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Tag: China

  • China’s Tan Mujiang opens first store in USA

    China’s Tan Mujiang opens first store in USA

    Chinese wooden-comb manufacturer Tan Mujiang has continued its international expansion with the opening of its first flagship store in the US.

    The store dubbed as H0006 is located at Flushing Main Street in New York City and carries combs made from natural materials by traditional Chinese handicrafts with “beautiful shape, smooth lines, exquisite texture, rich colors and fine hand feel”. It is Tan Mujiang’s second store in North America after Toronto, which opened in May.

    The manufacturer said it has obtained more than 80 patents since 2013 and has been providing supplies to more than 1200 shops in China and nine flagship stores in Southeast Asia, Toronto and New York.

    The company says it plans to popularise its brand by operating franchised stores worldwide. It also plans to increase its investment in overseas market promotion by participating in grand international exhibitions and will promote products on popular social media internationally.

    Tan Mujiang also sells through Amazon and eBay.

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  • Chinese travel-case maker Ninetygo planning global expansion

    Chinese travel-case maker Ninetygo planning global expansion

    Chinese travel lifestyle brand Ninetygo is eyeing global expansion as more millennials and Gen Zers travel abroad.

    As a brand owned by Anhui Korrun, the first Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed domestic suitcase manufacturer in China, Ninetygo plans to further diversify its product lines and add new fashion elements into its designs as it races to catch up with other global players.

    “Young consumers’ demand for travel products is no longer limited to being practical and functional – personal items are regarded as the manifestation of their life taste and joy,” said Anhui Korrun founder and chairman Fan Jinsong.

    “Pushed by the fast-growing trend of globalization, more convenient visa access and transportation to other global destinations, the frequency of vacations abroad will keep rising.

    “For the next step, we will continue to raise our research and development based on multi-dimensional scenes such as pre-trip storage, travel entertainment, business travel, parent-child amusement, and hotel sleep to further enrich our product lines.”

    Ninetygo has just launched a new collection resulting from a collaboration with former Hermes designer Ludovic Alban. The new Ninetygo x L.a Nice series was launched in the Pompidou National Centre for Art and Culture in France, one of the world’s top art museums.

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  • Takashimaya bullish about profit opportunities in Asia

    Takashimaya bullish about profit opportunities in Asia

    Japanese department-store operator Takashimaya is banking on its Vietnam and Thailand flagships to drive growth this year as it seeks to achieve profitability in its Southeast Asian business.

    To date, Singapore has been the sole profitable store outside Japan, but this financial year the Takashimaya Vietnam store in the Saigon Centre in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to produce 100 million yen (US$919,000) in operating profit and the company’s president Yoshio Murata told Nikkei in an interview he sees Vietnam as “another Singapore” in the future.

    Takashimaya opened its first Southeast Asian store in 2013 in Singapore. Located in the heart of the Orchard Road precinct, that store took several years to turn into the black but now drives the retailer’s business in the region. Last year it reportedly earned 3 billion yen (US$27.2 million) and this year is reportedly on track to achieve 4.8 billion yen ($44 million) in operating profit.

    The Vietnam store opened in 2016 and struggled initially before the company refocused its offer by stocking more mid-market brands, a strategy that already seems to be working. The company is believed to be exploring an opportunity to open a second store in the capital Hanoi where it is investing in an urban-development project including a bilingual school.

    Takashimaya’s most recent store in the region is at the IconSiam shopping centre in Bangkok, which opened last November.

    In an interview with the Nikkei last week, Murata said the success of that store depended in part on the completion of a delayed BTS railway line extension which would deliver people to the centre’s front door. He expects the store will lose about 900 million yen ($8.2 million) this financial year.

    As the company learned in Vietnam, the key to its success is likely to lie in stocking more mid-range products rather than focusing purely on the luxury sector as the train will bring more middle-class shoppers.

    “Upper-middle product ranges like menswear are not satisfactory,” Murata said.

    In June of this year, Takashimaya announced it would close its Shanghai store, opened in 2012, its lone post in China. But that decision was reversed when local government authorities adjusted the rent to make the store viable. Takashimaya now expects it to turn a profit in 2021.

