Saturday, 24 January 2009
Asia braces for tough tourism year
Across Asia, hotels, airlines and tourism operators are bracing for another tough year as the financial crisis sees long-haul visitors remain at home, and regional travellers tighten purse-strings with shorter, budget trips.
China Responds Tartly to U.S. on Currency
Whether it was a shot across the bow or a simple restatement of his boss’s views, Timothy Geithner’s assertion that China “manipulates” its currency has complicated a crucial front in President Barack Obama’s efforts to improve relations with the world.
Property slump to aggravate Asian economic slowdown
Slumping Asian property markets could intensify the region’s economic downturn this year, further undermining consumer and investor confidence and prompting homeowners to tighten spending.
China warns of long-term ills
China must do more to ease public distress as it battles a slowing economy and rising unemployment, a leadership meeting said, warning officials the global slowdown was colliding with the nation’s reckless mode of growth.
Private housing supply shrinking as prices fall
Developers delay projects’ expected completion dates to beyond 2011
Why a near-term rally may not be in the stars
Astrologers and fung shui experts have given investors hope that the market may improve during the Year of the Ox and stocks could bottom out in the summer months, like a cow’s bulging belly!
Shanghai prepares reit launch to bolster sluggish property market
Shanghai, the mainland’s financial hub, was set to launch a real estate investment trust this year to boost the slumbering property market, a senior city official said.
Little secrets of ‘out-of-business’ sales
Do ‘closeout’ sales mean the lowest prices? Not always. And where did all that extra merchandise come from?
KepLand’s bleak results may set tone for industry
But measures announced during the Budget will help alleviate some of the burdens of property developers.
CapitaLand yet to make decision on fund-raising
Firm has received various such proposals, which include rights issues
Commercial rents feel the slowdown
Leases and prices of industrial and office space fall in Q4 2008 after years of steady gains
Subtle shifts expected in US policy on Taiwan
But overall, Mr. Obama’s administration remains uncertain on this issue and is unlikely to issue a comprehensive policy statement on Taiwan. Several experts on US-Taiwanese relations do not expect much to change, even though they hope he will promote relations among the US, the mainland and Taiwan that will benefit all parties.
Freezing weather hobbles holiday travel
The freezing weather that has gripped much of the mainland in the past few days - disrupting the plans of hundreds of thousands of travellers rushing home for the Lunar New Year - will last for another day or two and continue to move south, meteorologists say.
Theme park dreams are built on sand
Netizens on the mainland have been up in arms over the plan by Maanshan to rebrand itself as China’s “City of Bathing”. Maanshan’s officials decided in December that they could turn the city, in Anhui province, into a tourist destination by touting the delights of its many bathhouses - as if Maanshan was one of the English spa towns founded by the Romans, instead of the steel manufacturing hub it actually is.
Step up action on fake notes, banks told
The central bank has warned commercial banks and financial institutions on the mainland to watch out for counterfeit banknotes ahead of the Lunar New Year.
Sanlu just a scapegoat in scandal, says lawyer
Sending top Sanlu executives to jail and executing milk middlemen does not resolve the deep-seated problems in the country’s dairy industry and food-safety regulation system, experts say.
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