stlplaceLast Updated on March 18, 2007 by stlplace
I went to the Shanghai Real Estate Spring Expo, at Shanghai Expo Center on Yan’an Road. Again it has been more than 10 years since I visited Shanghai Expo Center last time. The expo itself is very crowded, and some developers offer free bus ride to and from the Expo Center to demo unit. I feel some people have to buy the house because in Chinese tradition, one has to buy the house if he is getting married.
Last Updated on March 16, 2007 by stlplace
Finanlly I bought some A Shares in Shanghai Stock Exchange this afternoon. This is more than 10 years after my last purchase 🙂
I realized Chinese domestic stock market is still not widely open to foreign investors. There is a thing called QFII, stands for qualified foreign instiutional investors. Here is a good explaination for QFII from Havest Fund. I believe Morgan Stanley and others have QFII funds. There are also many mutual funds investing in Hongkong and asia pacific. You can ask them if you are interested. As an alternative, investors can look at Chinese ADRs traded in NYSE, Nasdaq, and H Shares in Hongkong Stock Exchanges. Personally I don’t think domestic market is mature enough for average joe in the UK, US, etc.
Last Updated on March 18, 2007 by stlplace
Dripped coffee only, available 10 AM to noon Friday March 16 in participating stores in China, as I understand from this Yahoo news people in US already enjoyed it on March 15. Actually I heard it from my coworker first. Please don’t pass on to the people work in Cloud 9, as I don’t like wait in long line 🙂
Last Updated on March 15, 2007 by stlplace
I mentioned it once in my blog: getting Ren Ming Bi (Chinese Yuan) at China Construction Bank using Bank of America ATM card. I tried it yesterday. It works great. The rate is 7.72, or $194.29 for CNY 1500. Don’t know if there is a transaction fee. The last I heard is there is none. There maybe some limit on how much one can withdraw each day.
BOA and CCB are partners in China. Talking about partners, many foreign banks are partnering with local banks these days, because the China banking industry will open up to foreign banks according to WTO.
Last Updated on March 14, 2007 by stlplace
I went to ChinaClear, the Chinese securities clearing house. I don’t know what’s the equivalent in the States? I do believe they have something similar but it’s just behind the scenes. In other words, we don’t need to know all the details.
Last Updated on March 15, 2007 by stlplace
I thought about this for quite a while, debating whether I should joined the party in Shanghai. Finanlly I decided to pull the trigger. I went to China Merchant Bank (招商银行), and opened my stock trading account there (the securities department of CMB). The procedure is very much like that in US. I filled out a bunch of forms, including the acknowledgment of risk, showed my IDs, paid 90 Yuan for the card. I am still waiting for the final approval before I can buy stocks.
(Update 14Mar 4PM Shanghai time) I heard from my broker that I already have securities account (I bought and sold stocks in Shanghai in 1995/97). Because I could not find the old account No. I need to go to 中登公司 to get it straight.
Last Updated on March 15, 2007 by stlplace
Xinhua Finance Media Limited (XFML) did not turn out to be another Home Inns or New Oriental, at its IPO debut last Friday. Besides the difference of market sentiment then and now, I think the fundamental reason lies within the company and the business itself.
First Xinhua Finance is in the media and advertising business. Note media industry is still heavily regulated in China, this is different from Home Inns’ economy hotel business, which is pretty much a free market (as long as they can secure the building).
Last Updated on March 12, 2007 by stlplace
These days we can see many realtors along the Shanghai streets. The business must be good at least on rental side. I see more than 6 brokers on this 100 meters long Chang Ning Road, some even with US name (Coldwell Banker).
Last Updated on March 13, 2007 by stlplace
Well, Xinhua Finance Media Limited XFML IPO nearly broke my heart, kind as I expected. The good thing is WR Hambrecht only allocated me 100 shares, out of 200 shares I indicated to buy.
On a positive note, Mindray reported a good quarter and a good year. Here is the results. Going forward they expect “total net revenues for full year 2007 to be in the range of RMB2,120.0 million to RMB2,150.0 million”, this is about 40% revenue growth over 2006. The international market will be the key growth driver; domestic market is picking up after last year’s anti-corruption campaign.
Interestingly, the market decided to hold a sell off on MR today.
Last Updated on March 14, 2007 by stlplace
Mutual fund is a hot commodity in China these days, as the domestic stock market became really hot in last year. While the mutual fund industry is still in its early stage, I found this Harvest Fund to be impressive. I watched an interview of its manager, Mr. Zhao Xue Jun, at CBN (No. 1 Cai Jing, my default TV setting these days). Here is Harvest Fund (Jia Shi in Chinese) home page and here is an interview of Mr. Zhao by No. 1 Cai Jing News.