Asia

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is facing its most serious setback in a generation. During the past two years, economic growth appears to have been cut nearly in half. After emerging from the “zero covid” policies that Xi Jinping, China’s leader, ordered early in the pandemic, the country now faces a real-estate crisis and faltering confidence from both its own citizens and overseas businesses. The problems have sparked debate among economists about whether Xi’s increasingly autocratic regime is to blame, and what a major slowdown could mean for the rest of the world. To talk about China’s economy and the possible causes of its malaise, I recently spoke by phone with the economist Eswar Prasad: a professor at Cornell University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institut...

Hui Ka Yan has had one of the most amazing careers in modern Chinese history, and his life is the stuff of legends. The huge boom in China's real estate market has burst, though, and the good times are gone. Hui, a former worker in the steel industry who hails from a small town, rose to become the wealthiest man in China by amassing a massive real estate empire. Borrowing money to purchase property, selling houses there before construction began, and using the proceeds to pay back his loan providers and fund future real estate ventures was his first strategy. Beginning in the mid-1990s and continuing for the next two decades as property prices in China skyrocketed, this strategy generated massive profits. This resulted in massive wealth and power for Hui. Evergrande's debt caused...

Financial markets journalist Jamie McGeever previews the day ahead in Asian markets. On Thursday, a slew of important economic statistics from Asia will be released, including the latest official Chinese purchasing managers index surveys, which might have a major impact on the course of the region's markets in the next week. Markets, particularly currencies, might be influenced by data such as India's GDP for the second quarter, Japan's retail sales and industrial output, Hong Kong's retail sales, Australia's credit, and South Korea's industrial production. After another 'risk on' day on Wednesday, regional markets are expected to begin higher on Thursday. Futures markets are no longer expecting a quarter-point raise before the end of the year as a result of downwardly revised U.S. ...

The five-judge panel of Hong Kong's top court is now debating whether or not to accept international same-sex marriages. Their verdict, anticipated later this year, may encourage Asian financial centres like Tokyo and Singapore to write more inclusive rules to attract the varied, global talent that banks and tech companies are eager to acquire and keep. The contributions of corporations are enormous. According to Janet Ledger, CEO of Community Business, a non-profit group that promotes diversity and inclusion in enterprises throughout Asia, "they still drive the conversation in a lot of these countries where the legislators aren't." In Asia, where traditional values still dominate politics and culture, same-sex partnerships are legal only in Taiwan and Nepal. However, some nat...

On Wednesday, the Chinese semiconductor industry gained almost 2.5% on speculation that Huawei's recently released Mate 60 Pro smartphone may have a 5G ready processor. If confirmed, the announcement of a domestically produced 5G chip would be good news for China's domestic semiconductor industry, which has enjoyed stock market gains of almost 8% so far this week. Without any fanfare or publicity, Huawei quietly started selling the Mate 60 Pro at lunchtime today for 6,999 yuan ($960).Huawei employees and shop clerks in Beijing and Shenzhen also reported being taken aback. The Mate 60 was touted as having the capability of making satellite calls, however the specs gave no indication of the strength of the chipset within. However, customers who were able to get their hands on th...