China's elite scramble for path to Xi's 'common prosperity'
SHANGHAI/BEIJING -- China's tech billionaires have suddenly been going out of their way to spread around their wealth. Giant sums have been lavished on altruistic endeavors in recent weeks. There's little coincidence that this surge follows President Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" campaign.
But behind most of the humanitarian activity is a fear of meddling state and public backlash, while there are growing concerns that this effort will sap the vitality out of the country's vibrant private sector.
Looming over this rush of
Russian food industry's pivot to China sows rewards and risks
MOSCOW -- Food trade with China is generating billions of dollars worth of business for Russia and quietly becoming a major part of President Vladimir Putin's drive to tighten ties with Beijing. Central to the strategy is the Russian Far East, a region in the spotlight this week as Vladivostok hosts the Eastern Economic Forum to drum up investment.
Over the past several years, Russia has more than doubled its food exports to China amid rising trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Moscow has also leased out hundreds of thousands of hectares
Mitsubishi Motors to build new plant in Bangladesh
TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Motors is set to build an auto assembly plant in Bangladesh as part of its expansion in Southeast Asia.
Mitsubishi and state-owned Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding. The two parties will conduct a feasibility study on business opportunities to determine when to build the plant. The study will be completed by 2025.
The new plant will cater to growing auto demand in Bangladesh by expanding knockdown production. The plant's capacity, the amount of
The microfinance debt crisis that is crushing Cambodia
Naly Pilorge is the director of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).
I have spent most of my adult life working on land rights in Cambodia, and I have never encountered a threat to land rights as pervasive and potentially catastrophic as the current microfinance crisis.
For more than 20 years, the human rights organization I lead has documented widespread and systematic land-grabbing in the country. These land grabs were mostly cases in which the state helped politically connected tycoons and foreign companies to
Afghanistan's vast narcotics trade likely to continue under Taliban
ISTANBUL -- Afghanistan's huge narcotics trade will likely continue under Taliban rule, experts say, despite promises by the group to ban the production and trafficking of illicit drugs.
Afghanistan's drug industry has expanded dramatically since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion and provides a livelihood for many, making it harder to suppress without impoverishing farmers and destabilizing the country at a time of spiraling economic crisis following the foreign military withdrawal.
"We eradicated poppy cultivation during our previous rule and have stated in
Myanmar parallel government to challenge regime with $700m budget
BANGKOK/YANGON -- Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government has stepped up its revenue generation and fundraising efforts to channel hundreds of millions of dollars into opposing the military regime that seized power on Feb. 1. It is also tapping international supporters, including wealthy overseas Burmese, and lobbying to cut funding flows to the military regime, known as the State Administration Council, while pressing foreign investors to divest from military-linked businesses.
The NUG is preparing its first budget, which will amount to about $700
Indonesian B2B marketplace Ralali in talks to raise $50m
JAKARTA -- Shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesian B2B marketplace Ralali is looking to raise $50 million in a Series D round to shore up its business.
The company, which connects suppliers and wholesalers to micro, small, and medium-size enterprises via its app and website, is in talks with potential investors, its CEO Joseph Aditya told DealStreetAsia in an exclusive interview.
"We're [working] on the fundraising and target to close it by the end of this year
Tencent, Alibaba incur $330bn fall in combined bourse value
TOKYO -- East Asian companies' market capitalization rankings are being rocked. The combined market cap of the top two Chinese information technology companies has suffered a plunge of $330 billion since the end of last year as a result of tougher regulations by Beijing. In contrast, semiconductor manufacturers are in growing demand and companies related to the decarbonization that China promotes, such as producers of batteries for electric vehicles, are seeing boosts in their market values.
Nikkei ranked East Asian companies by market capitalization based on QUICK-FactSet
Thai demand for medicinal herb surges as natural COVID treatment
BANGKOK -- A medicinal herb in Thailand that has been used since antiquity to relieve cold symptoms is now being promoted by the government as a way to relieve symptoms in mild cases of COVID-19.
Demand is so high for fah talai jone , also known as green chiretta, that the asking price multiplied by a factor of 10 this year. The military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha sees the crop as a means to curb discontent in farming communities.
People have turned to the plant
Small is beautiful in South Korea's pivot back to nuclear power
SEOUL -- South Korea has embraced mini reactors as part of the government's approach to achieving carbon neutrality, even though the move backpedals from President Moon Jae-in's earlier pledge to phase out nuclear power.
The small modular reactors, or SMRs, will be developed primarily at Munmu Daewang Science Research Center, which is scheduled to open in 2025 in the city of Gyeongju. The government earmarked 326.3 billion won ($281 million) for construction, and the
