Hot-shot fund managers burnt by crisis

CMIA's managing partner Lee Chong Min. The firm's FerroChina stake, valued at $240 million in 2007, is now effectively worth nothing.

China’s Post-1979 Consumer Class

Free-spending ‘Phoenix’ generation seen as both saviours and anti-heroes

Foreign funds flow to Asia on recovery hopes

Regional govt efforts to drive economies out of recession are fuelling investor appetite for risk

SGX watch-list firms running out of time

Nine have less than a year to apply for removal, most are still not profitable. By Joyce Hooi

China recovery hinges on private sector

The catch is that the private sector is sitting on its hands - with good reason

New rules to curb foreign financial info agencies in China

China yesterday unveiled new rules governing foreign providers of financial information, demanding that they not furnish domestic clients with information that could destabilise markets or stir up social tension.

Rule change boosts Taiwan stocks

Taipei stock index soars 6.7% on hopes of investment flows

‘Sell in May and Go Away’ May Not Be a Good Idea This Year

The old “sell in May and go away” adage may be only partially true this year: Investors may sell a bit but aren’t likely to stray very far after they do.

Beijing pushes traditional herbal remedy

Mainland health authorities have released three herbal medicine prescriptions they claim can block and cure swine flu.

Rejoining UN health body opens a door for Taiwan, Ma says

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday rejoining the World Health Assembly has opened a door for the island to increase its international presence.

Controversial content in AWARE’s sex education programme sparks debate

When TODAY showed him two pages of the CSE trainers’ manual, which stated that “anal sex can be healthy” and that “homosexuality is perfectly normal”, Rev Yap said that he “had no problems” with the content.

China’s Dual – or Duelling – Finance Hubs

Hong Kong’s role as a financial centre role is being challenged by Shanghai and yuan-based financing. Can the cities work together?

Corrupt official’s exploits made into anti-graft documentary

A corrupt high-level Beijing official’s exploits with mistresses and real estate developers have been made into a documentary that is being broadcast to Communist Party members nationwide as authorities wage war on corruption.

The documentary said a single real estate developer deposited about 400,000 yuan into Zhou’s bank account every day for three weeks in 2003, as payment for a lucrative hotel construction project.

Milk-scandal officials quietly given key jobs

Two officials disciplined for the melamine-tainted milk scandal were quietly reappointed to key positions months before their punishments were handed down to them.

Shanghai’s New Route to Financial Prestige

Through its international shipping port, Shanghai may have found a way to build a global hub for the financial services industry.

Sovereign Wealth and the Financial Crisis

China’s sovereign wealth fund CIC is holding cash assets and plans to ride out the economic downturn with minimal risk.

Dalai Lama sought refuge three years before uprising, claims biographer

The Dalai Lama wanted to defect to India as early as three years before he ultimately fled there in 1959 after a failed armed rebellion against Chinese rule, a historian and veteran journalists in India say.

Experts now believe Nehru had a change of heart three years later for three reasons: the emergence of territorial disputes straining Sino-India relations; escalating unrest in Tibet; and mounting pressure from the US and Britain for New Delhi to “take on China headlong” over Tibet.

Bulls, not Bears, May End in Tears - Andy Xie

False hope built on government stimulus measures may feel good today, but it will only delay necessary reforms.

The false hope today may feel good but it only delays necessary reforms. It actually makes things worse. As governments spend money to revive the past, they won’t be left with money required to ease the pain caused by structural reforms in the future. The world is behaving like a bankrupt drug addict, spending welfare checks to feed an addiction. Once the checks are all spent, the addict has to go cold turkey to kick the habit.

Three Gorges To-Do List: Mudslides to Jobs

The construction phase of the Three Gorges dam and reservoir ends this year. But follow-up tasks -- and project woes -- abound.

Time to rein S-chips in - but don’t stifle foreign listings

The woes afflicting China stocks listed here, or S-chips, are by now well known: accounting irregularities, missing cash, profit warnings, and the resultant going-concern doubts that have emerged. And they have led to the sector’s spectacular collapse; on Tuesday, 34 out of the 51 S-chips that comprise the FT ST China Index (67 per cent) traded for below 20 cents, while 43 (84 per cent) traded for below 50 cents.

Zhou Xiaochuan: New Growth Tasks for the Financial Sector

Retooling China’s economy through product replacement, new technology and emission cuts must include the financial sector.

China to Reject Any Higher-than-Target Iron Ore Contract Offer

The country’s steelmakers are hoping for an at least 40 percent discount on contract prices.

I am not Dr Doom, I am Dr Realist

Economist Roubini says he doesn’t believe a near-depression is on the cards right now

New rule to punish officials who give fake statistical data

Beijing has renewed its vows to clamp down on fake official data amid mounting allegations of notoriously unreliable statistics.

