Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. stood by his statement that it is possible some religious leaders are teaming up with communist rebels to destabilize the government, stressing that it is “not fake news.”
The President’s spokesman made the clarification amid outcries over his remarks on some Church leaders who criticize the Duterte administration.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo last Tuesday challenged Mr. Roque to “name names.”
“Otherwise, he is just spreading rumors,” Mr. Pabillo said. “That is not responsible reporting. This is one way of spreading false news.”
When sought for comment, Mr. Roque said in a radio interview on Wednesday, “Hindi po fake news iyan; iyan po ay kasaysayan. Napakatanda na po ng CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army). It’s the world’s longest insurgency. Ang konsepto po talaga ng mga Maoist ay iyon din ang konsepto ng National Democratic Front eh talagang papasukin nila ang iba’t ibang institusyon ‘no.”
“Kaya po ang sa akin, iyan po ay isang panawagan, isang babala,” he said. “Matuto naman po tayo sa kasaysayan, huwag magbulag-bulagan at huwag nating… kunwaring hindi alam kung paano gumalaw ang CPP-NPA. Papasukin at papasukin po ang mga iba’t ibang institusyon at kinakailangan bantayan ang ating mga hanay.”
He explained: “Hindi imposible na iyong ilang mga taong simbahan na sa mula’t mula ay ayaw kay Presidente Duterte at mayroong ibang nakitang—mayroon silang ibang gustong makita maging Presidente at hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin matanggap po ang pagiging Presidente ni Pangulong Duterte at ilan po sa kanila ay pupuwedeng—iyon nga po ‘no—na makipagsabwatan diyan sa CPP-NPA sa kanilang sinasabi na ninanais na patalsikin, pabagsakin ang administrasyon ni Presidente Duterte.”
“Pinaninindigan ko na iyan po ay kasaysayan na at huwag po tayong magbulag-bulagan sa mga pangyayari,” Mr. Roque said.
— Arjay L. Balibin

A store can have striking displays, posters and all sorts of bells and whistles to attract customers. But considering today’s environment, where the market becomes more challenging and crowded, strategies like these no longer work. Consumers are getting more demanding and hungry for experiences that engage and excite them. They don’t want to just walk, buy the product, and leave the store; they want a tailored experience that match their spend.
The retail industry is undergoing a major transformation as e-commerce, together with the proliferation of mobile devices, disrupt the traditional brick-and-mortar stores. As a result, many stores operating physically have already closed or on the verge of shutting down.
But according to KPMG, a global network of professional firms, physical retail is not actually dead, boring retail is.
“Store closures in certain countries hit all-time highs in 2017. The list of longstanding retail brands that shut their door is too long to list. Often overlooked is the fact that many stores opened as well. We will see a similar pattern in 2018. By January 2019, 90% of all retail will still be done in physical stores,” the KMPG says in the Global Retail Trends 2018 report.
The firm explains that as long as stores are doing well, offering a customer experience that meets or exceeds customer expectations, physical retail will stay.
“Joe Mach, the President of North America at Verifone predicts consumers will visit physical stores as long as there are new and interesting reasons to go. Leading retailers take advantage of their physical spaces to maximize experience per square foot and the real-life interactions customers have there. In summary, customers will shop where they enjoy their experience, this could be on a single channel or a combination of channels,” the KPMG says.
The National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail association, shows the same sentiment. In the Consumer View report, it says that a unique and convenient experience is important as it drives store visits.
“As retail becomes commoditized and the competitive gaps in price and selection shrink, consumers are being driven more by brand experience. Shoppers want convenience, a unique customer experience and events that offer a compelling reason for store visits. They also demand personalization and strong digitally enabled customer service,” the NRF says.
Aside from generating store visits, strong brand experience builds loyalty. Developing customer loyalty has always been a challenge for retailers, and it is becoming even harder today. But by creating a more immersive experience, retailers can drive people towards their stores and establish connection with them. As the NRF says, experience impacts everything – from loyalty to how often customers visit retailers.
For the City of Dreams Manila, a luxury integrated resort and casino complex located in Parañaque, experiential retailing is important to create repeat business from happy and satisfied customers who can easily share their brand experience through their social network.
“This online buzz or word-of-mouth help generate more interest for the brands and subsequently create greater in-store foot traffic,” the City of Dreams Manila told BusinessWorld in an e-mail.
The City of Dreams Manila has successfully positioned its retail area in the market, having a double digit growth in terms of revenues compared to the previous year.
Aside from luxurious amenities, stunning attractions and wide culinary choices the City of Dreams Manila offers, it keeps on carrying out several initiatives to enhance the shopping experience of its customers. For instance, it offers Dream Rewards Club, a loyalty program that recognizes and rewards members’ loyalty by providing extensive benefits and privileges available throughout the integrated resort.
