Asia

Air China, the national comapny, will be making its return to Zurich this summer, more than 17 years after it last operated flights to the Swiss city.It will ensure four connections per week between Zurich and Beijing, according to Zurich airport spokesperson Raffaela Stelzer in an interview with travel magazine “Travelinside”. The last trip made by Air China between the Swiss city and Beijing was in October 1999.

The announcement means more competition for Swiss International Airlines, as the new Air China flights will depart just fifteen minutes after those offered by the Swiss company, which is operated by Lufthansa.

Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of Xiao Jianhua, one of China’s richest men, reportedly taken away from the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong by Chinese police and put into custody in on the mainland, according to media reports.

Mr Xiao is the founder of Beijing-based Tomorrow Group, a well-connected financial services company, and is worth nearly $6 billion ($4.75 billion), according to the Hurun Report, China’s version of the Forbes Rich List.

It’s unclear why Mr Xiao has been targeted. China’s ministry of public security and foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, a public holiday in China. The Financial Times (FT) said Xiao normally keeps an entourage of female bodyguards but was led away without a scuffle.

China’s President, Xi Jinping, says that economic globalization has powered worldwide growth and should not be blamed for the world’s problems.

In an attack on the anti-globalization rhetoric, Xi told a packed audience at the World Economic Forum at Davos on Tuesday: "It is true that economic globalization created new problems but this is no justification to write off economic globalization altogether", and he added that “Pursing protectionism is just like locking oneself in a dark room".

He stressed the challenges as well of the benefits of economic globalisation and that the process needed to be made more “invigorated, inclusive and sustainable”.

Xi Jinping is set to become the first Chinese president to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering high in Davos. It’s a visit rich in symbolism: Beijing is positioning itself as a global leader at a time when Western powers, and especially the United States, are retreating from the world stage.

Globalisation and free trade are being attacked in the US and Europe. And with a new president about to enter the White House, President Xi’s speech will be watched very carefully.

Morgan Stanley and UBS Group are planning to raise their stakes in their securities operations in the country to the maximum 49% allowed, people with direct knowledge of the moves said, Reuters reported on Monday.

China allowed foreign banks to boost share holdings in securities joint ventures to a maximum 49% in 2012 from the previous cap of a third to help modernise the country’s capital markets.

Foreign investments banks with securities joint ventures in China, however, have not as yet raised their stakes as most of the ventures were small or struggling to break even due to sluggish onshore deals.

A commercial court in Zurich has rejected a lawsuit against FIFA that accused the body of failing to project migrant workers in Qatar. The legal action was filed against FIFA last month by Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) on behalf of a Bangladeshi construction worker employed on a 2022 World Cup project.
The lawsuit called on FIFA to force Qatar to adopt “minimum labour standards” for migrant workers.

HNA Group, the giant Chinese hotel and tourism company, agreed to buy about 25% of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc from Blackstone Group LP for about US$6.5 billion. HNA, controlled by Chen Feng, will pay US$26.25 a share in cash, or 15 per cent more than Hilton’s closing price on Friday. Under the deal, HNA cannot reduce its 25% stake over the next two years or increase it without Hilton’s permission. The deal, which is expected to go through in early 2017, will cut Blackstone’s share in Hilton to 21%.

This latest move by HNA is part of the group’s efforts to become a "global tourism business," said the company’s chief executive Adam Tan. HNA announced in April that it had agreed to acquire Carlson Hotels, which owns the Radisson and Park Plaza brands.

Samsung Electronics said on Friday it expected to take a hit of about 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) to its operating profit over the next two quarters from the fallout of its bungled Galaxy Note 7 recall.

The negative impact will not shock otherwise the Korean company that focuses on the sales of other handsets to cushion the failure of Galaxy Note 7.