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Joint venture with Fonterra brings expertise to Chinese infant formula firm

August 28, 2014

SHANGHAI - New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, the world’s largest dairy exporter, will form a partnership with Hangzhou-based Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co Ltd, tapping into the profitable formula retail market in China. Fonterra said it will invest US$514 million in the arrangement, providing high-quality ingredients and technical expertise.

Taiwan industrial output hits record in July

August 26, 2014

TAIPEI - Taiwan’s industrial production index gained 6.08% on-year to a record 112.26 points in July on the back of growth in manufacturing and utilities, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. “Output has risen six months in a row, showing the industrial sector is recovering at a steady pace,” MOEA Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General, Yang Kuei-hsien, said.

“Illegal” ruling on coal licences in India potential headwind to growth

August 27, 2014

NEW DELHI – A Supreme Court decision to rule as ‘illegal’ about 200 coal mining licenses awarded in India since 1993 to corporates for captive use is creating uncertainty as to how these mines will be dealt with, particularly given that India has already been facing coal shortages, according to a research report by ANZ Bank. The Supreme Court is expected to announce a final verdict next Monday, September l.

Private investment conglomerate enters market with RMB 50 billion

August 25, 2014

BEIJING - China Minsheng Investment Corp Ltd (CMIC) has been unveiled in Shanghai as a private conglomerate with more than US$8 billion in assets designed to promote China’s blossoming private investment in domestic and overseas markets. Intended to be the private equivalent of China Investment Corp, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, CMIC includes as shareholders  well-known private companies as Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd and Oceanwide Co Ltd, but most are lesser known investment companies. In total, the conglomerate’s shareholders have combined assets of about RMB 1 trillion.

Revision of China’s foreign investment laws likely to conclude in 2015

August 26, 2014

BEIJING - In an interview with the China Daily, Assistant Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen, has  referred to future revisions of China’s foreign investment laws as a “key project” that will “probably be completed” within the country’s current Five-Year Plan (in other words, before the end of 2015). While it still remains unclear what the final version of the law will be like post-revisions, Wang emphasised that the essential idea is that it “will shift from the regulation of enterprises to the supervision of investors and their investment behaviour.”

Park calls on North to co-operate with South, urges Japan to ‘properly recognise’ history

August 25, 2014

SEOUL – South Korea’s President, Park Geun-hye, has again called on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme, suggesting that the two Koreas start to co-operate on building infrastructure. “North Korea should leave behind habitual confrontation and division, give up its nuclear ambitions and open to the world," Park said in a speech to mark South Korea’s 69th Liberation Day on August 15.

Foreign-invested companies losing luster for Chinese graduates

August 25, 2014

BEIJING - Employment reports released in late July and August by human resource companies ChinaHR.com and Horizon Research Consultancy Group indicate that State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are now the most attractive employers for Chinese university graduates, leaving behind foreign-invested companies. The considerable salaries and full welfare packages once offered by foreign-invested companies to attract talent have gradually been made obsolete as private Chinese companies offer similar incentives - and recent Chinese graduates value hukou (China’s household registration) more than ever, which SOEs can provide and foreign-invested companies cannot.

China lays out plans to revive its Northeast economy

August 20, 2014

BEIJING - With most Northeastern provinces stagnating around the bottom six of China’s regional GDP growth rates for the first half of 2014, the State Council has listed on its website 35 new measures to revitaliSe the region’s economy. These measures all aim to free up private businesses, deepen State-owned Enterprise (SOE) reforms, and essentially modernise agricultural, urban and infrastructure projects in the provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.

Taiwan manufacturing output up 4.94% for second quarter

August 20, 2014

TAIPEI - Taiwan manufacturing output gained 4.94% on-year to NT$3.67 trillion (US$122.19 billion) in the second quarter, reflecting an improving economy at home and abroad, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. “The gain is the best since the third quarter of 2011,” an MOEA official said. “We remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the second half, which is usually much busier for manufacturers.”

S&P affirms HK ratings, but points to ‘political polarisation’

August 21, 2014

HONG KONG - Standard & Poor's has affirmed its 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term issuer credit ratings on Hong Kong with the outlook stable. It says the ratings reflect the economy's above-average growth prospects for a high-income economy – and points to Hong Kong’s main credit constraints as limited monetary flexibility and risks associated with weaker institutions in lower-rated China.

China manufacturing PMI dips to three-month low

August 21, 2014

HONG KONG – The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI has come in  at 50.3 in August (51.7 in July), a three-month low, as was the Flash China Manufacturing Output Index - at 51.3 (52.8 in July). Manufacturing output, new ordrs and new export orders inAugust all increased, but at a slower rate. Both output and input prices, together with stocks of purchases and stocks of finished goods, all decreased.

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