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The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Hong Kong's still ‘over' but Stephen Roach says city a surprise trade war winner
American economist Stephen Roach has said that Hong Kong has benefited from the US-China trade war despite last year having declared the city to be 'over', even as he claimed that other aspects of the financial hub had worsened. The former Morgan Stanley Asia chairman sparked debate last year after he penned an opinion piece which argued, in part, that Hong Kong would be caught in the 'crossfire' of the worsening US-China rivalry. 'The word caught is the word that, if I had to write the piece again, I would probably change, because I think, ironically, Hong Kong has benefited from the crossfire between the US and China,' he told the Post in a recent interview. Despite worsening ties between the two superpowers since US President Donald Trump began levying his so-called reciprocal tariffs on China and the rest of the world, Hong Kong's stock market has seen solid gains. The benchmark Hang Seng Index is up by around 50 per cent since Roach made his original claim, while Hong Kong has rocketed to the top of the global fundraising table following a string of high-profile initial public offerings last month, including from mainland Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology. Roach, who is now a faculty member at Yale University, said the 'sell America' trade had become a 'global mantra' and Hong Kong was a beneficiary. But asked whether he felt his initial assessment of the city being 'over' was premature, he noted he would say the same again. 'No economy or city state is over ... but this image of a dynamic, powerful system as part of the 'one country, two systems' model, I think that's just as close to being over today as it was when I originally wrote the piece,' he said, referring to the city's governing principle. 'The governance story is still, I think, very much working against this notion of Hong Kong as a free, independent, autonomous city state. If anything, it's gotten worse.' Roach added that the strong performance of the city's stock market had 'instilled sort of a new swagger in Hong Kong bordering on denial'. He said there were 'questions that could be raised' about the city's independent rule of law, pointing to the departure of foreign non-permanent judges. He also raised concerns about the fast-tracking of the domestic national security law last year and what he described as continuing efforts to 'quash dissent'. While the Hong Kong government had 'risen to the challenge' to demonstrate to the world that the city should be considered 'special', American investors in particular had developed an 'unwillingness' to distinguish it from the rest of China, he said. 'Where I've come out, reluctantly, is that as great a city as Hong Kong is, it's just another big Chinese city,' he said. 'I think it's increasingly a one country, one system model with a solid financial capital raising infrastructure embedded in Hong Kong.' Executive Council convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who previously hit back at Roach over his 'Hong Kong is over' remarks, maintained that the American economist did not understand the city. She said the 'pessimistic views' Roach expressed last year 'were primarily based on the Hong Kong stock market's poor performance'. 'He overlooked China's strength in technological innovations and Hong Kong's unique advantages based on its separate systems. We are the only part of China that can invest, manage and provide trading platforms for digital assets.' She cited the city's recently passed law on stablecoins, which she said would help Hong Kong be the country's 'testing ground' for cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency token that maintain a fixed value by being pegged to a reference asset, typically fiat currencies such as the US dollar. The law, which was passed last month and is set to take effect later this year, establishes a regulatory regime for stablecoins, paving the way for issuers to obtain licences and sell the digital assets to the public. 'Despite ongoing US-China tensions, Hong Kong will continue to have an important role to play in building bridges between China and the West,' Ip said. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nio prices 136.8M shares at HK$29.46 in upzised offering
NIO (NIO) announced the pricing of its upsized HK$4,030.13M offering of 136,800,000 class A ordinary shares of the Company at an offering price of HK$29.46 per Placement Share. The Placement Shares have been offered to non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Company expects to close the Equity Placement on or about April 7, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Morgan Stanley Asia, UBS AG Hong Kong Branch, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities and Deutsche Bank, Hong Kong Branch have been appointed as the placing agents. The Company currently plans to use the net proceeds from the Equity Placement for research and development of smart electric vehicle technologies and new products, further strengthening balance sheet as well as general corporate purposes. Easily identify stocks' risks and opportunities. Discover stocks' market position with detailed competitor analyses. Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>> See the top stocks recommended by analysts >> Read More on NIO: Disclaimer & DisclosureReport an Issue Nio total raise from share issuance amounts to about $500M, says Macquarie Nio proposes offering 188.8M new shares NIO Stock Slides Despite $450M Capital Raise to Boost EV Development BABA, JD, NIO: China Proposes Closer Ties with Canada as U.S. Trade War Intensifies Nio Inc. Earnings Call: Record Deliveries Amid Challenges Sign in to access your portfolio
South China Morning Post
27-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Stephen Roach says trade war puts US on course for ‘cultural revolution'
A prominent American economist has said the United States has 'lost its way', shifting from defending the 'free world' to attacking its own foundations and international institutions. Advertisement 'Once the champion, the proud leader of the free world, we are in the process of challenging ourselves from within – in terms of the rule of law – and challenging the world,' said Stephen Roach , a faculty member at Yale University and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. 'Not just through tariffs and a broad-based reciprocal action of one week from today, but also tearing up our alliances, driving a wedge between ourselves in Europe, expressing territorial ambitions – the likes of which we have never seen in the United States in the post-World War Two era.' He raised his concerns during a panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia in China's southern island province of Hainan on Wednesday, characterising the US' current trajectory as the early stages of 'cultural revolution'. Unlike the Cultural Revolution in China – the effects of which were mostly felt within the country's borders in the 1960s and 1970s – Roach said the corresponding event in the US could have a 'profound impact' on the rest of the world and become a 'major event for globalisation'. 02:32 Trump presses ahead with 25% tariffs on imported cars, ratcheting up trade war Trump presses ahead with 25% tariffs on imported cars, ratcheting up trade war
Bloomberg
27-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Roach Casts Doubt on China Consumer Pivot as ‘More Slogans'
Economist Stephen Roach said China's bet that consumers can help boost the economy may not pay off if the government fails to address the public's broad worries about the social safety net. 'What I'm worried about is that their program is more slogans than substantive actions that really give me confidence that the consumer revival is at hand,' the former Morgan Stanley Asia chairman told Bloomberg TV on Thursday in an interview at the Boao Forum for Asia.
