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- 💰Will India Be the Next China?
💰Will India Be the Next China?
Reading time: 4 min 33 sec
☕️ Good morning comrades,
Travel tip for the non-superstitious: Head to Japan this summer. Tourist numbers are expected to drop by 50% compared to last year.
The reason? A manga from 1999 predicted a catastrophe for July 2025.
So far, no travel warning has been issued by the German Foreign Office. We’ll keep you posted!
🚀 Benchmarks
| Index | Current | 24 h | YTD | 52W High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇪 DAX | 23,641.58 | +1.60 % | +18.06 % | 24,479.42 |
| 🇺🇸 NASDAQ | 19,935.53 | +1.55 % | +3.40 % | 20,204.58 |
| 🇰🇷 KOSPI | 3,103.64 | +2.96 % | +29.38 % | 3,022.06 |
| 🇯🇵 Nikkei | 38,790.56 | +1.14 % | –1.31 % | 42,426.77 |
| 🇭🇰 Hang Seng | 24,177.07 | +2.06 % | +23.21 % | 24,874.39 |
| 🇨🇳 Shanghai | 3,420.57 | +1.81 % | +4.84 % | 3,674.41 |
🔢 Facts & Figures
43%
That’s how much China’s imports of selected U.S. agricultural products dropped in May compared to last year. Experts doubt that trade will ever fully recover.
5.1 billion USD
That’s how much SK Group and Amazon are investing in what will become South Korea’s largest AI data center. It’s set to be fully operational in Ulsan by 2029.
557 million USD
That’s the combined investment from Tesla, Kangfu Leasing, and the city of Shanghai for China’s first grid storage station using Megapack batteries.
Top Bit: 💰 Investors Bet on India’s Tech Boom
Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Prosus
Dutch tech investor Prosus (majority-owned by Naspers) is increasingly shifting capital from China to India. CEO Fabricio Bloisi sees the potential for the next hundred-billion-dollar tech heavyweight there. He announced several IPOs from the company’s own portfolio for 2025 – including PayU, Meesho, and other e-commerce platforms.
Details
🔑 Strategy: Prosus integrates fintech, food delivery, and commerce into ecosystems built on a shared tech platform.
📊 Plan: Up to 5 IPOs (including Swiggy) are expected to generate liquidity and attract domestic capital to India.
📈 Target: Bloisi envisions a future “$100 billion champion” from India and expects to double the value of Prosus’ portfolio.
🌏 Global Expansion: At the same time, Prosus is eyeing acquisitions in Europe and Latin America.
💹 China as a Blueprint: Its Tencent investment grew from $32 million (2001) to nearly $600 billion today. Bloisi hopes for similar value creation in India.
Why it matters
Tech Momentum: India’s massive domestic market offers AI, payment, and e-commerce firms the kind of scale effects previously seen mainly in China.
Geopolitics: Western capital flows reduce dependency on Chinese platforms and strengthen New Delhi’s position as a strategic partner.
Capital Market Growth: Local IPOs bolster the Mumbai Stock Exchange and could permanently expand the funding base for Asian tech firms.
Background
Prosus is a global internet company with 2 billion customers and one of the world’s largest tech investors.
Its investment bet on India follows the “super app plus adjacent services” model – a blueprint that has already created billions in value in China and Latin America.
Further Reading: CNBC, Times of India
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Head Of The Day
Lucy Guo
🦄 Self-made billionaire: Although she doesn’t live in Asia, she’s still worth a mention. The daughter of Chinese immigrants co-founded Scale AI at 21, kept a 5% stake, and with the current $25B valuation became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire (net worth ≈ $1.3B).
Today, the 30-year-old runs the creator startup Passes, invests aggressively in AI newcomers, and lives by the motto “Act broke, stay rich” — for her, work-life balance is only necessary if you’re in the wrong job.
Market Bit: ☕ Starbucks Considers Partial Sale of Its China Business
Details
📉 Shrinking Market Share: Starbucks' share in China has dropped from 34% in 2019 to 14%; competitors like Luckin and Cotti are driving coffee prices down to under ¥5 ($0.60).
💬 Official Position: The company denies plans for a full exit but confirms “strategic reviews.”
🏭 Local Presence: Its Coffee Innovation Park in Kunshan, opened in 2023, roasts all beans for over 6,500 stores in China.
⚙️ Selection Process: Interested buyers must outline their approach to culture, sustainability, labor policy, and deal structure; a shortlist is expected soon.
Why it matters
Pricing pressure – Global brands are struggling to maintain pricing power under China’s intense discounting pressure.
Strategic shift – A partial sale would unlock capital and deepen local partnerships—potentially a model for other Western consumer brands.
Private equity opportunity – Attractive entry point into China’s premium coffee market amid depressed valuations.
Top Reads
🇲🇲 Civil War Nation Underpins China’s Rare Earth Monopoly – Over half of Beijing’s rare earth imports now come from Myanmar’s conflict-ridden Kachin province—especially the critical heavy elements dysprosium and terbium. If supply routes are cut, China’s high-tech value chains are at risk. More on this.
🇪🇺 EU Foreign Chief Kallas Urges Realism on China – While calling China a “key enabler” of Russia’s war and blaming it for cyberattacks, she also says cooperation on trade and climate is indispensable. In her July meeting with Wang Yi, she’ll raise Iran’s escalation and Hormuz-related supply risks—a litmus test ahead of the EU-China summit. More on this.
🇨🇳 China’s Traders Defy Middle East Tensions – Shipments to Dubai rose 20% YoY in June. Despite Iran-Israel frictions, the region remains a growth target for Chinese firms. But analysts warn that potential U.S. secondary sanctions on Iran could abruptly disrupt the business of thousands of Chinese e-commerce exporters. More on this.
Optional Reads
Singapore: Ties with China more important than ever amid global turbulence, says PM Wong. More on this.
China: Planning a large-scale military parade on September 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II. More on this.
South Korea: Special prosecutor files new arrest warrant request for ex-President Yoon. More on this.
🚢 Stowaway Surprise: A scrawny cat secretly traveled nearly four weeks from China to Minnesota.
It survived on condensation and possibly a few mice before being discovered in Oakdale. The weakened feline is now safe in a shelter, steadily regaining strength with proper meals.
All that’s missing is a name – send us your suggestions! 👇🏻
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See you tomorrow,
Thomas, Michael & the Team of asiabits.
Imprint
Editors: Michael Broza, Thomas Derksen, William Hu, Eva Trotno, Cindy Zhang
Content responsibility: Thomas Derksen
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