Why the Chinese invest abroad

They get higher margins, ready-built brands and sales networks, supplies of key energy and raw materials

Officials forced to reveal assets

Chongqing municipality announced a pilot plan this week requiring judicial officials in important positions to declare their assets - thus becoming the highest-level government to make such a mandate.

Lessons on lying for Chinese who seek US visas

Private ‘training centres’ that tutor Chinese to lie to US immigration officers to get student visas have emerged, with one chain claiming a 98 per cent success rate, a news report said.

China train maker sputters on debut; warning for IPOs

CNR Corp, one of China’s top two train makers, limped in with a lukewarm market debut after its US$2 billion IPO here, signalling investors’ intolerance for high valuations as a flood of new equity awaits next year.

China’s growing power unsettles its neighbours

There’s a sense of disquiet over the implications of China’s seemingly boundless expansion

End of an era for Chartered

Ex-market darling delisted from SGX following takeover by Abu Dhabi’s ATIC

Beijing bid to cool property prices ignored

Mainland property prices have increased more than threefold since housing reform was instituted in 1998. Fuelled by an economic boom, income growth and limited investment channels, buying a home became a sure bet for most mainlanders even though the government repeatedly brought in tough measures whenever the market showed signs of overheating.

A warm welcome to the lost decade

As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, the world of international business and finance is feeling better about itself than at any time for the past 2-1/2 years.

More go for mediation in big money disputes

Litigation is making way for mediation, going by the rising number of high-level disputes involving big money that have been brought before the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC).

China equities rally seen fading from Q2

A rally by China’s stocks may fade from the second quarter as inflation triggers ‘significant policy tightening’ by the government and the US economy weakens, Deutsche Bank AG said.

China to limit credit for some home purchases

It aims to curb speculation and prevent prices from rising rapidly

SGX paves the way for listing of cash companies

Proposals also seek to broaden mainboard admission criteria, raise minimum IPO issue price to 50 cents

Boom time for China’s corporate crooks as the economy soars

In the beginning, there was the Forbes list of China’s richest. Then came the more locally flavoured Hurun report with its own tally of mainland billionaires.

Kunming officials butt of jokes over fallen bridge

Kunming officials have once again become the butt of jokes among the public for claiming the collapse of a bridge on the city’s new airport highway could be due to “weather, such as strong wind”.

Mainland probes 25 property firms over land use

Mainland regulators are conducting a probe of 25 property projects and their owners over alleged breaches of land use rules, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Thursday.

The Decade Ahead

Who's?

Sino-Environment plot thickens, unsettling questions raised

Sino-Environment shareholders, who have been treated to a roller-coaster ride with the dramatic unfolding of events last year, are now greeted with the sudden resignations of its executive directors and an unsettling probe conclusion by the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau in China.

Sino-Environment executive directors step down

Troubled Sino-Environment said that its executive directors (EDs) have resigned, without providing details on whether there will be new management soon.

Remisiers struggling to reinvent themselves

Many going into business for themselves, forced by thinner commission rates, increase in direct trading

Woman was in Audi before accident

The Romanian diplomat linked to a hit-and-run case was spotted in a car with an Asian woman less than an hour before the accident on Dec 15.

Bullish outlook for oil & gas sector

Singapore, with its multitude of oilfield equipment and services firms, should also witness increasing M&A activity

Remisiers’ plight: recognise that deregulation cuts both ways

A little over 10 years ago, before deregulation kicked in and when retail punters enjoyed up to a week of credit from their stockbrokers in exchange for payment of one per cent brokerage, becoming a remisier was seen as something enviable. Many were willing to consider it as a realistic career option because of the rewards it offered. Back in those halcyon days, retail participation was plentiful and came about mainly through picking up the telephone, ringing one’s remisier to discuss trading ideas, and then placing one’s orders. At one time in the market’s heyday during the mid-to-late 1990s, brokers had to install additional telephone lines, such was the demand for remisiers’ services.

State of war over Henan’s claim to have found fabled ruler’s tomb

A war of words has broken out over a provincial government’s claim to have uncovered the tomb of legendary ruler Cao Cao, underscoring the heightened scepticism towards mainland officialdom.

America’s lost economic decade

With the financial crisis almost over, the next generation of economists needs to figure out how things went so wrong

Boutique advisers step on Singapore’s private bank turf

Boutique and independent financial advisers are moving onto the turf of private banks in Asian wealth management centre Singapore, looking to poach emerging millionaire clients in the region.

Kunming projects on hold after airport bridge collapse

Kunming is in the midst of an infrastructure boom that is frenzied even by mainland standards, but construction of a number of projects is on hold following the collapse of a bridge connecting the new airport.