Male wine-drinkers live longer

Drinking up to half a glass of wine per day can help you live up to five years longer - at least for men, according to a study published on Thursday.

Chicken a la Cart

This short film won the competition in 2006 on the theme Food, Taste and Hunger.

Watch film here

Yuan To Become Regional Currency Before Going Global

After becoming a settlement currency, the next logical step would be for the yuan to become a regional reserve currency.

SAIC to spend 15.3b yuan developing own brands

SAIC Motor Corp, China’s largest carmaker, said yesterday it planned to spend 15.31 billion yuan (HK$17.41 billion) this year to develop own-brand vehicles and the related technologies.

Mainland grade A offices feel pinch

Beijing and Shanghai to see vacancy rates rising to 40pc and rents dropping 50pc

Lasting Economic Growth Beats a Warm-up

Beneath the surface of China’s ‘warming’ economy are structural impediments to long-term growth that demand attention -- now.

Developers meet valuers in search for common ground

Finger pointed at banks as some buyers struggle to raise enough loans

Finance industry may need to change: MAS

Banks and other financial institutions have been advised that they may need to change their behaviour fundamentally as a post-crisis industry landscape emerges.

For instance, they must ensure that investment advice dished out is ‘fair, objective and in the best interest of clients’. Having pay structures that rely mainly on commissions or are biased towards recommending specific products is ‘untenable’.

Chinese Economy Cannot Recover in Isolation

China cannot turn around its export-driven economy in isolation, and needs improvement in the rest of the world, especially the United States, in order to return to growth, a top Chinese official said on Tuesday.

Beijing to approve Taiwan’s role in WHO

Taiwan’s president announced on Wednesday that Beijing would allow the island’s participation in a key World Health Organisation body, a major goal in Taipei’s campaign for international recognition.

Beijing places new clamp on visa controls

Mainland authorities have once again tightened visa procedures for foreigners in the run-up to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, travel industry sources said yesterday.

IDA turns down hotels’ appeal to block Skype

Singapore’s telecommunications regulator has rejected requests by four luxury hotels to block the use of popular Internet telephony software Skype.

Bar owner and girl, 15, charged with rape

A karaoke bar owner and 15-year-old girl have been charged with rape in Zhejiang province in a case that a media report says could involve up to 10 underage girls over a two-year period.

DPP officials vote to invite detained Chen back into party fold

Former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian may rejoin the Democratic Progressive Party after an intense power struggle within the pro-independence group.

Open the door to shareholders’ meetings, please

One notable thing about the shareholder meetings held by listed companies here is that many still do not allow the media to be present, not even as observers.

China set to be biggest wind power growth market

It has doubled production annually, may add 10,000 MW of capacity in 2009

Shake-out in boutique finance business

Dearth of money-spinning IPOs spells pay cuts and even closure of firms

Analysts expect pullback in May but see bright side

Profit-taking unlikely to bring market down to March low and presents buying opportunity

THE CONFESSION OF AN S-CHIP CEO

So when dust finally settles one day, we shall all look back and evaluate what had gone wrong and who are to be blamed. I am sure all fingers will be pointing at the Chinese entrepreneurs such as myself, who are usually labelled as “greedy and unscrupulous”. There is a ring of truth to that accusation and I admit I am guilty. But how about those deal makers, who taught us how to cook the books? How about those angels, who hid their identities behind some deal makers and exerted influences to assist them to succeed in their schemes? How about those institutional investors who trifled with the money entrusted to them? How about those intermediaries and professionals who were not vigilant enough to protect the interest of the investing public?

China Prepares for Its Version of NASDAQ

In many ways, the GEM is indeed a simple extension of the Main Board.

Mistresses fly coop as menfolk lose their loot

Hong Kong men struck hard by the financial downturn are hiring private investigators to check on the fidelity of their mainland mistresses.

Time for caution on PCCW’s bargain-basement shares

The price looks right, but this stock carries a lot of baggage

Market Mood

I would not buy financial stocks if I were a long-term investor.

Tittle-tattle tension is all in a day’s work

Everyone has bad days. It’s perfectly normal to be cranky from time to time at work. It’s part of being human and, in fact, anyone in the office who is enthusiastically cheerful every single day is almost definitely harbouring some sort of chronic psychosis.

Re-emergence of emerging markets may be short-lived

Short-sellers are increasing bets against developing-nation stocks by the most since March 2007, a signal that the biggest rally in 16 years may fizzle as profits plunge from Brazil to Taiwan.

Shareholders see red at Guangzhao AGM

Management questioned on pledged shares, default on convertible bonds and disagreements with former directors.