Tai Po in New Territories

Residents in Tai Po are protesting approvals to build on undeveloped land. The sites had been used as illegal dumping grounds for construction waste. Residents say the rezoning from agriculture to apartments only encourages unscrupulous developers from “trashing” other sites int he hopes of claiming them for development. This and more are making headlines in Hong Kong today.

SCMP

l   HK: Meeting budget deadline impossible, Tsang warns

-Budget bill could not be passed by Wednesday even if the filibuster ended

l   HK: Advisers make U-turn on legal aid

-Council says there is no need for an independent authority

l   HK: Shadow banking extends to HK firms

-Mainland bosses, unable to secure loans from banks at home, turn to Hong Kong brokers, agree to pay high rates of interest

l   China: Graft-busters investigate top planning official

-Deputy Director of the NDRC Liu Tienan investigated for fraud and impropriety

l   China: Bureau ordered to stop compiling list of petitioners

-Officials put an end to a system of ranking grievances that led to illegal detentions

Sing Tao

l   Environmental groups oppose plan by developer to build on Tai Po agricultural land

l   John Tsang criticizes those responsible for the filibuster

-Warns of funding shortfall starting from next month

l   LegCo to hear plan to abolish 68 appointed district council seats in 2016

-Number of democratically elected seats to only rise by 11, opposition expected among the districts

Caixin

l   Institutions predict that liquidity will be tighter in the second half

l   Prominent economist Wu Jinglian warns that economy may come off its rails without more reform

-Warns of danger of two opposing systems [reforms and continued state direction]

l   NDRC’s Liu Tienan investigated for illegal behavior

Xinhua

l   NDRC’s Liu Tienan is under investigation for serious illegal behavior

l   Analysts believe that CSRC wished to send a strong signal by subjecting Ping An to a heavy fine

l   NDRC and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will soon send written version of a plan to resolve overcapacity in Chinese industries to the State Council

l   IPOs may be restarted in the third quarter, later than expected

We want democracy, but more than that we want orderliness. A poll put out by Beijing says Hong Kongers do not support the Occupy Central movement. Maybe if it were tidier?

SCMP

l   HK: Citywide poll bid for 2017 vote panel

-Pan-democrats want one man, one vote to choose nominating committee, but rivals say this might flout Basic Law

l   HK: Survey blow to Occupy Central

-Poll shows more people back keeping order than democracy, Beijing warns on protest plan

l   HK: Beijing loyalists set to dominate Tong inquiry

l   China: People’s Daily challenges sovereignty of Okinawa

l   China: More help for farmers to boost meat supplies

Sing Tao

l   With the strike over, sources of tension remain as workers discover that previously offered benefits are included in the salary increase

l   True Democracy Alliance calls for democratic election of nominating committee

l   New People’s Party tells head of Beijing’s liaison office that pan-democrats should not be screened out of the 2017 election

l   Authorities may call for 20 percent of newly constructed units to be set aside for young people

Caixin

l   NDRC calls on underwriters to stop using agreed pricing in debt issuance

-Encourages the use of book building instead

l   April CPI rises 2.4 percent in line with expectations, according to NBS

l   First-quarter dim-sum bond issuance is 45 percent of all of last year

l   Guangzhou mulls writing declarations of assets by officials into law

Xinhua

l   NBS: April CPI rises 2.4 percent, PPI falls 2.6 percent

l   CSRC Vice-Chairman Zhuang Xinyi says innovation and risk control must be balanced

l   State Council’s goal in calling for capital market reforms is balanced development of investment and financing

l   Netizens question Transport Ministry’s expressway toll management regulations

Clients are keen to understand what’s happening across all the media in Hong Kong – that’s why we provide the headlines from the day’s top newspapers.

SCMP

l   HK: ICAC chiefs should be open to investigation, says Lam

-As former ICAC chief Timothy Tong stays silent over meals and gifts , chief secretary stresses all ICAC officers are bound by civil service rules

l   HK: Swire eyes regional growth (Southeast Asia and China)

-Chairman Christopher Pratt opines on HK’s economy and the company’s expansion plans

l   HK: Hong Kong is losing its competitive edge, Beijing warns

l   China: Reduce bird flu fatalities, Li urges health officials

-St

l   China: Military plate ban on luxury cars

Sing Tao

l   Union lowers target salary increase; says it will negotiate

l   Anson Chan says that the other party in negotiations should be the HK government and not the central government’s liaison office

l   Long-term Housing Strategy Steering Committee must hold extra meetings to meet its final report deadline.

Caixin

l   Credit risk spreads to the petrochemical and construction industries

-CBRC puts out a warning

l   Fall in growth of Chinese enterprise corporate profits, disparity exists in the financial numbers of government enterprises

l   CBRC says financing platform channels are diversifying and becoming more covert

l   Baidu’s complaint of improper competition against Qihu 360 explained

Xinhua

l   Dairy association says that the quality of Chinese baby formula is higher than that of imports, standards are the strictest in the world

l   Revenue from main taxes falls significantly in first quarter, property-related taxes rebound

l   CSRC: IPO examination process not complete

l   Net profit of China’s banking industry rises 50 times in ten years

l   Curtain falls on A-share company reports; company operating income and net profit lowest in four years