Business Briefs

■ Telecom
China to subsidize network
China subsidize China's telecom equipment makers by 600 million yuan (US$72 million) to develop a home-grown high-speed mobile phone technology, Reuters reported, citing an official at an equipment maker. The offer may limit opportunities for competing Western systems. China plans to allocate the funds this year and would provide more financial assistance later for the technology known as time division-synchronous code division-multiple access (TD-SCDMA) standard, the report said, citing Yang Yigang, vice president of Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group.

■ Policy
Snow arrives for Asia tour
US Treasury Secretary John Snow arrived in Japan yesterday on the first leg of an Asian tour to meet with his counterparts in the region. Snow, visiting Japan for the first time since assuming his post in February, is due to meet Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa tomorrow. Their talks are expected to focus on the economic situation in both nations and the possibility of a loosening of the Chinese yuan's peg to the US dollar, according to Japanese officials. Snow is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to discuss financial aid for the reconstruction of war-torn Iraq, they said. He will also meet Economics and Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka and Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui. Snow will leave Japan for China on Tuesday and then is to join fellow finance ministers for APEC forum meetings at the Thai resort of Phuket.

■ Macroeconomics
Brazil slumps to recession
Brazil's has slumped to recession, with the GDP having fallen two quarters in a row, the state statistics bureau IBGE said Friday. Second quarter GDP fell by 1.6 percent from the first quarter figures. First quarter GDP fell by 0.6 percent over the previous quarter, worse than the original projection of a 0.1 percent fall for the first quarter. Growth fell across all industry branches between April and June, a result that was worse than had originally been anticipated, IBGE said. The second quarter GDP also fell by 1.4 percent compared to the same period last year. Analysts blamed the downward trend on high interest policies of the central bank. Interest rates reached up to 26.5 percent in the first six months this year. Although inflation has been wrestled down to below 10 percent, the policies have also hindered economic growth, observers said.

■ Semiconductors
Intel expands S Korea ops
Intel Corp, the world's biggest computer-chip maker, plans to open a research facility in South Korea this year to develop semiconductors for mobile telephones and consumer electronics, a spokesman said. The site will open by the end of the year, spokesman Chuck Mulloy said. He wouldn't say how many people will work there or give an exact location. Santa Clara, California-based Intel already has sales and marketing workers in South Korea, he said. The company said this week it would open plants in China and Malaysia. The chipmaker has said it will increase R&D spending to US$4.2 billion this year from US$4.03 billion last year while reducing expenditures on new factories and equipment to as little as US$3.5 billion from US$4.7 billion. Intel shares rose US$0.29 to US$28.59 at 4pm New York time on the NASDAQ Stock Market. They've increased 84 percent this year.