Hongkonger Shirley Chang, 82, plays pickleball regularly, takes a weekly class to learn Chinese ink painting and teaches her friends how to play bridge. The former businesswoman, who lives with a domestic helper in the Mid-Levels, said she was enjoying her retirement years by staying healthy, maintaining an active lifestyle and searching for new experiences….
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s economy grew at a better-than-expected annual rate of 2.8% in October-December, underlined by steady exports and moderate consumption. On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the world’s fourth largest economy grew 0.7% for its third straight quarter of growth, the Cabinet Office reported Monday in its preliminary data. For 2024, the Japanese economy eked…
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will ramp up fiscal support for consumption next year by raising pensions and medical insurance subsidies for residents as well as expanding consumer goods trade-ins, its finance ministry said on Tuesday. The country will boost the basic pension for retirees and for urban and rural residents and raise financial subsidy standards…
(Bloomberg) — China’s economy likely grows slower than official figures suggest, and a rate of expansion of around 3% to 4% is probably a realistic outlook for the coming years, according to a prominent Chinese economist. Most Read from Bloomberg The remarks on Thursday by Gao Shanwen, chief economist at SDIC Securities, who’s previously advised…
HONG KONG — Alibaba Group reported a disappointing quarterly performance on Friday amid weak consumption in China. Revenue grew 5% on the year to 236.5 billion yuan ($33.7 billion) in July-September, missing the average estimate of 238.92 billion yuan by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Net income was 43.55 billion yuan, an increase of 63% year-over-year….
Hong Kong’s economic growth forecast for 2024 has been downgraded to 2.5 per cent after a weaker-than-expected third quarter expansion of 1.8 per cent year on year. The latest official data released on Friday showed the full-year forecast was at the lowest point of the government’s previous range of between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent…
HONG KONG — China’s most valuable company, Tencent Holdings, posted a slightly worse-than-expected quarterly result on Wednesday as domestic consumption remains weak. In the July-September quarter, revenue of the Shenzhen-based company rose 8% on the year to 167.19 billion yuan ($23.1 billion), just missing the average forecast of 167.82 billion yuan from analysts surveyed by…
China’s mortgage rate cut for existing properties will hardly make any impact for Ivy Cai, as the Shanghai-based homeowner is facing the burden of a 15,000 yuan (US$2,131) monthly repayment. She is expected to save a few hundred yuan per month once the rate cut, announced on Tuesday as part of a bumper round of…