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Markets

Exodus from New Territories brownfield relieves pressure on industrial property market

The Northern Metropolis project is forcing a wave of brownfield tenants to relocate, lifting demand for floor space in industrial buildings For years, brownfield sites in Hong Kong’s New Territories have hosted a range of businesses looking for cheap space – from storage depots to recycling centres to scrapyards. The wave of relocations had driven nearly 20 per cent of the new leases for industrial properties recorded so far this year, a major uplift that has helped slow the decline in rental prices in the sector, according to analysts. Samuel Lai, head of CBRE Hong Kong’s industrial and logistics division, said that 994 hectares of brownfield land were set to be acquired for the Northern Metropolis in four phases. The first phase – from 2024 to the end of 2026 – involved about 320 hectares of land, more than 100 hectares of which had already been acquired, he added. “While most brownfield operations displaced by land resumption relocate to other brownfield sites to continue business, some move into urban industrial buildings and compliant logistics warehouses,” Lai said.

August 23, 2026

Markets

Pay, perks, equity: China’s AI, chip firms lead way in offering rewards to lock in talent

Companies are rolling out an unprecedented wave of stock grants amid fierce domestic headhunting and an intensifying US-China tech race Which company is the most generous? The answer depends on whether generosity is measured by total shares granted, individual fortune-making, or how far down the rewards extend to employees. Here’s a breakdown across sectors. AI chipmaker Cambricon Technologies is the latest to deliver massive windfalls to employees. Earlier this week, it unlocked nearly 600,000 shares for 124 core staff – yielding an average stock value of 5.57 million yuan (US$828,000) per person, based on its share price on announcement day. It also rolled out a 5 million share grant last month for 944 employees under its recent incentive plan through 2028, covering 85.3 per cent of its total workforce. In a recent vesting cycle, 99 key personnel – including senior executives, mid-level managers and core technical staff – were allocated 2.48 million shares. Based on its stock price on the announcement day in April, average yield exceeded 26 million yuan per person. If inclusivity is the measure, semiconductor equipment maker Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment China, known as AMEC, may be the most generous.

August 22, 2026

Markets

Components crunch: China’s carmakers face rising costs to keep intelligence edge

Chinese smart vehicle makers have been hit by another setback as a global components shortage collides with surging prices of raw materials, driven by the artificial intelligence boom. It would take at least a year for the global supply chain to ramp up production of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) – two key parts that make vehicles intelligent – to meet rising demand, according to industry officials and analysts. “The components, though small, play a key...

August 22, 2026

Markets

Chinese insurer Ping An eyes Hong Kong ETFs as Beijing greenlights cross-border investment

China’s largest insurer downplays tax changes, shares positive outlook after reporting 36 per cent profit growth “Allowing mainland insurance funds to invest in Hong Kong listed ETFs is set to tighten the ties between Hong Kong and the mainland capital market,” said Richard Sheng, secretary of the company’s board, after a press conference on Friday. “We will consider various opportunities, including Hong Kong ETFs, in our insurance allocation strategy.” The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) voiced support on Tuesday for insurance funds investing in ETFs through the Stock Connect schemes, which allow cross-border trading between the mainland China and Hong Kong financial markets. The average daily turnover of ETFs – index funds that track certain stocks – in Hong Kong reached HK$40.6 billion (US$5.2 billion) in the first seven months of 2026, up 22 per cent from a year earlier, according to Hong Kong stock exchange data. “Many Hong Kong ETFs offer exposure to non‑Hong Kong and non‑mainland assets, including overseas investments and various thematic strategies,” said Kenny Tang Sing-hing, chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Financial Analysts and Professional Commentators.

August 21, 2026

Markets

Alibaba signals faster AI payoff, margin gains halfway through US$56 billion capex plan

Aggressive spending strains cash, but Alibaba’s AI cloud growth points to strong long-term returns, analysts say “The most important incremental message, in our view, is that cloud growth has not yet peaked,” Nomura analysts said in a research note on Friday. “This accelerating growth is occurring alongside meaningful margin expansion rather than at the expense of profitability,” Nomura analysts wrote, highlighting that the AI cloud unit’s adjusted Ebita margin reached 11.6 per cent, up from about 7 per cent a year ago. Jefferies expected revenue growth for Alibaba’s Cloud and Compute Services, the company’s new reporting segment covering its cloud business and T-Head chip arm, to accelerate beyond 50 per cent year on year in the September quarter, with momentum building further into the next two quarters through March 2027.

August 21, 2026

Markets

Hong Kong stock exchange extends listing application window to 12 months

Around 500 companies currently have listing applications pending approval in Hong Kong, far above the historical average The Hong Kong stock exchange plans to grant a three-year waiver to temporarily extend its listing application window from six months to 12 months, according to a statement released on Friday. The extension was designed to give listing candidates, their sponsors and advisers more time to complete their listings – allowing them to avoid having to repeatedly refile their applications – said the exchange, which is a unit of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX). At present, a listing application lapses six months after the date of submission if the candidate cannot complete all the necessary procedures and secure approval within the window. The firm must then resubmit the documents to resume the application. The exchange said the measures would cut down application resubmissions, giving companies and their advisers more time to focus on the quality of the application materials and listing documents. “This change will not alter the exchange’s regulatory standards or the protections in place for investors,” the exchange said in the statement.