The City of Dreams Manila said that members of Dream Rewards Club can stay at one of its luxury hotels, dine at one its signature restaurants, and redeem their points to shop in select retail outlets at its retail area.
“Through the Dream Rewards program, we help ensure that our guests will have a delightful experience,” the City of Dreams Manila said, noting that Dream Rewards membership sign-up is free.
This initiative being undertaken by the City of Dreams Manila attract consumers to visit its retail stores, and build customers’ loyalty, the two of the most important aspects to stay in the industry.
“As retailers enter 2018, they are already seeing that if customers are going to visit a store, it needs to be about more than just the transaction. Retailers need to offer something you can’t get online. They need to offer an experience,” the KPMG says.
— Mark Louis F. Ferrolino, Special Features Writer

For many years, the ultimate goal behind many businesses has been that of universality. To have a product that could service a universal, perpetual demand, and to dominate in that market in the way of John D. Rockefeller with Standard Oil, or even Bill Gates with Microsoft, was the one golden ticket to success.
But with the rise of modern digital technology, the game has changed. Social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are transforming the landscape of retail, providing avenues of opportunity for new leaders to innovate their way to success. The disruption introduced by enterprising digital natives are breaking down the established boundaries of a time-tested industry, casting away ideas like mass demography-based segmentation, single-dimensional business models, and traditional advertising.
Multinational professional services firm Deloitte, in a 2017 study titled Disruptions in Retail through Digital Transformation: Reimagining the Store of the Future, wrote, “Retailers have had two options in the way they have responded to the digital opportunity. A vast majority have seen digital as an enabler of better customer service or greater operational efficiency and have hence implemented many digital technologies to improve their performance on these parameters. This approach is an incremental response to the opportunities presented by digital and is primarily driven by a low risk propensity to allocate scarce resources to what can be a fundamental disruptor to the business model of retailers.”
“However, there have been a few retailers who have truly awoken to the possibilities presented by Digital. They have seen digital as an opportunity to shape a long term sustainable business model which is a departure from the paradigms of the past. Integral to this digital approach is the view of the retail eco-system as a network of suppliers and franchisees supporting the central actor (retailer) in orchestrating a business model with the long-term objective of maximizing customer lifetime value and not just focused on a transactional approach,” Anand Ramanathan, Partner at Deloitte, wrote.
A more personalized approach to retail
Shifting the focus of business from a transactional approach to a maximized customer’s lifetime value necessitates businesses to approach their market in a more intimate manner, tapping into data points made available through social media platforms. In essence, the focus of marketing is moving away from the idea of advertising the product in the best possible way and securing a purchase, but instead towards creating the best possible relationship with one’s customers, and establishing loyalty through personal engagement.
It is perhaps no surprise that the era of personalized marketing has become a boon for smaller companies. Felipe and Sons, a men’s lifestyle brand here in the Philippines that primarily uses digital as a means for its business, believes that digital technologies are forcing businesses step up their game as easily accessible platforms like Facebook and Instagram have torn down the barriers to entry for new players in the retail market.
“With a small marketing budget you are able to reach or at least make people aware of your brand or business,” Martin Warren, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Felipe and Sons Barberdashery, said in an interview.
The company uses Facebook and Instagram mainly for marketing and as a venue for customers to keep in touch with the brand. These platforms also provide their customers a convenient online booking platform for easier registration.
“We in Felipe and Sons think a personalised approach to engaging with customers is definitely better for a business because you are able to create a more personal relationship with your customer, which in turn makes them feel more special, more connected to your brand, like they are a part of your company, especially if you take the time to address their concerns and needs and make sure that they feel like they’ve been taken care of or listened to,” Mr. Warren said.
Nikka Uson, who runs the personalized necklace shop House of Monogram, agreed, saying that the ease of which a customer-business relationship can be fostered on social media platforms like Facebook can be extremely beneficial for building a lasting brand.
“In general, engagement with customers through these platforms is better for businesses. These platforms can greatly help in boosting brand awareness as well as strengthening relationships and trust with your customers,” she said in an interview.
“Finding a niche through these platforms can be easier. They can help businesses target Facebook and Instagram users based on their demographics (i.e. age, gender, location), purchase behaviors, and even on interests related to a particular niche. This can be done altogether in your Facebook Business account.”
Even companies with an established physical brand are finding the opportunities presented by the digital space too cost-effective to pass up. Name Fairy, a brand which offers personalized items and souvenirs, relies on its physical stores in Bacolod, Dumaguete, and Iloilo City for the bulk of its sales, but has increasingly turned to digital for its marketing needs.
“Online platforms help us find our niche and allow us to market ourselves easily. Posting attractive photos and captions really help a lot in gaining a bigger market for our products. Gone are the days when you have to spend a lot on advertisements to promote your products,” Name Fairy’s Tonette Diente said in an interview.
Ms. Diente added that having a personalized approach with one’s customers can give insights into the market that would otherwise be unavailable to them, perspectives with which companies can then address and serve.
