11 AUG 2018
8/22/2018
Ritz-Carlton’s new cruise liners are the last word in luxury travel for the ‘1 per centers’
Starting prices for voyages range from to US$3,100 for four nights to US$10,100 for 12 nights, depending on location. The all-inclusive fare comes with on-board gratuities, 24-hour en-suite dining, beverages en-suite and throughout the yacht, Wi-fi, and onboard entertainment and enrichment.
11 AUG 2018
11 AUG 2018
Teens and millennials are obsessed with Gucci
This article was written for Business Insider by Jessica Tyler.
Teens and millennials love Gucci.
In the first three quarters of 2017, around 55 per cent of Gucci’s sales were made to consumers younger than 35, according to a report by consultancy firm Bain & Company last October. In April, research analysts at Piper Jaffray conducted a survey of 6,000 teens across the United States and found that Gucci was No 10 on the list of teens' favourite apparel brands. In the first quarter of 2018 alone, the brand’s comparable sales grew 48.7 per cent.
Gucci’s success comes in part from the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, who has led the brand since 2015. Michele seems to have a keen awareness of what young people want, including bright, eclectic colours and patterns that are engaging, eye-catching and look good on Instagram.
More money? More chance of sex at least once a week, Chinese online survey finds
The companies also mined Yanxuan purchasing data for various products including condoms, lubricants and vibrators, finding that men accounted for 72 per cent of all purchases. The exception was vibrators, where women made 63 per cent of the purchases, the report said.
The more a person earns, the more likely he or she is to have sex at least once a week, according to a survey of thousands of internet users in China.
The finding was released on Tuesday in a report on the sexual activity of people born in the 1980s and 1990s, and based on a 10-month survey conducted jointly by Chinese online marketplace Yanxuan and adult product company TryFun – both owned by e-commerce giant NetEase.
The proportion of people having sex at least once a week rose with income, with 80 per cent of respondents from households with a combined monthly income of more than 50,000 yuan (US$7,260) a month reporting having sex at least weekly.
://twitter.com/dustguest
The proportion of people having sex at least once a week rose with income, with 80 per cent of respondents from households with a combined monthly income of more than 50,000 yuan (US$7,260) a month reporting having sex at least weekly.
8 reasons why flying in it is so costly...
An American Airlines economy flight from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City to Heathrow Airport in London in July is US$915. If you are flying first class on the same airline, that increases to US$5,407.
Airlines have notoriously bad food. It’s a different story in first class, where menus of fine dining quality and dishes created by Michelin-starred chefs are often available – think Mahimahi with lemon herb sauce, grilled asparagus, and jasmine rice. Some airlines are even said to serve Ben & Jerry’s ice cream sundaes.
Other possible perks include a private TV screen; in-flight Wi-fi; goodies, from expensive gift bags to knitted socks; and showers. The Emirates A380 has two shower spas, complete with heated floors.
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US$21,400 for a shot of this whisky?
The Yamazaki 50-year-old whisky sold for HK$2.695 million – that’s HK$168,000 a shot, and a world record for the most valuable Japanese whisky sold at auction.
Two Trump lieutenants found guilty, president implicated
Trump's longtime fixer, the attorney Michael Cohen, admitted to charges that included making illegal campaign contributions.
Cohen detailed how he made pre-election hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both claim to have had affairs with Trump.
Asia Argento denies sexual relationship with underage teen...
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Argento, 42, a Harvey Weinstein accuser and leading figure in the #MeToo movement, had paid actor and rock musician Jimmy Bennett US$380,000 over the alleged 2013 incident at a Los Angeles hotel.
Bennett was two months past his 17th birthday at the time of the alleged encounter, while Argento was 37. The age of consent in California is 18.
Argento became a powerful voice for the #MeToo movement after accusing Hollywood producer Weinstein of raping her when she was 21 in his hotel room in 1997 during the Cannes Film Festival.
What high-end Chinese shoppers buy in Tokyo?
While some Chinese customers may prefer to buy from established Japanese brands such as Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Adore, Tomorrowland and Hyke, they do not eschew international brands. Major luxury watch and jewellery brands, including Rolex, Mikimoto, Tasaki, Bulgari, Tiffany, Patek Philippe, Chaumet and Graff, are also popular. It seems Chinese shoppers are not that dissimilar from Japanese or European shoppers. They appreciate quality and often look for things that are unique to Japan or that sell for less than in their home country. In the end, the biggest difference would appear to be in quantity.
