Chinese company to buy 13pc stake in PGG Wrightson
Chinese seed and agricultural research company Agria will take a 13 per cent stake in PGG Wrightson under a deal that's dependent on Wrightson raising enough capital to repay $200 million of debt due in March. Souce: nzherald.co.nz For the full story click here.
Bull in a china shop
EARLY this year, many China-watchers warned that the government’s stimulus was not enough to save the economy from a deep downturn. With indecent haste, they have now switched to worrying that overly lax policies have created a gigantic bubble in shares and house prices. For the full story click here.
China's Birthday Photo Album
The PRC turns 60 tomorrow. All over China, anniversary celebrations are in the works, as part of the overall euphoria that marks the National Holiday Week. China Daily, China's only national English-language newspaper, has devoted a special section to a pictorial timeline of the three-score years since the PRC's founding....
Coffee house brews up big franchise deal in China
The Chinese will be drinking New Zealand-roasted coffee following a deal done by the Kiwi owners of the Esquires coffee house franchise. Brothers Stuart and Lewis Deeks own the Canadian-developed coffee house franchise for everywhere outside of Europe and North America, and have expanded from New Zealand to the Middle...
Volatile NZD helped drive Rakon’s Chinese invasion
Escaping the volatility of the New Zealand dollar has been highlighted by another local manufacturer taking operations off-shore, with GPS technology maker Rakon expecting to save millions in currency movements with its new joint venture factory complex in China. To read the full story click here. Source: NBR
The tyre wars
By succumbing to domestic pressures, America has started an alarming trade row with China. IN RAW economic terms Barack Obama’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese tyres hardly registers. The number of jobs affected is barely a rounding error in measurements of the mighty American workforce. The cost to consumers is...
Mobile Phones Now a Payment Tool
China Unicom has just launched a new program in Shanghai that allows mobile phones to be used for paying taxi, bus and subway fares and soon for shopping as well. The company will provide users with a fare-settlement chip attached on the back of SIM cards. Phone and transport charges will then be combined in just one total...
Saab eyes China plants as route to growth
Saab, the car brand General Motors is selling to new Swedish and Chinese owners, is considering building cars in China, its managing director said on Wednesday. Jan Ake Jonsson also said that he expected final financing arrangements for GM’s sale of the Swedish brand to a consortium led by supercar producer...
China turns to WTO in trade dispute
Barack Obama’s decision last week to impose emergency tariffs on Chinese tyres has fuelled an increasingly familiar Sino-US war of words over trade. Beijing launched an investigation on Monday into whether US poultry and car parts were being unfairly dumped in the Chinese market. It also requested formal...
Jumping Beans takes great leap
Kiwi baby gym business Jumping Beans is making the leap to Beijing on a one-year trial in a bid to hook an investor to help it expand. Jumping Beans director Sophie Foster said the company's first foray into China was "exciting", because of the speed at which early education services were growing in China....
Chinese firm in talks to buy Kiwi dairying giant
The joint-owner of New Zealand's largest privately owned dairy farming operation has confirmed it is in talks to sell out to a Chinese company for over NZ$200 million. The sale would make the Chinese interests one of the biggest individual shareholders in Fonterra, but would save two New Zealand banks and PGG Wrightson...
Getting Closer: Hong Kong and Guangdong
One of Asia's most vibrant alliances is taking another major step closer after Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland province of Guangdong signed a series of eight pacts, 19 August, to strengthen their cooperation. The agreements cover a variety of sectors, including services, finance, health care, education and the environment....