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HONG KONG, Aug 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Hong Kong has lost some permanent appeal. The introduction of two sets of approvals was mandated three decades ago when foreign investors wanted additional protections to invest in the first wave of Chinese firms listing in Hong Kong. China's domestic securities laws have since developed and global investors can now directly buy shares onshore through various channels. That could lead to more onshore shares being issued relative to offshore shares, further diluting minority owners in Hong Kong. In 2020, Hong Kong shareholders vetoed the Bank of Zhengzhou's proposal to avoid such an outcome.

Persons: Hong Kong, HKEX, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Hong Kong Exchanges, HK, China Securities Regulatory Commission, Asia Securities Industry, Financial Markets Association, Corporate Governance Association, China Life Insurance, Wall, Hong, Bank of, Companies, Global, Hang Seng China Enterprise Index, Graphics Global, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, China, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong

HONG KONG, Aug 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - South Korea’s dealmaking skeletons are back to haunt. Paul Singer's Elliott opposed a $9 billion union eight years ago of Samsung C&T (028260.KS) and Chiel Industries. South Korea’s successful prosecution of Lee, Park and a former minister that oversaw NPS, provided cause for Elliott to demand payback. Elliott sued in 2018 and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in June awarded the U.S. fund over $100 million. Far from being the end of it though, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government is contesting that award in a British arbitration court.

Persons: Samsung's Lee, Paul Singer's Elliott, Elliott, Jay Y, Lee, Park Geun, Yoon Suk, Hague, Yoon, Taiwan's TSMC, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Korea Inc, Samsung, Chiel Industries, National Pension Service, NPS, U.S ., Korea, Trade, Global, Samsung Electronics, Apple, Tokyo, Korea's Ministry, Justice, Elliott Investment, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, U.S, Hague, Seoul, Korea, China, Beijing, Washington, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, United States

E-commerce app Temu is taking on the larger Shein by selling cheap Chinese-made goods to Western consumers. The company owned by $119 billion PDD (PDD.O) is more like an online dollar store. Moreover, Temu offers generous discounts and free or subsidised shipping to users. Parent company PDD, whose Pinduoduo e-commerce unit competes with Alibaba (9988.HK) and JD.com (9618.HK) in China, discloses little about its overseas business. Temu offers everything from home appliances to electronics to toys, making it more of a direct competitor to Amazon.

Persons: Shein, Breakingviews, Temu, PDD, Bernstein, Peter Thal Larsen, Aditya Munjuluru, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, United States, Wall Street, Temu, Bloomberg, HK, PDD, Thomson, & $ Locations: HONG KONG, Western, China, U.S, United States, Shein

“In the age of AI, where data is the new oil, China is the new Saudi Arabia”, venture capitalist Lee Kai-fu declared in 2018. Washington may soon tighten export restrictions to China by targeting AI semiconductors, according to the Wall Street Journal. A slowing economy and brutal price war in the fiercely competitive cloud market will only make monetising AI products harder. China’s AI moment has arrived, only with far less promise than initially hoped. China wants to become a world leader in AI by 2030, according to a 2017 roadmap released by the State Council.

Persons: Lee Kai, OpenAI's, Xi Jinping, Goldman Sachs, Robin Li, Baidu’s, Bernstein, SenseTime, Xi, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Saudi Arabia ”, OpenAI's ChatGPT, European Union, Baidu, HK, Nasdaq, Washington, Wall Street, Nvidia, AMD, Microsoft, CloudWalk Technology, Cyberspace Administration, China, State, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, Republic, Saudi Arabia, United States, Beijing, York, Shanghai

Risk factors usually flag uncertainties in how Chinese laws are interpreted and enforced as well as the government's "substantial oversight and influence" over businesses. Chinese regulators want those boilerplate disclosures dropped; if not, offshore listing applications could be denied approval. Trying to appease both American and Chinese regulators will get tougher. On Friday, Chinese regulators held a rare meeting with KKR (KKR.N), Blackstone (BX.N), Carlyle (CG.O) and others to ensure they can continue to invest in the country. China's new offshore listing rules came into effect on March 31.

Persons: Didi Global, underwriters Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Carlyle, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Global, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, underwriters, JPMorgan, KKR, Blackstone, Bloomberg, Communist Party, China Securities Regulatory Commission, SEC, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Hong Kong, United States, New York, China

☆ China taking 'careful and measured' approach with metal curbs: advisory firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailChina taking 'a careful and measured' approach with metal curbs: advisory firmPaul Triolo of Albright Stonebridge Group said China's export curbs on chipmaking metals is a way of giving itself a "tool" to fight back against the U.S. and Europe which have blocked its access to advanced chip technology.