The cruise of a lifetime? See 56 Unesco sites and visit 30 countries in 117 days
Regent Seven Seas Cruises might have just the voyage for you. Departing from Miami, Florida, in the United States, on January 5, 2021, the Seven Seas Mariner will set sail for Barcelona, Spain, via the Panama Canal, Easter Island, the South Pacific, Australasia, Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.
Some 56 World Heritage sites will be visited on the 117-night cruise, which will drop anchor at 61 ports in 30 countries. Fares start from US$60,499 per person in a Deluxe Verandah Suite. For the full itinerary and bookings, visit:
Why young Chinese women won’t be rushed into marriage?
Flicking through the files he keeps on dozens of Chinese singles Zhu Fang, one of Beijing’s leading matchmakers, points to an alarming trend he has noticed in recent years: he now has far more single women on his books than men. Speaking to the South China Morning Post ahead of Friday’s festival of Qixi, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, Zhu reflected on the changing nature of love and romance in the four decades he has been operating.
“Finding partners is getting more difficult for these young women even though it is easier to get to meet people these days,” Zhu said.
How WeChat became China’s everyday mobile app
WeChat, or Weixin as it’s known in China, began life in a southern corner of the country at the Tencent Guangzhou Research and Project centre in October 2010. Since then, it has grown into the most popular mobile app in the country with over 1 billion monthly active users who chat, play games, shop, read news, pay for meals and post their thoughts and pictures. Today, you can even book a doctor’s appointment or arrange a time slot to file for a divorce at the civil affairs authority.
Mini programs refer to applications typically smaller than 10 megabytes that can run instantly on the main app’s interface. They offer speed of access to users because a program does not have to be downloaded from an app store, they can run from within the app. This innovation allows platforms to host multiple services, turning them into super-apps, delivering greater convenience to consumers in the world’s largest smartphone market.
Tencent has frequently added innovations to WeChat, designed to drive growth and loyalty, the latest being mini programs
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 16 August, 2018, 7:04am
UPDATED : Thursday, 16 August, 2018, 3:39pm
Faraday Future is on track for mass output of FF91 electric cars
The FF91, designed with 1,050 horsepower and an acceleration from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.39 seconds, was supposed to carry a price tag of 2 million yuan. Faraday Future will achieve the capacity to produce 5 million vehicles per annum in five years, comprising both high-end models and lower-end variants, according to an August 14 announcement by Evergrande Health.
The company has set up a headquarters in Guangzhou with a US$2 billion investment, and plans to build five research, development and production centres across China.
HOW IS DIGITISATION SHAKING UP ‘NEW RETAIL’ IN ASIA?
Online shopping allows consumers to buy beyond national borders. As it is, Chinese consumers are already shopping widely across the globe, especially within Asia-Pacific. According to Alibaba, of the 1.48 billion transactions during Single’s Day 2017, much went to the 60,000 overseas participating brands out of a total of 140,000. What’s more, Mintel research reveals that a fifth of Chinese online consumers of imported food products have purchased online from Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, consumers living outside of China are shopping from the e-commerce heavyweight—especially those residing in East and South Asia.
ASIA’S BEAUTY POWERHOUSES: J-BEAUTY AND K-BEAUTY
In the last decade, K-beauty has successfully cracked the international beauty market which was previously led by an established few J-beauty companies and brands. K-beauty has achieved its position as a trendsetter, winning the hearts of Asian consumers all thanks to its fast-paced product innovation activity and agile transition to digitisation. Finally, there is a rising player in the Asian beauty market; China beauty, or C-beauty, has quickly grown in the skincare and makeup sectors in recent years. China beauty brands have absorbed the best practices of the world’s leading products and adapted them to suit the needs and tastes of local Chinese consumers.
PLASTIC WASTE IN ASIA PACIFIC
Plastic packaging is low cost and helps companies keep prices down for shoppers, but its environmental impact will make it increasingly unviable. A survey by the Thai government found that the average Thai uses eight plastic bags a day, which equates to almost 200 billion a year. What’s more, Thailand is also the sixth largest contributor to marine waste globally, as ranked by the Ocean Conservancy. There is growing interest in sustainable alternatives to plastic as people become more conscious of their consumption. Mintel research finds that almost two in three Indian city dwellers take their own bags when they go grocery shopping. This change in people’s behaviour has seen companies across the world look for ways to reduce their plastic consumption by turning to alternative and sustainable materials.
