Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
All eyes are on South Korea as the country chooses its leader for the next five years. A less meaningful election is to be held in Turkmenistan over the weekend, when current President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is expected to hand power to his son in a tightly controlled poll.
China's National People's Congress finishes on Friday, when Premier Li Keqiang will meet reporters and answer questions on a range of topics about the world's second largest economy.
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MONDAY
Chinese foreign minister meets the press
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will talk about the country's foreign policy direction for 2022 on the sidelines of the National People's Congress in Beijing. Among topics of interest will be Ukraine's request for China to mediate over Russia's invasion and China's relationship with the U.S.
PayPal pulls back from Thailand
From Monday, PayPal's services in Thailand will be limited as it works on a relaunch to comply with tightening regulatory requirements for online payment system providers. People will no longer be able to use their PayPal wallets to shop online, although they can still transfer their wallet balances to their bank accounts. Accounts linked to freelancers, casual sellers and small businesses will only be able to make bank withdrawals. Thais will not be able to create new PayPal accounts until further notice.
Lenovo & Nongfu added to Hang Seng
Nongfu Spring, China's largest bottled-water seller, and PC maker Lenovo officially join Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, bringing the index's number of stocks to 66. The Hang Seng Index has fallen about 25% from a year ago amid China's continuous clampdown on its technology and internet sector. Lenovo has been under attack from Chinese nationalists after the company reportedly halted shipments to Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Lenovo has been approached for comment.
Agile Group $500m bond matures
Agile Group Holdings, a debt-strapped property developer based in Guangdong Province, faces the maturity of a $500 million offshore bond issued in 2019. The company so far has repurchased and canceled $63.5 million of the principal. It has said it has deposited "sufficient funds" into the designated bank account of the trustee to redeem the remaining $436.5 million note in full.
However, S&P Global Ratings downgraded the developer's ratings to "B+" with a negative outlook in mid-January, citing tightened liquidity and "sizable near-term debt maturities with limited refinancing options." The rating means the bond is uninvestable, or in a junk status.
The credit agency said in a report last month that Agile, along with a few other private Chinese developers, might "hold debt off their balance sheets, through use of private bonds, or wealth management products."
TUESDAY
Apple spring event
Apple is set to unveil several highly anticipated new products in a virtual showcase at 10 a.m. California time on March 8. The U.S. tech giant in previous years has used its spring launch event to unveil low-cost iPhones and this time is expected to introduce a new iPhone SE that supports 5G. It will be the third year for Apple to hold its product launch in an all-virtual format, due to COVID-19.
Company earnings: ZTE, Gaotu Techedu
Pakistan monetary policy announcement
WEDNESDAY
South Korea presidential election
Tens of millions of South Korean voters will cast their ballots to elect a president to lead Asia's fourth-largest economy for the next five years. Opinion polls show Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative opposition People Power Party is slightly ahead in the race. The former chief prosecutor in the past week teamed up with Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People's Party.
However, Lee Jae-myung of the governing Democratic Party is chasing Yoon hard. He is aiming to win by mobilizing young female voters who oppose Yoon's anti-feminist stance.
Luxshare EGM on capital raising plan
China's Luxshare Precision Industry, a fast-growing iPhone assembler that is challenging longtime industry heavyweights Foxconn and Pegatron, holds an extraordinary general meeting. The shareholders gathering will review and vote on the tech manufacturer's plan to raise 13.5 billion yuan to boost its output of smart wearables, mobile devices and chip packaging and testing services.
Luxshare recently announced plans to work with Chinese automobile maker Chery Group to design and produce vehicles for the other automakers. Its bigger rival Foxconn last week said it would build its first battery factories in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung to secure a supply of the strategic materials for the booming electric vehicle industry.
China February CPI/PPI release
Japan revised GDP (Oct.-Dec.)
Company earnings: Cathay Pacific
Kazakhstan monetary policy announcement
THURSDAY
India state election results
Election results for five of India's states -- including the country's most populous and political bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh -- are set to be declared on Thursday, following a staggered voting process that began on Feb. 10. A victory in Uttar Pradesh would be a fillip for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2024 national elections.
Nio lists on HKEX
Trading of Chinese electric carmaker Nio starts on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Shanghai-based company is not raising money or issuing new shares in Hong Kong, as it applied for a listing by way of introduction, meaning that the listing process has been much shortened. Nio has also applied for a similar secondary listing in Singapore and said it would continue to primarily list and trade its American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
Company earnings: JD.com, Pegatron
FRIDAY
NPC close and Premier Li's news conference
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will hold the annual news conference that comes after the weeklong National People's Congress, fielding questions on subjects including the economy, social development and foreign relations. The occasion provides a rare chance for foreign journalists in China to peek into the communist country's opaque bureaucracy.
Company earnings: China Unicom, AIA
WEEKEND
Turkmenistan presidential election
Turkmenistan's election on Sunday is all but certain to cap a transfer of power from father to son, in a country that has never held polls considered free and fair. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov -- known as "Arkadag," "the Protector" -- last month declared it was time to hand the reins to a younger generation. The candidacy of Serdar, Berdymukhamedov's son and deputy, was confirmed days later. Analysts say that at least in the short term Serdar is unlikely to bring meaningful change.
