Alibaba-backed Best to list delivery biz in Hong Kong, boost value: Report

 

Alibaba-sponsored Best Inc is looking for a Hong Kong posting for its expedited service and cargo conveyance organizations, quick to support its valuation and build up a speculator base nearer to China, said three sources with information on the issue.

The plans by Best, which opened up to the world in New York in 2017 and has a market estimation of $1.8 billion, are fundamental and the contribution size and target valuation still can't seem to be resolved, said the sources, talking on state of namelessness as the data was private.

The Hangzhou-based organization, which has been discontent with its New York valuation, chose not to incorporate littler units, for example, its flexibly chain the board business in the Hong Kong posting as looking for a valuation for simply the two conveyance units would be more direct, one of the sources said

The two units acquired almost $4 billion in income a year ago, around 80% of the organization's general income.

The move likewise comes in the midst of heightening geo-political strains between the United States and China and fixing investigation of US-recorded Chinese firms. Those vulnerabilities have provoked various Chinese organizations to look for a second posting in Hong Kong.

Best has tapped Credit Suisse and JPMorgan to lead the posting procedure, said the sources. One source said the buoy could happen when this year.

Best and the banks declined to remark.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Best's greatest investor, has embraced the posting plan and would likewise think about putting resources into the buoy, said one of the individuals.

The web based business mammoth, which in June expanded its stake in Best to 33% by means of a $150 million convertible bond, likewise declined to remark.

Alibaba's enthusiasm for the buoy would check another push to acquire say on the planet's greatest coordinations showcase which is quickly developing yet remains profoundly divided.

Best, which had 11.9% portion of the Chinese expedited service showcase a year ago, is one of a few dispatches that work with Alibaba's coordinations division Cainiao.

Alibaba additionally has stakes in four other Chinese dispatches - STO Express Co Ltd, YTO Express Group Co Ltd, ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc and Yunda Holding Co Ltd.

Facebook, Zoom join others to pause Hong Kong's requests for users' data

Microsoft and video meet stage Zoom have joined a few tech mammoths who have chosen not to process information demands from the Hong Kong experts in the wake of China forcing a disputable new National Security Law in Hong Kong.
Apple, be that as it may, said it was all the while "surveying" the new standards.
A Microsoft representative said on Tuesday: "before, we've commonly gotten just a generally modest number of solicitations from Hong Kong specialists, yet we are stopping our reactions to these solicitations as we lead our audit".
The organization got demands for information connected to 81 records from Hong Kong's legislature among July and December 2019, as indicated by its most recent straightforwardness report.
A Zoom representative said that they are "effectively checking the advancements in Hong Kong" and "have stopped preparing any information demands from, and identified with, Hong Kong".
Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, Twitter and Telegram have just reported not to process official solicitations from the Hong Kong specialists to hand over client information for the present.
Chinese short-video making application TikTok has said it will stop Hong Kong after China forced another national security law.
The national security law, which Beijing put into impact just before the 23rd commemoration of Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese standard, condemns a wide scope of conduct and acts under four classifications of withdrawal, disruption, psychological oppression and arrangement with a remote force.
The individuals in Hong Kong dread that the new law can send them to imprison based on their online life posts and messages.

The new law requires nearby specialists to find a way to oversee and manage the city's web.

Facebook, Twitter, others to deny requests on Hong Kong user data

Social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter say they're going to deny enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong while studying ramifications of a national security law enacted last week.
Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements Monday that they might freeze the review of state requests for user data in Hong Kong , pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts.
The policy changes follow the rollout last week of laws prohibiting what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities, or as foreign intervention within the territory's internal affairs.
The legislation criminalizes some pro-democracy slogans just like the widely used Liberate Hong Kong , revolution of our time, which the Hong Kong government says has separatist connotations.
The fear is that the new law erodes the freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, which has operated under a 1 country, two systems" framework after Britain handed the colony to China in 1997.
That framework has allowed Hong Kong and its people freedoms not found in China , like unrestricted internet access.
Spokesman Mike Ravdonikas said Monday that Telegram understands the importance of protecting the proper to privacy of our Hong Kong users.
Telegram has been used broadly to spread pro-democracy messages and knowledge about the protests in Hong Kong .
Telegram has never shared any data with the Hong Kong authorities within the past and doesn't shall process any data requests associated with its Hong Kong users until a world consensus is reached in reference to the continued political changes within the city, he said.
Twitter also paused all data and knowledge requests from Hong Kong authorities after the law went into effect last week, the corporate said. it's studying the implications of the safety law.

