China Airlines Ltd (華航) paced gains by carriers and hotel companies in Taipei stock trading after the Chinese-language Economic Daily News said the government could raise the daily limit for Chinese tourist arrivals.
Shares in China Airlines, the largest carrier in the nation, climbed 2.1 percent to NT$24.85 as of 11:37am. Shares in EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), the -second-biggest carrier, advanced 3 percent to a record NT$36.10.
Shares in Formosa International Hotels Corp (晶華酒店), the largest hotel operator, gained 1.1 percent to NT$540. The benchmark TAIEX fell 0.9 percent to 8,740.30.
The government may increase the daily quota of Chinese tourists from 3,000 to 4,000, starting as early as Jan. 1, the newspaper reported, without citing a source. Liu Te-shun (劉德勳), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, did not answer two calls to his office.
“The news on Chinese tourist quotas is boosting expectations of more direct flights,” said Daniel Tzeng (曾健銓), an analyst at Fubon Securities Co (富邦投顧). “Direct flights provide high margins for these airlines.”
The report comes as a delegation led by China’s top negotiator on cross-strait affairs, Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a new round of talks. China and Taiwan are expected to reach an agreement on health-care cooperation, Xinhua news agency reported.
Chinese visitors are likely to be Taiwan’s biggest source of arrivals for the first time this year, Tourism Bureau Chief Secretary Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰) said on Nov. 23.
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