Crypto pioneer warns of future rules reversal in Hong Kong
A crypto entrepreneur whose business in China was upended by a regulatory crackdown considers his experience to be a cautionary tale for companies attracted by Hong Kong’s push to create…
Hong Kong’s exports slide 13pc in April
The value of Hong Kong’s total exports decreased to HK$338.3 billion in April, down 13 percent on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced. The value…
Nvidia chief says tech at ‘tipping point’ as unveils AI products
Nvidia chief Jensen Huang said the world was at “the tipping point of a new computer era” as he unveiled a raft of AI-related products Monday in his first public…
Economic development in Asia still faces many challenges, China minister says
Economic and trade development in the Asia-Pacific still faces many disturbances and challenges, China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao said. Wang made the comments at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference…
Majority of British firms cautious on new investments in China: survey
A majority of British companies are taking a “wait and see approach” on new investments in China amid their pessimism hitting record levels, according to the British Chamber of Commerce…
Hong Kong set to announce retail crypto trading under new rules
Hong Kong is set to announce that retail investors can trade crypto under its new rulebook for the sector, stepping up a push to develop a hub even as digital-asset…
China’s Sinopec signs agreement to enter retail fuel market in crisis-hit Sri Lanka
Chinese petroleum giant Sinopec signed an agreement with Sri Lanka on Monday to enter the South Asian Island country’s retail fuel market as it struggles to resolve a worsening energy…
Meta hit with record 1.2-billion-euro fine over EU data rules
Facebook owner Meta has been fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for transferring EU user data to the United States in breach of a previous court ruling, Ireland’s…
China’s Micron ban revives US trade tensions, fuels Asian chip rally
Several Chinese and South Korean chipmaker stocks rallied on Monday after Beijing barred U.S. firm Micron Technology (MU.O) from selling memory chips to key domestic industries over security concerns, reviving…
India to withdraw 2,000-rupee notes from circulation India to withdraw 2,000-rupee notes from circulation
India will start withdrawing its highest value currency notes from circulation, the central bank said on Friday, in a move that economists said could boost bank deposits at a time…
Meituan planning Hong Kong debut as soon as Monday, sources say
Meituan is set to launch a sister app in Hong Kong as soon as Monday, taking the world’s largest food delivery service beyond mainland China for the first time. The…
Unemployment rate drops to 3pc between Feb and Apr, continuing successive 12-month decline
Hong Kong’s latest unemployment rate continued its drop to 3 percent between February and April, with about 110,000 citizens still hunting for jobs. The Census and Statistics Department’s data released…
Smaller consultancies eye opportunities as China crackdown hits sector leader
Smaller consultancy and due-diligence firms in China reckon they stand to gain once business returns to normal after the shock administered by Beijing’s crackdown on firms supplying information deemed too…
Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher amid debt ceiling optimism
Asia-Pacific share indexes rallied on Thursday, following Wall Street’s lead, and the dollar held just below a two-month high versus the yen amid signs the United States might be close…
Safe-haven dollar rises with US debt default risk in focus
The dollar rose on Wednesday, benefiting from its status as a safe haven amid the risk of a U.S. debt default and as traders trimmed bets on imminent Federal Reserve…
Hong Kong banks hike deposit rates as cash conditions tighten
Banks in Hong Kong are rushing to raise deposit rates and attract retail money as a spurt in loan demand and investment outflows led to an abrupt tightening of cash…
Morgan Stanley weighs cutting 7pc of Asia investment bank jobs: source
Morgan Stanley is considering a 7 percent cut in its Asia-Pacific investment banking workforce, or about 40 jobs, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The cuts…
China’s April data show economic recovery losing steam, testing policymakers
China’s April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter and intensifying pressure on policymakers to shore up…
Elon Musk documents subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit by US Virgin Islands
The U.S. Virgin Islands has subpoenaed Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk for documents in its lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase & Co of helping enable sexual abuses by late sex offender…
Hong Kong Disneyland sees net loss of HK$2.1 billion in 2022, its eighth straight year without profit
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has announced a financial deficit of HK$2.1 billion for the most recent fiscal year – its eighth in a row without turning a profit. The results…
