Yahoo! owns 40% of the e-commerce company while the Aliababa gropu owns 74%. Alibaba Group is offering minority share holders HK$ 13.50 each in cash.On Wednesday, Alibaba.com’s shares which had been suspended since Feb 19th surged 40% as they resumed trading.

To complete the deal, the group secured a USD 3 billion loan earlier this week. Yahoo’s bid to buy back its stake in Alibaba Group has not yet borne fruit after long-running negotiations between the two companies concerning the matter.

Analysts believe that Yahoo! is not part of the Alibaba Group’s deal but they say it signals the company’s change of strategy. Alibaba.com is the world’s largest business-to-business e-commerce platform.

What the change in strategy is has not been made clear. Within the Alibaba empire is Alibaba.com, a B2B product supply agent; Taobao, a C2C auction site; Tmall, a B2C retail site; Alipay, a payment platform; and Yahoo China. Speculation is forming that the wider group may be relisted, but with the founder Jack Ma, retaining a larger stake

Initially the company focused on attracting members to its site for growth. However,the company had to change tack after fraud scandal that threatened to take it down two years ago. Nowadays,it focuses on offering high qaulity services to a smaller group of customers.

This has resulted to the decrease of the number of new customers joining the site,a situation that will likely slow revenue growth.

If the plan goes through, Wal-Mart’s online sales in the Chinese market will be boosted while the retail giant’s competitiveness in the south Asian country’s e-commerce sector will be maintained.

 According to a statement relased by Wal-Mart, plans are underway to incerase the retailer’s holding in Yihaodian to 51%.

Chinese regulation authorities are yet to appprove the retailer’s move. Founder and Chairman of Yihaodian Yu Gang speaking with China Daily in a telephone interview said that no significant changes of personnel would be occassioned by increasing Wal-Mart’s stake.

Financial details f the move were not revealed by neither company. Yu also disputed claims that one of Yiahaodian’s major shareholders Ping An Insurance Group, was planning to sell its entire stake to Wal-Mart.

There have been rumours in recent past that the insurer was planning to selll 60% of its stake in Yihaodian to the American retailer.According to Yu,the Yihaodian brand will remain independent ans separate in China.

Yihaodian recorded a sales revenue of RMB 2.7 billion in 2011 up from RMB 4.17 million in 2008. Ping An acquired 80% of Yihaodian’s share at RMB 80 million in 2010.

A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) think-tank has analysed FDI in detail and concluded that serving China’s growing domestic demand will be the main driver but that this move into a more service oriented economy will be harder for investors to navigate than with export-led manufacturing.

The trend away from manufacturing is evident in the last ten years. In 2001, 66% of investment was into manufacturing; by 2010 this had fallen to 47%.

In terms of investment moving inland the EIU highlighted the province of Chongqing in central China. In 2010 the Central Government awarded one its cities, Liangjiang, the same status as Bianhai in Tianjin and Pudong in Shanghai. In FDI terms the province went from being ranked 22nd out the 31 provinces in 2007 to bringing in USD 10.8 billion of investment in 2011, more than Beijing. In 2014 it is expected to overtake Tianjin and Shanghai in the amount invested.

While China’s government is clearly trying to direct business investment towards the central provinces, it is not clear what its attitude is towards investment in services rather than manufacturing. The EIU argues that China should actually welcome service sector investment because that has proved so successful in Hong Kong and Singapore. Specifically, sectors such as consumer banking and insurance, which are so poorly delivered in China currently, would benefit from liberalisation and allowing foreign players in.

Excluding affordable housing funded by the government, house prices fell month-on-month in over half of China’s 70 major cities.

In January, there were no price rises reported in any city compared to 2 the previous month that recorded a 0.1% monthly gain. By comparison in January 2011 new house prices went up in 60 out of 70 major cities.

In some cities where restrictions were enforced by the government to prevent the housing market from over heating, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai,new home prices fell between 0.1% and 0.3% last month from the previous month.

A business analyst with China Real Estate Information company Sky Xue said that for the first time, no gains were posted in any of the cities in new home values since the National Bureau of Statistics began to release prices for 70 cities a year ago.

According to Xue, the performance of the housing market in China is moving in a direction the central government has wanted after all the measures to control it were implemented.

Gone are the days when stretch-limousines, yachts and costly mansions used to make heads turn among the circles of the filthy rich . Nowadays, owning a private jet is the in-thing if you are to be taken seriously by your fellow millionaries in Asia.

Embraer from Brazil took the millionaries wooing game a notch higher after they had the USD 31.5 million personal legacy 650 jet belonging to Jackie Chan flown to Singapore. 

Chan, a martial arts movie star born in Hong Kong with a massive folowing in China,was recently appointed by Embraer as its brand ambassador.

Other exhibitors included Gulfstream Aerospace Inc. from the US and Bombardier from Canada. Speaking during the airshow, Embraer president Ernest Edwards said that the Asia-Pacific aviation industry is growing very nicely.

A recent study by Capgemini and Merill Lynch Global Wealth Management revealed that currently,Asia has the second largest concertration of millionaires in the world after the United States with most of them coming from China and India.

There are an estimated 400 billionaires in Asia and over one million millionaires. That’s measured in US dollars of course, not rupees.

Carriers from China and Japan are seeking to launch new routes to one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world, Seoul, and industry players believe this could lead price wars as established carriers seek to defend their turf.

