Hainan is very, very prime property. Somebody wanted that land.*
First up, December 22's "CORRECTION—China Does NOT Have 90 Million Empty Apartments"
It's only 30 million.
In the introduction to last Sunday's "China's Credit Impulse Is Positive As Global Credit Impulse Goes Negative" someone (ahem) wrote:
What's this have to do with the price of copper in China?And will China start tearing down those 90 million empty apartments and recycling the metals?So many questions.....A good example of the "read too fast, process too slow" problem. My retention of the Bloomberg story from last September was good, unfortunately I retained the wrong number.Here's Australia's MacroBusiness, you will see my error right up front....
Chinese developer shares dropped following local media reports that China Evergrande Group has been ordered to tear down apartment blocks in a development in Hainan province. Evergrande halted trading in its shares and said the order affected more than three dozen buildings but had no impact on the rest of the development.An index of Chinese developer shares slumped as much as 2.8% in Hong Kong on Monday before closing 1.7% lower. Evergrande will handle the case in accordance with the demolition order from the local government in Hainan, a unit of the company said in a statement. Evergrande’s comments came after Cailian reported that the local government told Evergrande to demolish 39 buildings in 10 days because the building permit was illegally obtained.
The Hainan news underscored investor concern that policy makers are unlikely to dramatically ease their crackdown on indebted property companies like Evergrande even as they take steps to ensure stronger developers retain access to funding. “Even though the Hainan project isn’t a significant one in its country-wide strategy, it will have a big impact on confidence,” said Kenny Ng, strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai Co.
Property firms have mounting bills to pay in January and shrinking options to raise necessary funds. The industry will need to find at least $197 billion to cover maturing bonds, coupons, trust products and deferred wages to millions of migrant workers, according to Bloomberg calculations and analyst estimates. Contracted sales for 31 listed developers fell 26% in December from a year earlier, according to Citigroup Inc. analysts. Evergrande’s sales dropped 99% and were 7% lower than November, the analysts wrote in a note dated Sunday. Sales for Shimao slid 25% from November.....
China’s most popular app is a propaganda tool teaching Xi Jinping Thought"
Of course it is.
Back in August, when posting "China to require patriotism education for intellectuals " (and the rise of "Xi thought") I asked my favorite Chinese translator if there was a way to make money off this.
He said he was sure there was and he'd talk to his wife who has some first rate Beijing connections.
I didn't think any more about the idea until a couple weeks later with "The Little Red Book vs. the Big White Book (Mao v. Xi)" I asked again what his thinking was and he responded that the fam wasn't sure there would be a market for Xi Thought.
Then in November while posting "In Xi We Trust: Inwardly Directed Chinese Propaganda (now with more elephants)" I asked again about maybe making a bucko or two off Xi Thought.
It was then that my interlocutor told me about the time his wife talked him out of buying a pretty nice chunk of Hainan island, which over the last couple decades has been developing nicely and is now poised to take on Shenzhen as a tech hotspot* and I asked "What the Hell? "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
And he said that out of a desire for marital harmony he didn't mention it any more, especially after Hainan Airways started running direct flights from Beijing to San Jose International a few years ago.
And now this....
...And not being a cruel sort I didn't mention my hope that Hainan Air would start a direct flight from San Jose to Haikou International on Hainan so folks wouldn't have to change planes in Beijing when traveling Silicon Valley to Sino-Silicon Valley.
See China Speakers Bureau, Jan. 14 "Can Hainan become China’s Silicon Valley? – Jim Rogers".
