BEIJING: China is confident of achieving its 2023 economic growth target as the economy picks up, the vice head of the state economic planner said on Monday (Mar 6), after China set a modest growth target of around 5 per cent for this year. Domestic stock indexes opened subdued onContinue Reading
TOO DIFFICULT TO SOLVE People who worked at SMEE and other Chinese firms in areas such as etching told Reuters how barriers to entry did not seem too high until supply chains became even more global, the engineering more complicated, and the market cornered by firms such as Dutch lithographyContinue Reading
Mobius led emerging market investment at Franklin Templeton Investments for three decades and is known for his bullish view on China. Now, though, he said, he “would be very, very careful” investing in the country. “The bottom line is that China is moving in a completely different direction than whatContinue Reading
While it could be a tall order for firms to poach experts who already left China, the lack of a glass ceiling at home could be a major appeal.Continue Reading
“Huawei enjoys a higher market share in Berlin than in Beijing,” wrote Danish firm Strand Consult last year, noting that 59 per cent of Germany’s 5G network equipment was Huawei. Allowing Huawei to dominate in that way is like giving Beijing a “kill switch” on your communications network, report authorContinue Reading
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Wednesday (Mar 1) said that electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla will open an office in the country and establish a network of charging stations for its cars. Tesla’s application to import battery-run EVs – also known as BEV – into Malaysia has been approved, and theContinue Reading
Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate eased to 50.6 per cent in February from 51.7 per cent in January, the statistics department said on Tuesday (Feb 28), as food prices eased. The Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) reflected a reduction in food prices to 54.4 per cent in February from 60Continue Reading
REPUTATIONAL RISK Volkswagen says it has never found evidence of forced labour among its Xinjiang workforce and its presence is positive for the local population. It denied maintaining the plant was a condition imposed by Beijing to keep producing across China. The carmaker was initially praised for setting up theContinue Reading
BEIJING: Income per capita in China grew by just 2.9 per cent in real terms over 2022, after increasing by 8.1 per cent a year earlier, returning to a growth rate similar to that of 2020 when China was battling COVID-19 and introducing sweeping lockdowns and other restrictions. Per capitaContinue Reading
BEIJING: China’s urban employment fell for the first time in six decades last year and per capita spending also marked a rare decline, as harsh COVID-19 curbs ravaged the world’s second-biggest economy. The new data from the National Bureau of Statistics also showed the smallest income growth in more thanContinue Reading