AsiaLynx » Hong Kong

Three Chinese Phone Makers in Global Top Ten

Randal Rayborn — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:32:11 +0000

ZTE Corporation, based in Shenzhen, is currently the eighth-ranked handset maker in the world, according to the Gartner Group.

By Zhu Shenshen (Shanghai Daily) – THREE Chinese firms, two in the mainland and one from Hong Kong, have been listed in the world’s top 10 handset makers, thanks to the growing market demand in Asia, a United States-based research firm said today.

By the end of the first quarter, Shenzhen-based ZTE Corp ranked No. 8, followed by Hong Kong-based G-Five with the No. 9 position, which ranked in the top 10 for the first time. Shenzhen-based firm Huawei Technologies ranked No. 10, according to Gartner Inc, a US-based IT research firm.

The combined market shares of the top five mobile handset manufacturers, including Nokia, Samsung, LG, RIM (Research in Motion) and Sony Ericsson, dropped from 73.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 70.7 percent in the same period this year, according to Gartner.

ZTE, which expects mobile phone revenue to grow 35 percent annually in 2010, grabbed a 1.7 percent share of the global market, up 0.4 percent from last year.

China’s mobile subscriber base will reach 840 million units by 2010 and more than 1 billion in 2012, according to Informa, a Switzerland-based research firm. — read more at ShanghaiDaily.com…

Google hits China exit key

Randal Rayborn — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:34:48 +0000

By Wang Xing and Zhang Haizhou in Beijing, and Guo Jiaxue in Hong Kong (China Daily) – Google Inc took a major step in its row with the Chinese government on Tuesday by redirecting traffic from its Beijing-based search engine to its service in Hong Kong.

The move effectively means the company no longer needs to filter its search results, as required by Chinese law.

Although Google’s exit is good news for its rivals, chiefly Baidu, Sogou and up-and-comer Tencent, many experts said it is a “lose-lose situation” for both China and the US-based company.

The initial reaction from the authorities came via an unnamed State Council information official who told Xinhua News Agency that Google had “violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market (in 2006) by stopping filtering its search service and blaming China, in insinuation, for alleged hacker attacks”.

“This is totally wrong. We’re uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conduct,” the official said.

However, just hours later, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press briefing that the government would handle the case “according to law”, and that the move was an isolated act by a commercial company and should not affect China-US ties “unless politicized”.

Philip Crowley, a US State Department spokesman, said on Monday it was “a decision for Google to make”. – read more at ChinaDaily.com…

Hong Kong’s Feng shui masters hit the investment trail

Randal Rayborn — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:36:29 +0000

Reading up on feng shui could improve your financial skills. (CFP)

By Li Tao (China Daily) – HONG KONG: While financial analysts read all sorts of indexes to form a picture of the economy, feng shui experts in Hong Kong are applying their art to a similar end.

Peter So, a popular local feng shui master, is trying to convince undecided investors not to purchase property in Hong Kong until 2015.

So said past experience showed the city’s property prices rising continuously for five years and then falling over the next six. He said prices peaked in 2009, the final year of the last cycle, and were now due to tumble.

“The theory has never been wrong in the past,” said So. “Apartment prices fell in value almost 50 percent between 1986 and 1991 and then rebounded to another high in 1997. They slumped again in 2003 because of the breakout of SARS, and it is acknowledged that property prices have been way up over the past few years, even though the city’s economy was damaged severely by the global financial crisis.”

So said the next bottoming of the property market would occur in 2015 and he had now started saving money ahead of the eventuality.

As to stocks, So eschewed predicting whether it would be a lucrative market or not this year, but advised investors to differentiate odd years from even ones when buying, a tactic he said was effective eight times of 10.

“Though the stock market is volatile, rough fluctuations still can be determined. Generally, the market rises high initially but ends low in odd years. The trend reverses in even years. This is an even year, so investors should consider buying stocks in May or June, when the market will be at the year’s bottom,” said So.

However, just like the mercurial markets, predictions from different feng shui masters vary, sometimes considerably.

Edwin Ma, another local feng shui master, disagrees with So about the city’s property market.

“If I am to make a suggestion to my clients, I will definitely advise them to pour money into the property market this year,” Ma said.

Ma anticipates a flat year in housing prices, but he said it was still worth investing since “in comparison with stocks, property prices are de facto guaranteed to make a fortune, while most stocks were not”.

He added: “The stock market seemed exuberant last year, but it has become the playground only for rich people because profitable stocks were no longer affordable to most ordinary investors.” – read more at ChinaDaily.com…

AsiaLynx Top Stories – 2/22/2010

Randal Rayborn — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:19:22 +0000

Hong Kong clothing retailers threaten to quit Taiwan over tax issue: Taipei – Four Hong Kong clothing retailers are threatening to quit Taiwan over a tax dispute with Taiwan authorities, a press report said Monday. The four Hong Kong retailers – Hang Ten, Giordano, Bossini and BaLeNo – made the threat in a petition to President Ma Ying-jeou, demanding that their names be cleared, or they might withdraw from Taiwan, the United Daily News quoted Lai Shih-pao as saying. (Via China News.)

Hainan to curb ‘whopping housing price’: As of the phenomena that the ‘whopping prices’ for living in hotels in Hainan Province ‘bluff off’ the tourists during the Spring Festival, the government would takes efforts to regulate the market, Wu Kunxiong, deputy director general of the tourism department of Hainan Province said Saturday. The government will strictly crack down on the house speculators and formulate tourism standards to cope with the high prices, according to Wu. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

Revenue From Beijing’s Five-star Hotels Beijing Down 16.9% In 2009: According to data provided by Bureau of Statistics of Beijing, the revenue of star-grade hotels in the city decreased by 9.7% year-on-year in 2009. During the entire year of 2009, star hotels in Beijing made total revenues of CNY21.94 billion, including CNY9.98 billion from guest rooms. (Via ChinaRetailNews.com.)

APEC seeking pathways to Asia-Pacific free trade area: Senior officials from Pacific Rim economies accelerated their efforts Monday to seek ”possible pathways” to a region-wide free trade zone, but fell short of reaching any consensus except to continue necessary work. After a meeting in Hiroshima, where Japan formally took up its chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum for 2010, a Japanese official said, ”We already have very sensible analytical studies but also have lots of issues that require further discussions.” (Via Kyodo News (Business).)

Asia leads global march away from easy credit: (HONG KONG) The US Federal Reserve has just kick- started its cautious exit from unprecedented emergency lending measures – but the process has been going on for months in the Asia-Pacific region, underscoring the two-speed path of the global recovery. (Via Business Times Online – All The Headlines.)

AsiaLynx Top Stories – 2/5/2010

Randal Rayborn — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:42:56 +0000

Bottega Veneta Opens First Second-Tier Location In Nanjing: Bottega Veneta recently announced the grand opening of their first Nanjing location, the Italian brand’s eighth store on the Chinese mainland. The new store, designed by creative director Tomas Maier, is specially outfitted to showcase what the company calls its ‘dedication to artistry and excellence.’ Though the opening of a new location generally isn’t terribly newsworthy in itself, one interesting facet to this story is that it shows how major luxury brands like Bottega Veneta are becoming more confident about venturing into more second-tier cities. Currently, Bottega Veneta has stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Shenzhen — all of which are among the five richest cities in China. The Nanjing store, as the brand’s first foray out of the relative safety of top-tier markets, then is likely a sort of ‘experiment’ before Bottega moves on to other interior cities. Although Nanjing as a city is far from poor, compared to more cosmopolitan markets like Shanghai it is relatively untested as far as luxury retailing is concerned. (Via Jing Daily.)

Li Ka-shing is HK’s richest: Forbes: Li Ka-shing, chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd, is Hong Kong’s richest person with a net worth of $21.3 billion, Forbes Asia Magazine reported, after his wealth gained $5 billion in the past year. The total net worth of Hong Kong’s 40 richest people swelled to $135 billion, up from $82 billion a year ago, the magazine said. Not one list member is poorer, it said. Still, the list members’ combined wealth remains below its 2008 high of $179 billion. Li Ka-shing’s fortune is less than the magazine’s $32 billion estimate of his wealth in 2008. (Via China – People’s Daily Online.)

First High-end food supermarket opens in Guangzhou: Guangzhou’s first high-end food supermarket named TASTE opened in the China Plaza February 2. Imported apples, pumpkins and baskets filled with various goodies costing 100, 1,000 and 10,000 yuan each respectively attracted attention from numerous customers. Covering an area of 4,300 square meters, the Guangzhou-based TASTE outlet is a fashionable, modern and high-end food supermarket providing a wide range of Chinese and western-style food products. (Via China – People’s Daily Online.)

Guthy-Renker Sets Up China Distribution Agreement: The Chinese marketing company Acorn International Inc. and U.S.-based Guthy-Renker have entered into an exclusive agreement for Acorn to market Sheer Cover cosmetics in China. Under the agreement, Acorn will be Guthy-Renker’s exclusive agent to market and distribute Sheer Cover in China. (Via China Sourcing News.)

Real estate bubble likely in Taipei: expert: (ChinaPost.com.tw) – A housing bubble may plague Taipei City’s real estate sector, which has seen a compound annual average growth of 11 percent, an official with Fitch Ratings warned yesterday. (Via Taiwan Headlines – Business.)

Mainland Chinese Bought Nearly 20% Of All Luxury Apartments Sold In Hong Kong In 2009

Randal Rayborn — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:14:37 +0000

The world's most expensive apartment sold in this Hong Kong building for 57 million US dollars last year. Will we see some wealthy mainlanders splashing out for more multi-million-dollar apartments in 2010?

Increasing Presence Of Mainland Chinese Buyers Indicates Growing Clout Of This Group In Hong Kong

It’s perhaps no big surprise that mainland Chinese property buyers have snapped up real estate in neighboring Hong Kong, since closer economic ties have blurred the border (financially) since 1997. Now, thousands of businesspeople regularly make the Shenzhen/Zhuhai-Hong Kong commute, and well-heeled mainland shoppers — nicknamed hao ke — often pop over the border for luxury shopping sprees.

Reflecting the growing clout of wealthy mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, figures released this week by Centaline Property Agency indicated that mainland property buyers comprised 18.1% of luxury apartment buyers in 2009, compared to only 11.2% in 2008. According to Wong Leung-shing, an associate director of research at Centaline, this is the fastest rate of growth among mainland buyers of HK luxury apartments (costing at least HK$10 million (US$1.29 million)) in six years. – read more at JingDaily.com…

AsiaLynx Top Stories – 2/1/2010

Randal Rayborn — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:59:10 +0000

Nathan Road, Hong Kong (photo: Randal Rayborn)

HK retail sales value grows 16%: The city’s total retail sales value for December has been provisionally estimated to be 29.4 billion HK dollars, up 16 percent on the same month last year, the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong said Monday. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales grew 11.3 percent. The sales volume of jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts increased the most, by 30.4 percent, followed by motor vehicles and parts at 29.8 percent. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

Kodak Enhances Its Manufacturing Facilities In China: Kodak is opening a second production line for its Xiamen printing plate manufacturing facility to enhance the company’s manufacturing capacity for offset products. The manufacturing line in the southern Chinese city will produce CTP plates for sale in Asia and support the development of current and new products. (Via China Sourcing News.)

HSBC Report: Men Key To Luxury Spending In China Today; Women Tomorrow: In the new book ‘Luxury China: Market Opportunities and Potential’ (Jing Daily review), Chevalier and Lu note that the Chinese luxury business is still very much dominated by middle-aged men, most of whom splash out on high-priced luxury goods with the intention of giving them as gifts. However, as the authors point out, over time we can expect to see a gradual shift in power from male to female consumers. (Via Jing Daily.)

Parcel south of Bund sets realty records: A 57,000-square-meter plot sitting south of the historic stretch of the Bund finally fetched 9.22 billion yuan (US$1.35 billion) yesterday and became the most expensive parcel in Shanghai by both total and average price. Privately owned Shanghai Zendai Property Ltd emerged as the winner of the plot after beating three domestic rivals. The plot, with a starting price of 9 billion yuan, was sold for an average price of 34,148 yuan per square meter, also the highest on the Chinese mainland so far. An entity consisting of China Enterprise, China Pacific Life Insurance and Taikang Life Insurance; Shanghai New Huangpu (Group) Co Ltd; and another entity led by Shanghai Forte Land and Shanghai Fosun were the three other participants in yesterday’s competition. The site is in an area of the Bund that the city wants to turn into a center dominated by financial institutions – part of a city master plan to turn Shanghai into a global financial center by 2020.(Via Shanghai Daily: Business.)

Asia-Pacific biggest air travel market: The Asia-Pacific region has overtaken North America as the world’s largest air travel market. The International Air Transport Association said 647 million passengers flew in the region last year, compared with 638 million in North America. Within Asia, China has eclipsed Japan over the past decade as the largest domestic market. And IATA says the Asia-Pacific market will continue to grow rapidly. (Via RTHK On Internet – Finance News.)

AsiaLynx Top Stories – 1/19/2010

Randal Rayborn — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:50:39 +0000

A Tesco store in Beijing

Britain’s Tesco Opens Its First Store In China’s Anhui Province: The British retailer Tesco has opened its first hypermarket in China’s Anhui province: on Suixi Road in Luyang district, Hefei. Covering a construction area of over 20,000 square meters, Tesco’s Suixi road store has been designated as the retailer’s flagship store in Anhui. (Via ChinaRetailNews.com.)

China’s Alibaba Buys New Domain Name For Internet Wholesale Business: Chinese B2B e-commerce group Alibaba has bought a new domain name, 1688.com, for the launch of its new online wholesale business. According to information from the domain name enquiry tool Whois, the current owner of 1688.com is Alibaba.com. The link leads to a page which says Alibaba will soon launch its 1688.com wholesale mart and the company will invest CNY100 million to promote this service via China Central Television. (Via ChinaTechNews.com.)

Taiwan firms urged to explore China market via Internet: The founder of China’s Internet giant Alibaba urged Taiwanese businesses Tuesday to explore the Chinese market via the Internet. ‘Taiwan’s small companies should be able to sell their products to China through the Internet,’ said Jack Ma, chairman and chief executive officer of the Alibaba Group, at an economic forum in Taipei. He said the Internet is the best means of allowing Taiwanese companies to enter the Chinese market ‘at the lowest possible cost.’ (Via Taiwan Headlines – Business.)

Citigroup Hires Hong Kong Heavyweight: Citigroup has named former Morgan Stanley Asia chairman Alasdair Morrison, a longtime heavyweight in Hong Kong’s business world, to the new role of senior adviser. (Via Hong Kong News latest RSS headlines – Hong Kong Herald.com.)

JAL files for bankruptcy in record failure: Japan Airlines Corp. filed for bankruptcy Tuesday under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law in the biggest non-financial corporate failure in the postwar period. The country’s flagship carrier is expected to continue flying and honor tickets with government assurances for lifeline funds, while undergoing a three-year rehabilitation process that is expected to entail massive cuts in jobs and in unprofitable routes, both domestic and international. (Japan Times) (Via News On Japan.)

AsiaLynx Top Stories – 1/17/2010

Randal Rayborn — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:42:05 +0000

Office Buildings near the Singapore River (photo: Randal Rayborn)

Singapore gains advantage from surplus office demand in Hong Kong: A 20 to 25 per cent fall in Grade A office rents in Singapore this year will emerge as a reason for widening the gap between rents in Singapore and in Hong Kong, and will give Singapore a competitive advantage with firms looking to expand in Asia, property firm Savills said yesterday. Rents are speculated to fall to $5 per square foot (psf) per month in 2011, accounting to a massive new supply comes on-stream, the firm’s research shows. Grade A office rents stood at $8.80 psf per month at the end of 2009, reported Savills. (Via TopNews Singapore.)

