BEIJING: China’s April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost further momentum at the start of the second quarter and adding to the raft of recent data highlighting a wobbly post-COVID recovery. China’s industrial output grew 5.6 per cent in April from a year earlier,Continue Reading
BEIJING: China will fully implement the youth employment priority policy and vigorously explore market-based employment channels, China vice premier Ding Xuexiang said on Thursday (May 11). China will ensure that the number of college graduates accepted by central-owned and state-owned enterprises is no less than last year, Ding was citedContinue Reading
HONG KONG: For many of China’s manufacturers of baby and children’s products, painful reverberations from last year’s historic decline in the country’s population are already upon them. Domestic sales are shrinking and the scramble is on to develop new streams of revenue, whether that be diversifying into products for adultsContinue Reading
Shein’s efforts to green its image include a second-hand clothing business in the United States, materials research and integrating recycled materials in its products. While acknowledging “fair criticism” that its product pages offer consumers little detail about recycled content and other traceability factors, “we’re trying to enhance how we describeContinue Reading
MANILA: Officials said on Friday ( May 5) that Philippine annual inflation was on track to reach the government’s 2 percent to 4 % target in the fourth quarter after it eased further in April due to lower food prices, establishing the case for halting interest rate hikes. The consumerContinue Reading
HONG KONG: Asian markets rose on Thursday (May 4), shrugging off the sour mood surrounding the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it was raising interest rates yet again and likely keeping them high for the foreseeable future. All three major US indices declined along with the dollar after the Fed’s hike,Continue Reading
SHANGHAI: China’s tourism business during the May Day holiday rebounded to pre-COVID levels, as the number of domestic trips rose by 70.8 per cent from a year earlier, government data showed on Wednesday (May 3). If sustained, a recovery in the service sector could ease worries that China’s post-pandemic economicContinue Reading
KUALA LUMPUR: Following widespread concerns about pricing and competition, Malaysia announced on Wednesday( May 3) that it would switch to a dual network model for its 5G rollout once coverage reaches 80 %. According to communications minister Fahmi Fadzil, the rollout will continue for the time being under state agencyContinue Reading
TOKYO: Rising inflation and an intensifying labour crunch are prodding smaller local Japanese firms to follow their big counterparts in raising pay, a move that can generate broader wage hikes and encourage the central bank to phase out its massive stimulus. Wages have barely risen in Japan since the assetContinue Reading
TOKYO : Japan’s Hokuriku Electric Power, Hokkaido Electric Power and Shikoku Electric Power reported a combined loss of 134 billion yen (US$1 billion) for the 2022/23 financial year on Thursday, citing high fuel prices. The trio are among seven utilities which requested hikes in electricity rates from April and JuneContinue Reading