Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said Beijing would “fine-tune” its economic policy this year, state media reported, raising hopes of monetary loosening as the world’s second-largest economy slows.
China’s economy expanded by an annual 9.2 percent last year, narrowing from 10.4 percent in 2010, and is widely expected to slow further this year, raising the specter of more social unrest as the contraction takes hold.
“It’s worth paying close attention to the economic situation in January and the first quarter,” Xinhua news agency quoted Wen on late Sunday as telling a government meeting.
ECONOMIC PLANS
He added the government would “pre-emptively adjust and fine-tune starting from the first quarter,” but gave no further details.
Analysts widely expect Beijing to further trim the amount of money that banks must keep in reserve, following a cut in December last year, to counter slower economic growth due to global turmoil.
“The most basic requirement is to maintain the continuity and flexibility of policy,” Wen said.
TRADE DOWN
The country’s trade activity fell last month from a year earlier, as the domestic slowdown and weaker overseas sales hit demand, though factory closures from a long holiday also played a role.
Exports fell 0.5 percent year-on-year last month to US$149.94 billion, while imports plunged 15.3 percent to US$122.66 billion, the government said, marking the worst performance since during the global financial crisis in 2009.
The slowdown has resulted in large-scale strikes in recent months, as workers resentful about low salaries or layoffs face off with employers juggling high costs and exports hit by lower demand from the debt-burdened West.
So far the policy fine-tuning has focused more on cutting taxes and red tape for the small businesses that provide about 75 percent of the jobs in China. Wen ruled out loosening the government’s grip over the property sector, citing the need for “reasonable” housing prices.
REAL ESTATE
China has introduced a range of measures aimed at curbing the real-estate market over the last year, such as bans on buying second homes, hiking minimum downpayments and introducing property taxes in select cities.
“For the purpose of promoting fairness and stability, the government’s controls cannot be relaxed,” he said.
One small city, Wuhu in the eastern province of Anhui, said last week it would offer subsidies for apartment purchases in a sign of easing, but it retreated from the policy over the weekend, state media reported.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS