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.)

BMW sees fastest growth, best potentials in China: CEO: China has become BMW’s fourth largest market, where the German luxury car maker saw the fastest growth in auto sales in 2009, and great market potentials, a senior company official told Xinhua Wednesday. The company saw a 38 percent growth in sales last year in China against a 10 percent decline worldwide due to the international financial crisis, said Christoph Stark, president and CEO of the BMW Group in China. Stark said the company sold a total of 90,536 cars in China last year. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

E-Mart To Open Shanghai Mall In Time For 2010 World Expo: According to E-Mart’s Chinese headquarters, the South Korean supermarket retailer plans to open its first shopping mall on Shanghai’s Caobao road. This project, with a total area of 50,000 square meters, is reported to be in progress and is expected to be opened before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. (Via ChinaRetailNews.com.)

Coach CEO Banking On China Growth In 2010: Although Coach reported better-than-expected sales figures in its top two markets (North America and Japan) in its latest fiscal statement, the company has made clear that it is strongly committed to building more market share in the increasingly lucrative Chinese market. Over the last year, Coach has invested heavily both in the mainland and Hong Kong markets, announcing last spring that the company intends to open add nearly 50 retail outlets to the 37 it currently operates in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, appointing luxury veteran Andre Cohen as China Region President, and launching a large-scale Chinese-language online promotional campaign. (Via Jing Daily :.)

Suzuki head touts VW parts tieup: Suzuki Motor Corp. Chairman and CEO Osamu Suzuki stressed Thursday the importance of making common auto parts with its new alliance partner Volkswagen AG in emerging Asian markets. Suzuki also suggested he would not accept any future offer by the German auto giant to increase its share in Suzuki. (Via The Japan Times: News & Business.)

Data collection begins in Taipei for luxury home tax: (ChinaPost.com.tw) – The Taipei City Government has begun collecting data on the city’s luxury residential buildings in preparation for imposing a tax on such buildings in the future, the United Evening News reported, yesterday. (Via Taiwan Headlines – Business.)

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).)