Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa have found common cause at a meeting of the so-called BRICS grouping of developing countries in China: Push their host to import more than just commodities such as oil, soybeans and iron ore.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming (陳德銘) assured his counterparts in a closed-door meeting that China would make it a priority to import more value-added products from BRICS countries, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma told reporters at a beachside resort in Sanya, Hainan Province. Oleg Fomichev, Russia’s deputy economic development minister, said China had pledged to set up high-technology projects with Russia, “not just importing our resources and exporting industrial goods.”
China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa, brought together under the Goldman Sachs Group Inc-coined acronym, are divided by a host of trade disagreements. South Africa was invited to join BRIC this year, giving the group its “S.”
Brazil and India are pushing China to buy more value-added goods, such as Brazilian aircraft and Indian pharmaceuticals. South Africa wants more iron ore and other raw materials processed -domestically before exporting them to China. Brazil and India have also complained that the yuan is undervalued, undermining their exports.
The five nations yesterday agreed to push for Russia’s entry into the WTO and called for progress in the Doha Round of WTO trade talks. Chen told reporters that the BRICS nations “still face economic overheating issues such as inflationary pressure and asset bubbles.”
The difficulties faced by Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa in increasing high technology and manufactured exports to China was underscored this week by Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer SA. The company failed to get China’s government to approve final assembly of its E-190 aircraft in China because of concerns it would compete with a domestic regional jet, Embraer chief executive Frederico Curado said on Tuesday in Beijing. Embraer will build business jets in China.
“We had the goal of building the [E-]190 here, but the Chinese government didn’t approve the project,” Curado said.
Beijing was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough demand for both the E-190 and China’s rival ARJ21, he said.
Complaints from Brazilian unions and industry groups, including toymakers and textile producers, have led the Brazilian government to enact 29 anti-dumping measures aimed at Chinese-made goods, more than those against any other country and almost four times more than directed at the US, according to the Brazilian trade ministry.
The measures aim to limit imports on goods Brasilia believes are being sold below cost. Last week, Brazil approved higher levies on Chinese-made viscose textiles.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI