China’s ups and downs in Myanmar open the door for Japan
As beyondbrics reported yesterday, Myanmar’s new trasparency zeal could be a nightmare for China, given the close relationship between the two nations on various projects.
So how are China’s investments in the country going? And which other countries are waiting in the wings? Continue reading »
Selling China to buy Japan?
Hong Kong has endured almost daily thunderstorm warnings in recent weeks. On Friday, as markets reopened after a one day holiday, the gloom was clear to see in the equity market. The Hang Seng dropped 2.9 per cent.
Though the spectre of a fresh flu epidemic was cited as the immediate cause, there are deeper currents dragging the Hong Kong market down. Continue reading »
China Japan: red tape diplomacy?
KDDI and Sumitomo Corp, the dominant shareholders in JCom, Japan’s number one cable-TV company, have been waiting since October to launch an offer to mop up the shares they don’t own. And now, thanks to China, they’ll have to wait a little longer.
On Friday the pair announced that Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) would not after all clear the Y759bn ($8.2bn) deal by early February, as they had earlier indicated it would. Continue reading »
In recent years, commentators have cited the strong yen and anaemic domestic growth as key drivers of surging investment by Japanese companies in southeast Asia.
With the yen having weakened by over 10 per cent against the dollar since prime minister Shinzo Abe was elected in December with a mandate to re-inflate the moribund Japanese economy, will the tide of Japanese investment into Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam recede? Continue reading »
Chinese prepare to light up the sky with Tokyo Big Bang
The escalating row over some uninhabited islands in the East China Sea has already deeply hurt economic ties between Japan and China. As military and political tensions have risen, Japanese automakers have seen China sales plummet, business at Japanese restaurants and Japanese-owned department stores in China has suffered and travel in both directions is down.
But at least one group is trying to benefit from the dispute: Chinese fireworks makers, who are peddling colourful explosives on an anti-Japanese theme. Continue reading »
Canon hit by Japan-China dispute
It’s not just the Japanese carmakers that have suffered from their country’s territorial dispute with China.
Canon, the camera and office equipment manufacturer, reported on Wednesday that its sales in China fell by more than 30 per cent last year due, as the company put it, to a “cooling off of demand in China during the latter half of the year”.
The Beijing-Tokyo spat compounded difficulties caused by weak economic growth in Europe, consumers switching from cameras to smartphones, and the strength of the yen. The group’s results – and its 2013 forecast – fell well short of analysts’ forecasts. Continue reading »
Diaoyu – they dont call ′em the fishing islands for nothing!
They don’t call them the “Fishing” islands for nothing, it seems. The territory at the centre of the protracted Sino-Japanese-Taiwanese islands dispute is known as Diaoyu in Chinese, which means fishing, and now Beijing is making sure that Chinese citizens get a taste of the islands – just in time for Chinese New Year when fish is usually high on the menu. Continue reading »
“Strong army” Xi: The other side of China’s reformer
Much has been made this week of Xi Jinping’s “southern tour”. In retracing the footsteps of Deng Xiaoping, the leader who turned China to markets after Maoism, Xi’s trip to the southern province of Guangdong has been interpreted as the possible beginning of a new push for economic reform.
But Xi’s tour was about more than just the economy. He also spent three days inspecting a military base in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and made a series of speeches calling for stronger, combat-ready fighting forces. Continue reading »
[video] East China Sea tensions
Violent protests over the ownership of some uninhabited islands have brought the fractious relationship between Japan and China into the spotlight. From both sides of the East China Sea, the FT’s Mure Dickie examines the issue of rising nationalism.
Japan carmakers: China production slumps
The territorial dispute between China and Japan has already given business a jolt between the two nations, especially car sales.
On Thursday, three of the big Japanese carmakers released numbers showing how the spat has hurt production. The numbers are grim, but could have been grimmer. Continue reading »
Japanese carmakers: staying the course in China, come what may
Japanese carmakers have had a rough time of it in China for the past two months, hit by plummeting sales due to the Sino-Japanese islands dispute.
But they have not shied away from the Chinese auto industry’s biggest event of the autumn, the 10th China International (Guangzhou) Automobile Exhibition, held in the stronghold of Japanese cars on the mainland, southern China. Continue reading »
China-Japan-S Korea: trade triangulation
Can it really happen? Investors are wondering whether South Korea, Japan and China are serious about a proposed trilateral trade pact as their trade ministers prepare to meet in Phnom Penh on Tuesday to discuss launching negotiations. Political tensions will inevitably rear their ugly heads. Continue reading »
Islands row: Japan carmaker stocks slip on China sales plunge
Shares in leading Japanese car makers slipped on Friday as evidence mounted of the scale of the customers’ revolt in China prompted by the territorial row between the two countries.
Whether the clients are genuinely angry about the disputed islands, or simply worried about what the neighbours might think, matters less for the hard-pressed sales executives than the hard numbers. Reuters reported on Friday that Chinese sales at Toyota Motor, the top Japanese carmaker, plunged 40 per cent last month. Continue reading »
China’s chill wind hits Japan stocks
Tuesday was the day that the long-running territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo became a real concern for global investors. With thousands taking to the streets across China, many Japanese businesses chose to shut up shop, while some still have to repair the physical damage done to production plants during weekend demonstrations.
The knock-on effect was clear to see on the Nikkei 225. Continue reading »
China/Japan row: business feels the heat
It has not taken long for the China-Japan dispute over a few uninhabited islands in the East China Sea to affect business.
Following a wave of anti-Japan protests in China, including attacks on Japanese property, some Japanese companies with operations in the country have temporarily closed their plants and offices. And with China on Tuesday marking the anniversary of the 1931 Japanese occupation, there are fears that the public anger provoked by the territorial row could fuel more outbreaks of violence. Continue reading »
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