Creating the store of the future
That kind of authentic relationship would be difficult to create but may ultimately pay off long term. Joseph Aaron Angeles of Godfather Shoes, a handcrafted shoe brand from Marikina City, believes authenticity could be the key to the stores of the future.
“Trying to make a change doesn’t happen overnight, and taking advantage of the online community to do that can be a leverage to anyone,” he said in an interview.
“It’s very hard and expensive to reach a community using the traditional way, like ads on TV or print. But using the internet, you can reach millions of people, all you have to do is show them something they can believe in. Someone who they can trust online.”
Mr. Angeles added that a personalized approach to business is ‘the only perfect way’ of reaching an audience, as people would be more likely to engage in an individual or an organization they believe they can trust.
“I had been in sales for several years before starting Godfather, and I realized one thing— people would always want to speak to someone they can trust, and to someone who cares for them.”
For any business moving into the fourth industrial era, this is the crux. The retail eco-system, including suppliers and franchisees, must become a holistic network with the retailer, recognizing and addressing the needs of the consumer through careful analysis, marketing, and brand engagement using the power of digital technology.
Deloitte’s Mr. Ramanathan wrote that the fundamental tenets of the digital approach is a collaborative mindset where the retailer is the first among equals in the wider network who invests in building the capabilities of the entire network to be agile and responsive to consumer needs, a concept that is entirely different from conventional practices of retail companies in the past.
“At the core of digital for any retailer is a wider ability to build a culture of collaboration, the capability of using data to break through functional and organizational boundaries, the art of using technology to unearth new possibilities for enhanced customer value and in the process completely reimagine the store of the future,” he concluded. — Bjorn Biel M. Beltran, Special Features Writer

E-commerce has made a significant impact in various industries including retail. With the growing appetite for convenient online shopping, a number of brick-and-mortar stores have been disrupted — with some even being forced out of business.
To illustrate, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in a recent report titled “The new retail ecosystem: From disrupted to disruptor,” that the retail store of the past may well be dead, as evidenced by the ongoing trend of thousands of store closures over the last decades; and that more announcements of closures are expected as the pace of digital change continues to accelerate. Moreover, according to their Total Retail survey, PwC cites the prevalence of online shopping with 90% of US respondents saying that they are Amazon shoppers.
While traditional brick-and-mortar establishments in other countries are being challenged by the digital revolution, the local retail scene seems to continue to thrive. Robinsons Malls, for example, have performed creditable–with tenants’ sales consistently growing every year, as what Arlene Magtibay, General Manager-Commercial Centers Division of Robinsons Land Corporation told BusinessWorld.
However, admittedly, digital innovations have significantly impacted the industry. Ms. Magtibay noted, “E-commerce has changed the dynamics of the shopping center industry. Whereas before, people would have to go to a physical facility to shop, today, they can browse hundreds of items with their gadgets and get to make their purchases in the comforts of their home or wherever they may be. E-commerce provides that flexibility and convenience.”
“Just as significant to note is the fact that anyone can now be a retailer without having to put up a physical store. The traditional shopping center has literally thousands of competitors–from the giant e-commerce companies like Amazon to a student who sells clothes online.”
Apart from providing a pleasant environment, what seems to be the edge of malls—and where they are banking on—are relevant services and unique experiences that are not available online. In relation to this, Ms. Magtibay said that they have noticed a slowdown in the expansion of apparel stores in malls and conversely, there has been an increase in number of restaurants and food shops.
“Unlike clothes which can be bought online, the experience of dining out with family and friends is not something that can be done virtually. Thus, you will see that in almost all shopping centers today, a big percentage of space is now allocated to restaurants and food outlets which, aside from the supermarket, are now the biggest driver of repeat visits to a shopping center.”
These changes were reflective of the aforementioned PwC report, which noted that retailers are already adapting to a new retail ecosystem. It said, “In this retail ecosystem of the future — a combination of physical, digital, and complementary service offerings — stores tailored by location and demographics become part of the consumer’s broader shopping experience.”
“The physical store is a key component of the new retail ecosystem. It has to provide a reason for the consumer to leave the comfort of home to shop — an experience within its four walls that not only competes with the convenience and ease of online shopping but also offers other options consumers might choose to spend their time on, such as movies, sporting events, or dining out,” the report continued, and added that retailers have to step up and provide experiences that engage shoppers and entice them to linger.”
To retain engagement and keep their patronage, Ms. Magtibay shared that Robinsons Malls have evolved their tenant mix by increasing the percentage of restaurants and by bringing in first-in-the-market concepts. Moreover, the general manager added that they also have more entertainment options through expanding amusement attractions apart from cinemas.
Adding value and relevance to their malls, Ms. Magtibay also mentioned that they pioneered in bringing government agencies into their malls (such as DFA, NBI, SSS, etc.) under Lingkod Pinoy Centers.
