■ China Airlines launches card
Targeting frequent fliers, China Airlines (華航) launched a co-branded platinum credit card with ABN-Amro Bank Monday, allowing users to accumulate frequent flyer mileage, enjoy free parking at CKS Airport and take free luxury car rides to the airport. The new co-branded platinum card requires NT$25 in exchange for one mile on China Airlines' Dynasty Flyer Program, while other similar credit cards issued in Taiwan require at least NT$40 in exchange for a single air mile, the company said in a press release. Other privileges include free parking at CKS Airport for 20 days a year, and free rides to the airport in a luxury sedan, the release said.
■ HSBC opens new China branch
The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) said it opened a new branch in Suzhou of eastern province of Jiangsu, further expanding its network to 10 branches in China, the bank said in a statement yesterday. Located at the Suzhou Industrial Park, the branch will offer a full range of services to local and foreign-invested companies and individuals, the UK-based lender said. "With the opening of our new Suzhou branch, HSBC has established another strong foothold in the heart of the Yangtze River, which has witnessed impressive economic growth," Dicky Yip, chief executive of HSBC's China business, said in the statement.
■ NT dollar slightly up
The New Taiwan dollar traded higher against its US counterpart yesterday, edging up NT$0.004 to close at NT$33.862 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$580 million.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last