China: bronze heads, carrots and sticks
What’s the connection between China, Christie’s, two bronze heads and the portfolio investor?
Quite a lot, actually. There’s a lesson for everyone doing business in China in the recent settlement of the long-running row between Beijing and the international auction house over the heads of a rabbit and a rat that once adorned the Emperor’s Summer Palace. Continue reading »
China’s alternative shareholder returns: sesame seeds
When Chinese stock exchange operators insisted that listed companies give 30 per cent of profits back to shareholders in dividends, this probably wasn’t what they had in mind.
But Shenzhen-listed Nanfang Black Sesame, which processes sesame seeds and rice noodles, has suggested rewarding investors in the form of sesame powder. Continue reading »
China: investment still comes first
China’s economy has started 2013 with an unexpected slowdown in manufacturing growth and a surprise surge in inflation, according to data published over the weekend.
But the real news in the numbers is the persistent strength of credit-fuelled investment. Despite all the effort put into rebalancing the economy in favour of domestic consumption, it’s still the investment engine that’s driving the economy. Continue reading »
China FDI levels off, at record levels
China’s foreign direct investment inflows last year totalled $111.7bn, according to commerce ministry figures published on Wednesday. For the bears, the headline fact is that it fell 4 per cent in the first annual decline since the global financial crisis struck in 2008-9.
But the bulls prefer to emphasise that this is only just short of 2011′s all-time peak of $116bn. In other words, FDI into China is still flowing at record levels – and that’s despite a significant drop from the crisis-hit eurozone. The bulls surely have the better of the argument. Continue reading »
Shanghai down on property tax idea
Despite the improving economic data coming out of China, investors remain unmoved. The Shanghai market fell yet again on Tuesday, dropping 1.5 per cent, leaving it comfortably in negative territory for 2012.
This time, the main drag appears to have come from comments on the property market made in Beijing at the Communist Party Congress. Continue reading »
China keeps gold bugs smiling
If China’s love affair with gold was set to music, it might well be to 70s duo The Carpenters. The message from day one of this year’s London Bullion Market Association conference – being held this week for the first time in Hong Kong – was clear: when it comes to China and gold, we’ve only just begun.
Although China’s economic slowdown has sapped demand for some commodities, such those related to construction, appetite for the yellow metal is an altogether different story. Continue reading »
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Stefan Wagstyl
Rob Minto
Pan Kwan Yuk
Jonathan Wheatley
Heba Saleh