Persons: Paul Triolo Organizations: China, Albright, U.S Locations: Europe

HONG KONG, June 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - There's plenty to like about Swire Pacific's (0019.HK) Coca-Cola sale. Little wonder Swire's Hong Kong shares rallied as much as 8% on Thursday morning. The Coke sale is refreshing for investors, but only until the rest of Swire Pacific regains its fizz. Upon completion of the sale, Swire Pacific will distribute HK$11.7 billion in special dividends to its shareholders. The company also plans to enter into a 13-year agreement to provide management services to Swire Coca-Cola USA and receive an annual fee of at least HK$117 million.

Persons: Swire Pacific's, Swire, John Swire, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, HK, Cathay Pacific, Swire, Cola, John Swire & Sons, Cola Europacific Partners, Citi, Cathay, Swire Pacific, Hong Kong, Cola USA, Hong, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, China, Cathay Pacific

HONG KONG, June 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A government-led buyout signals more uncertainty ahead for a chip industry grappling with oversupply and geopolitics. The state-backed Japan Investment Corp will take over JSR (4185.T), which makes light-sensitive chemicals vital to manufacturing semiconductors, among other things. In recent years, the conglomerate has pivoted from a low-margin business of selling synthetic rubber used to make tyres to focus on semiconductor materials - primarily photoresists - and biopharmaceuticals. Yet JIC's mandate to boost the country’s global competitiveness and its focus on consolidating industries helps to justify the hefty premium. Either way, the government's focus on elevating national chipmaking champions creates fresh uncertainty for JSR's foreign customers like South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW).

Persons: Sharp, Eric Johnson, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Japan Investment Corp, Renesas Electronics, chipmakers, Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Japan Investment Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Development Bank of Japan, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Tokyo, Taiwan, Japan, United States, South Korea, South

☆ U.S.-China tech battle entering its 'primetime' — and generative A.I. could be the next frontier
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

AI, which is seen as a critical technology by both nations, will likely be dragged into the battle between the two sides. Washington's attention is now likely to turn to generative AI. Generative AI relates to applications such as ChatGPT which are able to generate content when prompted by users. Generative AI is based on so-called large language models, meaning it is trained on huge amount of language in order to be able to understand and respond to prompts from users. China's generative A.I.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Antony Blinken, Leah Millis, Abishur Prakash, Donald Trump, Paul Triolo, Albright Stonebridge, Biden, Triolo, China hasn't, Blinken, China's Xi Organizations: U.S, AFP, CNBC, Chips, Science, Nvidia, Microsoft, Baidu, Alibaba, Washington, Micron Locations: U.S, China, Washington, Toronto, Beijing

HONG KONG, June 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shein is threading the world’s trickiest geopolitical needle. But rising American pressure is forcing it to tweak its business model right as it tries to list there. Last year, its top line surged 46% to $23 billion, per the Wall Street Journal, surpassing $22 billion at H&M and outpacing the 18% growth at Inditex. A Boston Consulting Group report notes that this model allows Shein to keep inventory turnover at just 40 days. That will be expensive; the company's net profit margin was a razor-thin 3.5% last year, according to the Wall Street Journal, far below bricks and mortar rival Inditex's 13%.

Persons: Shein, Bernstein, Chris Xu, Xu, Mubadala, Pete Sweeney, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, U.S ., Rivals, Street, Financial Times, Boston Consulting, Morningstar, Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street, ’, Singapore, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Zara, China, Inditex, Guangdong, U.S, Xinjiang, Nanjing, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, India

Rescue workers gather around damaged carriages during search for survivors at the accident site on Saturday. With the rail routes still blocked, family members of deceased passengers are having to find their way by other means to the crash site, to help identify the dead. India’s extensive rail network, one of the largest in the world, was built more than 160 years ago under British colonial rule. Decaying infrastructure is often cited as a cause for traffic delays and numerous train accidents in India. An ambitious National Rail Plan, announced in 2021, envisages that all major cities in north, west and south India should be connected by high-speed rail.

