UKTI inks China e-markets deals December 8, 2014 UK TRADE and Investment, the government department that promotes UK business abroad, yesterday signed two new initiatives to allow British companies to expand into China’s ecommerce market. The initiatives will be run by two of China’s leading online platforms, Shangpin and Tmall, and will enable customers in China to buy British fashion and food products. [...]
UK commodities suffer after new drop in oil price – London Report December 8, 2014 Britain’s top equity index retreated yesterday, with commodity stocks hurt by a new drop in the oil price and concerns about the pace of global economic growth, after disappointing data from China. The shares of energy services group Weir also slumped by 5.3 per cent after US-based brokerage Cowen & Company cut its price target [...]
Chinese media giants rivalling US dominance December 7, 2014 CHINA is gaining ground on America’s dominance of the world’s biggest digital media companies with the Asian powerhouse now accounting for two of the six largest online media firms, by revenues generated. Baidu, the Chinese internet search firm, and Tencent, the Chinese online services giant, both reached the top six with revenues of $3.4bn (£2.2bn) [...]
The rise of the renminbi is a century-defining story – and London is at its heart December 1, 2014 THIS has been a momentous year for UK-China relations and the development of London as a key centre for trading in the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), outside China. This progress is partly inevitable, as London is the world’s most international financial centre, trading more dollars each day than the whole US, and twice as [...]
New Look ties up sale of French business MIM to Hong Kong firm Main Asia November 24, 2014 New Look said yesterday it had completed the sale of its French business Mim to Chinese firm Main Asia without disclosing the terms of the deal. Main Asia is a Hong Kong-based company established earlier this year to acquire Mim. Very little is known about the company except that the main shareholders and management are [...]
FTSE weighed down by poor Chinese data – London Report November 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday fell for a second day, hit by weak economic data from the Eurozone and China and a profit warning from energy supplier Centrica. The blue chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.3 per cent lower at 6,678.90 points, extending its retreat from an eightweek high reached on the previous day. Centrica, [...]
The four horsemen of the chocolate apocalypse: Here’s why there’s a chocolate shortage November 18, 2014 Say it ain't so. Leading confectioners have warned the world could be about to run out of chocolate. In its annual results published earlier this month, Barry Callebaut, the world's largest chocolate manufacturer, said it had sold 1.72m tonnes of the brown stuff in the year to the end of August, an 11.8 per cent [...]
Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Link: Landmark day for Chinese stock market as tie-up launches November 17, 2014 City investors will be given better access to the world’s second largest equity market today when China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange launches a landmark tie-up with its Hong Kong counterpart. The Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Link, which launched in the early hours of this morning, will allow investors to buy Chinese stocks directly for the first time [...]
Goodbye QE, hello uncertainty November 13, 2014 The Federal Reserve in the US has been looking to extract itself from its quantitative easing (QE) programme over the last 18 months, but feared if it did so too soon, it would cause turmoil in the financial markets. It has finally concluded, having made $4 trillion (£2.5 trillion) of bond purchases, that it is [...]
How Hong Kong is planning to become Asia’s answer to Silicon Valley November 12, 2014 Hong Kong has long been a magnet for those seeking business success, and this week the former UK colony is making its case to be Asia’s technology hub of choice. A year on from the inaugural StartmeupHK Venture Forum, Hong Kong will once again welcome hundreds of international founders, investors and policymakers to make [...]