News
Low levels of Asia content in secondary schools – report
Only one third of secondary school heads of department say they have included some Asia-specific topics in their teaching programmes over the past two years, says a new Asia New Zealand Foundation report. For the full story click here. Source: Asia:NZ Online
Google ends censorship of China site
Google on Monday carried through on its promise to end censorship of its local Chinese search engine, drawing an immediate and angry accusation from a Chinese official that raised the prospects of retaliatory action. For the full story click here. Source: Financial Times
New Regulations for Zhuhai-Macau Industrial Zone to be ...
China’s General Administration of Customs announced order No. 189 on March 15, revising the administrative measures for customs in the Zhuhai Zone of the Zhuhai-Macau Cross-border Industrial Zone. To read the full story click here. Source: China briefing.
Female-focused shopping in Guangzhou
Female-themed shopping centres are making a comeback in Guangzhou. In January, a shopping centre called 1836 opened in the major commercial district to target women aged between, yes, 18 and 36. For the full story click here. Source: HKTDC
Exchanging blows
RECENT renewed American calls for China to revalue its currency have so far fallen on deaf ears. China has rejected accusations that America's huge trade deficit with it is caused largely by an artificially weak yuan, which has been pegged to the dollar since July 2008. For the full story click here. Source: The...
Yoke Har Lee: Swinging his way into China
Golf enthusiast David Jenkinson isn't sure whether it was his genius or his naivety that persuaded a giant Chinese organisation to use his golf training system. For the full story click here. Source: NZ Herald.
Is Cabinet readying us for an Asian future?
Tim Groser is fond of this statistic: that the increase in exports to China last year was the same as that year's total exports to Korea. That analogy says much about east Asia's growing indispensability to our Polynesian and British outlier nation. For the full story click here. Source: Stuff
Cathay Pacific returns to profit in 2009
Cathay Pacific Group returned to profitability in 2009, recording a $52.7 million operating profit, up from a $369 million loss in 2008. For the full story click here. Source: NBR
Yuan to stay cool
ONE of the few good things about the Great Recession of 2008-09 was a merciful absence of complaints from America’s Congress about China’s currency. The yuan’s gradual appreciation stopped in July 2008, and China has since kept its currency tightly pegged to the dollar. But even as America suffered its worst...
McCully names new Ambassador to Jakarta
New Zealand's next Ambassador to Indonesia will be career diplomat David Taylor, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said. For the full story click here. Source: NBR
Possums go to waste as demand grows
New Zealand possums are dying and going to waste even as demand for their fur increases, says an industry body. For the full story click here. Source: NZherald.co.nz
China and India: The Proverbial Hare and Tortoise?
As India begins to prepare itself for a second wave of growth in the aftermath of what has indeed proven to be a difficult financial crisis for Asia, questions are now being asked as to the extent of competition India really brings to global markets when measured up against China. For the full story click here. Source:...