Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will invest about $3.6 billion to double its stake in Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, taking control of China’s largest chain of hypermarts to try and fend off rivals like JD.com Inc in e-commerce’s hottest growth arena. Alibaba will raise its direct and indirect stake in the grocery chain to about 72% by acquiring equity ...

Bloomberg Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co won a key approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for its listing in Hong Kong, paving the way for what could be the world’s biggest initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese regulator has given Ant a green light to seek a listing hearing with Hong Kong Exchanges ...

Bloomberg Singapore’s emergence from the Covid-19 shock is gathering pace, but that isn’t boosting the nation’s equity benchmark. That’s because the gauge is very much a bet on the global recovery rather than a wager on the city-state. The Straits Times Index is still 21% away from turning positive for the year, among the worst in Asia. Singapore’s plan to ...

Bloomberg The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has set up an office in Hong Kong to consult with companies considering a move to the Japanese capital, part of its push to make the city a global financial center. The Hong Kong office opened for online consultations, Governor Yuriko Koike said at a news briefing. “I want to make Tokyo the No. 1 ...

Bloomberg South Korean conglomerate SK Group is accelerating efforts to help China develop ESG standards after a years-long push by Beijing to improve social governance disclosures at its companies stalled. SK said it will team up with China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) to jointly establish a lab in Beijing to study and develop rating methods for environmental, ...

Bloomberg A Taliban official said signs that US President Donald Trump will hasten the exit of all American troops from Afghanistan would force the country’s warring groups to finally negotiate peace, but experts worry the move may give the militant group the upper hand. The group has welcomed Trump’s comments earlier this month about bringing remaining US troops “home by ...

Bloomberg Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country is in talks with Armenia and Azerbaijan on a mechanism to monitor a cease-fire that has already failed twice to halt fighting over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. “I hope that we will reach an agreement on such a mechanism in the nearest future,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow on ...

Bloomberg Protesters clashed with security forces, looted stores and burnt barricades in many Chilean cities on the one-year anniversary of an outbreak of social unrest that virtually paralysed South America’s most prosperous country. Thousands gathered in downtown Santiago’s Plaza Italia, which some people have turned to calling Plaza de la Dignidad (Dignity Plaza), flouting social distancing rules. As darkness fell, ...

Bloomberg Pakistan is bracing for more protests after an alliance of opposition parties kicked off a series of rallies calling for the resignation of PM Imran Khan. Khan’s administration is facing its biggest political challenge yet as it tries to manage a backlash over soaring food prices. Pakistan is importing sugar, tomatoes and the most wheat in a decade to ...

Bloomberg The US Supreme Court agreed to hear the Trump administration’s defense of a policy that requires people seeking asylum at the southern border to remain in Mexico until their cases are decided. The justices will review a federal appeals court decision that said the Migrant Protection Protocols policy runs afoul of US immigration law. The ruling aimed to let ...