Asia

$1 billion China Property and Banking Hit, According to Standard Chartered
26Oct mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
Asia, China

$1 billion China Property and Banking Hit, According to Standard Chartered

The UK-based bank, which earns most of its revenue in Asia, lost $700m alone from its stake in China Bohai Bank Standard Chartered shares took a battering on Thursday after the bank saw its profit dive by a third as a result of a $1 billion hit from China’s real estate and banking sectors. The UK-based bank’s stock fell 12% before trading was briefly halted following news that its pre-tax profit dropped 33% in the third quarter, far worse than analyst estimates. StanChart pointed the finger of blame at a $700 million knock from its stake in China Bohai Bank, and a $186 million charge from Chinese commercial real estate. The UK-headquartered bank, which earns most of its revenue in Asia, booked July-September statutory pretax profit of $633 million. That compared with $996 mill...
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Aussie Police Raids Capture a Chinese “Crime Gang”
26Oct mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

Aussie Police Raids Capture a Chinese “Crime Gang”

Police alleged on Thursday that the Chinese Long River crime syndicate laundered $143 million via Changjiang Currency Exchange, a large money transfer group with dozens of shops nationwide Australian police have arrested seven members of an alleged Chinese crime syndicate accused of laundering millions of dollars through a large money-transfer network. A giant sting operation involving more than 330 police and US Homeland Security officers arrested seven alleged members of the syndicate, including four Chinese nationals, on Wednesday, when 20 search warrants were presented in five states. Police said on Thursday that the Chinese Long River crime syndicate allegedly laundered A$229 million ($143 million) through the Changjiang Currency Exchange, one of the largest i...
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China Beats Western Tech, Winning with Huawei and US-Sanctioned Companies
26Oct mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

China Beats Western Tech, Winning with Huawei and US-Sanctioned Companies

A push since last year to replace all Western equipment in critical sectors with domestic alternatives ‘has re-drawn entire sub-sectors’ of China’s software industry China is spending billions on homegrown technology in a push to replace all Western-made equipment from critical sectors, and the move has proved to be a boon for Huawei and other US-sanctioned firms. The push, having gained pace since last year, has seen Beijing spend heavily on replacing computer equipment, and sources say the telecom and financial sectors are set to be next in line. The replacement drive has re-drawn entire sub-sectors of the software industry, data shows. The combined China market share held by five major foreign makers of database management systems – the majority of which are American – drop...
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The firm of a millionaire in Nepal purchases SL Union Bank.
25Oct mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
Asia

The firm of a millionaire in Nepal purchases SL Union Bank.

Nepalese Forbes-listed billionaire Binod Chaudhary’s CG Corp Global has completed the transaction to acquire the majority stake in Union Bank of Colombo PLC. The transaction completion for the acquisition was made public by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) today. Through the acquisition, CG Corp Global will make its maiden foray into the financial services industry in Sri Lanka.  The acquisition of 70.84 per cent shares in UBC is via CG Capital Partners, a private equity company incorporated in Singapore under the umbrella of CG Corp Global. UBC is among Sri Lanka’s twelve listed banks with a market capitalization of LKR 9.1 billion.  Meanwhile, Union Bank has issued the following statement on the acquisition. Union Bank has issued a statement referring to the ...
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The role of aviation in propelling Bangladesh’s economy
25Oct mmBy Walter ParezNo Comments
Asia

The role of aviation in propelling Bangladesh’s economy

The country is currently implementing various airport development projects, worth around Tk32,605 crore. Experts believe these projects, along with policy support, could turn the country into a regional aviation hub The booming aviation industry is taking the country a step ahead in economic advancement by integrating it into the global economy.  International flights and the number of passengers travelling to and from Bangladesh nearly doubled from the pre-pandemic level. The total number of international air travellers was nearly 800,000 per month this year (till October), which was below 500,000 in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.  The number of international flights per month was nearly 3,500 this year, up from nearly 2,200 in 2019.  Domestic air travel also grew s...
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China Willing to Cooperate, Says Xi, as a Key Aide Visits the US
25Oct mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
Asia

China Willing to Cooperate, Says Xi, as a Key Aide Visits the US

This is the second appeal for calm by the Chinese president, in a little over a month, amid a bitter technology and trade war between the world’s two biggest economies Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China is willing to cooperate with the United States to manage differences and contribute to each other’s progress, state media reported. Xi said both sides needed to work together to respond to global challenges and push for common prosperity, in a letter delivered at an annual dinner of New York-headquartered National Committee on United States-China Relations. Whether or not the United States and China could establish the “right” way of getting along would be crucial to for “world peace and development, and the future of mankind,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying. ...
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China Implements New Debt Growth Curbs in 12 Regions and Cities
25Oct mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
Asia

China Implements New Debt Growth Curbs in 12 Regions and Cities

Debt-heavy municipalities represent a major risk to the world’s second-largest economy and its financial stability, amid a deepening property crisis China’s cabinet is to restrict 12 heavily indebted regions from taking on new debt and will also limit what new state-funded projects they can launch as Beijing bids to defuse its local government debt-risk time bomb. The dozen regions, which cover a wide swathe of the nation, will only be allowed to take on specified projects, such as those approved by the central government, sources said. Other projects, such new railway stations and power plants, will not be allowed. The sources were citing a cabinet document dated late September that was delivered to local governments and state lenders this month. The order also specifies that...
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Ukraine: How has Russia’s invasion affected the world economy?
24Oct mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

Ukraine: How has Russia’s invasion affected the world economy?

Russia’s brutal invasion has driven millions into poverty and debilitated – but not quite destroyed – Ukraine’s economy. Meanwhile, sanctions are straining the Russian economy, but they are yet to end a war that has sown financial turmoil and personal hardship in the region and across the globe. It was clear from the start that Putin’s war in Ukraine would be a global economic disaster. Its economic impacts may be insignificant next to the suffering and loss of life on the battlefields. But they do present critical challenges that leaders must resolve to limit yet more suffering through poverty, food shortages and the cost of living crisis. To illuminate these challenges, Economics Observatory has been publishing expert insights on the war’s economic implications ever since Rus...
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<strong>Workers behind China’s dizzying growth struggle to survive</strong>
24Oct mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

Workers behind China’s dizzying growth struggle to survive

Millions of migrants, who helped transform China from an agrarian economy into a manufacturing giant, are living pitiable lives. While lucrative work opportunities start dwindling fast after the workers turn 35 years of age, at the same time, most end up working well past the statutory retirement age to make ends meet. China’s economic transformation could well be considered the widest expansion of its kind in modern history. In 1979, former leader Deng Xiaoping opened up the country to foreign investors and set up four special economic zones – Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou in Guangdong province, and Xiamen in Fujian. Hundreds of millions of workers then flocked to coastal factories in search of a good life. Low-cost Chinese products flooded the world, thanks to the labour of these m...
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China Will Continue to Issue Debt to Support Its Unsteady Economy
24Oct mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
Asia

China Will Continue to Issue Debt to Support Its Unsteady Economy

China’s parliament is set to approve just over 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) in additional sovereign debt issuance when it concludes a five-day meeting on Wednesday China is set to boost fiscal spending – and issue more debt – to shore up its shaky economic recovery. Some government advisers are recommending that financial policymakers lift the 2024 budget deficit target beyond the 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) set for this year. That will allow Beijing to issue more bonds to revive the economy, policy insiders and economists have said. The move would draw on a well-used playbook that relies heavily on debt and state spending but falls short on the deeper reforms called for by a growing number of analysts. The world’s second-largest economy grew faster than expected i...
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