Asia-Pacific

India’s Russia bonhomie shows limits of bipolarity

10 Jul 2024

Narendra Modi met Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the first state visit of his third term. The $65 bln bilateral trade between the pair is booming at a time when India's business relationship with the US is shrinking. It upends popular neat visions of a bifurcating world order.

Singapore’s Temasek has a sticky China problem

10 Jul 2024

The sovereign investor's $288 bln portfolio value is on the rise but its one fifth exposure to the world's second-largest economy is a drag. Temasek's private holdings and Singapore's close financial ties with Beijing make it hard for CEO Dilhan Pillay to make a big retreat.

EU’s China trade weak spots hide in plain sight

9 Jul 2024

Beijing may retaliate after Brussels imposed tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. Of the 5,000 product groups the People’s Republic imports from the EU, many are too crucial or too small to bother with. But luxury goods, petrol cars and some foods are plausible targets.

Copper’s green step change is an uphill struggle

9 Jul 2024

Supplies of the red metal have to motor if the world is to adequately decarbonise. In this Exchange podcast Tae-Yoon Kim, senior energy analyst at the International Energy Agency, lays out the challenges that need to be overcome if the private sector is going to make that happen.

BYD’s overseas road trip offers EU new tariffs map

9 Jul 2024

The $94 bln EV maker has just opened a factory in Thailand and is spending $1 bln to build one in Turkey. Both countries agreed preferential terms for Chinese carmakers’ imports in exchange for local production. These deals might inspire Brussels to re-engineer its own policies.

Big Beer’s low-alcohol Plan B has too much froth

9 Jul 2024

Carlsberg, AB InBev and Asahi have set toppy targets for their teetotal products. Health concerns and Gen Z’s aversion to alcohol imply that’s a safe bet. But at $13 bln the market is still puny – and if the likes of Coca-Cola muscle in there will be a smaller barrel to share.

Moutai rout is China’s latest confidence crisis

9 Jul 2024

Falling liquor prices have lopped $60 bln off the market cap of the world’s most valuable distiller, once viewed as resilient in the face of sluggish consumption. The sudden sell-off shows just how fragile sentiment in the world’s second-largest economy has become.

China’s central bank is stuck in a policy dilemma

9 Jul 2024

The PBOC is now intervening in short-term debt markets. Ideally it should be cutting rates to help spur more investment in the economy. But that would mean giving in to traders parking their money in government bonds – and would conflict with its mandate to foster a strong yuan.

Global economy finds new ways to keep growing

8 Jul 2024

Despite fears of a slowdown, world GDP is expanding at 3.5% a year, faster than in 2023. As the US engine loses thrust, Europe and emerging markets are picking up. A sluggish China and geopolitical confrontations are risks. But for now, investors can enjoy a Goldilocks moment.

Little parcels keep China’s factories humming

8 Jul 2024

Officials in the EU and US want to crack down on China's booming low-value e-commerce exports led by firms including Shein and Temu. It threatens a bright spot in the $18 trln economy and one of Beijing's new strategic industries, but it's a tricky trade to value and control.

China’s banker pay crackdown risks Pyrrhic victory

8 Jul 2024

State-backed financial firms will face orders to cap salaries at about $400,000. The move reverses a drive to pay for performance, will alienate staff, create stodgier institutions and kill Beijing's dream of creating "top class" global investment banks - all for little benefit.

Shein maps out how to charm the world in India

5 Jul 2024

The $63 bln fast fashion giant is relaunching four years after it was banned, this time in an alliance with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance. If Shein can claw its way back into a country that aggressively curtailed Chinese interests, partnerships may be the way forward elsewhere too.

Data centre boom reveals AI hype’s physical limits

4 Jul 2024

The investor frenzy over artificial intelligence assumes there will be enough infrastructure to support apps like ChatGPT. But a $1 trln rush to build data centres faces planning restrictions and energy constraints. That will limit processing power and push up costs for users.

Middle East reignites Santos’ M&A pipe dreams

4 Jul 2024

Shares of the $17 bln Aussie driller jumped on a Bloomberg report that Aramco and ADNOC are each studying bids. That may yet lure in BP, Chevron and others. But the return on investment remains as ho-hum as when Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher opened the door to a deal last year.

India’s chase of foreign shorts hits close to home

3 Jul 2024

The regulator targeted Hindenburg Research for poor disclaimers in its attack on industrial giant Adani. Fresh details show the short seller and a Wall Street fund manager profited, but also how Indian lender Kotak facilitated the trade. Pursuing sceptical investors can backfire.

Geely looks ready to ride tariffs storm

2 Jul 2024

The $11 bln company controlled by Li Shufu more than doubled earnings in the first quarter as sales of EVs, hybrids and gas guzzlers all grew. The auto group has protested EU duties, which will come into play on Thursday. But it can afford to wait on its European expansion.

China bond intervention is only a short-term fix

2 Jul 2024

The central bank’s decision to trade government debt may deter buyers for now and push up yields. But an economic recovery needs more than market tweaks. If this month’s Third Plenum offers few supportive policies, safe haven-seeking investors will pile back into bonds.

India’s consumer market is large but demanding

2 Jul 2024

Consumption is not a bright spot in the South Asian country, with growth half the pace of GDP. In this Exchange podcast, former Nestlé India board member Rama Bijapurkar explains why international companies need to stick their elbows out to tap the low-earning masses.

 

Shein would lose all its shine in a Hong Kong IPO

2 Jul 2024

The $63 bln online retailer may debut in the Asian hub if its plan to list in London fails, per the FT. Not only would that confirm its failure to thread the needle between its Western markets and its Chinese roots. It would result in a slashed valuation and orphan-stock status.

Anglo American’s revamp has an inauspicious start

1 Jul 2024

The easiest part of the $41 bln group’s overhaul after BHP’s takeover bid was a sale of its coking coal business. A months-long closure of that unit’s most profitable mine may make an expected $5 bln valuation harder to achieve. That increases the pressure on CEO Duncan Wanblad.