Are investors watching Lujiazui occupancy from outer space?
Getting information on the China market can be tough, but leading the news today is a report that asset manager BlackRock now suggests that investors may have to travel halfway to the moon for clearer answers on mainland businesses. Also in the headlines US senators compete to see who can take the toughest stance against Chinese investment, and an Italian developer plans to lure mainlanders back to Hong Kong with an outlet mall. Read on for all these stories and more.
BlackRock Tracks Chinese Assets From Outer Space
BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, suggests investors look at images from space, mobile phone usage and conference call transcripts to help understand how Chinese companies are performing.
Images from space can show whether a project is being completed on time by monitoring the amount of materials going into a construction site, Kate Moore, chief equity strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute, wrote in a report. Read more>>
China’s Once Frothy Housing Market Loses Its Fizz
China’s home price growth slowed for the fourth straight month as demand cooled further in its biggest cities, a welcome sign for policymakers as they seek to defuse bubbles in the world’s second-largest economy amid an explosive growth in debt.
Over the past year, authorities have slapped curbs on China’s property sector – a major contributor to the broader economy – as the concentration of price surges in the country’s wealthiest cities stoked fears of a nasty crash. Read more>>
US Senate Plans Tighter Rules on Chinese Investment
Lawmakers from both parties are mounting efforts to bolster the federal government’s scrutiny of surging Chinese investment in the U.S., emboldened by President Donald Trump’s anti-China rhetoric on trade.
They have yet to coalesce around any one plan, and the disparate ideas so far show early battle lines emerging. But the common goal among key lawmakers including Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas is to see the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. used more aggressively. Read more>>
Italian Outlet Specialist Opening Discount Mall in Hong Kong
RDM, the Italian-owned operator of three luxury discount “Florentia Village” malls in mainland China, is opening a new Hong Kong outlet on Saturday, despite the sharp downturn in visitor and local spending in the city’s retail sector.
Maurizio Lupi, managing director of RDM Asia, said the new 60,000 square foot site, will be run in boutique style. Its clients include upscale luxury brands including Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, and Kenzo. Read more>>
China Rolls Out More Things That Look Like REITs
China’s central bank has authorised the first sale of a “quasi” real estate investment trust (REIT) in the vast interbank bond market, in a move that greatly expands the investor base for the new asset class amid rising commercial property values.
State-owned Anhui Xinhua Media last week launched Industrial Wanxin Jiayue Real Estate Investment Trust Fund ABS, a 553.5 million yuan ($81 million) quasi-REIT structured like a securitisation, which may well be a precursor to the eventual launch of a listed REIT market in China. Read more>>
Beijing Doesn’t Want You – City Halves Supply of New Land in 2017
Beijing’s residential land supply has been cut almost in half for this year, raising the prospect of further home price increases in the Chinese capital.
According to the city government’s annual land supply plan, approved and released on Tuesday by an executive meeting of the municipal government, total new land supply for 2017 has been cut to 3,900 hectares from 4,100 hectares last year, while residential quotas have been slashed to 610 hectares from 1,200 hectares last year. 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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