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☆ Recession fears won't stop 'the big quit' in 2023, says LinkedIn
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Goh Chiew Tong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

This is based on the latest findings from LinkedIn's Workforce Confidence Index research conducted among more than 4,000 employees across Singapore, Australia and India. "As professionals expand their skill sets, they are gaining more transferable skills that can be applied to multiple job roles and improves their likelihood of securing a job," Chhabria added. Pooja Chhabria career expert, LinkedInThat has set the stage for post-pandemic work and these desires will not go away anytime soon. This is why employees may not be looking to stay at their job for a long time, according to LinkedIn. Pooja Chhabria career expert, LinkedIn

☆ China set for historic demographic turn, accelerated by COVID traumas
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Farah Master | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] Ang Ran and her 2-year-old son Tang Ziang look out from their home in Beijing, China November 8, 2022. A glimpse of the scars caused by the pandemic to China's already bleak demographic outlook may come to light when it reports its official 2022 population data on Jan. 17. "In less than 80 years China’s population size could be reduced by 45%. The United Nations predicts China’s population will start to decline this year when India overtakes it as the world's most populous country. U.N. experts see China's population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.

The jump was aided by Bridgewater China's raising of 2.7 billion yuan through a product launch in December, said the sources. Connecticut-based Bridgewater launched its first onshore China fund in 2018, and three years later its assets under management (AUM) in China exceeded 10 billion yuan, catapulting the firm past Winton and Man Group to become the biggest foreign hedge fund house in the country. By early November, Bridgewater's onshore China funds grew to roughly 19 billion yuan, Shanghai government data showed. The steady performance of Bridgewater's China funds - mainly targeting wealthy individuals - was highlighted in the hedge fund firm's sales pitch, which was seen by Reuters. Bridgewater's first China fund achieved an annualised return of 15.6% in the four years following its October 2018 launch.

☆ In rural eastern China, not testing for COVID becomes the norm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Brenda Goh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Breathing problems, body aches and lethargy had prompted her to visit a hospital in her home village in Tonglu county in eastern China's Zhejiang province' for treatment. It was a common reaction among patients in Tonglu, illustrating how COVID-19 is spreading across China without recognition, especially in its vast rural regions. Several residents around Tonglu county told Reuters they had COVID symptoms or believed they had been infected previously, but that testing was not that common, especially for those living in the villages. Medical facilities visited this week by Reuters in Tonglu county, in one of China's most prosperous regions and known for farming, were relatively calm. In Tonglu county, residents described how crowded the local crematorium was, echoing what funeral home staff in other cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have told Reuters.

☆ China c.bank to support private firms, ease tech crackdown - CCTV
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Monetary policy in 2023 will focus on expanding demand, especially personal consumption, Guo told state-owned CCTV on Sunday, reaffirming earlier official remarks. Chinese leaders have pledged to increase support for the world's second-largest economy, which was hit hard by COVID-19 lockdowns last year as well as slowing global demand. "Prudent monetary policy will be precise and forceful. China will also promote sound development of online platform companies, Guo said , adding rectification of financial businesses of 14 platform companies have been "basically completed" while a few remaining issues need to be resolved. Authorities will adopt "normalized regulation" afterwards and encourage platform companies to operate in a compliant manner, CCTV said.

☆ Travelers rush to take advantage of China reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure to be among the first in line following the reopening Sunday of border crossing points. Those crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, are still required to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 48 hours — a measure China has protested when imposed by other countries. Hong Kong media reports said around 300,000 travel bookings from the city to mainland China have already been made, with a daily quota of 60,000. "I've been under isolated quarantine for six times in different cities (in mainland China)," said Ivan Tang, a Hong Kong business traveler. Meanwhile, more foreign governments are imposing testing requirements on travelers from China — most recently Germany, Sweden and Portugal.

☆ Taiwan is planning a satellite internet service amid China invasion fears after seeing how much Elon Musk's Starlink has helped in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Taiwan is courting investors to create its own satellite-based internet similar to Starlink, the FT reports. The move comes amid increasing tensions between mainland China and Taiwan. Taiwan's digital minister, Audrey Tang, told the FT: "We look at the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how Starlink has been used very successfully." Starlink is operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, and provides internet coverage via a constellation of satellites. Taiwan's decision to look at creating satellite-based internet comes amid increasingly tense relations with neighboring China.

