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The View

The View
Daily analysis of the major talking points in the worlds of business and investing with a focus on implications for doing both in mainland China and its key financing hub - Hong Kong.
A security guard gestures in front of Vanke’s headquarters in Shenzhen. Vanke has proposed delaying repayment on a yuan-denominated bond for the first time, causing the prices of some its dollar-denominated bonds to fall into distressed territory. Photo: Reuters
China property

The View | Why China Vanke’s debt woes have barely made a ripple in markets

Robust exports, surging stocks and investors looking elsewhere have curbed pressure for more forceful government intervention.

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Japan

The View | Takaichi’s nationalism and fiscal stimulus test Japan’s property market

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Asia housing and property

The View | An AI-fuelled data centre bubble in the making? Not in Asia

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Vietnam

The View | Why Vietnam’s property sector has weathered Trump’s tariff typhoon well

Trump’s tariff blitz has not just provided an impetus for reforms, it has helped address misconceptions about Vietnam’s manufacturing sector.

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A man walks past a Nike billboard outside a shopping mall in Hanoi on July 8. Washington and Hanoi unveiled a trade pact with much fanfare and few details, but it allowed Vietnam to avoid Trump’s initial 46 per cent tariff. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

The View | Can Scott Bessent see China’s trade counterstrike with clear eyes?

China’s export control regime on rare earths isn’t retaliation for recent US restrictions – it’s a response to overall US policy.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Why Thai property investors can find reason for cheer in dismal 2025

Even with the economy hit by multiple crises this year, not least a plunge in Chinese tourist numbers, it’s not all doom in the hotel and office sectors.

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Japan

The View | Why Japan’s hotel operators have nothing to fear from tourism backlash

Political turmoil, a cost-of-living crisis and ire towards tourists are unlikely to keep Japan from being a top-performing hotel market.

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People walk past shops near Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of central Tokyo on September 16. Photo: AFP
Asia housing and property

The View | Critics of Singapore’s property cooling measures miss bigger picture

The housing market will keep testing the government’s tolerance, but without interventions, things would be a lot more volatile.

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United States

The View | How will Trump revive US shipbuilding after years of protectionist rot?

Industrial policy, alongside tech and steel support, made shipbuilding in Japan, South Korea and China competitive. Can the US do it too?

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Disney

Jimmy Kimmel will return to ABC network on Tuesday, Disney says

The TV host’s talk show was suspended six days ago after he made remarks about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

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Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show was suspended after comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong property

The View | Why Hong Kong’s commercial property market could do with some stress

Not only can the resulting adjustments help unlock investments, but a sterner stress test is likely to accentuate the resilience of Hong Kong’s banking system.

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With Hong Kong now experiencing an IPO boom that has helped to restore confidence in its role as a financial centre, this is arguably the right time for the city’s commercial property market to be undergoing a stress test. Photo: Sam Tsang
Asia housing and property

The View | Asian governments may have a housing affordability crisis on their hands

From Singapore to Seoul, piecemeal efforts to expand affordability have only limited options for policymakers as housing prices rise.

India

The View | Together, China and India can be a tech innovation force

India has shot up in innovation rankings with venture capital as a new metric. More could be achieved if India and China joined forces.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Resilient Asia shines as global office market sees signs of recovery

London’s Canary Wharf district is staging a recovery and the US office market has averted a crisis, but Asia remains a source of strength.

Office and residential buildings are seen from an observatory deck in the Shinjuku business district of Tokyo, Japan, on February 10. Photo: EPA-EFE
Asia housing and property

The View | Why South Korea and Japan are turning against foreign homebuyers

South Koreans and Japanese are understandably irked by the ease with which foreigners can acquire real estate when locals are struggling.

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Blocks of flats are seen from an observation point at N Seoul Tower in Seoul on August 7. Photo: Reuters
China-India relations

The View | India still needs China to catch up with Chinese manufacturing

Rather than limit Chinese investment and reduce reliance on China, India should leverage Chinese know-how to become more competitive.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Sell India, buy China? Don’t get stock and property markets confused

The stock market is not the economy, and India’s property market fundamentals remain strong despite investors’ turn to Chinese stocks.

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Hong Kong property

The View | How closer mainland integration is lifting Hong Kong’s residential market

While the benefits are being felt in the housing sector, commercial property continues to suffer from much weaker fundamentals.

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People walk past a property agency in Tai Koo on July 29, 2024. Home prices have stabilised since the start of this year after a nearly 30 per cent decline since the 2021 peak. Photo: Eugene Lee
China property

The View | China’s commercial property market has its own version of a ‘national team’

While Beijing hasn’t called on any funds to support China’s commercial property market, its strong, diverse domestic investor base is a pillar of strength.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Why Osaka, Bengaluru and Johor are overlooked drivers of Asia property

To spot the big themes and trends in Asian property, look beyond the most widely traded cities and see the market’s true breadth and depth.

Japan

The View | Inflation, political turmoil won’t put investors off Japanese property

Rising prices and anti-establishment populism are not enough to undermine the factors underpinning the strength of Japan’s property market.

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Supporters of Japan’s Sanseito party leader react during the party’s rally in Tokyo on July 21, a day after the upper house election. Photo: Reuters
Asia housing and property

The View | What does Trump’s transshipment crackdown mean for Asian industrial property?

Asian industrial real estate could be affected by US efforts to marginalise China but is also part of the solution to diversifying supply chains.

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Workers stitch apparels at a garment factory in Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen province on July 2. Vietnam is one of the big winners from trade diversion and one of Asia’s best-performing industrial property markets amid the surge in demand for modern factories and warehouses. Photo: AFP
China economy

The View | Why China’s domestic hotels have an edge over Western competitors

Chinese hoteliers are better placed to cope with economic headwinds thanks to wide networks, efficiency and strength in the midscale market.

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Hong Kong property

The View | Hong Kong property market’s sources of resilience finally getting noticed

The city’s property market will struggle to rise out of its hole, but there is a greater appreciation that it is not all doom and gloom.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Don’t overhype the diverging fortunes of Chinese and Indian real estate

India’s property sector is booming, but China’s plays a more important role in Asia and is supported by better fundamentals.

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A coastal road project is seen in front of the skyline of Mumbai on February 1, 2024. Photo: AP
China property

The View | Why China’s ailing housing sector is the crisis investors forgot

Investors might look past the crisis as a long-term structural issue, but homebuyers, developers and lenders in China feel the pain every day.

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Residential buildings are pictured in Shanghai on September 29, 2024. To boost domestic demand – a prerequisite for mitigating the damage from the trade war – Beijing needs to stabilise the housing market. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

The View | US crackdowns on academia will only send global talent elsewhere

The Trump administration’s war on international students need not impede efforts to create research platforms that transcend borders.

Asia housing and property

The View | Japan and Singapore show even property safe havens are not problem-free

Foreign investors’ interest has certainly lifted the economy, but the authorities must make sure locals are not priced out of the market.

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