Jan. 5 – General Motors and local partners announced vehicle sales
in China skyrocketed by 67 percent to 1.8 million vehicles in 2009
aided by government tax cuts and subsidies to help the industry and
encourage domestic consumption. The company was the biggest foreign automaker in the mainland in
2009 with more than one million vehicles sold through its joint
venture partners Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and
Wuling. During the same period, its market share rose by 1.3
percent to 13.4 percent. » Read rest of the article
Jan. 4 – The China Xinhua News Network Corporation (CNC) began
broadcasting to the Asia-Pacific region and some European countries
last Friday from Beijing. The network’s 24 hour broadcast will feature programs in Chinese
including news events, special news bulletins along with a new CNC
Finance and Business channel. Television programs in English and other languages like French,
Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian are slated for broadcast in
July. » Read rest of the article
Dec. 31 – As we look back on 2009, the year ends with a more upbeat
feel to it than it started with 12 months prior. 2point6billion.com
publisher Chris Devonshire-Ellis take a look at the year that was
in China and India, drawing some contrasts and comparisons between
the two Asia giants and laying out some predictions for the coming
year. China’s Mixed Signals in a Strange Year
As we look back on 2009, the year ends with a more upbeat feel to
it than 12 months previously when the true impact of the global
recession was making its scale apparent. However, 2009 was a
strange year and it is with a mixture of some relief and concern
that many can put the past 12 months to bed.
Read the full essay. India’s Unique Chance to Finally Stand Up
The year 2009 ends in India with on an upbeat note. That is some
relief after the tragedy of the Mumbai terror attacks at the end of
last year, and a strong signal of the resilience of both the nation
and its people. However, warnings over unresolved and long standing
political issues remain.
Read the full essay
Dec. 28 – Asia is leading the recovery of the global economy, but
the overheated Chinese property market is drawing concern. “The reason that I’m worried about that is not just property prices
are getting high, but we’re seeing industrial companies actually
speculating the land, which is not healthy,” said Dong Tao, chief
Asia economist of Credit Suisse, in an interview with CNN. “We have seen this in Japan in the 1980’s. I certainly hope that
China is not going to repeat the mistakes that Japan made 20-30
years ago,” said Tao. “China is the first economy to get out of
recession, so I think it’s natural to see the Chinese Central bank
to be probably the first central bank among major economies to
tighten (its monetary policy).” » Read rest of the article
Dec. 17 – U.S.-based Yum! Brands Inc. is setting its sights on the
Indian market with plans to aggressively expand next year and open
1,000 Indian fast-food outlets by 2015. The company’s China division covering the mainland, Thailand and
Taiwan, has been a success so far with the mainland considered its
number one market for new company restaurant development overseas
and reporting operating profits of US$469 million for 2008. » Read
rest of the article
Dec. 15 – East Asia’s emerging economies are rebounding from the
global recession faster than anticipated according to the Asian
Development Bank. The Manila-based lender said it expects a growth of 4.2 percent
this year and 6.8 percent in 2010, up from previous forecasts of
3.6 percent and 6.5 percent. Emerging East Asia includes the ten
Southeast Asian economies in addition to China, Hong Kong, South
Korea and Taiwan. » Read rest of the article
Dec. 14 – India’s ICICI Bank is slated to become the second Indian
financial institution to be given a banking license as a qualified
full bank (QFB) in Singapore that will allow it to open 25
branches, ATMs, receive deposits and disburse loans as a local
bank. Prior to ICICI Bank, government-run State Bank of India (SBI), was
recognized as a QFB. This is the third third foreign banking
license for ICICI Bank after operations in the United Kingdom and
Canada and the first for the Southeast Asian region. » Read rest of
the article
Dec. 14 – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) reports that
while international visitors to the Asia Pacific region grew by 0.7
percent year-on-year in September, arrivals are still down by 5
percent. International visitor arrivals to Southeast Asi |