Persons: –, Ashwini Vaishnaw, ”, Dibyangshu Sarkar, Jaya Varma Sinha, ” Sinha, Mansukh Mandaviya, Mandaviya, Naveen Patnaik, Patnaik, “, Narenda Modi, Narendra Modi, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Fumio Kishida, Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis, Modi, Modi’s, Albright Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Howrah, Bangalore . Rescue, Getty, Jaya, India’s Health, Sunday, Odisha’s, Public Relations Department, Indian, Rapid, Force, British, United Nations, National Crime Records, Group, Rail Plan, Bharat Locations: New Delhi, London, Hong Kong, Balasore, Odisha, Indian, Kolkata, Chennai, Bazar, Bangalore, AFP, Tamil Nadu, Russian, India, Jammu, Kashmir

CNN —One of the worst train accidents in India’s history is raising questions over the safety of the country’s massive and outdated rail network, as the government invests in its modernization. India’s extensive rail network, one of the largest in the world, was built more than 160 years ago under British colonial rule. Decaying infrastructure is often cited as a cause for traffic delays and numerous train accidents in India. India has seen several similar deadly incidents involving train accidents in recent decades. The same year, Modi announced huge investments in India’s railway system aimed at improving safety and connectivity.

Persons: Rafiq Maqbool, Odisha, Narendra Modi, Modi’s, Albright, Modi, ” Mamata Banerjee Organizations: CNN, AP Authorities, Howrah, National Crime Records, Group, Indian, Rail Plan, India, Bharat Locations: Odisha, Shalimar, Chennai, Yesvantpur, India, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh

Foxconn's turnaround efforts initially paid off: by 2018, Sharp was back in the black. Moreover, analysts estimate assembling iPhones and other Apple (AAPL.O) gadgets still brings in more than half of Foxconn’s annual sales. The troubled unit was once a joint venture between Sharp, Foxconn and an entity tied to Gou. The company attributed the slump to a non-operating loss of T$19.7 billion related to its 34% stake in Japanese electronics maker Sharp. Sharp reported a 220-billion-yen ($1.6 billion) impairment loss in the quarter, mostly from buildings, machinery and goodwill relating to display businesses.

The return of tourists to Southeast Asia, he says, bodes well for the group’s core mobility business in the second half. The next challenge is resetting investor expectations so that beats can shine through. Lower incentives helped it to cut its adjusted operating loss to $66 million from $287 million a year ago. It also narrowed its forecast for annual adjusted operating loss to $195 million-$235 million, from a previous forecast of $275 million-$325 million. China’s Alibaba on May 18 reported revenue of 208 billion yuan ($30.1 billion) in the three months to end-March, up 2% year-on-year.

☆ 24 Best Last-Minute Father’s Day Gifts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Sarah Grossbart | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +13 min

Father’s Day is June 19 and you’re still empty-handed, and unless you’re 8 years old, it’s no longer cute or acceptable to turn up with a handmade coupon book. For the golfing dadIf your dad is an avid golfer, an upgrade to his typical apparel is a solid gift choice. For the dad who loves long walksIf dad’s shoe collection is looking a little tired, consider a pair of Birkenstocks. And just in time for the big day, you can get a digital gift card delivered right to his inbox. For the dad who’s the life of the partyThe “king of all coolers” is how Los Angeles-based stylist Alison Deyette describes Yeti’s UV-resistant Roadie 24 Hard Cooler, which makes the polyethylene beverage tote a shoo-in for the best last-minute Father’s Day gift.

Persons: Sarah Grossbart, We’ve, here’s, K, Frank Gehry, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, you’ll, Royce, that’s, he’s, Alex Mill, it’s, Warby Parker, Stan Smiths, you’re, Nordstrom, Alison Deyette, “ Severance, Lindsay Roberts Schey, Massager, Roberts, —, who’s, Dan Ariely, Idris Elba, Mindy Kaling, ”, Roberts Schey, Deyette, mignon, ribeye, Ogata, Roberts Shey, Madeline Diamond, Leslie Yazel Organizations: Sporting Goods, Ping, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom, Boston, Marine, Adidas, Smart, Club, Craft Beer, Duke University, Hulu, Netflix Locations: U.S, inbox, Los Angeles, Kobe

HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investing in China need not be too stressful, provided you avoid investing in Chinese companies. A spending pop in the transport, food and beverage and hospitality sectors helped lift first-quarter GDP to 4.5%. But that data was flattered by comparison to a grim 2022, and April data on imports, inflation and bank loans all disappointed. While Beijing’s crackdowns on domestic technology companies and property developers have eased, other risks are rising. Separately, quarterly revenue at Alibaba is expected to rise 3% year-on-year to 211 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) in the three months to March, according to the average analyst forecast on Refinitiv.

HONG KONG, May 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Chinese travellers are opening their suitcases again, but not their wallets. Domestic travel bookings during the holiday surged eightfold from a year earlier, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to online travel agency Trip.com (9961.HK). The return of Chinese holiday-goers should be a huge relief at home and abroad. Before the pandemic, domestic tourism contributed a whopping 11% of GDP and 10% of national employment, according to Fitch. The country's Big 3 carriers - Air China (601111.SS), China Southern (600029.SS), and China Eastern (600115.SS) - are grappling with high oil prices, a weak yuan and geopolitical tensions.

