China Tech News

SUNING Sports said yesterday it has completed a series of financing led by Alibaba Group and Goldman Sachs as it seeks to cash in on China's booming sporting industry.

This follows a share-swap between Alibaba and retail conglomerate Suning Commerce Group in 2015. Suning Sports didn't reveal the actual amount of the latest fund raising.

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At a factory two hours south of Seoul, women clad in plastic caps and masks put peach-colored eye-shadow into cases, right next to a machine churning out a skin-color face powder.

The difference between the two lines: the first is supplying one of France’s best-known premium cosmetic brands, while the second is serving a South Korean budget firm.

The plant is operated by Cosmecca Korea, the country's third-biggest contract cosmetics maker, which produces a range of products for more than 300 customers, all the way from high-end brands like Estee Lauder to nimble domestic firms such as Clio and Dr.Jart.

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For a long time, Apple appeared to be flying solo to a US$1 trillion market value, but Amazon is right at its heels — and experts have no fears of a tech bubble.

Apple, at US$939 billion, remains the highest-valued private company on the global markets — and could well cross the US$1 trillion finish line after it releases its quarterly results tomorrow.

But Amazon is right behind. On Friday, its market cap reached US$917 billion, before finishing at US$882 billion, thanks to quarterly figures well received by investors.

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China's equities markets closed lower yesterday, with falls in biomedicals, brewing and electronics leading the losses.

Dragged down by biomedical companies, the Shanghai Composite Index reversed its moderate gains in the morning trading session to finish lower by 0.16 percent, or 4.54 points, at 2869.05.

The biomedical sector saw broad-based losses, with the sub-index shedding 2.89 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index dipped 1.23 percent to 9181.94 points, while the Nasdaq-style ChiNext enterprise board posted a loss of 2.19 percent, finishing at 1559.64.

ChongQing ZhiFei Biological Products, a high-tech enterprise engaged in developing, producing and marketing vaccines, saw its shares plunge by the daily limit of 10 percent to close at 37.18 yuan (US$5.45).

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SHANGHAI is keen to import more high-tech equipment and consumer products as it strives to improve its financing and trading infrastructure amid new rounds of reforms and opening-up in the country.

Authorities said they will also support the import of livelihood-related products such as daily consumer goods, medicines and elderly care facilities.

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The Bank of England hiked interest rates yesterday by a quarter-point to 0.75 percent to help tame high inflation, and upgraded its 2019 economic growth forecast despite investor fears of a chaotic Brexit.

The British central bank's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to raise rates for only the second time since the global financial crisis, but left the quantitative easing stimulus unchanged.

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The Shanghai Composite Index yesterday tumbled by 1.29 percent to 2,705.16 points, the lowest level in two and a half years.

More than 20 companies saw their shares fall by the 10 percent daily cap on price movements.
Import-export sector shares were hit. Shanghai Sanmao Enterprise (Group) Co and Orient International Enterprise both fell by the daily limit.

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China's consumer inflation rose faster last month but remained benign, leaving room for monetary policy maneuvering.
The Consumer Price Index, a main gauge of inflation, climbed 2.1 percent from a year earlier in July, faster than the 1.9 percent year-on-year growth in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. It was the highest level since March.

Sheng Guoqing, the bureau’s senior statistician, linked the higher inflation to a 2.4 percent rise in non-food prices that contributed 1.96 percentage points to CPI growth.

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With three lounges, three dining rooms, an open-air jacuzzi, a bar and six luxury cabins, the 50-meter “Aster” is one of Dutch shipyard Heesen’s more modest superyachts.

The Netherlands, which amassed huge wealth through the technical superiority of European shipbuilders during its 17th century Golden Age, is continuing its maritime tradition by carving out a prominent place in the luxury yacht industry.

“It’s a big year for us,” Johan Kaasjager of Heesen Yachts told Reuters at his shipyard in Oss. “We’ll have delivery of three yachts this year and still a lot to come. The order book is very good at the moment, so we’re full till 2020.”

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Turkey doubled tariffs on some US imports including alcohol, cars and tobacco yesterday in retaliation for US moves, but the lira rallied further after the central bank's liquidity moves had the effect of supporting the currency.
Ankara acted amid increased tension between the two NATO allies over Turkey's detention of a Christian American pastor and other diplomatic issues, which have helped send the lira tumbling to record lows against the dollar.

The currency has lost nearly 40 percent against the dollar this year, driven by worries over President Tayyip Erdogan's growing influence on the economy and his repeated calls for lower interest rates despite high inflation.
It rebounded some 6 percent yesterday, briefly strengthening to less than 6.0 against the dollar, after the central bank squeezed lira liquidity in the market, effectively pushing up rates and supporting the currency.

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