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Threads of Tradition

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Anna Zegna enters the room like a bolt of lightning arcing over a corn field at dusk. One minute her office is quiet and still, with soft shadows caressing the books and fabrics on her desk, the next it's full of blinding energy as Zegna sits down while issuing orders to three members of her staff and grabbing a bottle of water to moisten her kinetic lips. She throws a 'Salve!' at me and a 'Ciao!' at the back of an assistant who has been sent to get espressos. 'See,' she says. 'It is done.'

Zegna is talking about the fall / winter 2009 collection for the brand's top-end Ermenegildo Zegna line. We have just watched it thunder down the runway in Zegna's Milan headquarters, accompanied by a blitz of techno jazz beneath subterranean lighting. The signature Zegna pinstripe was everywhere but it's been recast in the colour of Chianti, a lovely burgundy shade running through tailored suits and cropped jackets, some of which look so Siamese-cat soft that nobody would have been shocked if they had started to purr.

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US study finds China’s tech innovation ‘much stronger’ than previously understood

Performing best in nuclear power, EVs and batteries, mainland companies will ‘likely equal or surpass Western firms within a decade or so’

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Khushboo Razdanin Washington

Can China innovate and outcompete the US in their pitched battle for technological supremacy?

A 20-month investigation into the innovation performance of 44 Chinese firms across key technologies – including nuclear power, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and materials science – revealed a troubling yes for the US.
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Hong Kong banks trim prime rates by a quarter point, meeting Fed’s aggressive cut halfway

For a typical HK$5 million, 30-year loan priced at prime minus 1.75 per cent, a quarter-point cut in prime rates will save mortgage borrowers HK$720 per month

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Five of Hong Kong’s major commercial banks cut their prime rates for the first time in almost five years, after the local monetary authority followed the US Federal Reserve in kicking off a rate-cut cycle.

Bank of China (Hong Kong), HSBC and its Hang Seng Bank unit will trim their prime lending rates by a quarter percentage point to 5.625 per cent, and cut their savings rate by the same margin to 0.625 per cent per annum for deposits that exceed HK$5,000 (US$640), the banks said in separate statements on Thursday.
Standard Chartered and Bank of East Asia will pare the loans rate for their best customers by a quarter point to 5.875 per cent, and will reduce their deposit rate to 0.625 per cent, back to the level of November 2022.

The cuts translate to savings for borrowers who tie their loans to prime rates. For a typical HK$5 million loan of 30 years priced at prime minus 1.75 per cent, the reduction lowers the mortgage rate to 3.875 per cent and shaves the monthly payment by HK$720 to HK$23,512, according to mReferral, a local mortgage broker.

Howard Lee, the acting CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), during a press briefing on September 19, 2024. Photo: Enoch Yiu.
Howard Lee, the acting CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), during a press briefing on September 19, 2024. Photo: Enoch Yiu.
Earlier in the day, Hong Kong’s de facto central bank cut its base interest rate for the first time in four years in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve, which slashed its target rate by half a percentage point.
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