were constantly … [Read more...] about Inside Didi’s US$60b crash that changed China tech forever

- A + A BEIJING (June 30): It’s official: Chinese equities are once again in vogue, after months of regulatory crackdowns, deleveraging and stringent virus curbs wiped trillions of dollars off benchmark gauges. A Bloomberg survey of 19 fund managers and analysts predicts that benchmark stock indexes in China and Hong Kong will post gains of at least 4% by year-end to outperform their global peers. About 70% of those polled plan to maintain or boost holdings of shares in the mainland and the financial hub in the next three months. The optimism marks a stunning reversal from March when investors raced to trim exposure to Chinese assets on fears that the nation’s Covid lockdowns and the war in Ukraine would damp economic growth. A recent easing of virus restrictions has propelled the CSI 300 Index to the brink of a bull market, and a loose policy stance has helped local equities defy the recent selloff in global stocks. “Covid restrictions will gradually ease and … [Read more...] about China’s world-beating stock rally is forecast to strengthen more