Libyans savour joys of consumerism (AFP)

Libyans savour joys of consumerism (AFP)

by Imed Lamloum 51 minutes ago TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libyans are shaking off decades of deprivation resulting from an iron-fisted socialist rule, international isolation and sanctions to savour the joys of their new market economy. Gone are the days of having to queue outside gloomy state shops to buy subsidised consumer goods in Libya, which is an OPEC member and Africa's number two oil producer with reserves estimated to total 42 billion barrels.
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China toy export industry sees 1st bankruptcies: report (Reuters)

10.16.2008 - World - Comments [0]


China toy export industry sees 1st bankruptcies: report (Reuters)

23 minutes ago

BEIJING (Reuters) - Two factories subcontracting to Hong Kong-listed toymaker Smart Union Group have shut their doors, the China Daily reported, calling it the first recent bankruptcies for an industry heavily dependent upon exports to the United States.

The two factories, in Dongguan, an export-dependent city about an hour-and-a-half north of Hong Kong by train, did not pay their 6,500 employees in September or October, the paper said in an online report late on Thursday. It cited local officials as saying the subcontractors had gone bankrupt.

Smart Union shares closed at HK$0.099 a share on Wednesday, and did not trade on Thursday. They have lost 94 percent of their value since the beginning of the year.

Smart Union has not yet given a reason for its share suspension.

The company reported a loss of more than HK$200 million in the first six months of the year.

Dongguan earlier this month set up a 1 billion yuan ($146.4 million) rescue fund for small and medium sized businesses hurt by the global economic crisis, which has reduced export orders sharply.

Factories in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have also suffered from a credit crunch, rising labor costs and China's stronger currency, which makes their products more expensive.

The number of Chinese firms exporting toys overseas halved in the first seven months of 2008, compared to the year before, the General Administration of Customs said on Monday.

($1=6.830 Yuan)

(Reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Ken Wills)

China toy export industry sees 1st bankruptcies: report (Reuters)

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