■CHINA
Solar deal signed
Southern California’s eSolar Inc has signed a major agreement to build a series of solar power plants in China. Under the agreement announced on Friday, the Pasadena, California-based eSolar will provide China Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing Co with the technology and information to build solar farms with a capacity totaling 2,000 megawatts over the next decade. The initial eSolar project will be located in the Mongolian desert in northern China. The deal comes four months after Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar struck a deal with China to build a massive solar field in the same region.
■MEDIA
Canwest papers bankrupt
Canada’s insolvent media giant Canwest Global Communications has put its entire newspaper division under bankruptcy protection. The company said on Friday that it filed for creditor protection in an agreement with its lenders to help accelerate the company’s ongoing restructuring. Canwest says it has also arranged C$25 million (US$24 million) in financing from its senior lenders. Canwest owns major dailies such as the Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen and Calgary Herald.
■ENERGY
Google makes electric bid
Internet search giant Google is seeking government authority to buy and sell electricity in the US, a further expansion of its operations aimed at boosting renewable energy. In a document filed last month with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Google indicated that its Google Energy unit asked for “market-based rate authority.” Under that authority, “Google Energy will engage in wholesale electric power and energy transactions as a marketer,” the filing said.
■INDIA
PepsiCo investment jumps
India’s government approved a plan by PepsiCo Inc to increase its investments in the country by almost a third over the next three years. PepsiCo will invest an additional US$200 million in its local unit, the government said yesterday in a statement, taking its total investments to US$655 million. The Purchase, New York-based company is putting additional resources into India, which ranks among its top 10 markets and three fastest-growing countries.
■SHIPPING
UPS to cut jobs
Shipping giant UPS Inc will cut 1,800 management and administrative jobs, less than 1 percent of its global work force, as it repositions itself for a gradual economic recovery. About 1,100 employees will be offered a voluntary separation package as part of the work force reduction, which is meant to streamline the company’s US small package segment. Other cuts will come through attrition and layoffs. UPS also raised its profit forecast for the fourth-quarter that ended last month, citing improving operations and cost cuts.
■ENERGY
GE patent claim rejected
A federal agency that oversees trade disputes has rejected General Electric Co’s (GE) claim that Mitsubishi violated GE patents to build wind turbines that the Japanese firm imports to the US. The US International Trade Commission decision, handed down on Friday without comment, reversed an administrative law judge’s ruling that Mitsubishi had violated the patents. The case comes as larger wind turbines are becoming more popular.
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last