August 21, 2026

Markets

HKEX gold futures smash delivery record as US sanctions reshape trade

The milestone more than doubles the previous peak recorded in 2018 The bourse operator physically delivered 145kg (319.67lbs) of gold, the highest single-day tally since the product was first launched in 2018, according to a statement published on HKEX’s official WeChat account. The figure for Wednesday more than doubled the previous record of 63kg (138.89lbs) set in December 2018. The surge came after HKEX relaunched the contract on July 6 – the exchange’s fourth attempt since the 1980s to establish a viable gold futures market. To boost liquidity, it introduced a marketwide waiver of its US$1-per-contract trading fee, which is scheduled to run until June 30, 2027. “Gold futures can help to hedge price risk for investors and leveraged exposure without holding physical metal,” said Tom Chan Pak-lam, honorary president of the Institute of Securities Dealers. Physical gold bar delivery is handled in Hong Kong through HKEX’s approved depository, currently Brink’s Hong Kong, he noted. On final settlement, ownership of the gold moves from the seller’s vault account to the buyer, settling the contract in US dollars.

August 21, 2026

Markets

Evergrande’s US$1.31b fine, China cuts US Treasury holdings: the numbers moving markets

While investors saw Beijing’s holdings of US government debt shrink and US Treasuries yield rise, a life sentence for China Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka-yan marked a symbolic end to an era of breakneck expansion in the country’s property sector. Here are some of the figures that have drawn the most market attention this week. An 8.82 billion yuan fine for Hui Ka-yan’s Evergrande A Shenzhen court sentenced China Evergrande Group founder and former chairman Hui Ka-yan, also known as Xu Jiayin,...

August 21, 2026

Markets

Chinese court accepts Evergrande liquidation petition 1 day after founder’s life sentence

Decision of court in Guangdong province against developer’s main onshore unit Hengda Real Estate punctuates company’s long undoing A court in southern China’s Guangdong province formally accepted a bankruptcy liquidation petition against China Evergrande Group’s main onshore unit, closing the final chapter in the unravelling of what was once the country’s largest property developer. The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court said on Friday that Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank’s Huaxia branch met the legal criteria under the nation’s Enterprise Bankruptcy Law to force the Evergrande unit, Hengda Real Estate, into liquidation, citing the firm’s inability to pay mature debts and insufficient total assets. Hui was convicted on multiple financial charges, stripped of his political rights for life and ordered to forfeit all personal property. The Shenzhen court also levied administrative fines totalling 8.82 billion yuan (US$1.32 billion) on Evergrande Group and 7 billion yuan on Evergrande Real Estate, alongside orders to recover remaining illegal gains.

August 21, 2026

Markets

Hang Seng Index adds major Chinese chipmaker as tech pivot continues

Hong Kong’s bellwether stock index has added two new companies including contract chipmaker Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor Two new companies will be soon be added to the Hang Seng Index (HSI), increasing the constituents of Hong Kong’s bellwether stock index from 93 to 95, according to a statement from the Hang Seng Indexes Company released on Friday. The new entrants are Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor, one of China’s top contract chipmakers, and truck and engine maker Weichai Power. The change would take effect on September 7, the statement said. The addition of Hua Hong Grace will further increase the information technology sector’s weighting in the index from 15.86 per cent to 17.11 per cent. Meanwhile, the energy, materials, industrials and conglomerates category will see its weight rise from 10.87 per cent to 11.12 per cent after Weichai Power joins. The information technology sector currently ranks third by weighting on the HSI, behind financials at 33.37 per cent and consumer discretionary at 23.88 per cent, according to the Hang Seng Indexes Company.

August 21, 2026

Markets

Hong Kong buyers hunt for bargains in city’s battered noncore office market

The noncore office market remains under pressure, but end users are taking advantage of low prices to buy up cheap office space Hong Kong’s noncore office market is still plagued by high vacancy rates and weak investor demand, but owner-occupiers are taking advantage of the downturn to buy up office space at steep discounts. The latest example is the Estate Agents Authority (EAA), which agreed a deal earlier this month to buy an office at the OTB Building in Wan Chai for HK$70 million (US$8.93 million), according to Land Registry records. The 7,343 sq ft unit was bought for HK$9,533 per square foot – below the HK$10,000-per-square-foot mark, but not a dramatic drop compared with the previous transaction recorded for the building. That deal, signed in 2019, was at HK$11,839 per square foot. Marcus Chu, senior regional director at Ricacorp Properties, said the sale “suggests there is still buying support at current price levels, providing a positive signal for the wider noncore office market”. But the deal could prove to be an outlier. According to Chu, the relatively limited number of transactions at the OTB Building partly explained the price resilience of offices there.

August 20, 2026

Markets

China’s Pop Mart to buy back shares worth up to US$740m as collectible-toy demand cools

Decline in firm’s sales growth will be ‘difficult to reverse’ without a new product format or powerful celebrity endorsement, analyst says Chinese toymaker Pop Mart International will launch a share buy-back plan worth up to 5 billion yuan (US$740 million) over the next six months, it said after the market closed on Thursday. The buy-back of between 2 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan comes amid softer domestic sales and normalising demand following last year’s strong performance, which was fuelled by blockbuster toy character Labubu. Wang Ning, founder and CEO of the Hong Kong‑listed firm, announced the plan on Pop Mart’s interim‑results earnings call, where he also sounded a note of caution about the outlook. “We had earlier guided for 20 per cent revenue growth for 2026,” Wang said. “The high base from last year’s outstanding performance has created pressure for this year, which will be more pronounced in the second half.” The company considered 2026 as a year of operational readjustment, he added. “Driving sales is not the top priority, and corporate governance is showing positive momentum,” Wang said.

August 20, 2026