    Meanwhile, the company is playing down widespread reports of plans to expand into other major Asian cities, including Manila – where rival Mitsukoshi will open next year – Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

    Murata confirmed to Nikkei that the company had been approached to open in new markets but said its focus for now was on its existing four stores.

  • HSBC advises to avoid a Lehman Crisis in China

    HSBC advises to avoid a Lehman Crisis in China

    More easing is required in the industry not only to improve ease of business, said a senior HSBC executive, but to prevent risks similar to the Lehman crisis.

    Peter Wong, deputy chairman, and Asia Pacific chief executive of HSBC, commented at a Shanghai financial summit on the need to improve corporate governance and investor protection in China in order to manage major systematic risks akin to the trigger of the last global financial crisis. We really don’t want to have another situation similar to the Lehman crisis in China, Wong said, according to a report.

    Whilst it has suggested greater stringency in certain facets, it also lauded regulatory easing, such as the recently relaxed foreign ownership rules, and urged for more similar moves. Wong proposed more easing in the insurance industry, such as ease of expansion into new cities and provinces, and in the banking industry, including the acquiring of deposits.

    It’s very difficult for foreign banks to get deposits in China, Wong said, adding that the country should «figure out a way» to address the issue, he said. We’ve been trying for a number of years. Now we’re developing, we’re increasing our share, but the journey is not easy.

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  • China Accelerates Blockchain Growth

    China Accelerates Blockchain Growth

    China’s national parliament has passed a new law on cryptography aimed to facilitate development concurrently with the country’s central banking efforts to launch its own digital currency.

    The newly adopted law, effective as of January 1, 2020, «was necessary for regulating the utilization and management of cryptography, facilitating the development of the cryptography business and ensuring the security of cyberspace and information», the National People’s Congress Constitution and Law Committee.

    The new law distinguishes cryptography into three classifications: core, common and commercial. Core and common cryptography will be strictly managed by Chinese authorities and used to protect confidential national information.

    If cryptography is deemed as commercial, which assumes no risk to state security or the public interest, cryptography management departments and other relevant personnel are unable to ask for disclosure of «exclusive information related to the cryptography such as source codes and must keep the business secrets and privacy they get in their duties strictly confidential.

    The new law marks a further acceleration of China’s blockchain-related policy which is likely to pave the way to various initiatives including the nation’s efforts to launch its own digital currency which its central bank claims is almost ready.

    The law was also enacted one day after President Xi Jinping called for more research and investments into blockchain technology, stressing competition from other major countries and the need for China to obtain first-mover to increase «influence and rule-making power in the global arena».

  • Five new Spar China stores open

    Five new Spar China stores open

    Grocery-retailer Spar China has launched five new supermarkets.

    The Dutch-headquartered international franchise business has opened two stores in Shandong and three in Guangdong, both Chinese provinces, and bring the chain’s total footprint in the territory closer to 400 stores.

    The stores are constructed in similar but not identical formats. The Huailai County, Shandong 8000sqm outlet sells local and international produce, whereas the 10,000sqm store in the provincial capital of Jinan offers a high-end shopping experience and includes beauty products, homecare, and baby products.

    Opening in Guangdong is a 4500sqm supermarket in Foshan City and two Spar Lifestyle stores in Dongguan with a floor space of less than 200sqm.

  • Peet’s Coffee opens 60’s-inspired Shanghai pop-up store

    Peet’s Coffee opens 60’s-inspired Shanghai pop-up store

    US coffee chain Peet’s Coffee has launched a pop-up cafe in Shanghai, inspired by the design of its heritage store in California.

    The Peet’s Coffee pop up offers a wide selection of coffees and experiences, including personalized t-shirts, tote bags with distinctive patterns influenced from the 1960s period. A photo booth was installed inside the store for the customer to take photos and print out or share on social media.

    “This Peet’s Coffee pop-up experience showcases the power of experiences in transporting audiences to a different time and place, and bringing the origins of the brand to life,” said Matalie Ackerman, executive VP of design agency Jack Morton Greater China.

    Peet’s Coffee also offers live music performed by buskers outside the pop-up store to add to the retro vibe.

    To explain the message behind the brand’s legacy approach, marketing director of Peet’s Coffee China Elaine Liu said: “When Alfred Peet opened his first coffee bar in Berkeley, California in 1966, he established our long-standing commitment to roasting the highest-quality coffee and Peet’s continues to stay true to that in China.”

