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20 October 2011

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Rescue ahoy!

The Big Call

Transport investment stalls

The once-firm bond between state banks and state-owned transport infrastructure builders is fraying, throwing a key motivator of economic growth into doubt.

Consumer China

Grocery retail – The Great Land Grab

Domestic supermarket operators have embarked on a land grab to maintain profits in an increasingly competitive segment.

Renrenle – struggling to conquer the lower tiers

A series of closures of recently opened stores has blighted the company’s progress and weighed on profit margins.

Lianhua – supermarket expansion drags on performance

Large-scale closures of poorly performing franchise supermarkets and convenience stores damaged recent sales growth.

Yonghui – fresh food and direct-sourcing drive rapid expansion

Supplying fresh food bought directly from the producer has proven a winning combination for Yonghui.

Sun Art – leveraging lower-tier city growth

Sun Art surpassed Carrefour in a China Confidential survey to rank as the second most popular supermarket in third-tier cities after Walmart.

Financial China

Wenzhou – where the bailouts start

The readiness of Beijing to order rescue efforts for Wenzhou companies hit by the shadow banking crisis is representative of a wider imperative to launch assistance initiatives in several parts of the economy.

Selected Financial Charts

A selection of key financial data.

Rural China

Cracking the hybrid rice code

Yuan Longping is gaining a reputation among farmers for high-quality seeds that boost rice yields.

Rural wealth creation boom picks up in September

The China Confidential Rural Wealth Index picked up slightly in September helped by an increase in minivan sales and robust rural financing.

The Best of Chinese Commentators

The US currency bill

The Senate's decision to support a currency bill aimed at China has unsurprisingly sparked fierce debate.

Walmart's woes

The US retail chain is under pressure in China for mislabelling products in Chongqing and losing its CEO in recent days.

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China Confidential Funds, a new research service launched by FT China Confidential, is dedicated to illuminating the mainland fund industry. Our team of fund industry experts in Shanghai search out the interesting trends in fund performance, strategy, interactions with overseas funds, regulatory changes, distribution and management. We also use a proprietary system to track the emerging flows of Chinese money. Click here to find out more.

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Europe's financial problems and the US's slow recovery cast a shadow over prospects for the world economy. In this gloomy scenario, growth in China, India, Brazil and other emerging markets is certainly a bright spot. But how badly exposed is the developing world of the south to the problems of debt-ridden north? In a special report, a team from FT Brazil Confidential interviewed GlobalSource Partners local experts from 16 emerging economies.

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