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Attrition in local stocks continues

(BEIJING) China should prepare emergency plans to bolster its economy in case of a sudden deterioration in external demand and an abrupt slump in growth, according to a government think tank.
[in Business Times Online - China News]

Olympics sponsors want more fans for their buck

(BEIJING) Beijing Olympics sponsors, who have invested heavily to promote their brands at the Games, have complained that too few fans are passing through the areas where they have set up shop.
[in Business Times Online - China News]

HK to settle Islamic bonds tax issue soon

(HONG KONG) Hong Kong said yesterday that it aims to resolve tax issues relating to the issue of Islamic bonds within two to three months, potentially paving the way for the first issue in the territory as soon as October.
[in Business Times Online - China News]

Li & Fung Buys Van Zeeland for $330 Million as First-Half Profit Rises 18%

Li & Fung Ltd., a supplier ofclothes, toys and home furniture to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., willpay $330 million for the New York-based handbag importer VanZeeland Inc.
[in Bloomberg: Financial News, China]

Plight of the Little Emperors

Psychology Today looksat the mental health impact of the one-child policy on Chinese youth:

When China began limiting couples to one child 30 years ago, the policy’s most obvious goal was to contain a mushrooming population. For the Chinese people, however, the policy’s greater purpose was to turn out a group of young elites who would each enjoy the undivided resources of their whole family�??the so-called xiao huangdi, or “little emperors.” The plan was to “produce a generation of high-quality children to facilitate China’s introduction as a global power,” explains Susan Greenhalgh, an expert on the policy. But while these well-educated, driven achievers are fueling the nation’s economic boom, their generation has become too modern too quickly, glutted as it is with televisions, access to computers, cash to buy name brands, and the same expectations of middle-class success as Western kids.

The shift in temperament has happened too fast for society to handle. China is still a developing nation with limited opportunity, leaving millions of ambitious little emperors out in the cold; the country now churns out more than 4 million university graduates yearly, but only 1.6 million new college-level jobs. Even the strivers end up as security guards. China may be the world’s next great superpower, but it’s facing a looming crisis as millions of overpressurized, hypereducated only children come of age in a nation that can’t fulfill their expectations.

This culture of pressure and frustration has sparked a mental-health crisis for young Chinese. Many simmer in depression or unemployment, unwilling to take jobs they consider beneath them. Millions, afraid to face the real world, escape into video games, which the government considers a national epidemic. And a disturbing number decide to end it all; suicide is now China’s leading cause of death for those aged 20 to 35. “People in China�??especially parents and college students�??are suddenly becoming aware of huge depression and anxiety problems in young people,” says Yu Zeng, a 23-year-old from Sichuan province. “The media report on new campus suicides all the time.”

[in China Digital Times]

MUFG Keeps Its Eye Beyond Japan

MUFG is discreetly pondering other potential acquisition targets in the U.S. and elsewhere, on top of its planned buyout of UnionBanCal minorities.

[in WSJ Briefing: China Manufacturing News]

MUFG Keeps Its Eye Beyond Japan

MUFG is discreetly pondering other potential acquisition targets in the U.S. and elsewhere, on top of its planned buyout of UnionBanCal minorities.

[in WSJ Briefing: China Business News]

U.S. Gives Village a 'Green' Medal

Paulson said that the U.S. and China will deepen their work together on energy policy, as he presented Chinese officials with an award recognizing the environmentally friendly design of the Olympic Village.

[in WSJ Briefing: China Manufacturing News]

North Korea, Japan Reach Deal on Probe

North Korea and Japan set rules for a probe into Pyongyang's kidnappings of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and '80s.

[in WSJ Briefing: China Manufacturing News]

Reliance, Vornado Join on Shopping Centers

Vornado Realty Trust struck a joint venture with Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries to spend $500 million building and operating shopping centers in India, signaling the latest effort by a U.S. retail developer to expand abroad.

[in WSJ Briefing: China Manufacturing News]