Day: August 21, 2023

China’s Health Authorities Launch Anti-corruption Campaign

Media Library

WASHINGTON —  China’s medical and pharmaceutical sectors are the latest focus of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, his hallmark effort since becoming general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in late 2012. China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said the campaign would focus on people who had used their position to procure kickbacks and other corruption in the pharmaceutical sector, according to the government-affiliated Global Times. At least 176 hospital presidents and party secretaries have been targeted in 2023, more than twice the number than in 2022, according to the Global…

Divisive Thai Former Prime Minister Thaksin Returns From 15-year Exile

Media Library

BANGKOK —  Divisive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand on Tuesday after years of self-imposed exile to face criminal charges on the same day that a party affiliated with him plans to start forming a new government. Thaksin has said his decision to return has nothing to do with an expected vote in Parliament later in the day on a candidate from the Pheu Thai party for prime minister. But many believe his arrival is connected to the party’s pursuit of power. Thaksin flew from Singapore in his private…

The perils of investing in a boutique winery in China

Media Library

To decide to buy a winery in China today, thinking it offers rich returns, is not the reasoning of a sober person. “Opening a vineyard is the easiest way to go bankrupt,” jokes KK Cheung, a Hong Kong manufacturing and real estate businessman who owns Puchang Vineyard in Turpan, an arid city that once served as a trading point along the Silk Road, in the western Xinjiang region. “Wine is a luxury product. It takes a long time to cultivate,” he adds. Like many small winemakers in China, Cheung made…

China’s cathode billionaire targets US battery market via South Korea IPO

Media Library

Receive free Batteries updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Batteries news every morning. A Chinese billionaire who controls a key part of the battery supply chain is in talks to list some of his empire in South Korea, a step that could help his company invest and sell in the US despite Joe Biden’s policies aimed at cutting reliance on China. Bai Houshan’s Shanghai-listed Ronbay Technology dominates part of the global market for high-nickel cathode electrodes and is expanding rapidly in South Korea.…

China, South Asia trade ties shine in key expo, but Indian presence remains low

Media Library

“We’re hoping that both the global economy, as well as the Chinese economy, will improve in 2024,” he told the Post at the expo. “So, right now, the participation size [at the expo] will be limited because people are just testing the market here at this point in time.” India and China have been in a border stand-off for years, punctuated by a deadly clash between soldiers along the disputed Himalayan frontier in 2020. Additionally, India has opted not to engage in the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, contending that…

Thailand’s former PM Thaksin Shinawatra returns from exile

Media Library

Receive free Thailand updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Thailand news every morning. Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist former prime minister of Thailand, has returned to the country after 15 years in self-imposed exile as his Pheu Thai party is preparing for a vote in parliament to install its candidate as prime minister. The charismatic former telecommunications magnate, who was deposed in a coup d’état in 2006, flew to Thailand from Singapore on Tuesday morning. “It’s time for me to be with the Thai…

India’s wealth managers search out small-town millionaires

Media Library

Receive free Indian business & finance updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Indian business & finance news every morning. When Indian wealth manager Yatin Shah heard about the four brothers in Rajasthan who became multimillionaires after scoring a $600mn investment in their family-run exam coaching company, he chartered a plane from Mumbai to scout for business. Shah, whose 360 One group manages about $47bn, may have built up his business in the commercial capital of Mumbai, home to hundreds of millionaires, but in…

Chinese Medicinal Demand Fuels Earthworm Rush in Vietnam

Media Library

Practioners of traditional Chinese medicine use earthworms — dried to a powder or distilled in liquid — to treat fevers, arthritis, asthma and bronchitis. But overharvesting in China has nearly wiped out the country’s earthworm population. Now, hunters are poaching and purchasing earthworms unearthed in Vietnam, upsetting Vietnamese farmers who depend on them to keep their fields fertile and environment balanced. The earthworm rush has plagued Vietnam’s northern provinces, as poachers, driven by bounty offered by Chinese merchants, trespass private fields or fruit orchards to catch the invertebrate, the online…

Cambodia’s king calls on lawmakers, government to resolve their differences

Media Library

In an opening speech to Cambodia’s newly elected parliament on Monday, King Norodom Sihamoni called on lawmakers and the government to reconcile their deep divisions, though political commentators and opposition officials say the effort will amount to naught. The July 23 elections, won by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party in a landslide, have been widely criticized by Western governments and opposition activists within the country because authorities kept the main opposition Candlelight Party from participating on a technicality. Three days after the election, Prime Minister Hun Sen – who has…

To cope with surging inflation, Laos raises minimum wage by about 25%

Media Library

The Lao government has raised the monthly minimum wage for workers at privately owned companies by nearly 25%, though laborers say it is still too low given persistent inflation and the rising cost of living in the Southeast Asian country. The office of Lao Prime Minister Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone issued an official notice on Aug. 6, announcing the approval of a 300,000 kip (US$15) increase to 1.6 million kip (US$82) a month beginning in October.  But the new minimum level doesn’t apply to state workers’ salaries. The inflation rate…