The overall tone of the minutes is still likely to show inflation has top billing among policymakers. The minutes "will lean against easing prematurely" and keep the focus on the likelihood that rates will rise further and remain high, Derek Tang, economist at LH Meyer, wrote on Tuesday. COGNIZANT OF RISKSThe minutes could help pin down how much sentiment there is to ease the pace of upcoming rate increases to a quarter of a percentage point as of the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting. "It is especially challenging to estimate spillovers, and there are concerns that policymakers may underestimate them. Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan Burns and Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lenders fail to sell Evergrande's Hong Kong headquarters by tender - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The company logo is seen on the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. REUTERS/Aly SongHONG KONG, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The tender sale of embattled China Evergrande Group's (3333.HK) Hong Kong headquarters has lapsed again, two sources with knowledge said, because the offer prices and terms did not meet requirements. Chinese state-owned China Citic Bank Corp Ltd (601998.SS), whose Hong Kong subsidiary leads the lender group, did not immediately respond to request for comment. Evergrande and Savills, agent for the tender sale, declined to comment. ($1 = 7.8102 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Clare Jim; Additional reporting by Ziyi Tang in Beijing; Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tender sale of Evergrande's Hong Kong headquarters fails again -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The company logo is seen on the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. REUTERS/Aly SongHONG KONG, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A tender for the sale of embattled China Evergrande Group's (3333.HK) headquarters in Hong Kong has lapsed again, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, because the offer prices and terms fell short of requirements. The tower had been pledged against a loan of HK$7.6 billion from lenders led by the Hong Kong subsidiary of Chinese state-owned China Citic Bank Corp Ltd (601998.SS). Evergrande and Savills, the agent for the tender sale, declined to comment. ($1=7.8102 Hong Kong dollars)Additional reporting by Ziyi Tang in Beijing; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Experts say the elderly in rural areas may be particularly vulnerable because of their vaccine hesitancy and inadequate medical resources. Most patients have the same symptoms suggesting a COVID infection, and most are elderly, she said. "Many elderly people have underlying diseases such as chronic bronchitis and this virus can easily lead to a lung infection." Paxlovid, the Pfizer-made COVID medicine, is in particularly high demand, with many Chinese attempting to get the drug abroad and have it shipped to China. In Lezhi county, Liao, a farmer with two children whose husband is working in a faraway province, bought an oxygen concentrator online to help with her mother's breathing.

☆ Analysis: Fed's balance sheet drawdown could sunset next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Analysts at investment bank Nomura see the Fed ending the balance sheet run-off in September of next year. The balance sheet drawdown, meanwhile, has been designed to run more or less on autopilot, in the background. Reuters GraphicsNomura said the U.S. central bank will likely get its balance sheet down to around $7 trillion, well above the pre-pandemic level. Reductions in the Fed balance sheet withdraw bank reserves from the system, in a regime that's dominated by many moving parts, swirling around each other unpredictably. It's something the Fed faced in September 2019, when it was in its latest chapter of balance sheet contraction.

☆ Iranian oil workers protest for higher wages
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Groups of oil workers held protests in southern Iran on Saturday, demanding higher wages and retirement bonuses, according to videos and reports posted on social media. There was no immediate comment from Iran's oil ministry about the reported oil worker protests. The activist HRANA news agency said a group of oil workers protested outside the Pars Oil and Gas Company in Asaluyeh in the southern province of Bushehr on the Gulf. HRANA and other social media carried videos and photographs of similar protests by oil workers in areas including Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province, Gachsaran and Mahshahr. Four decades ago, a combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and bazaar merchants helped sweep Iran's Shi'ite Muslim clergy to power.

HONG KONG, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Google has refused to change its search results to display China's national anthem, rather than a protest song, when users search for Hong Kong's national anthem, the city's security chief said on Monday, expressing "great regret" at the decision. The row comes after Hong Kong police said they would investigate the playing of "Glory to Hong Kong" - the unofficial anthem of Hong Kong's 2019 pro-democracy protests, at the men's final of a sevens rugby tournament in South Korea in November. The top search term on Google for Hong Kong's anthem is "Glory to Hong Kong". "We've approached Google to request that they put the correct national anthem at the top of their search results, but unfortunately Google refused." "We felt great regret and this has hurt the feelings of Hong Kong people," Tang added.

HONG KONG/BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators and state-owned banks are taking steps to split staff at their workplaces in Beijing, sources told Reuters, as businesses brace for a possible spike in COVID cases after China relaxed virus restrictions in a major policy shift. Other staff are required to work from home, they added. Among China's big four state-owned banks, Bank of China (BOC) (601988.SS) has released a notice to staff that it would split its Beijing workforce into three groups, working in the office on alternate weeks, said a person with direct knowledge. But the bank has yet to decide when to start such rotations, the person added. Other large state banks have also made similar arrangements - splitting up staff into rotating shifts while maintaining a maximum of 10%-20% of staff occupancy in their headquarters in Beijing, said two other people with knowledge of the matter.

In sparse comments on workplace conditions, however, national health officials have urged that high-risk areas should be much more narrowly defined, while production or business operations continue elsewhere. As he stockpiles medicines against such an eventuality, he has told staff to follow new guidelines to stay home if they got infected, in which case he plans to pay them half their wages. To avoid disruption from any infections, Yang initially considered shutting the factory early ahead of the Lunar New Year, but ultimately set aside that option. In Beijing, some state firms and banks are grouping staff into teams to ensure work continues despite any outbreak, sources told Reuters. "I am confident it will be a mess for about 3 months," saidthe firm's executive vice president, Renaud Anjoran.