    Peet’s Coffee is planning to expand into other cities in China in the future.

  • UBS Reveals Client Overcharging Claims in Asia

    UBS Reveals Client Overcharging Claims in Asia

    Wealth management clients in Hong Kong and Singapore may have been overcharged, UBS said, adding that it is working with authorities and intends to reimburse affected customers.

    UBS claimed that it had identified and reported instances in which its global wealth management clients in Hong Kong and Singapore «may have been charged inappropriate spreads for bond transactions between 2008 and 2015.

    UBS intends to reimburse affected customers on a basis agreed with the relevant authorities,» the bank said in its third quarter report. UBS expects the relevant authorities will subject UBS to reprimands and fines as a result of their investigations.

    Despite the regulatory worries, Asia continues to be a primary growth driver for the bank, as evidenced by the latest figures. UBS’s global wealth management business posted net new asset of $10.9 billion in Asia, boosting the region’s total invested assets to $420 billion.

  • Chinese Fintech Investigated for Fake Government Threats

    Chinese Fintech Investigated for Fake Government Threats

    Chinese fintech firm 51 Credit Card is being investigated for threatening delinquent borrowers by pretending to be fake government officials.

    The Hong Kong-listed credit card management app allegedly hired external debt collectors acting as government officials, according to an Hangzhou police statement, and is suspected of «picking quarrels and provoking troubles».

    Complaints against the firm have been received by police since September and the firm confirmed earlier this week that an on-site investigation had been conducted by authorities.

    Our lack of training and oversight on partner companies has led to some radical behaviors in the communication with our borrowers, and it hurt certain borrowers, chairman and chief executive Sun Haitao said. «We are very sorry about that.»

    51 Credit Card noted in a statement that it was fully cooperating with the investigations and denied rumors that personal user data from the firm had leaked or been stolen. It also added that assets had not been frozen and that the firm had sufficient cash and assets to protect lenders and investors.

    51 Credit Card was founded in 2012 and the platform today boasts 83 million registered users and the management of over 138 million credit cards, according to its September interim report.

  • UBS Seeks Full Ownership of China Onshore Securities Firm by 2020

    UBS Seeks Full Ownership of China Onshore Securities Firm by 2020

    UBS continues to act as a pioneering foreign bank in mainland China taking full advantage of the accelerated timeline for foreign ownership cap removals by seeking full control of its securities joint venture by 2020.

    The accelerated removal of the ownership caps for securities companies means that UBS is expected to be permitted to increase its stake in UBS Securities China from the current level of 51 percent to 100 percent by 2020, the bank said during its quarterly result announcement this week. The exact effective date remains to be clarified.

    In July, Chinese authorities announced the removal of foreign ownership limits for securities, insurance and fund management companies next year, introduced a year earlier than planned.

    Others have also been actively taking advantage of Chinese liberalization including Citi which is reportedly setting up a wholly-owned onshore securities business.

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  • Hyundai Motor May Raise Stake In China Joint Venture

    Hyundai Motor May Raise Stake In China Joint Venture

    Hyundai Motor said on Tuesday it was considering raising its stake in its underperforming truck joint venture in China, potentially joining other foreign automakers in boosting ownership in the world’s biggest car market. Sichuan Hyundai Motor is Hyundai’s only commercial car venture in China that makes cargo trucks and buses.

    Beijing relaxed rules last year on foreign firms controlling any Chinese automakers or joint venture, removing caps on those making fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Limits on commercial vehicle makers ease in 2020, and by 2022 for the wider car market.

    Hyundai is reviewing various plans to strengthen the joint venture’s competitiveness in changing market conditions in China, the firm said in an emailed statement, without elaborating. Volkswagen AG is exploring the prospect of buying a big stake in its Chinese electric vehicle joint venture partner, sources have told Reuters, while BMW has agreed to buy control of its main joint venture in China.

    Sichuan Hyundai Motor is jointly owned by Hyundai and China’s Sichuan Nanjun Automotive Group, with a stake of 50 per cent each. The Sichuan joint venture, which started operations in 2013, produced 12,228 commercial vehicles last year, down by more than half from 28,786.

    That means that their production facilities are heavily underutilised given that they have a capacity of making 160,000 trucks and 10,000 buses a year.

