Hong Kong's Economy Grows 7.1 Per Cent
Hong Kong's economy is in good shape: The economy grew 7.1 per cent in
the first quarter, the biggest increase in two years while the
unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent is the lowest in a decade, the
government said in a statement. However, rising salaries and costs
increased producer and consumer prices, which jumped 5.8 and 5.4 per
cent but are still considerably lower than in China. Hong Kong's stock
market index, the Hang Seng, has fallen 17 per cent year-to-date.
Police Arrested Eight in USD454m Fraud in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Police has raided 13 locations and arrested eight people in a
USD454m fraud probe, AFP reports. The five men and three women have
allegedly defrauded shareholders of two listed companies and 18 banks.
One of the two companies is Egana Goldpfeil Holdings, a producer and
distributor of jewelry and watches for brands such as Cerruti, Pierre
Cardin and Esprit. Police said that senior managers of the two
companies have manipulated accounting records to secure bank loans of
USD128m.
Online Shopping Hits RMB16.2 bn
Online shoppers in China spent RMB16.2 bn in the first five months of
2008, according to statistics issued by the China Internet Network
Information Centre. The centre surveyed shoppers in 19 cities and
Taobao.com was China's top online retailer, followed by Dangdang.com
and Amazon's subsidiary Joyo.com.
China and U.S. Sign Deals Worth USD13.6 bn
Good business news
always precedes high-level meetings between Chinese and American
politicians, and now is no exception. The two countries have officially
announced trade deals reputed to be worth USD13.6 bn. General Motors,
Texas Instruments, Cisco, Ford, IBM, Oracle and Motorola have agreed to
invest more than USD8 bn in China. Companies from the two countries
also signed a USD5.32 bn contract for the purchase of soybeans,
chemicals, telecoms and electro-mechanical products.
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