HONG KONG, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Money flowing into the People's Republic is getting uncomfortably hot. Yet recent reversals in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai suggest that is driven by fickle short-term funds – exactly what Beijing doesn’t want. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsFollow @mak_robyn on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSChinese spirit maker ZJLD shares closed down 18% lower than their initial public offering price on their trading debut April 27. The KKR-backed company raised $676 million in what was the biggest offering in Hong Kong since October 2022. Separately, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada's third largest pension fund, closed down its China equity investment team based in Hong Kong, Reuters reported on April 25, citing sources.

☆ Opinion | Biden’s Highest Hurdle Isn’t Age, It’s Passion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Charles M. Blow | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The age question is major concern for Biden, according to political advisers I’ve spoken to recently — and according to the chatter on cable news and online. And the sense that he has underwhelmed is particularly problematic for Biden when it comes to young voters. Younger voters can also be barometers of how much a candidate’s passion factors into his appeal. I reached out to several voting rights advocates and political organizers to discuss Biden’s bid, and the overall impression settles somewhere between cautious optimism and dampened enthusiasm, not so much about Biden’s age, but how voters, including younger voters, look at his policy priorities. As Clifford Albright, the co-founder and executive director of the Black Voters Matter Fund, told me, although younger voters would generally like to see younger candidates, “the age thing can be overcome if you’re talking about the right issues.”

☆ Microsoft-backed tech group pushes for A.I. regulation: Here's what it's suggesting
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

BSA, a tech advocacy group backed in part by Microsoft , is advocating for rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in national privacy legislation, according to a document released on Monday. Microsoft is one of the leaders in AI due to its recent investment in OpenAI, the creator of the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. The group is advocating for four key protections:Congress should make clear requirements for when companies must evaluate the designs or impact of AI. "If it is, we should have a national agenda for digital transformation," he said, which would include rules around AI, national privacy standards and robust cybersecurity policy. Though the bill still faces a steep road ahead to becoming law, BSA said it already has the right framework for the sort of national AI guardrails the government should put in place.

Beijing's retaliatory strategy against U.S. chip sanctions is a bigger worry. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has so far remained relatively unscathed since Washington stepped up sanctions to hobble China’s domestic semiconductor development. Second, even if Chinese companies account for just 11% of TSMC’s top line, its other customers are far more exposed to the People's Republic. How Beijing responds to American pressure will define the scope of TSMC’s recovery. In January, TSMC said its capital spending in 2023 would be between $32 billion and $36 billion, compared to $36.3 billion in 2022.

HONG KONG, April 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Hong Kong could use a shot of something. Yet compared to the $313 billion Shanghai-listed behemoth Kweichow Moutai (600519.SS), debutante ZJLD is a drop in the near-$100 billion baijiu industry: it logs less than 1% market share. At the top of the marketed price range, ZJLD could be worth $5.4 billion, or almost 24 times this year's forecast earnings, IFR reports. Revenue at the company, which will be the first baijiu distiller to list in Hong Kong, was up a healthy 15% last year, while its adjusted net profit margin topped 20%. For Hong Kong, consumer stocks will put the focus back onto classic risks.

With that out of the way, Zhang is cleared to focus on Alibaba's massive corporate overhaul unveiled last month. Current shareholders will be left with a holding company led by Zhang, plus Alibaba's cash-cow Chinese commerce business. After all, Alibaba's U.S. shares are down over 60% in the past two years, while the S&P 500 has stayed largely flat. The sales will eventually reduce SoftBank's stake in Alibaba to 3.8%. In 2022, SoftBank booked a gain of $34 billion by cutting its stake in Alibaba to 14.6% from 23.7%.

Thomson ReutersRobyn Mak joined Reuters Breakingviews in 2013. Previously, she was a Research Associate for the Global Policy Programs at the Asia Society in New York where she focused on US-Iran relations, US-Myanmar relations and sustainability issues in Asia. She has also worked as a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC and interned at several consulting firms, including the Albright Stonebridge Group. She holds a masters degree in international economics and international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is a magna cum laude graduate of New York University.

HONG KONG, April 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Alibaba's (9988.HK) worth may be hiding in plain sight. The $260 billion Chinese group wants to split off faster-growing, money-losing bets like its cloud and logistics units. It accounted for 9% of Alibaba's top line in the nine months to December, nearly double five years ago. Zhang would do well to focus investor attention back onto Alibaba's commerce operations in China. That’s some 30% more than the company’s entire market value as of Wednesday.

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