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| Wei Gu |
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| Wei Gu |
The war on graft has not only uncovered "major problems" within the system, it has also put a strain on the supply of top talent in China.
"Going after the bad guys, he created some unintended factors," says Wall Street Journal correspondent Wei Gu. "People working for the government are so nervous about their jobs... so the best talent is not going to continue to work for the government."
"If you want a strong government and a strong regulator to play by the rules and come up with smart policies, these people are not there anymore," Gu says.
To address the nation's economic woes, China's paramount leader has called for "supply-side reforms." Yes, you heard right, the economic rallying cry of U.S. President Ronald Reagan back in the 1980s.
And though it's still unclear whether Xi's vision of supply-side economics has much to do with Reagan's, economic observers are already mapping out the potential consequences.
"Supply-side strategy ... means laying off people, shutting down mines and all that," Gu says. "That's a good thing. It's also a difficult thing to do structurally."Painful reforms could raise the prospect of discontent among workers, a longstanding fear for Chinese leaders.
"You're losing jobs from supply-side reform, and on the other hand new graduates are coming in," Gu says. "Every year, the new graduate number will hit a new record. Ten million young people need to find jobs, so that's a big issue."
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| Wei Gu |
Wanda Group’s billionaire founder Wang Jianlin personally owns 20% of Wanda Pictures. Wanda Culture, which includes Wanda theaters, AMC theaters and other entertainment assets, owns 55%, and the remaining 25% is owned by Wanda Group, according to the document. Investors buying into the deal will receive a mix of new shares in the entity buying Legendary Pictures and existing shares in Wanda Pictures.
Even after last summer’s stock-market debacle, Chinese movie companies trade at lofty valuations—Shenzhen-listed Beijing Enlight Media Co., for example, at 74 times estimated 2015 earnings; and U.S.-listed Bona Film Group Ltd., which has received a going-private offer from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and other investors, at a whopping 1,261 times 2014 earnings.
Chinese companies have gone on a global buying spree. Acquisitions of U.S. companies set a record last year, according to Dealogic—which has already been broken in 2016.
A year ago Wanda Group snapped up Swiss sports-marketing company Infront Sports & Media AG for $1.2 billion and World Triathlon Corp., organizer of the Ironman Triathlon, for $650 million. In 2012 it spend $2.6 billion for U.S. movie-theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.
Wanda’s global expansion comes as its cash flow at home slows. Earlier this month, Moody’s Investors Service lowered the outlook to negative from stable for Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co., Ltd., the conglomerate’s Hong Kong-listed property arm, citing cash-flow pressure. Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties is China’s largest commercial developer.More in the Wall Street Journal.
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| Wei Gu |
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| Wei Gu |
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| Wei Gu |
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| Wei Gu |
The amount of margin financing outstanding, or the money borrowed from securities firms, has fallen for an unprecedented 13 consecutive days, according to the stock exchanges.
While margin lending, which rose roughly fivefold over the past year, was blamed for a big part of the market's decline, the government didn't stop investors from borrowing more money to buy stock, hoping it would send shares higher. Regulators made it easier for investors to borrow and made cash available to brokers to expand margin lending. Still, investors nursing big losses were in no mood to borrow money to buy stocks.
More deleveraging is happening through unofficial channels. During the market boom, a total of two trillion yuan was borrowed from banks, trust companies and Internet financing sources, according to China Everbright Securities. Now, some of the lenders have been scaling back. Banks and trust companies are forcing borrowers to liquidate positions to protect their lending.
Peer-to-peer lending platforms, which match individual lenders with borrowers, flourished earlier this year by allowing small investors to use big leverage.More in Dow Jones.
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| Wei Gu |
The recent market upturn follows a long spell in the doldrums for Chinese stocks after a sharp correction in 2007. Lots of investors lost money in the downturn, reducing interest in the market. Momentum only began to build again last year, fueled by low interest rates and moves to allow greater foreign investment.
While the rally has done little to help consumption, it could hurt spending in the event of a market collapse. That is because much of the recent buying has been with borrowed money. Margin debt as a percentage of China's stock-market capitalization is now higher than on the New York Stock Exchange. If the market's downturn continues, investors may have to rein in spending to repay loans.
Agents at luxury-car showrooms in Shanghai say wealthy customers are delaying purchases to invest more in the stock market. Auto sales fell by 0.5% from a year earlier in April, the first decrease in almost three years. Fewer than a quarter of respondents to a recent survey by online news portal Netease said they would consider using gains from the stock market to buy a car.
Instead of buying a new vehicle, "some people have decided to lease a car for the first time so they can keep investing," said Shaun Rein, managing director for China Market Research, a consumer-intelligence firm.More at Marketplace.
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| Wei Gu |
At Christie’s afternoon handbags and accessories sale in Hong Kong on Monday, the bag fetched 1.72 million Hong Kong dollars (US$221,846) and was sold to a phone bidder. The previous record was a diamond-adorned rouge crocodile Hermès Birkin bag that went for US$203,150 at a Heritage Auctions sale in New York in 2011. (A diamond and gold evening bag once owned by Elizabeth Taylor sold for US$218,500 at Christies in New York in December 2011, although that item was in the jewelry category.)
The identity of the buyer of Monday’s record sale wasn’t known.
The record came at a time when storied luxury names such as Chanel and Gucci have been slashing prices in Hong Kong and China to attract buyers.More at Marketplace.
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| Wei Gu and Rupert Hoogewerf |