Like many public interest organisations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we've grave concerns regarding both the developing process and therefore the full intention of this law, the corporate said during a statement. 

Coronavirus outbreak delays job offers in Asia's biggest financial hubs

Current Affairs
Monetary firms working in Singapore and Hong Kong are postponing contracting as the coronavirus episode upsets their organizations.
Both household and remote establishments have eased back enlistment, as indicated by talent scouts in the monetary center points. They've been affected by isolates, limitations on movement to and from China, remote working game plans and choices not to lead up close and personal meetings.
It's another part of the aftermath from the infection, which has additionally caused plant terminations, upset stockpile chains and started the world's biggest work-from-home investigation. Enrolling has gotten to a lesser extent a need as firms including DBS Group Holdings Ltd. have featured the income effect of exacerbating business conditions.
"Everyone is occupied," said Gurj Sandhu, an overseeing executive at Morgan McKinley Group Ltd. in Singapore. Procuring is tumbling down the "hierarchy," he stated, while including that no one is dropping jobs yet.
Bloomberg talked with six enlistment firms, all of which affirmed the stoppage. Procuring procedures and migration plans are taking longer all things considered organizations in view of calculated challenges. While some budgetary firms are leading meetings by video gathering or telephone, bringing home the bacon is increasingly dangerous, particularly at speculation banks and riches the board units.

Investors are "expensive things," said Hubert Tam, an overseeing accomplice at Sirius Partners Ltd. in Hong Kong. Private banks and speculation banks are holding off on procuring until they can meet applicants face to face, "regardless of whether they performed well a year ago," he said. Likewise, numerous private investors covering China would need to head out to the nation to meet customers and "get their gifts" before they move banks, as indicated by Amod Jain, a Morgan McKinley specialist in Singapore. "Not all things can be finished by telephone."...READ MORE

Hong Kong's iconic HSBC lion statues caught in protest cross hairs

Current Affairs
Specialists in Hong Kong could be confronting an issue inconspicuous in over a half year of fights: How to clean a couple of famous bronze lion statues that have stood protect over HSBC Holdings' principle workplaces for a considerable length of time as one of the city's premier images of frontier period magnanimity.
Demonstrators damaged the lions, nicknamed "Stephen" and "Stitt," Wednesday during a mass walk expected to show Beijing they would keep on battling its grasp into the new year. They sprinkled the statues with red and dark shower paint that portrayed seeping from the eyes, and an expression in Chinese saying HSBC had been colored the red of China. At any rate one statue was set on fire. Laborers battled to thoroughly clean them Thursday morning. The lions' looks embellish nearby monetary orders gave by HSBC and are an outstanding image of provincial principle and social legacy in the previous British station. "This is awful! More regrettable than even an outside attack," one lady said as she cruised by. Another lady cried.
HSBC was "disheartened" by the endeavors to vandalize the lions and introductory clearing was being completed, a representative for the bank said in an announcement. "We are drawing in preservation specialists to exhort us on the expert rebuilding required and the procedure can require some serious energy. We are focused on doing all that we can to preserve the bronze lions, which structure portions of the bank's and Hong Kong's history," it said.
Stephen and Stitt

HSBC first brought the two lions — creatures the Chinese think carry favorable luck and success to those they protect - to look out for its Shanghai office on the Bund in 1923. They were imitated in 1935 and transported to Hong Kong....Read More

