Gwynn Guilford

Fairly or not, when it comes to sharks, most people associate them with the “eaters” more than the “eaten.” Not Europeans. And the meat of one type of shark, the Atlantic spiny dogfish, is a particular favorite. It’s used in fish and chips in the UK, where it’s been rebranded as “rock salmon.” Germans know dogfish as “sea eel,” and it’s called saumonette (little salmon) in French and, vitello di mare, or “sea veal,” in Italy. In fact, Europeans in the past have dug dogfish so much that they long ago depleted their own spiny dogfish populations. That’s made it a promising market for US fishermen.

Among the things that Ningxia, a tiny autonomous region in northwest China, can boast are a per-capita GDP of $5,700, a one-in-six poverty rate and the largest concentration of Muslims in the Yellow River delta.

Two bulk carriers—the South Korean-registered Oriental Pioneer and a Bahamas-flagged Atlantic Hero rammed into each other in Singaporean waters early this morning. Damage to the Oriental Pioneer’s fuel tank spilled around 100 tonnes (110 tons) of fuel oil. No one was injured, and the Singaporean government reports that cleanup is proving successful, though it has not clarified the cause of the collision. Here’s a look at the cleanup effort, via @TODAYonline:

If you want your money to grow, keeping it in a state-owned Chinese bank is not generally a great idea. To make sure the banks have enough money to lend, the Chinese government sets deposit rates that are usually much lower than what banks can charge for loans, and oftentimes even lower than inflation—meaning that keeping your cash in the bank actually loses you money. Despite making noise about “interest-rate liberalization,” the government has done nothing to adjust this cushy setup for banks. That’s left Chinese desperate for more profitable places to keep their money.

Five big Chinese cities rank among the priciest housing markets in the world, surpassing notoriously expensive cities like Tokyo, London and New York, based on calculations by the International Monetary Fund. In fact, seven out of 10 of the world’s least affordable markets—Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Chongqing—are now in China. Here’s a look at how China’s biggest cities stack up, via Sober Look:

The headlines today were awash with relief that China’s liquidity crisis has subsided, as the central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), finally came to the aid of banks after a week-long standoff. But it’s hard to look at this chart and see cause for relief:

When the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) recently began clamping down on unruly banks, the assumption was that the PBOC was intentionally cutting off liquidity to teach banks a lesson. But it’s entirely possible that the central bank’s actions were merely a shot in the dark.

The markets have been rocky in China—and so have the marriages. Last year, the number of married couples in the Middle Kingdom who divorced rose 8% nationwide (link in Chinese), compared with 2011. In Shanghai, divorces jumped nearly 14%, reports the Shanghai Daily. Marriages, meanwhile, increased only 1.6% compared with the previous year. That’s the first time since 2004 that the “crude divorce rate”—meaning the number of divorces per 1,000 people—grew faster than the crude marriage rate.

The Chinese government is getting serious about pollution—deathly serious, in fact. Severe polluters may now be put to death, as Xinhua reports, replacing penalties that had been “lax and superficial,” according to new judicial guidelines.

Alternative assets that buck the markets have been a sweet spot for global investors seeking higher yields. For many in Japan, where the Nikkei 225 has fallen 36% since August 2000 and bond yields have been minimal, the search for that sweet spot led them to cows.

Being China’s first-ever soccer ambassador is getting serious for David Beckham.

Taking in the spring air in northeastern China feels a lot like entering a smokey bar. In May, of the top 10 major cities with severe air pollution, eight were in the northeast corner: Beijing, Tianjin and six cities from Hebei province (link in Chinese). The concentration of PMI 2.5, the toxic particles that are largely caused by coal smoke, rose 19% compared with the previous month in Beijing and Tianjin.

China’s banks and regulators are in a game of chicken over how to address the country’s cash crunch.

The US has grown itself too much sugar. It has done so for years—and yet cane and beet farmers produced record amounts of sugar again this year, says the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

If China slows down, will the rest of the world slow with it? It is frequently argued that a Chinese “hard landing” would be bad for the global economy, and that China’s economy is ”the world’s most important source of economic growth.” That’s because China powers an ever-larger portion of global GDP growth, which implies that China must also be fueling growth in other countries.

In a classic case of procrastination, China has been keeping its massive debt crisis at bay by issuing more debt. However, Fitch’s Charlene Chu, a leading expert on China’s debt, thinks the country’s time is up. ”The credit-driven growth model is clearly falling apart,” said Chu in a recent report. Chu’s argument is that usually “stress starts in the periphery and moves to the core.” Here are five signs that she’s right:

Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, is pouring money into burning trash. The real estate tycoon is leading a consortium to buy Dutch waste treatment company called AVR for $1.26 billion (pdf) from private equity groups Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and CVC Capital Partners. AVR is the biggest “waste-to-energy” company in the Netherlands, which burns trash to generate thermal electricity.

Japan’s government debt is so excessive that, one way or another, many think it will eventually default. But there’s a way Japan can begin sloughing off its debt and growing its economy: by privatizing government assets. In fact, the nature of its debt means that it can’t fix its debt problem without doing that, says Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.

China’s food and drug safety regulator is taking Johnson & Johnson to task with claims that the US company has a shoddy quality-control system (link in Chinese). The Chinese media has piled on, alleging that J&J treats its Chinese customers like “second-class” citizens. While J&J has held 51 global product recalls since 2005, China has been excluded from 48 of them, according to Xinhua, citing only “media reports” (link in Chinese).

Months before the concept of Abenomics even existed, Masaaki Shirakawa, the former Bank of Japan governor, made an unusual argument for why it won’t work.

Panicked trading shaved 6.35% off the Nikkei-225 today, dragging the index down more than 21% since its May 22 peak. In other words, the Nikkei has wandered into bear country, folks. Here’s a look at the day’s carnage, via FactSet:

Planet Earth is a giant food machine. It’s done an impressive job cranking out sustenance for the masses, often aided by human ingenuity. Innovations like factory farming or pesticides have helped it keep up with the planet’s booming population, even as it leapt from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 7 billion today.

Hong Kong isn’t a friendly place for companies looking to raise capital. As the Hang Seng tumbled 2.19% today, China Harmony Auto Holding Ltd—a dealership shelling Rolls Royces, Ferraris and other posh rides—lost 15.6% in its first day of trading today, following its IPO last week. And Hopewell Hong Kong Properties, a real estate developer, decided against the $780 million IPO it was planning for today. Hopewell’s was the biggest IPO to be shelved in more than a year.

India’s population will overtake China’s by 2021, putting a huge strain on resources and public services. And though the country’s overall birth rate has fallen a lot, it’s still explosive in rural areas (pdf).