Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) yesterday said its board has approved plans to expand its customer base by opening a branch in China and extending its business to Cambodia, according to the lender’s filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
State-run Chang Hwa said it plans to establish a branch in Huaqiao in Jiangsu Province’s Kunshan City. It opened its first Chinese branch in Kunshan in December last year.
The company plans to invest 100 million yuan (US$15.65 million) in the Huaqiao branch as working capital during the initial stage, according to the filing.
The plan to launch a second branch in Jiangsu is part of Chang Hwa Bank chairman Julius Chen’s (陳淮舟) blueprint to build an operating base in the eastern Chinese province, which has been targeted by Chinese authorities for development as an international financial hub.
Chang Hwa said it would apply with the Financial Supervisory Commission for permission to establish the branch. The plan is also still pending regulatory approval from Chinese authorities.
Chang Hwa Bank, 22.5 percent owned by Taishin Financial Holdings Co (台新金控), also plans to set up a branch in Phnom Penh to expand its overseas network, a separate exchange filing said.
The lender said it would apply for regulatory approval from authorities, but did not elaborate on the proposed Phnom Penh branch.
The Taiwanese bank has established overseas branches in China, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Singapore and Tokyo, according to information posted on its Web site.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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