Alibaba stepped up its push to blend online and offline shopping with the launch of three new supermarkets in Beijing and Shanghai, as part of its “new retail” strategy, the company announced Monday. From within those outlets — called Hema stores — customers can shop, dine and order groceries for delivery from their mobile phones […]

Australia’s central bank has turned more upbeat on the economic outlook, citing an improving labour market, stronger public investment and a pick up in household consumption. Yet minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) July meeting showed policy makers remained watchful on risks to jobs and housing, suggesting they were in no hurry to […]

China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative is a brilliant strategic move, but it comes with serious risks. That’s according to Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. “On one hand it will be a way of handling China’s excess capacity and continue to create jobs with investment in China. Secondly, […]

A complicated drama is unfolding among three major Chinese firms that have invested in each other, highlighting wider concerns over the country’s growing debt problem. The recent events, which also loop together longstanding financial system issues like accounting trickery and overspending, are continuing to weigh on investor sentiment — even though China’s second-quarter economic growth […]

Indian e-commerce player Flipkart has sweetened its buyout offer for smaller rival Snapdeal to between $900 million and $950 million, two people familiar with the negotiations said, adding that the new proposal is being evaluated by the company’s board. Reuters previously reported that Snapdeal had earlier this month rejected Flipkart’s initial bid of between $800 […]

Chinese authorities will continue to monitor the trend of “irrational” overseas investments in the real estate, hospitality and film industries, a spokesman for the state planner said on Tuesday. The Chinese government has cracked down on outbound investment by Chinese firms since late last year after accelerating capital outflows exacerbated depreciation of the yuan. After […]

The greenback took another hit on Tuesday after the Republican health-care bill aimed at replacing Obamacare failed to get enough backing to proceed to a debate. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, extended its recent tumble, falling as low as 94.818 in Asia trade on Tuesday, from a high […]

Inflation in New Zealand slowed by more than expected in the second quarter, sending the local dollar sharply lower and likely to reinforce the central bank’s resolve to keep interest rates steady at record lows for some time. Consumer price inflation was flat in the second quarter, below the 0.2 percent expected by analysts in […]

China’s banking regulator will tighten control over risks in the financial markets, work more closely with the central bank and other regulators, and “resolutely follow” the leadership of a newly-formed financial stability committee, it said late on Monday. The China Banking Regulatory Commission’s comments come after President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that the central […]

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Monday evening that a magnitude 7.8 earthquake had occurred off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. “Based on preliminary earthquake parameters… hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 km (186 miles) of the earthquake epicenter,” the center wrote in an official message. Tsunami waves, however, […]