HKEX launches China-Hong Kong Swap Connect to help offshore bond investors hedge
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEX) added a new Connect scheme linking markets in the financial hub with the mainland on Monday, by expanding into onshore interest rate derivatives…
New Twitter CEO says she is excited to help to transform Twitter
Newly appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a tweet on Saturday that she has been inspired by owner Elon Musk’s vision to create a brighter future and is excited…
China’s Oppo to shut down chip design unit as smartphone sales slump
Chinese smartphone maker Oppo said it will shut down its chip design unit, citing uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone industry. The company, one of China’s best-selling domestic…
EU ministers back plan to reduce economic reliance on China
European Union ministers on Friday backed reducing the bloc’s economic dependence on China but will now have to figure out how to make that a reality, foreign policy chief Josep…
China is scaring away investors that its cities want
China’s unpredictable policy making is deterring foreign investment that the country’s cash-strapped cities are desperate to entice. Local officials are cold calling foreign entrepreneurs and bringing roadshows overseas as they…
Musk to step down at Twitter, new CEO lined up
NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino is in talks to become Twitter’s chief executive officer, the Wall Street Journal reported, following owner Elon Musk’s announcement that he had found a new leader…
Chinese baby product firms seek to age up, sell more abroad as population falls
For many of China’s manufacturers of baby and children’s products, painful reverberations from last year’s historic decline in the country’s population are already upon them. Domestic sales are shrinking and…
China inflation grows at slowest rate in over two years
China’s inflation rate edged up 0.1 percent year-on-year in April, the slowest rate recorded since 2021, official figures showed Thursday, signalling a weak recovery after lifting pandemic curbs. Producer prices…
Cost of overnight borrowing in Hong Kong jumps to 16-year high
The cost to borrow overnight in Hong Kong jumped to a sixteen-year high as liquidity continued to tighten in the city after repeated currency intervention from authorities. The overnight Hong…
China audits littered with deficiencies, US accounting watchdog finds
A U.S. accounting watchdog found unacceptable deficiencies in audits of U.S.-listed Chinese companies performed by KPMG in China and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, the government agency said on Wednesday. The…
China’s big four state banks to lower the interest rate ceilings – sources
China has told its “big four” state-owned banks to cut deposit rate ceilings on some products, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. The interest rate self-disciplinary mechanism, a…
Hong Kong interbank rates jump, pull HKD off band extreme
Hong Kong interbank rates jumped on Wednesday as a further decline in banking system cash balances spurred expectations of tightening monetary settings and to an unwinding of short positions in…
Chinese company earnings reveal lopsided economic recovery
People in China splashed out on dining, travel and luxury goods after emerging from three years of pandemic restrictions but are still not spending freely on routine consumer items, if…
CK Asset offers to buy UK social housing provider for US$612m
Property developer and investor CK Asset Holdings Ltd made a cash offer for the entire share capital of Civitas Social Housing PLC for 485 million pounds (US$612.12 million). CK Asset,…
HSBC reaches deal to buy out China fund partner: sources
HSBC has agreed to buy out its China fund management joint venture partner, two people familiar with the matter said, as the Asia-focused bank pushes ahead with expansion in the…
iPhone maker Foxconn buys huge site in India tech hub
Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn has bought a huge tract of land on the outskirts of Indian tech hub Bengaluru, the key Apple supplier said in a filing Tuesday as it…
Mainland clients rush to open Hong Kong bank accounts, buy insurance
A welcome sign is emerging in Hong Kong after three years of travel restrictions: lines of mainland Chinese tourists outside the city’s bank branches. Hundreds of thousands flocked to the…
LinkedIn cuts over 700 jobs, phases out China app
LinkedIn, the social media network owned by Microsoft Corp that focuses on business professionals, said on Monday it would cut 716 jobs as demand wavers, while also shutting down its…
Singapore firms scramble to soften blow of soaring rent costs
Companies in Singapore are partially paying housing costs of employees and even relocating staff to cheaper neighboring cities to help them tackle home rents that rose last year at their…
Australia to deliver first budget surplus in 15 years
Australia is set to deliver its first budget surplus in 15 years on Tuesday, as its coffers bulge with tax windfalls from higher commodities prices and wages, giving it room…
