For 2019, Chinese investment firm and retailer Five Star Holdings is projecting a 50 per cent increase in revenue, even though China is fighting an economic downturn and a trade war with the United States. The company’s optimism stems from the strong revenue growth it has experienced in the past few years, half of it from China’s smaller cities and the rural regions where spending growth has surpassed that of major cities. Five Star, which has annual sales of about 50 billion yuan (US$7.4 billion), is backing China’s unheralded regions to keep delivering. It operates an e-commerce platform targeting less developed ... (full story)