 Alibaba's revenue growth eases in second quarter Beijing (AFP) Nov 1, 2019 - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said second quarter revenue growth slowed to 40 percent on-year Friday, although net profits more than tripled thanks in part to a one-time payment from a fintech affiliate. Total revenue was 119 billion yuan ($16.9 billion), with growth down from 42 percent in the April-June period and 54 percent in last year's second quarter, a company statement said, in its first earnings report since founder Jack Ma stepped aside as chairman in September. The second quarter jump in net profits was partly due to a one-time payment received in September as part of a deal in which Alibaba acquired 33 percent equity in fintech affiliate Ant Financial while ending a previous profit sharing arrangement, the company said. In a presentation to investors Friday Alibaba attributed the group's continued revenue growth -- which comes amid a slowdown in the world's number two economy -- to "robust" expansion of its China retail and cloud businesses. Cloud computing was the among the fastest growing revenue sources for the company, with revenues from the segment growing 64 percent year-on-year to 9.2 billion yuan. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders at the group jumped 262 percent in the July-September period from a year ago, to 72.5 billion yuan ($10.1 billion) Nearly 60 percent of companies listed in China used Alibaba's cloud services as of August 2019, the company said, thanks in part to digitisation in the public sector and traditional industries. "With sustained consumer engagement and spending across the Alibaba Economy, we have continued our revenue and profit growth," Maggie Wu, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba Group, said. Ma, who founded the company in 1999, handed the reins over to a team of executives led by CEO Daniel Zhang in September. Friday's results come days ahead of Singles Day on November 11, the largest shopping holiday of the year in China. Last year, merchants on Alibaba's e-commerce platforms moved 213.5 billion yuan worth of merchandise during the shopping bonanza. Alibaba dominates China's rapidly expanding consumer culture and its corporate results are closely watched for any signs that a Chinese economic deceleration or US-China trade tensions are impacting spending. Companies such as Alibaba are at the nexus of a national economic strategy to encourage more domestic consumer spending and thereby lessen the reliance on fickle foreign demand for Chinese exports. Nevertheless, in September, Alibaba said it had bought Kaola, one of China's top online shopping platforms for foreign brands, from fellow internet titan Netease for about $2 billion.
|
Southeast Asian leaders will race to get a sprawling China-backed trade pact over the line at a regional meeting in Thailand this weekend, as Beijing's bruising trade war with Washington rumbles on.
If signed, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be the world's largest trade pact and is seen as a way for Beijing to cement trade ties in Asia as Washington retreats from the region.
Leaders are hoping for a breakthrough in RCEP talks at this weekend's meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after seven years of negotiations over the deal, which would comprise 30 percent of global commerce and half the world's population if signed.
"They will try to get enough together so they can sign something," even if it is not a final deal, said Juan Sebastian Cortes-Sanchez, a Singapore-based policy analyst at the Asian Trade Centre.
But members risk losing steam after dozens of rounds of negotiations and several missed deadlines to sign the pact.
Commerce ministers met Friday after an hours-long negotiation session to hammer out sticking points, as India digs in over concerns its market will be flooded with cheap made-in-China goods.
"There is one last step that every country has to find the solution to," said Thai commerce minister Jurin Laksanawisit at the start of the meeting.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang will attend the three-day summit in Bangkok -- officially kicking off Saturday amid a backdrop of heavy security -- where simmering tensions in the South China Sea will also top the agenda.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be there, as he battles fears at home that key industries like metals, textiles and dairy could be hard-hit by RCEP, which loops in 10 Southeast Asian economies along with Japan, India, New Zealand and Australia.
New Delhi's foreign ministry said Thursday "critical" issues remain to be ironed out, while Indian farmers planned nationwide protests on Monday to demand more input into the deal's terms.
- US snub -
This week's ASEAN summit comes as Washington and Beijing push for the signing of a partial agreement in a bid to roll back months of tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods that have rattled both economies.
RCEP is seen as a way for China to assert its trade dominance in Asia after the US pullout of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017, which would have been the world's biggest free trade deal.
Australia and New Zealand have called for better labour and environmental rights, without which RCEP critics fear trade standards could drop in Asia.
It could also work to further isolate the US from Asia after its pullout from the TPP, which has since been reborn as a watered-down version without Washington.
If RCEP is signed it will be "another blow to (the United States') ability to be able to engage with Asia Pacific," Cortes-Sanchez said.
In what is being read by some as a snub to this weekend's meeting, the US will send national security advisor Robert O'Brien and commerce chief Wilbur Ross.
US Vice President Mike Pence attended last year's ASEAN summit in Singapore, and President Donald Trump was at the 2017 meeting in the Philippines.
But Trump's failure to show this year is a "missed opportunity", said analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Thailand's Chulalongkorn University.
"Showing up counts for everything," he said.
- Sea tensions -
Disputes over the flashpoint South China Sea will also dominate weekend talks as members attempt to inch ahead with a so-called "code of conduct" for the resource-rich waterway which Beijing claims most of.
China has long been accused of deploying warships, arming outposts and ramming fishing vessels -- stoking anger from other claimants.
Tensions have flared in recent weeks as a Chinese survey vessel toured Vietnam-claimed waters, prompting fiery demands from Hanoi for it to leave.
The incident "will be a major sticking point" for code of conduct talks, said Le Hong Hiep of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Analyst Lynn Kuok said despite recent tensions in the sea, code of conduct talks will grind on in the lead up to a 2021 deadline for a deal.
"It is better for parties to be talking than not at all," said Kuok, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Japan's leader Shinzo Abe and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea will also be in Thailand for an East Asia summit on Monday.
Security was beefed up across Bangkok -- with 17,000 police and security officers deployed -- after multiple small bombs went off at an ASEAN meeting in August, injuring at least four in operations blamed on southern Thai insurgents.
Beijing says 'ready to work' with ASEAN on South China Sea rules
Bangkok (AFP) Nov 3, 2019 -
Beijing said Sunday it is "ready to work" with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct in the flashpoint South China Sea, where it is accused of bullying fellow claimants and building up military installations.
China claims most of the resource-rich waterway, a major global shipping route and long a source of tension among claimants in Southeast Asia.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been locked in talks for a code of conduct for the sea, where China is accused of deploying warships, arming outposts and ramming fishing vessels.
The agreement, set to be finished in 2021, will set out conduct guidelines for the sea along with conflict resolution parameters.
On Sunday, China's premier Li Keqiang said the first reading of the document -- a chance for all members to comment on the draft terms -- was "a very important landmark".
"We stand ready to work with ASEAN countries building on the existing foundation and the basis to strive for new progress" on the guidelines, he said.
He added that China wanted to "maintain and uphold long-term peace and stability in the South China Sea".
Tensions have flared in recent weeks between China and Vietnam, one of Beijing's most vocal critics in the sea.
Hanoi hit back at China after it sent a survey ship into waters inside its Exclusive Economic Zone and around islands claimed by both Hanoi and Beijing.
The ship left after several weeks in the area.
The Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims with China in the sea.
The US has accused China of bullying behaviour in the sea, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week America has been too easy on China.
"We hesitated and did far less than we should have," he said, referring to China's disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines in the sea.
Related Links
Global Trade News
|
|
Tweet |
|
|
|
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