Instead of faltering from being disrupted by the digital revolution, most malls including Robinsons are also utilizing digital technology to enhance customer experience.
“We have embraced digital technology to provide convenience to both our shoppers and merchants. Our Robinsons Movieworld has the most number of online platforms for buying tickets. We have digital directories, a Robinsons app, a self-ticketing kiosk for Movieworld, and we constantly engage our shoppers through marketing campaigns on social media,” Ms. Magtibay said.
“Recently, we launched Playlab in Robinsons Galleria Cebu. It is the first digital playground in the country with 14 highly interactive, educational, and fun attractions. It has been very warmly received as it integrates kids’ love for the digital with active play. In a few weeks’ time, we will also be launching Aqua Fun at Robinsons Place Pavia. This is the first water playground in the country and will feature 12 attractions that children will surely enjoy.” — Romsanne R. Ortiguero

At Xia Lugen’s run-down, smoky betting shop in downtown Shanghai, hordes of young men cluster around banks of computers, as betting slips and a huge World Cup chart adorn the walls and a projector beams matches onto a makeshift screen.
China may not have a team at the World Cup in Russia but this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the country’s gamblers, with bets in the first three weeks already outstripping the whole of the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
Energetic betting in these technically illegal, but officially sanctioned shops reflects the prevailing attitude towards sports, which are seen as a chance to make money as much as a spectacle to be enjoyed.
Before the first knockout game between France and Argentina, punters — known as caimin, or “lottery citizens”, in Chinese — queued up to place large bets.
Gao Liushun, 55, had previously lost a bundle on Argentina, so doubled down on an Argentinian win because “I need to win back what I lost, right?”
He lost 1,000 yuan ($150) after France’s thrilling 4-3 victory, his heaviest loss of the World Cup so far.
Fellow gambler Xia Junmin, a 25-year-old freelancer, lost five times that amount after wagering on a draw.
Underground betting
The World Cup-inspired surge in betting is borne out in the official figures.
China has spent 28.6 billion yuan in football betting in the three weeks up to July 1, dwarfing the less than five billion wagered in the three weeks previous to that, according to figures from the China Sports Lottery Management Centre.
This is more than double the roughly 11.5 billion yuan wagered during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and does not take into account underground betting and syndicated gambling, which is widespread in the country.
China’s underground gambling networks are often cited as an impetus for match-fixing incidents worldwide, usually in obscure leagues but also in Italy’s Serie A and occasionally in World Cup qualifiers.
Although all gambling is technically illegal in China, it is permitted in the country’s hundreds and thousands of “lottery shops”.
These are run by China’s Sports Administration with part of the proceeds ploughed back into sport ranging from financing stadiums to training the next generation of Chinese athletes.
However, the government remains vigilant and dozens of unauthorised “lottery ticket” apps, which enable punters to place a bet with a single click, were closed down in the first week of the World Cup.
‘Everyone is watching it’
Xia converted his auto dealership into a “lottery shop” six years ago and business has boomed during the World Cup, with hundreds of thousands of yuan being bet daily — more than 10 times the stakes for a normal day.
Despite the absence of home interest, the World Cup “has brought out the passion from people who were not interested in football before”, he told AFP.
“Everyone is watching it. People who didn’t bet are all betting now,” said the 59-year-old Shanghai local, who also has cashiers taking bets over the phone.
Like punters all over the world, many gamblers in China lost a packet during some of the tournament’s more surprising results, especially the demise of defending champions Germany, who failed to get out of the group stage for the first time since 1938.
Li Feng, a gambler who has rigged up a big screen at his fried chicken joint to show the games, said he had lost 1,000 yuan betting on Die Mannschaft to beat the unfancied South Koreans in the group stage.
But in one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history, South Korea beat the footballing superpower 2-0 with two late goals to break German hearts — and Li’s.
“No sane person would have bet on South Korea to win,” he complained bitterly.
Gao Liushan, a regular at the bookies, said he was disappointed that China did not make it to the World Cup finals this time around.
“To be frank, China not making it was harmful to us,” he said.
“But President Xi Jinping said don’t forget your first love. The Chinese dream will be realised one day. I also believe in Chinese football. The dream will be realised in the near future.” — Albee Zhang, AFP
 

Facing competition from Airbnb, which will celebrate a decade this summer, top European attractions such as Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona are out to revamp their own offerings.
The move is to keep rental prices in check yet keep supply healthy as Airbnb continues to be a thorn in the side of hoteliers, ten years on from its August 11, 2008 debut as Airbed & Breakfast.
After several false starts, the web-based phenomenon emerged in the public glare of that year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver to offer a competitive alternative to a “saturated” hotel market and, as one of its co-founders said, “a way to make a few bucks”.
Ten years on, Airbnb is worth an estimated $31 billion and has a stock of five million accommodation units advertising with it globally in 81,000 cities across some 200 countries.