Record turnout in Hong Kong vote after months of protests, rising violence

International News
Hong Kong's master majority rule government camp was cruising towards a devastating triumph in network level races on Monday, sending the Beijing-sponsored government a reasonable message of open help for the requests of a dissent development that has grasped the domain for quite a long time.
Checking was still under way following record turnout in Sunday's surveys, however fractional outcomes demonstrated that competitors favoring more prominent popular government were on course to hold onto a stun greater part of the regularly foundation commanded 18 area committees.
The dazzling outcome was a mortifying reprimand to Beijing and ran any waiting any expectations of Hong Kong pioneer Carrie Lam that the undeniably forceful strategies sent by radical dissidents would urge a quiet greater part to turn out on the side of her organization. Change-chasing government officials seized on the outcome as confirmation that residents need more state in running the city. "Regardless of how solid Carrie Lam is I trust she can agree to the desires of the individuals, satisfy the five requests (and) give the adolescents a possibility," political extremist Jimmy Sham told journalists in the wake of winning an area board seat.
The dissent development has made five key requests, including direct famous races and a test into supposed police mercilessness. Lam has rejected the possibility of government concessions as "unrealistic reasoning". Hong Kong has suffered a long time of mass meetings and vicious conflicts, at first ignited by outrage regarding a bill supported by Lam that would have enabled removals to China's dark legal framework.

Region committees handle network level concerns, for example, transport courses and trash assortment and the surveys normally produce little fervor. However, Sunday's challenge for 452 seats took on new political centrality on account of the general population discontent. The outcome was "out and out an insurgency," Hong Kong political examiner Willy Lam said. "It's a sound disavowal of the (Hong Kong).....READ MORE

Doctors fear Assange 'could die' in UK prison, say he needs hospital care

International News
Hong Kong's master majority rule government camp was cruising towards a devastating triumph in network level races on Monday, sending the Beijing-sponsored government a reasonable message of open help for the requests of a dissent development that has grasped the domain for quite a long time.
Checking was still under way following record turnout in Sunday's surveys, however fractional outcomes demonstrated that competitors favoring more prominent popular government were on course to hold onto a stun greater part of the regularly foundation commanded 18 area committees.
The dazzling outcome was a mortifying reprimand to Beijing and ran any waiting any expectations of Hong Kong pioneer Carrie Lam that the undeniably forceful strategies sent by radical dissidents would urge a quiet greater part to turn out on the side of her organization. Change-chasing government officials seized on the outcome as confirmation that residents need more state in running the city.
"Regardless of how solid Carrie Lam is I trust she can agree to the desires of the individuals, satisfy the five requests (and) give the adolescents a possibility," political extremist Jimmy Sham told journalists in the wake of winning an area board seat. The dissent development has made five key requests, including direct famous races and a test into supposed police mercilessness. Lam has rejected the possibility of government concessions as "unrealistic reasoning".

Hong Kong has suffered a long time of mass meetings and vicious conflicts, at first ignited by outrage regarding a bill supported by Lam that would have enabled removals to China's dark legal framework. Region committees handle network level concerns, for example, transport courses and trash assortment and the surveys normally produce little fervor. However, Sunday's challenge for 452 seats took on new political centrality on account of the general population discontent.....READ MORE

Hong Kong police seal off university, protesters set main entrance ablaze

International News
Pro-democracy demonstrators holed up in a Hong Kong university campus set the main entrance ablaze Monday to prevent surrounding police moving in, after officers warned they may use live rounds if confronted by deadly weapons.
The police warning, which came after one officer was struck by an arrow, marked a further escalation of the near six-month crisis engulfing the city.
China has repeatedly warned that it will not tolerate dissent, and there are growing concerns that Beijing could intervene directly to end the spiralling unrest.
Several loud blasts were heard around dawn on Monday before a wall of fire lit up an entrance to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), AFP reporters said, as what appeared to be a police attempt to enter the campus was repelled by protesters determined to hold their ground.
Police said they had fired three live rounds in the early hours of Monday at a protest site near the university but that no one appeared to have been hit.
Intense clashes throughout Sunday, which saw a police officer hit in the leg by an arrow and protesters meet police tear gas with volleys of petrol bombs, rolled overnight across the Kowloon district, as a call went out to defend the besieged campus.
There, protesters had hunkered down under umbrellas from occasional fire from police water cannon and hurled Molotov cocktails at an armoured vehicle, leaving it ablaze on a flyover near the campus.