  • Giordano sales down across China

    Giordano sales down across China

    Giordano sales slid by 8.6 percent in the three months to September, or by 7.1 percent if measured by constant exchange rates. Comparable same-store sales fell by 10.3 percent.

    The damage to Giordano sales was largely borne in Hong Kong and Mainland China, where protests have hit inbound mainland tourist numbers since June and Chinese are spending less, spooked by the ongoing Sino-US trade war.

    Giordano sales in Hong Kong and Macau fell from $226 million to $169 million and in Mainland China from $251 million to $208 million.

    However, the China decline was mitigated in part by a strong performance in Giordano’s relatively new Middle Eastern markets. Sales there rose from HK$134 million to $153 million.

    Wholesale sales were constant.

    Despite the Hong Kong sales decline, Giordano maintained a network of 75 stores in Hong Kong during the period, the same number it had a year earlier.

    Group sales for the quarter totalled $1.075 billion, down from $1.176 billion a year earlier. Year-to-date sales (for nine months) were down from $4.036 billion to $3.617 billion.

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  • Samsung China’s first flagship opens, in front of Apple store

    Samsung China’s first flagship opens, in front of Apple store

    Samsung China has opened its first flagship experience store in the market – and it is right opposite its archrival.

    The almost 1000sqm Shanghai store is the brand’s largest in Asia, and stands opposite Apple’s Nanjing East Road store. The store has two sections and stocks Samsung’s full range of mobiles as well as featuring a 5G experience zone for customers to participate in large-scale cloud games and watch HD video broadcasts.

    Samsung has recently readjusted its strategy in the territory, shifting all mobile device manufacturing to India and China. The experience store is the latest development in the new strategy.

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  • China’s convenience-store market is booming business

    China’s convenience-store market is booming with rapid sales growth and rapid network expansion ahead.

    Sales through Chinese convenience stores reached US$19.78 billion last year, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24 percent over the past five years, according to new research from Mintel.

    Sales are predicted to grow to $22.75 billion this year and Mintel says there will be more than 117,000 convenience stores in China by 2024 – a huge increase from the 75,000 last year.

    “The convenience store sector has experienced double-digit growth, even at this challenging time for brick-and-mortar retail in China. This is due, in part, to consumers’ continuous pursuit of time efficiency, availability and instant fulfillment,” said Chih-yuan Wang, category research director, retail at Mintel Reports – China.

    She said to meet customers’ ongoing demand, convenience stores in China need to strengthen their social function and provide more types of the shopping experience, including launching themed stores and exclusive products by collaborating with different manufacturers and brands.

    The study shows that more than 61 percent of urban Chinese customers shop at convenience stores several times a week while more than 50 percent of respondents like to window-shop and eat inside convenience stores.

    Young and female consumers are more open to themed convenience stores, according to Mintel. More than half (54 percent) of urban Chinese respondents like convenience stores decorated in different themes.

    Meanwhile, 56 percent of Chinese respondents say that they like to try new products in convenience stores, skewed towards post-90s (62 percent) and female consumers (60 percent).

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  • Tesla Gets Approval To Start Manufacturing In China

    Tesla Gets Approval To Start Manufacturing In China

    Tesla Inc was added to a government list of approved automotive manufacturers, China’s industry ministry said on Thursday, as it granted the electric-vehicle maker a certificate it needs to start production in the country. The list was published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This means “the green light is fully given to Tesla for production in China,” said Yale Zhang, head of the Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight. Tesla can start production any time, he said. Tesla did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. The $2 billion factories it is building in the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai is its first car manufacturing site overseas.

    Reuters reported earlier this month that Tesla plans to start production at its China factory this month. It is unclear when it will meet year-end production targets because of uncertainties around orders, labor and suppliers.

    Tesla intends to produce at least 1,000 Model 3s a week from the Shanghai factory by the end of this year, as it tries to boost sales in the world’s biggest auto market and avoid higher import tariffs imposed on U.S. cars.

    The factory, China’s first fully foreign-owned car plant, also reflects Beijing’s broader shift to open up its car market.

    Shanghai authorities have offered Tesla assistance to speed up construction, and China excluded Tesla models from a 10 percent car purchase tax on August 30, 2019.

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