Those statistics make it a standout success story of the sharing economy as it responds to “rising touristic and professional demand for independent and more spacious centrally-located accommodation in large cities,” reported France’s urbanism association Apur last month.
The hotel industry is less sold on the success of what has become a big rival eating into its business without being subject to the same legal and fiscal constraints.
Municipal authorities have also expressed “numerous misgivings,” notes Apur, finding Airbnb-style rentals have driven up prices to the extent many major European cities as well as New York and Tokyo have embarked upon a regulatory offensive.
Paris, Airbnb’s number one market globally with some 60,000 rentals, has already faced legal challenges along with rival Wimdu. Authorities have also clamped down harder on owners not respecting legal requirements with some already hit with fines after the French parliament voted though a package of action last month.
Paris, having already last year capped the maximum number of days permitted for a short-term let to 120 annually, also said in April it would sue Airbnb and Wimdu for failing to remove ads from people not properly declaring their properties.
Spanish cities have tried hard to put the squeeze on private landlords by, for example, limiting offerings to ground floor apartments which also afford provision of a private entrance.
Palma de Mallorca is seeking an outright ban after seeing such rentals soar 40 percent between 2013 and 2017.
In Madrid, where some 9,000 apartments are up for rent — around 2,000 of them unlicensed — the radical leftist city authorities are seeking by the end of this year to introduce a 95 percent tax rate for legal rentals.
“Doublespeak”
On the Mediterranean coast Barcelona has also taken up the cudgels amid protests from residents of districts drowned in a sea of tourists ready to party noisily at all hours.
The city authorities now say no new licences will be granted to single apartments based in the historic city centre.
Amsterdam back in December 2016 signed an accord it hailed as “unique in Europe” with Airbnb banning rentals beyond 60 days a year.
Berlin, which has seen real estate prices soar in recent years, had months earlier passed one of the continent’s strictest regimes to hobble further Airbnb expansion entailing the rental of a maximum one room in one’s dwelling with 100,000 euros ($110,000 fines) as a deterrent.
Even so, since May, that has been relaxed to allow renting out one’s entire private apartment.
On June 15, representatives from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid and Paris — with Berlin absent but associated — met to “take stock of the extent of the phenomenon and compare public policy,” said Ian Brossat, tasked with rental affairs at Paris city hall.
Furthermore, a dozen European municipalities are to meet on Thursday in Brussels before holding autumn follow-up talks with EU internal market commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska.
“We are up against doublespeak from the platform (Airbnb) which, on the one hand, says it is going to play it by the rules and yet, on the other, indulges in intense lobbying in Brussels,” Brossat said.
Various rental tourism operators have filed complaints with the European Commission to contest national legislation of France, Spain, Belgium and Germany but for the time being it does not foresee the opening of violation procedures against one of these countries.
Despite the turbulence it has thrown up, professionals recognise that Airbnb has contributed to the sector’s positive overall development.
“I’m very much an admirer. They have done remarkable work in facilitating reservation, trip preparation, and the placing in contact with and very rapid exchange of information with the host,” Fabrice Collet, director general of France’s B&B group, told AFP.
He adds their pricing strategy “has enabled families to travel who previously were not able to do so.” — Rebecca Frasquet, AFP

The Trump administration is letting ZTE Corp. resume some business activities while the U.S. weighs an end to a seven-year ban on the Chinese telecommunications company.
The easing of restrictions didn’t come soon enough for ZTE’s bid to win a contract in Italy to supply wireless equipment to Wind Tre SpA. ZTE lost the deal because it’s barred from buying U.S. technology, and Ericsson AB won the 600 million-euro ($700 million) contract instead, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because it hasn’t been announced. ZTE’s shares in Hong Kong rose about 2 percent.
The mixture of good and bad news is just the latest chapter in the saga of ZTE, which has seen its prospects and stock price rise and fall in the past few months over access to technology it needs to sell telecoms gear across the globe. The U.S. imposed the ban against the Chinese company earlier this year, saying that it failed to comply with punitive measures imposed after allegations of lying about equipment sold to Iran and North Korea.
Still, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to ease restrictions on ZTE, which has become a bargaining chip amid rising trade tensions with China. Last week, the Shenzhen-based company appointed a new chairman as part of its agreement to clean house and pay a record $1.4 billion fine to get back into business. The latest ZTE authorization by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is valid from July 2 until Aug. 1.
ZTE is expected to be in compliance with U.S. demands by Aug. 1, a person familiar with the matter said.
Representatives for Ericsson and Wind Tre declined to comment on the Italy deal, which ZTE had originally won two years ago. Now, the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker has the multiyear accord to supply base stations for about 60 percent of Wind Tre’s Italian mobile networks.