Hainan to halt land development approval on speculation concerns: China’s southern island province of Hainan will suspend land leasing and development approval in a move to curb property speculation, the province’s Party chief has said. Following a tourism promotion policy document issued by the central government earlier this month, real estate developers have flocked into the island, causing new property bubble concerns, Wei Liucheng, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hainan provincial committee, said at a meeting in Haikou Friday. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

Taipei direct flights to Shanghai may begin: (ChinaPost.com.tw) – Direct flights between the Taipei Songshan Airport and the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport are likely to be launched before World Expo 2010 Shanghai opens on May 1, as Deputy Shanghai Mayor Tang Dengjie said Friday that both sides have completed various technical preparations and are working hard to kick off direct flights as early as possible. (Via Taiwan Headlines – Business.)

Tensions bubble over gas project: Japan warned China on Sunday that it would take action if Beijing starts gas production in a disputed field in the East China Sea, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. Although the two countries reached a broad agreement in 2008 on principles intended to solve the dispute by jointly developing gas fields, progress has been slow and Japan has accused China of drilling for gas in violation of the agreement. (Via RTHK On Internet – Finance News.)

Mazda eyes dissolving joint car production with Ford in China: Mazda Motor Corp. is considering dissolving its partnership with Ford Motor Co. for the joint production of cars in China to increase its flexibility in meeting growing demand for Mazda-brand cars in the country, company sources said Sunday. Mazda plans to withdraw from Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co. in Chongqing, a joint venture of Mazda, Ford and a Chinese automaker, after production of Mazda cars at the plant is transferred to another joint venture of the three automakers in Nanjing in May, the sources said. (Via Kyodo News (Business).)

AsiaLynx Top Stories – 1/15/2010

Randal Rayborn — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:04:44 +0000

UPS Adds 101 New Locations In China: UPS plans to increase its global service parts logistics network significantly, by establishing 101 new field stocking locations in China. According to Brad Mitchell, the president of UPS Logistics and Distribution, UPS China is a critical part of the growth strategy of many companies worldwide and UPS’s regional and global FSL network is positioned to support these companies after-market needs in Asia. He pointed out that the UPS network was already the world’s largest logistics network. (Via China Sourcing News.)

Singapore’s retail sales down 1.4% year-on-year in Nov 2009: Singapore’s retail sales decreased by 1.4 percent in November 2009 compared with a year ago, according to Singapore Department of Statistics on Friday. Turnover of motor vehicles in November 2009 decreased by 16 percent, while food and beverages sales fell by 3.1 percent over a year ago. In contrast, sales of watches and jewelry, medical goods and toiletries, furniture and household equipment increased by between 7.2 percent and 14.8 percent. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

Google’s loss could be Baidu’s gain: Domestic search firm Baidu Inc could be the biggest beneficiary of a possible pullout from China by Internet major Google, leading industry experts said yesterday. The NASDAQ-listed Baidu already dominates the Chinese search landscape and it has signaled its intentions to spread wings, even before Google hinted at a pullout. The California-based Google could see an exodus of advertisers from the Chinese mainland and see them switching to Baidu. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

Mainland Chinese Tourists Spent $42 Billion Overseas In 2009 – Mainland Tourist Spending Abroad Outspent International Tourist Spending In China For The First Time: Chinese Media is reporting this week that outbound tourists from mainland China spent some $42 billion overseas (including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) last year, outspending inbound international tourists for the first time. Though articles do point out that the majority of first-time outbound tourists from the mainland went to nearby Hong Kong (18%) and Macau (16%) — two very accessible destinations for Chinese tourists, who typically travel there for quick weekend jaunts or shopping sprees — more of them are heading to more distant locales, staying longer, and spending more. (Via Jing Daily :.)

Taiwan Semiconductor to hire 3,000 engineers amid expansion: (ChinaPost.com.tw) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest custom-chip maker, plans to recruit more than 3,000 engineers this year as the company expands. (Via Taiwan Headlines – Business.)