Bloomberg Wealth Asia Summit on after three-year HK hiatus
The Bloomberg Wealth Asia summit returned to Hong Kong after a three-year break, bringing together the region’s leading investors, economists and money managers. Speakers scheduled for the conference Tuesday include…
Hong Kong’s new crypto rules no “light-touch regulation”, says HKMA chief
Hong Kong indicated that crypto companies drawn by the city’s push to create a digital-asset hub should expect an exacting regulatory regime. “Our regulation will be tight,” Hong Kong Monetary…
US hedge fund manager Wagner to acquire Birmingham City stake
The Chinese owners of Birmingham City Football Club have agreed to sell their shares to US hedge fund manager Tom Wagner. Chinese investor Paul Suen’s Hong Kong-listed Birmingham Sports Holdings…
Hong Kong Exchange Fund Q1 investment income was HK$97.9 bln – HKMA
Hong Kong’s Exchange Fund, which is used to back the Hong Kong dollar, posted an investment income of HK$97.9 billion in the first quarter of 2023, the Hong Kong Monetary…
Chinese users of the Binance and FTX Exchanges show holes in Beijing’s crypto ban
Nineteen months after China banned crypto, more signs have emerged that its citizens continue to buy and sell digital assets. These glimpses of their trading activity support suspicions that some…
Buffett says more comfortable with investments in Japan than Taiwan
Warren Buffet said he is more comfortable with Berkshire Hathaway Inc deploying capital in Japan than Taiwan, reflecting the growing tensions between the United States and China. The billionaire investor…
HSBC shareholders shoot down Hong Kong investors plan to carve up bank
HSBC Holdings Plc shareholders voted to reject proposals to shake up the bank that were put forward by a group of Hong Kong-based investors. About a fifth of voting investors…
China corporate lackluster profits add to investor angst
Earnings from Chinese companies have turned out to be less of a bang in the first full quarter since the country’s reopening, reinforcing a sense of caution among traders. Profits…
FedEx plans to move Asia HQ, executives to Singapore from Hong Kong
FedEx is planning on moving its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters to Singapore from Hong Kong, in another blow to the city’s image as an international business hub. In an e-mailed statement,…
China turnaround challenge dwarfs Adidas’ Yeezy debacle
A potential 500-million-euro (US$551 million) write-off on unsold Yeezy shoes is a headache for Adidas as it looks to implement a global turnaround – but it’s not the German sportswear…
JPMorgan’s Dimon to visit mainland China for first time in four years: sources
Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co, travels to mainland China this month for the first time in four years, sources said, the latest in a series…
HSBC faces shareholder vote on splitting bank
Bank giant HSBC faces a vote by shareholders on Friday over a proposal by its largest stakeholder, Chinese insurer Ping An, to split the business to seek better returns. Asia-focused…
IMF tells Hong Kong to slowly reduce fiscal deficit to ensure sustained economic recovery
Hong Kong should focus on reducing its fiscal deficit at a gradual pace rather than over two years to ensure a balanced recovery now that its economy is returning to…
HKMA follows US Fed, raises rates, banks pressured to follow suit
Pressure is increasing on Hong Kong’s banks to lift their main lending rates as liquidity tightens in the financial hub. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised its benchmark interest rate…
Hong Kong raises base rate as Fed tightens, hints at final move
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Thursday, following the US Federal Reserve for what may be the final hike of its…
Hong Kong interbank rates jump ahead of Fed
Hong Kong interbank rates jumped sharply on Wednesday as months of authorities sucking cash from the financial system took effect, and as traders braced for a U.S. interest rate hike.…
Google, Microsoft CEOs called to AI meeting at White House
The chief executives of Alphabet Inc’s Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic will meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and top administration officials to discuss key artificial intelligence (AI) issues on…
Jewellery maker Pandora to slow down brand relaunch in China
Danish jewellery maker Pandora will slow down a planned country-wide relaunch of its brand in China as customer demand has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, the company’s CEO said…
China’s AI industry barely slowed by US chip export rules
U.S. microchip export controls imposed last year to freeze China’s development of supercomputers used to develop nuclear weapons and artificial-intelligence systems like ChatGPT are having only minimal effects on China’s…
Starbucks beats sales forecasts as China recovers
Starbucks posted stronger-than-expected sales in its fiscal second quarter as demand in China began to recover, but the company said that sales growth could moderate as the year progresses. The…
Chinese electric vehicle brands expand to global markets