The latest U.S. authorization permits China’s No. 2 maker of telecoms gear to support existing networks or equipment under contracts signed on or before April 15, when the U.S. blocked companies from selling components to ZTE on the sanctions violations. The ban had forced ZTE to announce it was halting major operations.
Trump reversed course in May, saying he was reconsidering penalties on ZTE as a personal favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Later that month, the Trump administration announced it would allow the company to stay in business after paying the fine, changing its management and providing “high-level security guarantees.”
The about-face sparked concerns of ZTE being used as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China trade negotiations to avert a tariffs dispute. Those talks have stalled and the U.S. is set to impose tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods Friday, and another $16 billion may follow. China has said it will retaliate dollar-for-dollar on U.S. imports.
ZTE’s new management now faces the challenge of rebuilding trust with phone carriers and corporate customers. The company is said to be facing at least $3 billion in total losses from the months-long moratorium, which cut off the flow of chips and other components it needed to make its networking gear and smartphones.
In Washington, a bipartisan group of lawmakers remains concerned about ZTE’s threat to U.S. national security and is pushing for legislation aimed at restoring harsher penalties. Lawmakers are set to resume negotiations on legislation that will try to balance concerns that ZTE presents a security risk with efforts to get the company back into business.
This week’s authorization lets ZTE give support, including software updates, for ZTE phone models that were available to the public on or before April 15, and it allows parties to make and receive payments for permissible ZTE transactions. The order also authorizes “the disclosure to ZTE of information regarding security vulnerabilities in items owned, possessed or controlled by ZTE” to protect communication networks and equipment, it said. — Jenny Leonard and Daniele Lepido, Bloomberg

Valuations have cratered, earnings estimates are down and forecasters are slashing their targets on Hong Kong’s stock market, which has gone from darling to pariah in under half a year.
While investors the world over worry about a tumbling yuan and the Federal Reserve’s plans to lift borrowing costs, the brunt of the impact is increasingly felt in a city that is entwined with both. The Hang Seng Index lost 1.4 percent when markets reopened Tuesday following a long weekend, as another sign that China’s economy may be slowing faster than expected added fuel to the selloff and took multiples back to two-year lows. The benchmark was little changed Wednesday morning.
The Hang Seng Index’s best quarterly winning streak since 1996 has ground to a painful halt, punished by companies’ reliance on China for profits, Hong Kong’s ties to U.S. monetary policy and a loss of love for favorites like Tencent Holdings Ltd. After five quarters of gains and hitting a record high in January, the benchmark posted a loss in the three months through June.
“It’s getting ugly,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia Pacific at Oanda Corp. in Singapore, who was bullish on Hong Kong stocks until March. “China data just continues to sour and the yuan is bringing up memories of 2015. Whether we could see capital outflows is a question nobody thought they’d be asking. Hiding in cash is the only way to go now.”
Bulls are losing faith in a market that treated them with some of the world’s best returns in January, when even the pessimists were calling for only a temporary pullback. International investors, who piled into funds tracking Hong Kong and offshore-listed China stocks for 17 straight weeks, have withdrawn almost $4 billion since early June, according to China International Corp.’s Hanfeng Wang and Yingqi Lin.
A glut of large initial public offerings is also threatening to undermine existing shares, as billions of dollars in new stocks may draw more liquidity from the market. Xiaomi Corp., which raised $4.7 billion after pricing its initial public offering at the low end, expects to begin trading on July 9. Meituan Dianping is targeting an IPO in Hong Kong that may raise as much as $6 billion, while China Tower Corp.’s listing could match the city’s biggest since 2010.
Stocks in Hong Kong have still held up far better than those on the mainland, remaining in the green throughout most of 2018 until the yuan’s descent accelerated in mid June. Strategists still see a rebound in the second half, though many have tempered their projections for the city’s benchmarks, including Nomura Holdings Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
“I wish I had been more negative in January, when it was clear that Hong Kong markets were getting frothy,” said Wendy Liu, head of China equity research at Nomura. “The question we’re getting is whether China economy is about to collapse or not — we need more data to gauge that.”
Investors are paying less than 11 times projected earnings for the Hang Seng Index — a multiple that’s about 5 percent lower than its 10-year average. Earnings expectations have started to falter, after their resilience in February acted as a support against further losses in a global selloff. Morgan Stanley says members of the index generate an average 60 percent of their earnings in yuan, which is one of the world’s worst performing currencies over the past month.
Adding to the pressure is a buyer’s strike from Shanghai, where investors have been net sellers of Hong Kong stocks for three consecutive months through exchange links with the city. Also, a currency peg with the U.S. is driving up the cost of borrowing: Hong Kong’s one-month interbank rate is topping 2 percent for the first time since 2008.
With a June 2019 target of 27,200 points for the Hang Seng Index, or 4.7 percent below Tuesday’s close, Morgan Stanley believes the selloff in Hong Kong has room to run.
