Chinese firms attracted 49% of the global venture capital investment in financial technology companies in the first quarter, with JD Finance and Lu.com both securing USD1 billion deals, according to KPMG International and CB In-sights in a new report. Of the USD4.9 billion invested around the world in the period, Asia picked up USD2.6 billion, of which USD2.4 billion went to China. The number of VC-backed fintech deals completed in the first three months of this year rose to a new quarterly high of 218, the report said. “Global VC investment in the technology sector may be experiencing a bit of a pause, but fintech, propelled by some very large mega-rounds, has proven to be an exception,” said Warren Mead at KPMG International. Funding in the second quarter of the year is expected to remain high given the already announced USD4.5 billion funding round involving Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial, which closed in April.

Land prices in the biggest Chinese cities continue to skyrocket, with 118 sites sold at huge premiums so far this year, new data show. By May 19, 118 land parcels had been sold at steep premiums in the 22 top cities tracked by the China Real Estate Information Corp (CREIC). Developers paid a more than 100% premium for nearly 60 of them, while the premium reached 400% for some. Mid- and small-sized developers were the most aggressive in their bids, CREIC said. As competition intensifies and the industry consolidates, smaller real estate firms have no alternative but to expand faster to avoid being knocked out of the market, it said. Land prices have also jumped in first- and second-tier cities in the past year as new players have swarmed in to take advantage of a market divergence in which property prices in bigger cities have shot up while oversupply plagues smaller cities. In April, the municipal government of Suzhou sold 13 sites for CNY25 billion. The two-day land auction saw the emergence of several new “land kings”, or high-priced plots, as they are called in China. Mid-sized developer Jingrui Holdings purchased a plot in Gaoxin district at CNY19,699 a square meter, even more expensive than the district’s current average selling price for new flats. There could be some speculative investment as developers are betting on a steady rise in home prices, said David Hong, Research Director at CREIC. “It would very hard to make profit out of ‘land kings’ as the market is expected to enter a period of adjustment in the second half,” said Tospur Research Director Zhang Hongwei. The apartments built on such premium land target high-end customers, many of whom have been shut out of the market as a result of the recent cooling measures, the South China Morning Post reports.

Shenzhen, the southern city known as China’s Silicon Valley, could be losing its lustre due to a housing affordability crisis. Led by Huawei, talent, resources and money have been flowing out of Shenzhen to cheaper locations, in particularly Dongguan, about an hour’s drive north. Home prices in Shenzhen rose 508% in a decade. Nanshan, in southwestern Shenzhen, has been the breeding ground for its hundreds of hi-tech start-ups and listed companies, housing China’s top innovation companies such as Tencent and ZTE. However, its prohibitive property prices are scaring off talent and causing a headache for young hi-tech firms looking to expand their operations. Start-up have to offer ever higher salaries to try to attract talent. One company raised salaries by 20% last year, in large part to help its employees deal with rapidly rising rents. The cost of renting a home in Shenzhen climbed 23% last year, according to Homelink, with those in Nanshan district jumping 46.2% year-on-year to top the list. Shenzhen made headlines last year for having the world’s fastest-rising house prices according to real estate firm Knight Frank. They surged almost 50% last year to an average of CNY31,425 a square meter, more than double the average in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, but the average monthly salary in Shenzhen – CNY7,631 according job168.com – is only 10% higher than the average in Guangzhou. Dongguan is now home to 7,638 newly registered hi-tech businesses, almost double the number in 2012 when the local government launched an all-out effort to cultivate high-value-added industry. Some analysts fear Shenzhen may share a similar fate to Hong Kong, as soaring costs hollow out the city’s real economy and leave it over-reliant on the finance sector – already the second ranked driver of Shenzhen’s economy, the South China Morning Post reports.

The long awaited Shanghai Village, the second Village in China by Value Retail, opened its doors on 19 May 2016. Home to a unique blend of luxury brands, with boutiques offering exceptional savings, this luxury shopping experience is enhanced by a suite of first-class hospitality services and a selection of restaurants and cafés attentively positioned along the boulevards. Shanghai Village will give guests the opportunity to unwind in a spectacular open-air ‘village’ setting that offers a choice of restaurants specializing in fine cuisine and regional delicacies. A perfectly pitched ambience will convey a fusion of European and Asian cultures for discerning international and Chinese guests.

E-commerce companies have been given a one-year buffer period to rethink their cross-border strategies, after the government released new regulations, which ease controls introduced in April on certain imported goods sold online. The country’s customs authority said it will continue to allow the direct import of cosmetics, baby formula, medical equipment and healthcare-related food in 10 pilot cities, without permission, or the filing of special applications. Companies have been told they have until May 11, 2017 to bring imported goods into bonded warehouses in the cities – including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen – without having to complete customs clearance forms originally required from early April on cross-border e-commerce activities. The April regulation required e-commerce companies to obtain certificates first in order to get their goods through customs, which had already led to a fall in import volumes.