Osamu Furukawa has driven lots of Japanese cars for his business converting classic gasoline-powered models to electric. But his favorite ride is an import: A battery-powered SUV from China’s BYD…
‘Godfather of AI’ quits Google to warn of the tech’s dangers
A computer scientist often dubbed “the godfather of artificial intelligence” has quit his job at Google to speak out about the dangers of the technology. Geoffrey Hinton, who created a…
HSBC profit triples on higher rates, beats expectations
HSBC Holdings reported a 212% increase in quarterly profit on Tuesday, as it benefitted from rising interest rates around the world. Europe’s largest bank posted a pretax profit of $12.9…
China builder Jiayuan gets court order to liquidate assets
A third Chinese developer faces court-ordered liquidation after losing a winding-up case in Hong Kong, adding to a small but growing number of legal victories for creditors involving overdue debt.…
Chinese stocks erase early gains in Hong Kong as trading resumes
A gauge of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong wiped out an initial advance, dragged down by property and consumer names, as trading resumed after the long weekend. The Hang…
JP Morgan to buy First Republic’s assets and assume deposit base
United States regulators said on Monday First Republic Bank has been seized and a deal agreed to sell the bank to JPMorgan Chase & Co, in what is the third…
China factory activity cools in April as recovery challenges loom
China’s manufacturing activity contracted in April, official figures showed Sunday, due to tapering global demand and slow domestic recovery after Covid-related curbs were lifted. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index…
Singapore ‘should avoid economic contraction’: PM
Singapore is expected to post slower economic growth this year but it “should avoid an outright contraction”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Sunday. The Southeast Asian city-state’s economic performance…
Taiwan records second straight GDP contraction, biggest since 2009
Taiwan’s economy shrank for a second straight quarter at the start of 2023, the government said Friday — its biggest quarterly contraction since the 2009 global financial crisis. Gross domestic…
Germany may restrict export of chip chemicals to China: Bloomberg
Germany may limit the export of chemicals to China that are used to manufacture semiconductors as part of the government’s efforts to reduce its economic exposure to the Asian economic…
China rebuilds Australia ties after failing to press economy
Australia’s economic and diplomatic relations with China are in recovery mode, with tensions over issues ranging from foreign investment to security receding as Beijing tamps down its punitive efforts to…
Hong Kong is burning through aggregate balance defending dollar peg
Hong Kong is burning through a closely watched component of its monetary base to ward off attacks on its dollar to little avail, with the lack of reaction in money…
Hong Kong banks must provide services to registered crypto firms: HKMA
Hong Kong urged banks to provide services to licensed virtual-asset firms, part of the city’s push to become a crypto hub and a stance that contrasts with a crackdown on…
World’s apparel, sneakers hub Vietnam struggles as US ban on Xinjiang cotton bites
Tighter U.S. rules to ban imports from China’s Xinjiang are compounding pressure on Vietnam’s apparel and footwear makers, hitting a sector that has already shed nearly 90,000 jobs since October…
BEC CEO Dialogue Provides Insights on Strategic Leadership in Leveraging Energy Transition Opportunities
Business Environment Council Limited (“BEC”) organised its biannual signature event “BEC CEO Dialogue” on 24 April, attracting leaders, professionals and experts from different industries of the business sector to join.…
AstraZeneca increases bets on China as COVID vaccine sales fade
AstraZeneca plans to spend about $450 million building a factory in China making inhalers to treat “smoker’s lung”, doubling down on the world’s No.2 pharmaceuticals market as the drugmaker predicts…
Hong Kong’s SFC to update on crypto framework next month
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission plans to shed more light on the city’s evolving cryptocurrency framework next month. The regulator will release guidelines on the licensing regime for virtual-asset…
Baijiu ‘godfather’ launches year’s largest IPO in Hong Kong
China’s “godfather of baijiu” launched Hong Kong’s largest IPO of the year on Thursday, with the holding company for four of his liquor brands raising around HK$4.5 billion despite a…
Argentina to pay for Chinese imports in Yuan rather than Dollars
Argentina will start to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than dollars, the government announced Wednesday, a measure that aims to relieve the country’s dwindling dollar reserves. In April,…
Singapore raises property tax in bid to ease exorbitant housing costs
Singapore is raising property taxes in a bid to cool its red-hot housing market, amid mounting concern that an influx of wealth into the city-state is hurting affordability for locals…