“It’s a combination of multiple factors: yuan weakness, trade uncertainty, expectations for four Fed rate hikes and the tightening liquidity situation in China,” Morgan Stanley equity strategist Laura Wang said by phone from Hong Kong. “We’re not expecting any immediate change to any of those. Even southbound flows have turned.” — Sofia Horta e Costa

As a trade war looms, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s biggest weapons could be boycotts of American brands by his country’s legion of consumers.
But Xi would also be risking collateral damage at home: The China operations of all-American brands ranging from Coca-Cola Co. and McDonald’s Corp. to Walt Disney Co. are co-owned by state-backed Chinese firms.
One of Coke’s main China partners is government-backed COFCO Corp.; Shanghai Disneyland is part owned by a local consortium, and McDonald’s franchisee in the country is controlled by state-backed conglomerate Citic Ltd. and private-equity firm Citic Capital Holdings.
“The perfect Stars-and-Stripes corporate victim doesn’t exist,” said Tom Orlik, chief economist in Beijing with Bloomberg Economics. “The number of big clean wins in terms of striking against the other guy — without accidentally punching your own guy in the face — is extremely small.”
Even when Chinese companies don’t have direct ownership links with U.S. brands, Orlik said, boycotts or other non-tariff retaliation would hit the local partners of those American companies.
Early shots in the trade war are set to be fired on Friday, with the U.S. scheduled to impose tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese exports. Beijing has said it will place levies on an equal value of U.S. goods, a move that Trump said would lead to additional penalties. This week, the U.S. moved to block China Mobile Ltd. from entering its telecommunications market, citing national security risks.
“By now there is no backing out,” Pauline Loong, managing director at research firm Asia-Analytica in Hong Kong, said on Bloomberg Television on Monday.
Unlike overt actions like tariffs, boycotts by Chinese consumers appear suddenly and usually follow angry rhetoric by government-controlled publications and social media. In earlier conflicts with foreign countries, Chinese citizens inflamed by nationalistic news coverage, boycotted high-profile international brands like Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co., hurting corporate profits and boosting Chinese leverage.
Imports of Chinese goods into the U.S. totaled $505 billion in 2017 while China only imported $130 billion from the U.S., limiting Xi’s ability to respond with tit-for-tat penalties. However, American companies sold $280 billion of goods and services in China last year through their local subsidiaries, according to Deutsche Bank AG. That creates a big target.
“No U.S. product sold in China, or U.S. company invested in China, can be considered safe from its retaliation,” said Yanmei Xie, a China policy analyst for Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing.
Besides boycotts, Beijing could consider creating costly administrative bottlenecks for U.S. imports or impose punitive measures against U.S. companies operating in China, analysts at research firm TS Lombard wrote in a June 20 note.
So far government-controlled media have said little on how consumers should respond to a trade war with the U.S., although an editorial in the Global Times highlighted anti-U.S. sentiment in Europe as well as calls by Canadians to boycott American goods because of Trump’s penalties on imported steel and aluminum. Xi’s government last month said China would retaliate immediately and forcefully to U.S. tariffs.
Prominent consumer brands like McDonald’s and KFC have in the past been easy targets, with thousands of restaurants across the country.
But since anti-U.S. demonstrations in 2016 targeted them with calls for boycotts, the U.S. owners of both fast-food giants have sold their controlling interests in their Chinese operations.
Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s owns only 20 percent of its Chinese namesake, having sold the rest last July to state-backed conglomerate Citic Ltd. and other investors.
Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum! Brands Inc. no longer owns the KFC and Pizza Hut businesses in China, having spun off Yum China Holdings Inc. in 2016. Meanwhile, in April 2017, Coca-Cola sold its China bottling assets to COFCO and Hong Kong-listed Swire Pacific Ltd.
Minority Stake
Consumers trying to punish Trump by staying away from Disney’s $5.5 billion theme park in Shanghai would end up hurting Chinese companies because the American firm is just a minority shareholder there. A state-run consortium, Shanghai Shendi Group, owns 57 percent of the resort, which opened in 2016 and attracted more than 11 million visitors in its first year.
So consumers looking to punish an American brand could unknowingly punish a Chinese one as well.
That may be a price Xi’s willing to pay, especially since he’s not the only one facing the risk of collateral damage. Trump’s efforts to punish China will damage U.S. business, with its farmers losing if China finds other suppliers of commodities like soybeans. And not all American brands have Chinese partners, so Beijing could simply decide to single out some.
A Chinese court, ruling in a patent dispute case, issued a preliminary injunction banning U.S. semiconductor maker Micron Technology Inc. from selling 26 products in China, according to a Tuesday statement from Taiwanese rival United Microelectronics Corp. Micron said it hasn’t been served with the injunction and won’t comment until it does.
If political ties deteriorate sharply, many Chinese looking to do their part probably won’t be too concerned about who owns what, according to Bruno Lannes, a Shanghai-based partner with consultancy Bain & Co.
