china

Will the new gold iPhone lead to an unexpected windfall for Apple in China and India?

"Amid all the head-scratching about the apparently confirmed (but not by Apple) rumor of a forthcoming gold iPhone, one observation has come up again and again: It’s likely to be quite popular in China and India. In China, '[N]othing trumps gold as a symbol of wealth and privilege,' Simon Cousins, CEO of China-focused PR company Illuminant told Gizmodo. All Things D, among others, has reported that the gold coating would be an option on the iPhone 5S. Gold is also extremely popular in India." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill the new gold iPhone lead to an unexpected windfall for Apple in China and India?

China Gold-Mine Deals at Record After Price Plunge

"Acquisitions by China’s gold mining companies reached a record this year as the metal’s steepest quarterly drop in more than nine decades slashes mine values and sidelines Western competitors laden with debt. Takeovers and asset purchases by producers based in China and Hong Kong rose to a record $2.24 billion this year, beating last year’s record $1.96 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China’s government has urged national gold producers to boost development of overseas resources in neighboring countries and in Africa and Latin America, according to its 12th Five-Year Plan which ends in 2015." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Gold-Mine Deals at Record After Price Plunge

Needy EU Nations Woo Chinese Home Buyers to Ease Slump

"Cyprus, Greece and Portugal are providing resident permits to foreign buyers, while Spain is about to adopt a similar measure. The chance to purchase a home at depressed prices in southern Europe and gain what’s known as a golden visa is mostly being sold to Chinese investors, according to brokers. Southern Europe is the latest target for rich Chinese homebuyers, who have been snapping up properties from Vancouver to London since 2010 as their wealth swells and China’s government steps up a three-year campaign to cool home prices there. The number of millionaires in China rose 4 percent from the previous 12 months to 2.8 million." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNeedy EU Nations Woo Chinese Home Buyers to Ease Slump

Venezuela will install 30,000 surveillance cameras

"Venezuela is installing 30,000 surveillance cameras to crack down on rampant crime, officials said Wednesday. Most of the Chinese-made equipment will be put up in the capital Caracas. Some is already in place in a municipality within the Caracas metropolitan area as part of a pilot program. The equipment, manufactured by Chinese company CEIEC, will be delivered to Venezuela under cooperation agreements agreed by Caracas and Beijing. The information picked up by the devices will be made available to police for use in crime probes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVenezuela will install 30,000 surveillance cameras

Japan’s nuclear crisis deepens, China expresses ‘shock’

"The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday it viewed the situation at Fukushima 'seriously' and was ready to help if called upon, while nearby China said it was 'shocked' to hear contaminated water was still leaking from the plant, and urged Japanto provide information 'in a timely, thorough and accurate way'. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, or Tepco, has been criticized for its failure to prepare for the disaster and has since been accused of covering up the extent of the problems at the plant. After months of denial, Tepco recently admitted the plant was leaking contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan’s nuclear crisis deepens, China expresses ‘shock’

Japan’s nuclear crisis deepens, China expresses ‘shock’

"The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday it viewed the situation at Fukushima 'seriously' and was ready to help if called upon, while nearby China said it was 'shocked' to hear contaminated water was still leaking from the plant, and urged Japanto provide information 'in a timely, thorough and accurate way'. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, or Tepco, has been criticized for its failure to prepare for the disaster and has since been accused of covering up the extent of the problems at the plant. After months of denial, Tepco recently admitted the plant was leaking contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan’s nuclear crisis deepens, China expresses ‘shock’

8 Chinese police officers fired for skinny dipping at tourist destination

"Eight Chinese policemen were sacked Monday after their naked swim at a tourist venue made waves online, state media said. The auxiliary police officers were dismissed for 'causing a negative impact on the image of the police', Xinhua news agency quoted the public security bureau of Lushan county in the central province of Henan as saying. It said the dismissals came after photos circulated online showing the eight skinny-dipping or standing on the shore, with their uniforms on the bank. Two police vehicles were parked nearby." Continue reading →

Continue Reading8 Chinese police officers fired for skinny dipping at tourist destination

Credit crisis begins to cripple Chinese cities

"Worried lenders in the informal sector raised interest rates for small and medium-size businesses, setting off a much broader wave of defaults in recent weeks, as owners found themselves unable to repay billions of dollars in bad debts, many of them handwritten and hard to enforce in court. State-owned banks have long been allowed to lend only at low, regulated rates barely above the inflation rate, with the total value of loans controlled by quarterly quotas. These loans go overwhelmingly to large state-owned businesses, government officials and politically connected individuals, who then relend the money at much higher interest rates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCredit crisis begins to cripple Chinese cities

The Beginnings of a Chinese Banking Crisis?

"The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) displaced Bank of America to become the world's biggest bank in 2012, marking the first time in history a Chinese bank has reached this pedestal. China now has four of the world's ten biggest banks. Together, these Chinese banks have a combined market capitalization of close to $1 trillion Canadian dollars, or three times the market cap of the Canadian banking sector. ICBC alone has 393 million individual customers, which according to the Telegraph is the equivalent of a single bank managing the bank accounts of every man, woman, and child in Western Europe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Beginnings of a Chinese Banking Crisis?

Pops In China’s Construction Bubble (But It’s Not Going To End)

"'Government and banking industry sources familiar with the situation' who 'declined to be named due to the highly sensitive nature of the matter,' have been spilling the beans to the South China Morning Post. The central government, they said, is considering an 'unofficial economic stimulus' to prop up key economies like Shanghai. On the quiet! For that purpose, Agricultural Bank of China, one of the state-owned megabanks, inked a deal to lend the city of Shanghai 250 billion yuan (about $41 billion) for a number of big construction projects, the sources said. The loan would amount to 12.5% of Shanghai’s 2012 GDP." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPops In China’s Construction Bubble (But It’s Not Going To End)