Asia

09 Feb China real estate: Link Reit to fully acquire Shanghai mall from Vanke for US$331 million

Posted at 09:30h in Asia

Link Real Estate Investment Trust (Link Reit), Asia’s largest real estate investment trust, is strengthening its operations in mainland China by taking complete control of a retail property in Shanghai from its joint-venture partner China Vanke.Link Reit has agreed to acquire the 50 per cent...

09 Feb Nicolas Aguzin to leave HKEX CEO role two months early, with Bonnie Chan taking over from March 1

Posted at 08:15h in Asia

“As the Lunar New Year approaches, and following up on last year’s announcement that I would not seek another term as HKEX CEO, I am pleased to report that the leadership transition has been going extremely well,” Aguzin said in a statement on the eve...

09 Feb Hong Kong builder Wang On cuts holding in China South City junk bonds as losses from bets on Chinese developers mount

Posted at 06:28h in Asia

Hong Kong property developer Wang On Group has cut its holding in junk-rated dollar-denominated bonds issued by China South City Holdings, widening losses from its bets on the troubled mainland Chinese developer and its peers.The firm sold US$8.4 million face amount of China South City...

09 Feb Google rebrands Bard chatbot as Gemini in race with OpenAI, Microsoft

Posted at 04:45h in Asia

Alphabet’s Google rebranded its chatbot and rolled out a new subscription plan that will give people access to its most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) model, placing it squarely in competition with rival OpenAI.Google’s chatbot, which had been known as Bard and was its answer to...

09 Feb Hong Kong stocks erase intervention-driven rally amid China’s economic woes as Year of the Rabbit ends with worst payback on record

Posted at 02:59h in Asia

Hong Kong stocks erase intervention-driven rally amid China’s economic woes as Year of the Rabbit ends with worst payback on recordHong Kong stocks dropped by the most this month, erasing almost all of the rally driven by China’s state-fund intervention, as concerns about China’s...

09 Feb Chinese telecoms giant Huawei raided in France by financial prosecutors

Posted at 02:48h in Asia

Chinese wireless equipment maker Huawei Technologies said its office in France was searched as part of a preliminary investigation by French financial prosecutors.The probe is into suspicions of atteinte à la probité, a justice ministry official said on Thursday, referring to a catch-all term that...

09 Feb Hong Kong homeowners face losses of nearly HK$10 million in second-hand market as price decline continues

Posted at 02:02h in Asia

Homeowners in Hong Kong are grappling with substantial losses at the beginning of the year as the city’s property prices have experienced a decline for eight consecutive months.The real estate market has been smothered under a softening economy and high interest rates. The recent...

09 Feb Hong Kong marine tech start-up Clearbot launches new solar-powered, self-driving boats to clean up ocean waste in India

Posted at 00:30h in Asia

“We want to build these boats that do this dirty, dirty job that is happening with [manned, diesel] boats around the world and automate them and make them more sustainable,” said Goel in an interview.Established in 2019, Clearbot started off as a student project...

08 Feb Market call: Chinese start-ups still crave US investors despite IPO challenges, bilateral friction

Posted at 14:00h in Asia

Less clear is whether the largest, most attractive Chinese companies want to navigate the shifting maze of impediments for a US listing – and how interested foreign investors are.Ethan Guo Yuanchi, a co-founder of Scage. Photo: HandoutOnce a license to print money, Chinese initial public...

08 Feb Hong Kong among first to propose crypto reserve requirements for banks aligned with new international standards

Posted at 10:30h in Asia

The BCBS is a forum where banking and finance authorities from 28 major jurisdictions set standards for prudential regulation. The standards are not legally binding, but are typically adopted through local laws and regulations.Hong Kong’s stablecoin rules would be ‘extremely challenging’ to Tether, USDCWith this...