Shopkeepers in Shenzhen are unhappy with Li Ka-shing and the practices of his CK Hutchison Holdings
A couple of heavy hitters in Hong Kong are having a less than stellar start to the week. Shenzhen shopkeepers are not happy with tycoon Li Ka-shing and claim they have been cheated by his CK Hutchison Holdings. Meanwhile, elected officials in Hong Kong push back against the Link REIT with plans for new public markets in the New Territories. Keep reading for all of today’s headlines.
Shenzhen Shopkeepers Cry Foul Over Li Ka-Shing Mall
Dozens of angry shopkeepers from the Century Place shopping mall in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen demonstrated outside the main offices of the project’s developer, Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings, last week.
They claimed that they have been cheated by the company, as the shopping mall has failed to attract customers. Some of the shop owners said they have been sued by the developer when they could not afford to pay rent. Read more>>
Link REIT Practices Under Scrutiny
Two public markets could be set up in Tung Chung New Town Extension Area and Hung Shui Kiu Development Area within the next 10 years, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said yesterday. He said the measures were being considered as the Legislative Council yesterday passed a nonbinding motion to counteract the dominance of public markets by the Link Real Estate Investment Trust.
Proposed by New People’s Party lawmaker Eunice Yung Hoi-yan and amended by Democratic Party vice chairman Andrew Wan Siu Kin, the motion has asked the government to check if the Link REIT has violated the Competition Ordinance and to look into different anti-monopoly measures, such as setting up temporary bazaars. Read more>>
Is China’s Economy Living on Borrowed Time?
Next year is shaping up to be a decisive one for China’s economy. In the eight years since the global financial crisis struck, the vitality and importance of low-cost exports — the kind the Chinese economy used to rely on — have steadily declined.
Corporate debt, by far the largest share of China’s total debt, has likewise surged by more than 60 percent to top 165 percent of GDP. Now, a nationwide debt crisis looms at Beijing’s doorstep amid business defaults and bankruptcies, low industrial profits, winnowing returns on investment and the very real prospect of yet another slowdown in the real estate sector. Read more>>
Bain Expects More Online Dominance in China Retail
Retailers need to adapt to new scenarios as consumers go online to buy fast moving consumer goods, a report said yesterday. Online sales in China continue their decade-long success with consumers embracing online shopping even more fervently than before, Bain & Co and Kantar Worldpanel said in their fifth annual China shopper report.
The size of online FMCG spending in China jumped 36.5 percent in 2015, with growth in volume compensating for a decline in average selling price. Read more>>
China’s Anbang Insurance Plans First International Bond Issue
China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. is pursuing its first international bond offering, as the acquisitive insurer raises money to fund its ambitions to grow abroad and at home, according to people familiar with the situation.
Anbang has held discussions with Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in recent months on plans for the offshore bond offering, the people said. The bond may offer rating firms and investors a peek into the finances and ownership of Anbang’s unlisted parent company. It is unclear how much the company is seeking to raise through the offering, but it plans to use the proceeds to invest in its insurance business in China and abroad, the people said. Read more>>
Three Apartment Blocks Near SG’s Orchard Road Sell For S$190.5m
Three plum residential buildings near Orchard Road have been sold to three different developers for a total of $190.5 million. Property consultancy firms JLL and CBRE said in a joint statement yesterday that the tenders for the freehold properties in Grange Road, Cuscaden Walk and Hullet Road were launched in October with a total guide price of $185 million.
The firms jointly managed the tender exercise, which closed on Nov 2, on behalf of vendors seeking offers for the buildings individually or as one lot. In September, the three properties, owned by a group of three investment holding firms, were estimated to fetch $200 million in total. The owners were reportedly part of a trust operating in Britain. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.
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