Saturday, April 20 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
BEIJING - The US Meat Export Federation, a trade association committed to developing international markets for US beef, pork and lamb, has begun working with Alibaba Group to sell US pork on Alibaba’s group-buying website Juhuasuan to Chinese consumers.
BEIJING - A rating of 51.8 for the Caixin China Services Purchasing Managers’ Index in April shows the country’s services sector continued to grow, although the rate of expansion slowed slightly from March’s rating.
BEIJING - A new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers says mergers and acquisitions in China’s hospital sector became a new focus in 2015, with large-scale deals and more cross-border transactions likely to be made in the near future. There were 48 mergers and acquisitions of Chinese hospitals last year, of which 27 were general hospitals. Disclosed investment totalled RMB 3.98 billion (US$612.1 million).
BEIJING - A unit of China’s HNA Group Co – HNA Tourism Group Co – has agreed to purchase Carlson Hotels Inc,, acquiring brands as Radisson and Park Plaza as the global lodging industry consolidates. HNA Tourism Group Co will acquire Carlson and its 51.3% stake in Rezidor Hotel Group AB, Carlson's Brussels-based master licensee for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and may begin a takeover offer for all of Rezidor, the companies said.
Financial terms of the transaction have not yet been disclosed. Carlson's hotel group could gain about US$2 billion in a sale.
SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's has affirmed its 'BB-' long-term and 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings on Vietnam, saying the ratings reflect Vietnam’s lower middle-income, rising debt burden, banking sector weakness, and emerging institutional settings that hamper policy responsiveness.
BEIJING - The market for industrial and service robots in China is expected to be worth RMB100 billion (US$15.4 billion) within three years, according to a report from the German-based International Federation of Robotics. Sales of robots in China are set to almost triple by 2018, defying a slowdown in the wider economy, according to a report in the China Daily.
HONG KONG - Tight margins are likely to plague Greater China's consumer products, gaming, retail, and telecommunications sectors as competition heats up further, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, which believes China's retail sector is likely to struggle as industry rivalry ramps up, forcing companies to chalk up large marketing costs and to expand aggressively.
HONG KONG – All eyes are on Hong Kong as it prepares to publish its trade data, including its cross-border trade flow with China. French banking major Nataxis says it expects Hong Kong Customs data to reveal a year-on-year fall of 10% in Hong Kong exports to China.
“The projected huge difference between China and Hong Kong’s statistics implies that mis-invoicing should have continued in March.” Nataxis says.
BEIJING - On 1 May 2016, China will complete its VAT pilot programme and end the bifurcated value-added tax (VAT) and business tax (BT) system that has been in place since 1994. A comprehensive and uniform VAT system will apply to all industries, and business tax (BT) will be swept into the dustbin of history.
BEIJING – China’s central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), has unveiled its priority tasks for 2016. The State newsagency, Xinhua, quotes the PBOC as saying its monetary policy will help slash overcapacity, cut stockpiles, reduce leverage, lower costs of doing business and fix shortcomings, with a focus on reducing steel and coal overcapacity.
TOKYO - The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is expected to introduce easing measure at the April 27-28 meeting as Japan’s economic and inflation outlooks deteriorate, according to the French banking entity Natixis.
“To remove the stigma of the negative interest rate and to support the Kyushu area hit by the earthquake, the BoJ is anticipated to provide loans at -0.1% to private sector banks,” Natgixis says.
SYDNEY - An increasingly favourable Indonesian investment climate offers growth opportunities for Australian exporters, according to new analysis from Efic, Australia’s export credit agency, which says Indonesia’s investment climate has benefitted from 11 wide-ranging reform packages introduced by the Government since September 2015.
MANILA - Philippines geothermal company AP Renewables Inc. has reached financial close for a PHP10.7 billion (US$225 million) certified Climate Bond for the Philippines-based Tiwi-MakBan geothermal project. The bond, which has been certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative, was the first in Asia and the Pacific to receive Climate Bonds certification and the first Climate Bond for a single project in an emerging market. The bond was backed by the Asian Development Bank.
MANILA – Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its 'BBB' long-term and 'A-2' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the Philippines, pointing to a strong external position reflecting rising foreign exchange reserves and low external debt. S&P says the Philippines remains a low-income sovereign with vulnerabilities in its institutional and governance framework.
“The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the key economic fiscal, external, and monetary credit measures for Philippines will continue to improve, S&P said.
BEIJING - China COSCO Shipping Corp Ltd has partnered with three other shipping companies – including France’s CMA CGM SA – to form OCEAN Alliance, designed to challenge 2M, the world’s largest container carrier alliance.
BEIJING - Following the adoption of the universal second-child policy in China, major hospitals in Beijing are setting aside twice as many beds as usual for women with high-risk pregnancies. The Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning says it will “increase the number of obstetrics beds and available staff in public hospitals – and purchase services at private hospitals if necessary – to meet the expected demand”.