It stood in stark contrast to the low-key welcome extended in July to U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom ties have been strained by Saudi energy policy and the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi that had overshadowed the awkward visit. In an op-ed published in Saudi media, Xi said he was on a "pioneering trip" to "open a new era of China's relations with the Arab world, the Arab countries of the Gulf, and Saudi Arabia". [1/6] Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 8, 2022. Chinese and Saudi firms also signed 34 deals for investment in green energy, information technology, cloud services, transport, construction and other sectors, state news agency SPA reported. While Saudi Arabia was an important U.S. ally, she noted, "in recent years, it has upheld its strategic autonomy, resisted the pressure of the United States".

Funds flowing from banks will allow developers to repay offshore loans and dollar bonds, helping to repair global investors' bruised confidence, two of the sources said. Each of the four banks, Bank of China (601988.SS), China Construction Bank (601939.SS), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) and Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SS), will pick several developers to fund, the three sources said. The third source said that, while the big four banks preferred fresh lending to go to state-backed developers, they would have to include some private firms, which have a greater need for offshore loans. Chinese banks make offshore loans secured against domestic assets to companies that need foreign funds, but regulatory tightening in the last couple of years to rein in debt-fuelled empire-building by corporates hampered that kind of lending. China's central bank will also offer cheap loans to financial firms to buy bonds issued by property developers, separate sources have told Reuters.

☆ China's property woes fuel risks to its financial system - Moody's
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Risks to the stability of China's financial system are rising on continued sluggishness in its property sector and an economic slowdown, making smaller banks more vulnerable, rating agency Moody's said on Friday. China's property sector has slowed sharply this year after Beijing's efforts reined in excessive borrowing by developers. "Risks to the stability of China's financial system are rising amid a contraction in the property sector and the country's economic slowdown." Despite the banking system's overall strength, smaller banks are most vulnerable and much more exposed to risks from the property sector, Moody's said. The property sector risks have weighed on banks' asset quality, with analysts expecting the non-performing ratio for real estate will stay high for lenders in the coming months.

☆ China's BYD to sell EVs in Mexico in 2023, aims for up to 30,000 sales in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kylie Madry | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] The interior of the BYD HAN EV is displayed as the Chinese electric-vehicle producer announces its expansion to the consumer market next year in Mexico, in Toluca, Mexico November 29, 2022. As per Mexico's Automotive Industry Association, just 4.5% of cars sold in the first eight months of this year were hybrid, or around 31,000 of nearly 693,000 sold in total. While BYD declined to name starting prices of its vehicles in Mexico, Zou stressed the company's affordability. BYD's Zou also said the company aimed to sell cars through 15 licensed dealers in Mexico by the end of 2023 and hit 30 by 2024. Zou said as U.S. states such as California go fully electric, Mexico — which produces a vast amount of cars for its northern neighbors — will likely follow.

☆ China's BYD to sell EVs in Mexico next year, aims up to 30,000 sales in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Kylie Madry | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD said on Tuesday it will launch its cars in Mexico next year, with a senior executive pegging its sales target at up to 30,000 vehicles in 2024. As per Mexico's Automotive Industry Association, just 4.5% of cars sold in the first eight months of this year were hybrid, or around 31,000 of nearly 693,000 sold in total. While BYD declined to name starting prices of its vehicles in Mexico, Zhou emphasized on the company's affordability. BYD's Zhou also said the company aimed to sell cars through 15 licensed dealers in Mexico by the end of 2023 and hit 40 by 2024. Mexican department store chain Liverpool will also sell the cars, BYD said.

"While we have been cautious, there is an important shift going on with the COVID reopening." The protests were the strongest public defiance during Xi's political career, China analysts said. If protests were to continue, this would add to the risk premium, said Sean Taylor, chief investment officer for Asia-Pacific at DWS Group. Social discontent stemming from the zero-COVID policy added to risks in executing and implementing government policies, said Mark Haefele, global wealth management CIO at UBS in Zurich. We also view China’s sluggish recovery as a risk for the global economy and markets."

"Protests are a concern in the short-term," Seema Shah, chief strategist at $500 billion asset manager Principal Global Investors told Reuters, adding that latest events supported the view that winds were changing. "While we have been cautious, there is an important shift going on with the COVID reopening." If protests were to continue, this would add to the risk premium, said Sean Taylor, chief investment officer for Asia-Pacific at DWS Group. "We believe this divergence in view will drive an outperformance in A shares over H shares," Tang said. We also view China’s sluggish recovery as a risk for the global economy and markets."

☆ Postal Savings Bank of China to provide $39 bln of property sector financing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Postal Savings Bank of China has agreed to provide a total of 280 billion yuan ($39.17 billion) in financing to property companies including Vanke, Longfor and Country Garden, it said in a statement on Thursday. ($1 = 7.1479 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Ziyi Tang and Ryan Woo Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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