Police declared the campus a "riot" scene -- rioting is punishable by up to 10 years in jail -- and blocked exits as spokesman Louis Lau issued a stark warning in a Facebook live broadcast."I hereby warn rioters not to use petrol bombs, arrows, cars or any deadly weapons to attack police officers," he said....READ MORE

Chinese students flee Hong Kong as campuses turn into battlegrounds

International News
Having fled Hong Kong universities they had thought were a ticket to success, Chinese students from the mainland sit in hostels and noodle shops in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen wondering how they'll complete their studies.
With campuses turned into blazing battlegrounds, courses cancelled and anti-China sentiment growing more virulent, students from mainland China are getting out of Hong Kong with little idea if they will ever go back.
"It's really just not safe any more and I don't see it getting any better," said one twentysomething student leaning on a suitcase outside a restaurant in Shenzhen, which abuts Hong Kong.
Fears intensified this week because of a widely circulated video of a mainland student being beaten by protesters at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Anger boiled over there following after the death of a student who fell from a car park as police used teargas against protesters.
"The discrimination towards mainlanders is growing worse," said 22-year-old Frank, a postgraduate student who had just left the university for Shenzhen. "They're so prejudiced towards us mainlanders and that's not going to change, so why go back?" Before anti-government protests erupted in Hong Kong more than five months ago, there were some 12,000 students among more than one million mainland Chinese living in Hong Kong, according to official figures.
The pace of departures accelerated this week as intensifying violence turned campuses into nightmarish scenes of blazing petrol bombs and swirling teargas.

Dozens of mainland students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong were so fearful they called police and fled by police boat from a dock near the Sha Tin campus on Wednesday to avoid having to use roads blockaded by black clad protesters....READ MORE

A long list of economic problems await Hong Kong. How they can be fixed

International News
Beyond Hong Kong’s current political turmoil, a long list of economic problems await the city’s current and future rulers.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, on Wednesday unveiled more than 220 initiatives in housing, land supply and livelihood support, in a recognition that economic policy has a role to play in alleviating some of the city’s frustrations. She also acknowledged that Hong Kong entered a recession in the third quarter and warned of an “unprecedented” economic challenge.
That’s a start, though observers say the long-standing growth model -- as a low-tax, low-regulation entrepot for finance and trade -- has become an element in the political unrest, rather than the main solution.
Huge income inequality, markets controlled by insiders and a spiraling cost of living -- especially of housing -- are by now hallmarks of Hong Kong’s brand of capitalism, alongside the “world’s freest economy” label perennially awarded by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative-leaning U.S. policy group.
From using the city’s fiscal firepower to breaking the dominance of conglomerates and raising the standard of public facilities, there exists a range of proposals from economists and other experts for a way forward. In some areas, the government is already moving ahead. In others, a fundamental shift -- and the political consensus to make it -- is required.
Use Reserves to Tackle Housing

Many in the city question the political will of Hong Kong’s government officials to take bold, aggressive action in a range of policy areas. This criticism often arises in relation to the city’s HK$1.17 trillion ($149 billion) fiscal reserve, which some contend has grown steadily for years while the city’s problems were allowed to fester...READ MORE

US House passes Hong Kong 'Democracy Act'; move may infuriate China further

International News
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill sought by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong that aims to defend civil rights in the semi-autonomous territory.
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which will now move to a similar vote in the Senate before it can become law, has drawn rare bipartisan support in a polarized Congress.
Its passage is likely to further aggravate China which has accused "external forces" of fuelling weeks of unrest in the global financial hub.
"Today we're simply urging the Chinese president and the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, to faithfully honor the government's promises" that Hong Kong's rights and autonomy would be protected, Republican
Representative Chris Smith, prime sponsor of the bill, said on the House floor.Millions have taken to the streets of Hong Kong, initially against a now-dropped bid by its leaders to allow extraditions to the authoritarian Chinese mainland.
The months-long movement has expanded into a broader pro-democracy push in the territory where activists say freedoms are being eroded by Beijing, despite a deal that outlined Hong Kong's 1997 return to China from British colonial rule.

