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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (468)	1/5/1998 12:25:00 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 9980

This is from XinHua News Agency: DAI Xianglong, the governor of the People's Bank of China, said on Dec. 27, 1997 that it's expected that by the end of this year, China's foreign exchange reserves will exceed 140 billion dollars and its debt ratio will stand at 13.9 percent of gross domestic product, said Dai. Currently only Japan has a higher foreign exchange reserve. Dai added that China's debt ratio is lower than the international standard risk lines.

To: RealMuLan who wrote (468)	1/5/1998 12:39:00 PM
From: tekgk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9980

Thanks, This is a surprise to me. Usually there is an underground market associated with currencies that are not easily converted. I guess that the rate must be just about right. My question is how is the value of the Yuan set?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (468)	1/5/1998 12:40:00 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9980

After reading this, I seem to know that why those high-tech companies' stock are hit so hard because the Asian currency problems. Monday December 29, 12:18 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Roper Starch Worldwide: Asia Scores High in Technology, New Study Shows NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 29, 1997--Home computer ownership in Asia is among the highest in the world, a new study shows. More than half of Singapore (55%) owns a personal computer, followed by Korea at 52%, Taiwan at 46%, Hong Kong at 37% and Japan at 34%, according to Roper Reports Worldwide: 1997 Global Consumer Study. The global norm is 21%. The study goes on to show that almost five in 10 people from Singapore (48%) have used a computer in the last month. A third or more have done so in Hong Kong (36%), Korea and Thailand (35%), Taiwan (34%) and Japan (33%), compared to the global norm of 28%. Of those who own a home PC, a significant portion are hooked up to the Internet: 45% in Singapore, 28% in Korea and Hong Kong, 27% in Thailand and 25% in Malaysia. The global norm is 19%. Based on 35,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in April 1997, the global study explores consumer attitudes, behavior and brand preferences of approximately 1,000 people, ages 13 to 65, in each of 35 countries. The data are projectable to about 1.4 billion consumers worldwide (urban populations in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Central/Eastern Europe, and national populations in Western Europe, the U.S. and Canada). The margin of sampling error is less than one percentage point globally and +/- 4.5 percentage points per country. ''Despite what might be playing out in Asian economies, the level of technological ownership and usage among urban residents throughout the region portends a leadership role for Asia in the ever-evolving global information economy,'' says Xiaoyan Zhao, Roper Starch vice president of international operations and managing director of Roper Starch's Asia-Pacific office in Hong Kong. For those who have used a PC in the last month, Japan and Singapore are among the highest in the world for work usage (59%). Hong Kong is 47% compared to a global norm of 45%. In the same group, Korea leads the world for home usage (78%), followed by Taiwan (76%) and Hong Kong (71%). The global norm is 47%. Among those who own home PCs, Japan ranks number one in the world for laptop ownership (36% vs. 21% globally). China scores 33%. Also among those who own PCs, China leads the world in ownership of CD-ROM/multimedia kits at 87%. Singapore and Hong Kong are 79% and Korea is 66%. The global norm is 61%. As with most regions, word processing is the top activity performed on the computer of those who have used a PC in the last month (50% for Asia vs. 53% globally). Entrepreneurial Taiwan heads the region in computer usage to run a home-based business (11% vs. 5% globally). Asians also lead the world in ownership of cell phones and pagers, allowing them to be constantly connected. More than six in 10 households in Hong Kong (64%) own cellular or mobile phones, versus a 19% global norm. Fifty-five percent of Japan, 47% of Singapore and 38% of Korea do. Compared with a global norm of 21% for household pager ownership, 85% of people in Singapore own pagers, as do 77% of Korea, 65% of Hong Kong and 64% of Taiwan. Interestingly, among those who have used a PC in the past month, Korea leads the world in using PCs for playing games (72% compared to 40% globally). With the rest of the world in single digits, Malaysia ranks number one in buying things via the Net (14% vs. a global norm of 1%). Country and regional breakouts are available by calling Xiaoyan Zhao, 011-852-2877-7828. Roper Starch Worldwide is one of the world's leading market research and consulting firms. The company has its headquarters in New York and offices in Newport Beach, CA, London and Hong Kong.