So far, South Korea’s two full-service airlines are facing a number of challenges including the weaker local currency, low cargo demand, and volatile fuel prices. The news of entry new competitors from China and Japan will present another challenge to them.

Business analysts are saying that despite the fact that Asiana Airlines and Korean Air are significant players in the budget carrier segment, their stake in the aviation market could shrink if they face serious competition. There are a growing number of budget-consious tourists who are willing to sacrifice their comfort in return for lower fares.

South Korea’s Transport Ministry reported that there are curently over 10 million South Koreans using low-cost airlines, a 32.5% increase from 2010.

Last year, the country’s five budget airlines T’way Air, Eastar Jet, Jin Air, Air Busan and Jeju Air had a combined market share of 16.5% of all passengers, up 3.3% from the previous year. The five airlines control domestically is much stronger at 41% of domestic traffic.

According to officials, other airlines planning to tap in to the Korean aviation market include Japan’s Peach Aviation, Air Asia Japan and JetStar Japan (an affiliate of Qantas). China’s Spring Airlines is also looking to launch flights to Korea.

Xinhua News agency reported that Foxconn chairman Terry Gou met with Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss Foxconn’s production expansion possibility on the mainland. About 1 million workers have been employed by Foxconn at four locations across China prodicing iPhone and iPad both from Apple.

Worker conditions were likely to have been high on the agenda too after Apple received a barrage of bad business news in the United States about Foxconn’s treatment of its workforce.

Hsu said that since Apple was planning to introduce new devices in the global market, Foxconn’s production expansion was very likely adding that the US electronics giant is known for its strategy of laying down long term plans with its suppliers.

Apple’s iPad 3 is widely expected to be launched in the first quarter of this year. Shipments of the new iPad are expected to clock 70 million units. Following that, the iPhone 5 is likely to be launched later in the year.

Foxconn’s parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. is listed on the Taiwan stock exchange.

According to a retail audit carried out by GfK over 17.5 million units of major domestic appliances (MDAs) were sold in 2011 in Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. MDAs including microwave ovens, washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners. The appliances had a total value of USD 4.95 billion up more than 12% on the previous year.

Washing machines were in particular demand with sales up 16% in volume and 18% in value. The ownership of major domestic appliances are a key indicator of living standards, and the 16% rise in the number of washing machines shows a rapid rise in living standards.

GfK’s Home and Lifestyle Regional Account Director Ms Jasmine Lim observed that developing markets in Southeast Asia are modernizing rapidly and embracing modern technology. For example there was an emerging preference for front-loader/dryer washing machines over top loader tubs in most markets.

She added that currently Indonesia was the most lucrative market having ranked the highest MDA sales in the region in 2011. Indonesia reported an upsurge of 24% in MDAs with most types recording double-digit growth in sales compared to the previous year. However, washing machines stole the show recording growth of 31% in volume and value. In total, Indonesians bought 2.08 million washing machines last year compared to 1.59 million units the previous year.

The south east Asian market for major appliances is dominated by Japanese and Korean manufacturers, the top five of which have around 70% share.

Operating profit for last year was RMB 7.58 billion (USD 1.2bn) with income in the last quarter slightly ahead against a forecast consensus. Revenue was RMB 14.5 billion (USD 2.3m), up 83%, suggesting that Baidu’s high margins have been getting even better.

Diluted earnings per share (or rather ADS, mirror stock traded in New York) were USD 3.02 meaning that Baidu (NAQ:BIDU) is now trading at about 47 times earnings. Hence, while the results are impressive, expectations are well priced in.

Baidu has spent the last year growing its advertising volumes and squeezing Google out of the Chinese market. Baidu’s share of Chinese searches is around 80%, and now nearly 10% globally. Google’s share has dropped to around 5.8%.

The Chinese government appears not only keen to squeeze Google out, but also promote alternatives such as Sogou (part owned by Alibaba) and Soso (owned by Tencent). As an example it has recently not renewed Google’s licence for maps of Chinese cities but has granted other search engines the licence.

Robin Li, the founder of Baidu and its CEO is now thought to be China’s second-richest man.

For an overview of the search engine market and profiles on Baidu and the other players, we suggest you read Asian Business Daily’s review.

Bombardier (TSX:BBD) is a Canadian manufacturer of aircraft and trains but these investments focus on maintenance of fleets of regional and corporate jet aircraft.

In Indonesia Bombardier will team up with Garuda Airways who have just closed a deal to buy 18 CRJ 1000 NextGen jets at the Singapore Airshow. Garuda as an option another 18 of the CRJs (Canadian Regional Jets), each with a capacity of around 100 passengers. The maintenance center, most likely to be based in Jakarta, will service the new fleet as well as existing Bombardier aircraft in the region, not necessarily just belonging to Garuda.

In Singapore, Bombardier will invest in its own full scale maintenance facility for corporate jets. The facility will enable any owner of a Bombardier Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft to get the comfort from it being serviced by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) rather than a third party. The Singapore base will open in September 2013 and will be the second outside of North America and the 10th in the world.

Singapore was chosen because it is a regional hub and because the region now has a large and growing number of Bombardier corporate jets. Indeed by 2030, Bombardier estimates there will be more than 1,100 corporate jets in the Asia-Pacific region.