 The Hong Kong Rights and Democracy Act would end Hong Kong's special trading status with the United States unless the State Department certifies annually that city authorities are respecting human rights and the rule of law.It also requires the US president to identify and sanction people who are responsible for the erosion of autonomy and serious abuses of human rights in Hong Kong....READ MORE

Hong Kong metro partially reopens after a weekend of violent protests

International News

Hong Kong's rail operator reopened part of its metro system on Sunday after an unprecedented shutdown, but kept many typically busy stations closed, as the Chinese-ruled city braces for large demonstrations expected later in the day.
Participants in two major protests, one on the island and another on the Kowloon peninsula, are expected to defy a ban on face masks that took effect at midnight on Friday, hours after embattled leader Carrie Lam invoked emergency powers.Violent protests had erupted across the Asian financial centre soon after Lam wielded the colonial-era powers for the first time in more than 50 years to order the ban in hopes of curbing months of unrest.
The night's "extreme violence" justified the use of the emergency law, Beijing-backed Lam said on Saturday, when the city felt eerily quiet, with the subway and most shopping malls closed and many roads deserted.
Despite the closure of the metro, which carries about 5 million passengers a day, hundreds of anti-government protesters took to the streets, defying the ban on face masks, but had largely dispersed by evening.Hong Kong's protests have plunged the city into its biggest political crisis in decades, posing the biggest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power.

 "These extreme radicals have rampant arrogance and behave vilely," China's representative Liaison Office in Hong Kong said on Sunday, denouncing Friday's destruction of one of its buildings by "extremist militants"."We strongly condemn this and support the SAR government and the police to severely punish illegal violent elements in accordance with the law," it said in a statement, referring to Hong Kong's status as a special autonomous region of China...Read More

Hong Kong to ban face masks at protests in bid to quell months of unrest

International News
Hong Kong will use an emergency ordinance for the first time in more than a half a century in order to ban face masks at public gatherings, according to local media outlets including the South China Morning Post and news channel TVB.
The government will enact the Emergency Regulations Ordinance after a special meeting of the city’s Executive Council on Friday, TVB reported, citing people it didn’t identify. First passed by the British government in 1922 to quell a seamen’s strike in Hong Kong’s harbor, the law was last used by the colonial administration to help put down riots that rocked the trading hub in 1967.
A spokesman for Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s office wasn’t immediately able to comment on the reports when reached by phone Thursday afternoon.
The move would come shortly after a protester was shot in violent demonstrations that once again shook the city on Oct. 1, as President Xi Jinping celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule in Beijing. Some pro-China lawmakers in Hong Kong had called on Wednesday for a ban on wearing masks at public gatherings to stop protesters from hiding their identity from police officers.
The government re-evaluated the situation after clashes in multiple districts on National Day, Cable TV reported, citing unidentified sources. Authorities believe the anti-mask law can help restore order, the report said, adding that it would only target occasions like certain rallies and marches. Details were still being studied, it said.

