Sony will set up joint venture to sell PS4 in China May 27, 2014 SONY, the Japanese technology giant, has signed a partnership to begin manufacturing and selling its PlayStation 4 console in mainland China. The joint venture with Shanghai-listed Shanghai Oriental Pearl was announced in a stock exchange filing by the state-controlled Chinese media company yesterday. The joint ventures, which will be located in Shanghai’s free trade zone, [...]
Chinese factory decline slows May 22, 2014 CHINA’S powerful industrial base slowed only slightly this month, according to HSBC’s index of the country’s manufacturers – which revealed the best performance since September. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) reading for Chinese factories rose to 49.7 yesterday, very narrowly below the neutral 50 mark, indicating a slight contraction for the fifth month. Analysts had [...]
New York Report: Wall Street up after biotech stocks surge May 22, 2014 WALL Street ended higher for the second straight session yesterday, led by small-cap stocks, while the Nasdaq climbed on a rally in biotech shares. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.02 points or 0.06 per cent, to end at 16,543.08. The S&P 500 gained 4.46 points or 0.24 per cent, to 1,892.49. The Nasdaq Composite [...]
China is the real victor as Putin looks East May 22, 2014 WHEN President Vladimir Putin voyaged to Beijing this week, it was with one thing in mind: strengthening Sino-Russian relations. The signing of a $400bn (£237bn) gas pipeline deal with Beijing formed the centrepiece of this effort. Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is pushing the US and Europe away, and Putin is looking to reorient towards an [...]
China’s house sector to slow May 21, 2014 THE CHINESE property market was downgraded by credit ratings agency Moody’s yesterday, with the group now expecting a “significant slowdown”. The group cut their view of the sector from stable to negative. While Moody’s still expect some growth in property sales, of up to five per cent, the expansion is a major drop from the 26.6 per [...]
Asian markets slide after Chinese house prices disappoint May 19, 2014 Asian markets have suffered declines as weak housing data from China renewed fears that the slowdown in the world's second largest economy could be getting worse. House prices for new homes rose in 44 of 70 cities surveyed last month, compared with 56 cities is March. The People's Bank of China has instructed financial institutions [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 19 May 2014 May 19, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Facebook ready to take on Snapchat Facebook is going head to head with rival Snapchat in the video-chat app market as the social networking group scrambles to win back users from the popular ephemeral messaging app. Facebook has been working for several months on the app, known internally as Slingshot, with a simple [...]
Beijing releases nine point plan to increase China’s ailing growth May 19, 2014 THE CHINESE government unveiled a package of policies designed to jump start the country’s slowing growth this weekend, with the liberalisation of finance among the top priorities. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced nine priorities to reorganise the changing economy. The Commission is pushing for further reforms to China’s state-owned enterprises, increasingly allowing [...]
Fears China’s housing bubble could pop as sales slow down May 15, 2014 DIVING property sales in Chinese cities could spell the end of the bull run in the market and knock the Asian country’s economy hard, ING Investment Management warned yesterday. Sales volumes in Beijing and Shanghai fell by 18 per cent and 17 per cent respectively in the first three weeks of April, prompting fears over the [...]
Bottom Line: Culture of bribery makes for risky business May 14, 2014 EVERYONE rightly wants a share of China’s growth, but are companies ready for the challenges of a region where corruption is part of the landscape? China’s problem is notorious. President Xi Jingping is publicly leading an anti-corruption crusade and last year, Chinese courts convicted 29,000 people for embezzlement, bribery or dereliction of duty. China scored [...]