Day: November 27, 2023

Quant hedge funds bet on China despite investor exodus

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Computer-driven hedge funds are betting that China’s financial markets offer plenty of opportunities to make money, despite an exodus of foreign investors, rising US-China tensions and growing scrutiny by regulators. China’s CSI 300 index stock index has fallen nearly 9 per cent this year, compared with a 19 per cent rise in the US S&P 500, amid concerns about Beijing’s lack of forceful policy support in response to a crisis in the property sector. Much of the foreign money that flowed into Chinese equities earlier this year has now left.…

China’s property lifeline exposes banks to big losses, job cuts

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China’s escalating push to have its banking behemoths backstop struggling property firms is adding to a maelstrom of woes for the US$57 trillion sector. Already stung by soaring bad loans and record-low net-interest margins, lenders such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) may soon be asked for the first time to provide unsecured loans to developers, many of whom are in default or teetering on the brink of collapse. The risky lifeline threatens to exacerbate an already bleak outlook. ICBC and 10 other major banks may next year…

Thai police arrest 11 Montagnards near Bangkok

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Thailand’s Royal Police and immigration authority have arrested 11 Montagnard Vietnamese who were taking refuge near the capital city of Bangkok, according to a member of an organization representing the ethnic group. Y Quynh Buondap is a member of Montagnards Stand For Justice (MSFJ) and has been living as a refugee in Thailand for many years. Speaking to Radio Free Asia on Monday he said thousands of Montagnards in Thailand are living in fear. “Strangers follow them when they go out and often take photos of their rental homes,” he…

N Korea claims new satellite took photos of White House, Pentagon

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North Korea has intensified its pressure campaign towards the United States, claiming that its illegal satellite, which breached a United Nations Security Council resolution, successfully captured images of significant U.S. locations, including the White House. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un thoroughly reviewed the “photographs of the White House, the Pentagon, and other targets in Washington D.C.,” taken by its newly-launched satellite at around 11:35 pm Pyongyang time Monday, according to the North’s official Rodong Sinmun. The state-run newspaper said on Tuesday that the satellite also captured images of U.S.…

CropWatch: more than 160 countries join China’s tech war against the West on food

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The development of CropWatch enabled China to “avoid being deceived by foreign forecast information in market decisions,” the academy said in a mission statement dated in 2012. Now recent efforts by the CropWatch team have sought to transfer the technology to developing nations. 03:07 World Food Programme cuts rations to Afghanistan as millions close to famine World Food Programme cuts rations to Afghanistan as millions close to famine In August, the team behind CropWatch held a workshop in Mauritius for a dozen developing nations on the implementation and progress of…

Shein, the Fast-Fashion Giant, Is Said to Have Filed for an I.P.O.

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Shein, the ultrafast-fashion retailer founded in China more than a decade ago, has filed confidentially for an initial public offering in the United States, according to a person familiar with the plans for the deal, who was not authorized to speak publicly about it. Some companies keep their paperwork for an initial public offering temporarily under seal so they can prepare for the offering out of the public spotlight. Investors had largely expected Shein to make the move this year, after the historically tight-lipped company began to address a range…

Broadcom starts onboarding VMware employees, swaps office logos, after ‘stressful’ journey to get Beijing’s approval

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US semiconductor giant Broadcom has started merging with VMware, with onboarding talks with employees beginning on Monday after it received regulatory clearance from China for its US$69 billion acquisition last week, according to an internal letter seen by the Post. In the letter dated November 22, VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram said the “long journey” of securing approval for the deal was “uncertain and stressful, especially in the last few weeks”, according to a copy shared with the Post. Now that it has the green light, though, Broadcom will start employee…

The human cost of China’s property crisis

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A swath of unfinished apartment blocks across China, indebted buyers uncertain if they will ever move into their new homes and anger at the loss of their deposits — the impact of China’s property crisis has been immense. The 2021 default of Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, and dozens of its peers ushered in a new era for China’s property sector. Evergrande, which faces the threat of liquidation, embodies the turmoil of a sector that accounts for roughly a quarter of China’s economic activity and is the most important…

Chinese Super League: From bidding for Bale to selling the team bus

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Hulk, who had enjoyed prolific spells with Zenit St Petersburg and Porto, was a marquee signing for Shanghai SIPG Sign up for notifications to the latest Insight features via the BBC Sport app and find the most recent in the series. In June 2016, hundreds of fans gathered at Shanghai airport to watch one of the most famous footballers in the world make the city his home. Hulk, a 29-year-old Brazil international at the peak of his powers, had been signed by Shanghai SIPG manager Sven-Goran Eriksson for more than…

US and China pitch rival supply-chain visions in latest clash over global trade and economic needs

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The US and China this week are pitching rival visions of what constitutes a resilient and sustainable supply chain, marking the latest chapter in their fierce competition to assert a global trading system built around their respective economic needs. Just hours before Beijing was to launch its first international expo on supply chains featuring American tech giants like Tesla, Apple, Intel and Qualcomm under the tagline “connecting the world for a shared future”, US President Joe Biden convened the inaugural meeting of his supply-chain resilience council in Washington on Monday.…