“I’m not sure Chinese consumers have a real understanding of the ownership structure of companies that do business in China,” he said. “If they’re told this is a U.S. company or a U.S. product, then they would accept that even if the majority share is owned by a Chinese company.” — Bruce Einhorn, Bloomberg

Venezuela’s distressed oil sector may get some much needed financing from China, Finance Minister Simon Zerpa said after meetings with officials from China Development Bank and China National Petroleum Corporation.
China Development Bank will invest more than $250 million to boost Venezuela oil production in the Orinoco Belt, Zerpa, who is currently in Beijing for bilateral talks, said in a ministry statement.
“We’ve received the authorization for a direct investment of more than $250 million from China Development Bank to increase PDVSA production, and we’re already putting together financing for a special loan that China’s government is granting Venezuela for $5 billion for direct investments in production,” Zerpa said.
The two countries will sign an additional three or four financing deals in the coming weeks, he said.
Venezuela’s oil output averaged 2.9 million barrels a day in 2013, when President Nicolas Maduro was first elected. In June, output dropped to around 1.36 million barrels per day, according to International Energy Agency data. State oil company PDVSA has been struggling to send oil shipments to China after a legal order granted to ConocoPhillips froze its assets in Caribbean ports and terminals.
Maduro has vowed to boost production by 1 million additional barrels, while critics say output will plummet to 1 million barrels a day by the end of 2018.
Venezuela and China officials will continue meetings Wednesday, the ministry said in its statement. Zerpa, who has served in the post since October, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department before his appointment. — Fabiola Zerpa, Bloomberg

After devouring nearly as much energy as all of Iceland’s households combined, Bitcoin miners may be about to return something to the community that’s housed them.
Iceland is looking past the faddishness of cryptocurrencies and toward other projects that need the same kind of infrastructure Bitcoin miners rely on. These include areas like deep learning applications for self-driving cars or automatic translators.
Bitcoin “probably won’t be here far into the future” said Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson, business development manager at the HS Orka power plant in Iceland, which provides electricity to the data centers that miners use. But the centers themselves will become new technology incubators, and “that’s the bet we’re making,” he said.
Mining for Bitcoin requires lots of energy, both to do the actual mining but also to cool the enormous computers used to crack the codes that release the limited supply of Bitcoin. Iceland estimates the industry will consume more than 100 megawatts by the end of the year.
In a Tweet, Icelandic poet and former presidential candidate Andri Snaer Magnason likened “crypto mining” to “Cryptonite for Superman.” He added that “evil villains have found the most stupid way to waste energy.”
The island became a magnet for the practice once miners figured out that the place is very cold and that electricity there — geothermal and hydropower — costs a lot less than in most other places. Iceland’s cheap energy has already drawn other power intensive industries, such as aluminum smelting.
Painful Memories
Iceland is more sensitive than most to the risk of supporting an industry that may be headed for bust. It still has painful memories of the 2008 banking meltdown, which drove the island into the arms of the International Monetary Fund and resulted in capital controls that have only just been lifted.
The future of Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, is far from clear. After soaring close to $19,000 late last year, it crashed to less than $6,000 last week. Many other forms of cryptocurrency — Dead Coins lists about 800 now effectively worth nothing — have collapsed entirely.
But Iceland also needs to diversify its economy to rely less on fishing, tourism and aluminum smelting. And that’s where the data centers created to enable Bitcoin mining could play a key role.
Building Knowledge
Gisli Kr. Katrinarson, chief commercial officer at Iceland’s biggest data center operator, Advania, says it has “developed immense knowledge about the most efficient ways to operate and maintain these blockchain systems” and is now using this knowledge and experience “to increase the quality of service for our customers.”
Sindri Stefansson, a local man accused of stealing more than 600 computers from an Icelandic Bitcoin mining facility, was arrested in Amsterdam after escaping from prison and allegedly boarding a flight carrying Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir to Sweden for a meeting with her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, in a case that’s come to be known as Iceland’s Big Bitcoin Heist.
For Iceland, that means a much clearer path to reaping the benefits of the digital age. Katrinarson says Advania is already working with Stanford University and HP Enterprise on simulating how a virtual human heart might respond to experimental medication.
“The fourth revolution is starting,” said Asgeir Margeirsson, chief executive officer of the HS Orka power plant. “It would be terrible for us in Iceland not to follow that development. If we were not to take part in the next development into the future, we would slide back.”
Kristinn R. Thorisson, director of the Icelandic Institute for Intelligent Machines, says the data centers currently being used by Bitcoin miners are “central to the industrial revolution that is still under way.” Artificial intelligence today still requires “way more data than computing power.”
“There is less supply than demand right now,” said Thorisson, who predicts “a significant reliance on data centers” for “at least the next 50 years.”
 — Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir and Nick Rigillo, Bloomberg