 Hong Kong stocks briefly jumped on the reports in afternoon trade, rapidly erasing an earlier decline.“Now the anti-mask law at least gives investors some hope that it could be a way to cool down the protests,” said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian Hong Kong Ltd...READ MORE

Hong Kong leader setting up communication platform to help end protest

Current Affairs
Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped "calm" will prevail after a massive weekend march passed without clashes between police and demonstrators, but again refused to give ground to protester demands.
Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the heart of the city on Sunday in a show of peaceful protest after escalating street battles with police drew stark warnings from Beijing and threatened to undermine public support.
"On Sunday, many Hong Kong residents participated in a rally at Victoria Park that was largely peaceful," Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a televised press conference."I wholeheartedly hope that this is the beginning of society returning to calm and staying away from violence." The protests began against a proposed extradition law to China but morphed into a pro-democracy movement sparking the city's biggest political crisis in decades.
They have been fuelled by anger over alleged police brutality, with tear gas and rubber bullets deployed against protesters. Lam reported 174 complaints have been made against police since protests began.
She said they would be "robustly" investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Council, whose head is appointed by the chief executive. However, the probe is unlikely to satisfy protesters who have called for an independent inquiry by an external body.In addition to universal suffrage and cancelling the extradition bill, protesters also demand the release of those detained during clashes.

 Lam, pilloried by press and protesters for failing to step down while the city plunges into crisis, said her government would continue a "fact-finding mission" on how to move forward from the demonstrations...Read More

'Prepared to die': Hong Kong protesters embrace hard-core tactics

International News

In 2014, a protester named Chloe camped out on city streets, chanted slogans and planted “seeds of hope,” part of a 79-day occupation of major roads. The protesters’ demands for greater democracy were ignored.
This summer, the civil servant, who is in her 20s, has zip tied metal barriers together to block roads and dug bricks out of sidewalks to throw at police. Her primary role is to be “arrest support”—ready to hire lawyers for detained protesters and help their families with an emergency plan.“Some of them are prepared to die for the movement,” said Chloe. “I am also willing to die for it.”
Hong Kong’s protests against the mainland government’s increasing reach are emerging as bigger, more frequent and more violent than previous pro-democracy movements. In a contrast to 2014, when demonstrations were largely led by students, the current action has been embraced by a broader cross-section of Hong Kong society—including civil servants, pop stars, doctors, shopkeepers and people of all ages. And those taking part in more radical acts of civil disobedience are finding wider support.
Hard-core current protesters have largely rejected the strategies of veteran leaders, whose approach is seen to have failed. Actions are mostly organized by anonymous leaders of small groups. In 2014, named student leaders became well known figures.

 The shift in attitude means Hong Kong’s resistance has become the biggest open rebellion against China’s ruling Communist Party since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.“There’s a feeling among many that there’s no other option, that some physical confrontation is the only way for the regime to listen to the voices of Hong Kongers,” said Jeffrey Ngo, chief researcher at pro-democracy group Demosisto. Mr. Ngo said he doesn’t use violence himself in the current protests, but understands why some have resorted to it....Read More

Hong Kong protests have residents plotting their exit to Canada, Australia

International News

When Kevin Tsang tuned into Carrie Lam's predawn press conference to condemn protesters who had ransacked government offices during a dramatic escalation of tensions over Hong Kong's controversial extradition bill, he didn't like what he heard.
So much so, that the 25-year-old surveyor is now considering emigrating to Australia.
Lam, the city's chief executive, dodged questions whether she could face the families of three people who had committed suicide to protest the bill, which would allow criminal suspects to be extradited to the mainland and is seen as a further erosion of the city's independence from Beijing.
"People sacrificed themselves to make their voices heard, but she just avoided the questions," he said. "If the democracy, freedom we have now would stay intact, I wouldn't think about leaving at all, all my family and friends are here. But the environment gives me a feeling that if I say something wrong, I may be arrested."
He's not alone. Even with the bill shelved, weeks of mass protests and sometimes violent police clashes in the city have seen emigration inquiries surge, according to interviews with migration consultants, brokers and accountants.
At Goldmax Immigration Consulting Co, inquiries and applications have jumped 20 per cent since May, said Margaret Chau, an immigration program director at the firm.

 "In the past, people would ring up for inquiries, but now they seem to be very determined," said John Hu, director of John Hu Migration Consulting, adding that the number of inquiries his firm handled doubled in June...Read More

Surprise! India has the third highest expat salary packages in Asia

International News

With Hong Kong and Singapore routinely topping the charts as the most expensive places to live and play, it may come as some surprise that Japan offers the best pay packets for expats in Asia.

