Tai Hui Quotations

He has done well, managing expectations and talking about a prudent, fiscal policy rather than offering very generous tax cuts and concessions. The question is what he will do now, given the strong economic background and improved fiscal situation.

People have more faith in Hong Kong's logistics.

People have more faith in Hong Kong's logistics. Low value products are shipped directly out of Shenzhen to the world, higher value products come out through Hong Kong. It's the guarantee of safety.

Rising rentals over the last one to two years will continue to be reflected in new leases.

What we could see would be companies that stop using their own diesel generators and buy from official suppliers.

We're seeing inflationary pressure continue to ease in China, largely on the back of food prices, and I think the discussion going forward is that we would see a low inflation environment and maybe a hint of deflation as well.

Electricity doesn't travel very well. And there's no big power consumer among China's immediate neighbors that China can sell to.

Disneyland in Hong Kong has been a success story in attracting Chinese tourists. People are willing to pay a bit more for something that is run by an overseas operator and has the international vibe.

Both domestic and tourism spending remained very robust during the period, consistent with the local consumption picture in Hong Kong and higher tourist arrivals. Despite the volatility in retail sales figures in recent months, the trend is still pretty strong.

The government would like to see a bigger push from the private consumption side to drive the economy, ... is pretty good news for some of these foreign companies.

Quality property at the top-end of the market is still pretty scarce,

It's difficult. We need to boost the competitiveness of Hong Kong workers. That could be done by education but that's a medium-term solution.

Housing continues to be a key component driving inflation this year.

All these things suggest quite a significant step in liberalizing the Chinese capital account.

The high inflation was caused by the seasonal impact, but it also reflected the underlying inflationary pressure from rents.

The difficulty for the government is how to slow investment and credit without checking overall growth. Over the past two years we have seen the government take measures that have sometimes been ineffective or that have had to be reversed after a brief period.

There's a need for the government to maintain social stability in the community and there's a need for higher welfare payments, partly because of higher inflation we've seen in the last year or two and the growing needs of the elderly.

It's very difficult to see how China can decrease its trade surplus in the short term. China is very self- sufficient in terms of consumer goods and electronics and while they can buy more Boeing and Airbus jets, they are already doing that and still recording a surplus.

They have been doing a lot of domestic traveling in the last couple of years and they are very willing to come out and spend and enjoy themselves.

It seems the economy is still in pretty good shape. Net exports are still a major contributor.