Delon Wang, Trends Manager, Asia Pacific
http://www.mintel.com/blog/new-market-trends/thought-bubble-plastic-waste-in-asia-pacificSOUTH KOREA KICKS OFF 52-HOUR MAXIMUM WORKWEEK...
South Korea is known to have some of the world’s longest working hours. Based on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the average South Korean worked 2,024 hours in 2017, which is around 300 hours more than people in neighbouring country Japan and 700 hours more than in Germany.
Joyce LAM.
http://www.mintel.com/blog/new-market-trends/whats-trending-south-korea-kicks-off-52-hour-maximum-workweek
Joyce LAM.
http://www.mintel.com/blog/new-market-trends/whats-trending-south-korea-kicks-off-52-hour-maximum-workweek
8/21/2018
Europe’s slowdown leaves China’s exporters with another big gap to fill amid trade war with US
David Brown- says as the German economic spring appears to be winding down, and with Europe expected to have a hard landing, China should be looking less to exports.
With a market of 740 million consumers, Europe is an important destination for Chinese exports. A downturn in European demand for China’s goods could be bad timing for Beijing in the midst of its deepening trade war with America. The prospect of slower world trade, weaker global economic activity and the shadow descending over international equity markets compound the problem. Beijing needs a bold reflation plan to help soften the external blow while boosting the domestic economy. No time like the present to get those policy changes into gear.
https://www.scmp.com/author/david-brown
With a market of 740 million consumers, Europe is an important destination for Chinese exports. A downturn in European demand for China’s goods could be bad timing for Beijing in the midst of its deepening trade war with America. The prospect of slower world trade, weaker global economic activity and the shadow descending over international equity markets compound the problem. Beijing needs a bold reflation plan to help soften the external blow while boosting the domestic economy. No time like the present to get those policy changes into gear.
https://www.scmp.com/author/david-brown
Starbucks, Costa take on the challenge of growing the coffee business in China, the traditional land of tea
According to a 2017 report by market intelligence consultancy Mintel, China’s coffee shop market is set to grow at a compound annual rate of 5.7 per cent in the next five years, reaching 79.4 billion yuan (US$11.6 billion) by 2022, up from 60.2 billion yuan last year, with booming markets in first- and second-tier cities the main drivers for coffee shop chains.
Starbucks has been in China since 1999 and now has 3,400 stores in the country. Chief executive Kevin Johnson has repeatedly said that China would become the firm’s biggest market within a decade.
Inflation approaches 1 million percent. The minimum wage will rise 3,500%.Venezuela...
The nation’s currency — the bolivar — will be devalued, sales taxes increased and minimum wages hiked more than 3,500%, drastic adjustments that President Nicolas Maduro said he hoped would jump-start the economy.
Critics, though, predicted the worst, saying the measures are bound to fail because of rampant corruption in the country, low productivity and crippling U.S. sanctions. Business owners said they can’t possibly afford the 3,670% increase in minimum wages that Maduro requested, and trade groups immediately called for a nationwide strike Tuesday to protest the measures.
What Are the Top U.S. Imports?
What Are the Top U.S. Imports?
Computer and electronic products took the top spot in 2017 with $401 billion worth of goods imported. This category includes computer equipment, audio and visual equipment, and semiconductors and other components used to manufacture electronics. These types of goods are the top commodity imported by California, which is no surprise given the tech industry in Silicon Valley. Apple
iPhones, for instance, are manufactured in China, as are some Samsung phones and the Amazon Echo.
AMZN
Amazon.com Inc
1,876.71
-0.29%
Transportation equipment was the second largest commodity imported in the United States in 2017, clocking in at $385 billion. This category of goods includes car brands like Toyota.
Next on the list were chemicals, including fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, industrial and commercial machinery, and oil and gas.
Read more: What Are the Top U.S. Imports?
Investopedia https://www.investopedia.com/news/what-are-top-us-imports/#ixzz5On0x56Tt
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