Western consumers are buying fewer luxury goods, and demand for cashmere has plunged, The New York Times reported. The painful effects of this are being felt all the way to these nearly empty plateaus of Inner Mongolia, by goatherds and factory workers and owners — showing how ripples from markets in the United States, Europe and Japan can reverberate to some of the most remote corners of the world. The problem is not just the collapse of the cashmere market, but also a government ban on Kashmir goats across much of Inner Mongolia for environmental reasons.

Japan's akoya pearl industry, which began in the 1890s when Kokichi Mikimoto created the world's first cultured pearls, is facing collapse due to plunging sales and stiff competition from China, Reuters reported. In the small fishing town of Wagu on central Japan's Ago bay, about half of the 45 growers are about to close down their pearl beds after prices halved this year, sending them even deeper into the red. Saltwater akoya oyster pearls have long been a benchmark of quality in the industry, with domestic production peaking at 88.5 billion yen ($900 million) in 1990.

Japanese apartment developer Joint Corp filed for bankruptcy protection with about $1.5 billion in debt, underscoring the sluggish state of the property market and dealing a blow to shareholder Orix Corp, Reuters reported. Joint, which received a capital infusion from Orix late last year to shore up its finances, said it was forced to file for court protection from creditors after revenues, mainly from real estate securitisation, dried up.

Sony, which has 2,500 suppliers of components and materials, is to cut the number by half in a “life-changing” effort to streamline its cumbersome procurement network and cut costs by about 500 billion yen (£3.3 billion), the Times Online reported. The move by the entertainment and electronics group marks another shift in the Japanese business environment which, over the past six months, has undergone more radical changes than at any other time in the past 20 years.

RHJ International, a European buyout firm with holdings in the auto-parts industry, has emerged as a suitor for General Motors Corp.'s European operations, a person familiar with the matter said, adding to the list of possible buyers scrambling to strike a deal with the U.S. car maker before the end of the month, The Wall Street Journal reported. Brussels-based RHJ is considering an offer for GM operations including Adam Opel GmbH in Germany, this person said.

American International Group Inc. is close to selling its Japanese headquarters for about $1 billion, in a deal that would mark one of the largest divestitures the insurance company has made to pay off its government debt, people familiar with the matter said. At least two suitors have been vying for the property, but the expected buyer is a Japanese insurance company, The Wall Street Journal reported. AIG owes the U.S. government about $45 billion as part of a rescue package that could total as much as $173.3 billion.

The global downturn could lead to unrest, more poverty and environmental challenges in Asia, regional leaders were warned on Monday, after they agreed on a $120 billion emergency fund to counter the crisis, Reuters reported. Asia has been hard hit by the collapse in global demand largely because of the region's heavy reliance on exports. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan are in recession and growth elsewhere is the weakest in years. "Poverty is worsening in many countries. Businesses are struggling.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, one of Japan’s three so-called “megabanks,” on Thursday reported a full-year loss of nearly $4 billion and said it planned to raise $8 billion via a new share offer, The New York Times reported. The news raised fresh concerns about the health of the country’s other banks as Japan’s recession deepens. SMFG said it had accrued a net loss of ¥390 billion, or about $3.9 billion, during the fiscal year that ended March 31--far off the ¥180 billion profit it had projected and the ¥462 billion profit it made the previous year.

Japan’s ruling party unveiled the country’s biggest-ever economic stimulus plan Thursday, a ¥15.4 trillion, or $154.4 billion, package of subsidies and tax breaks that aims to stem a deepening recession in the world’s second-biggest economy, the New York Times reported. The Liberal Democratic Party released details of the draft stimulus, worth about 3 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product, ahead of a formal announcement Friday. The plan would bring Japan’s total stimulus spending to ¥27 trillion since Prime Minister Taro Aso took office in September.

HMP Constructions, one of Queensland’s largest privately-held companies, has entered voluntary administration with the loss of an estimated 500 jobs and debts of around $150 million, the Queensland Business Review reported. It is reported the company was hit by BHP Billiton's decision to axe contracting from its Goonyella mine in Central Queensland, where some 350 staff were employed.