Global retailers seek new ways to lure in shoppers as spending slows
Europe’s cost of living crisis has benefited discount retailers but mid-market names are being squeezed as shoppers watch their spending, executives and analysts at an industry conference said. Luxury is…
UK blocks Microsoft-Activision gaming deal, biggest in tech
British regulators on Wednesday blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard, thwarting the biggest tech deal in history over worries that it would stifle competition in…
Global financial sector pays tribute as banker Win Bischoff dies at 81
Win Bischoff, one of the world’s most influential and celebrated financiers, has died aged 81, one of his relatives said on Wednesday, prompting tributes from an industry he helped to…
Pony.ai gets permit for driverless robotaxi services in Guangzhou
Robotaxi startup Pony.ai said on Wednesday that it had received a permit to operate fully driverless ride-hailing services in China’s Guangzhou city. The Toyota Motor Corp-backed startup, which has operations…
Ontario Teachers’ shuts down an Asia equity team in HK
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is closing down an Asia equity investment team in Hong Kong, resulting in the loss of five jobs. The C$247 billion (US$182 billion) fund is…
Hong Kong exchange’s Q1 earnings up 28pc
Hong Kong’s bourse operator on Wednesday reported a 28 percent increase in first-quarter profit. The profit attributable to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) in the first quarter rose…
Hong Kong home prices rise for third month in March
Hong Kong private home prices in March rose for the third month and edged up 1.4 percent from February, as the reopened border with China and a raft of new…
China completes landmark national real estate registration system
China has finished building a national and unified system for real estate registration, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, in a landmark move that will boost transparency in…
Swiss watch exports jump on Hong Kong order surge
Swiss watch exports jumped in March as orders from Hong Kong surged after the Chinese territory reopened from harsh Covid restrictions, bolstering strong global demand for luxury timepieces. Exports climbed…
Netflix to invest US$2.5 bn in South Korean content
Netflix will invest US$2.5 billion in South Korean content over the next four years, the streaming giant’s CEO Ted Sarandos announced after meeting with the country’s President Yoon Suk Yeol…
Shenzhen vape maker loses copyright case against US competitor
The US International Trade Commission on Monday ruled definitively in favor of US cannabis vaporization leader AVD (Advanced Vapor Devices) in a year-long patent infringement investigation started by Chinese e-cigarette…
Bitcoin could hit $100,000 by end-2024, Standard Chartered says
Top cryptocurrency bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024, Standard Chartered said on Monday, saying that the so-called “crypto winter” is over. Bitcoin could gain from factors including…
US urges South Korea not to fill chip shortfalls in China if Micron banned, Financial Times reports
The United States asked South Korea to urge its chipmakers not to fill any market gap in China if Beijing bans memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) from selling chips,…
ING sues ICBC for copper deal losses, seeks $170m in damages: FT
Dutch bank ING is suing China’s largest bank for losses sustained in a batch of copper deals and seeking $170 million in damages, the Financial Times reported. ING alleged Industrial…
Signs of hope for China property market, but boom is over: analysts
Pummelled by a housing crisis that caused a record-breaking slump last year, some Chinese property developers are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, but analysts warn…
HK preparing to launch RMB counter for Stock Connect, says Paul Chan
Financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said that the SAR government is actively preparing to launch a Renminbi (RMB) counter for Stock Connect program, aiming to bring new catalysts for the…
Chinese EV dominance hastens end of petrol engine era
This year’s Shanghai Auto Show signalled the end of the petrol engine era in China, as domestic electric vehicle brands drive change across the sector and leave foreign companies in…
Jack Ma becomes honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong until 2026
Jack Ma Yun, the founder of Alibaba Group (9988), is now an honorary professor at the Business School of the University of Hong Kong, according to an announcement released by…
China passes guidance for supporting private sector: state media
China’s ruling Communist Party has passed guidance for promoting the development of private firms, state media said on Friday, signaling more steps to reinvigorate a sector hurt by a round…
LVMH slowly abandoning Hong Kong as city loses shine for shoppers
LVMH is shifting resources out of Hong Kong, reflecting waning interest in what used to be Asia’s premium shopping hub as mainland Chinese consumers switch to shopping at home. The…
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