The average expatriate pay package provided by companies in Japan to mid-level employees is $386,451 a year, eclipsing what’s on offer anywhere else in the region, according to a report by consultancy ECA International. Japan also saw the biggest increase in expat package values last year, thanks to a stronger yen and steeper housing costs, said Lee Quane, a regional director at the firm.
ECA's annual MyExpatriate Market Pay Survey measured expat packages by cash salary along with other perks including accommodation allowances and international school subsidies. It also took the various countries’ tax systems into account.Perhaps because of some of the challenges living in India entails -- think bad traffic, overcrowding and pollution -- it came in at No. 3, with companies offering mid-level staff an average package of $299,728 to attract overseas talent.

Hong Kong, the world’s least-affordable city, took the No. 4 slot in Asia, with firms shelling out $276,417 to international employees. Add-on benefits over and above salary were the highest in the region.Singapore only just squeezes into the top 10. The city-state, known for its low taxes, good schooling and easy outdoor lifestyle, mean companies don’t need to offer as many other bells and whistles.

On balance, it’s still better to be based in Asia as an expat, the ECA study found. Packages in the U.S. averaged just $250,028. In Australia, seen as a


 dream destination for many because of its wide open spaces and coastal cities, packages were $266,848.Topping the list globally was the U.K., with an average expat package of $421,798....Read More

Cathay Pacific to buy HK Express for $628 mn, enter budget airline segment

International News

Cathay Pacific Airways said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd from cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate HNA Group for HK$4.93 billion ($628 million), giving it a foothold in the fast-growing budget travel market.

A lack of slots at Hong Kong International Airport until an expansion is completed in 2024 had constrained Cathay's ability to follow peers like Singapore Airlines Ltd and Qantas Airways Ltd and set up its own budget brand.

Cathay said it would continue operating HK Express as a standalone carrier using a low-cost business model.

The purchase price comprises HK$2.25 billion of cash and HK$2.68 billion of non-cash consideration through promissory loan notes, Cathay said in an statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The transaction was expected to be completed on or before Dec. 31, it added.

HK Express reported a HK$141 million net loss in 2018 and had a net asset value of HK$1.12 billion, Cathay said.

Cathay shares rose 3.4 per cent in early trade on Wednesday, outpacing a 0.1 per cent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

"It seems like a good deal given the value of the slots and the strategic importance of fast-tracking a low-cost carrier, multi-brand strategy and preventing a competitor from making a move in its home market," CAPA Centre for Aviation Chief Analyst Brendan Sobie said.

 "But a proper valuation is hard to figure out given the debts and complex structure of the HNA Group.

Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi among world's cheapest cities to live in: Report

Economy & Policy:
Move over Singapore — the world's most expensive city has two new rivals.

After topping the Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey for five years, Asia's Lion City has been joined by Paris and Hong Kong in a tie at the top of the table.

Zurich and Geneva rounded out the top five, while New York and Los Angeles reclaimed spots in the top 10 — ranking in seventh and 10th respectively — after slipping to 13th and 14th last year thanks to a weakening dollar.

The survey is designed to help companies calculate cost-of-living allowances and build compensation packages for expatriates and business travelers.

The trio of cities sharing the top spot are 7 percent more expensive to live in than New York, according to the EIU, which compiles its list from a survey of 160 products and services across 93 countries.

The Japanese port city of Osaka was another re-entry, moving up six spots to number five. Seoul (joint seventh place), Copenhagen (also seventh) and Tel Aviv (10th) round out the top 10 — which actually consists of 11 cities thanks to tied places.

"Weaker local currencies have pushed all five Australian and two New Zealand cities surveyed down in the ranking," the EIU said, accounting for Sydney's absence after it scraped into 10th position in last year's report.


 Outside the top 10, the EIU said the cost of living in Chinese cities remains relatively stable, while Southeast Asian destinations were moving up the ranks...Read More