Chinese yuan deposits rise
Chinese yuan-denominated deposits at the offshore banking units (OBU) of banks operating in Taiwan hit another record high at the end of September, the central bank said on Saturday.
As of the end of September, Chinese yuan deposits had totaled NT$17.98 billion (US$2.88 billion), up about 2.5 percent from the NT$17.54 billion recorded in August and compared with NT$71 million at the end of August last year.
The Financial Supervisory Commission lifted a ban in July last year to allow OBUs to conduct yuan business.
However, despite the increase in Chinese yuan deposits the central bank said the total assets of the OBUs as of the end of September had fallen to US$162.14 billion from US$165.14 billion recorded at the end of August.In September, foreign exchange transactions at the OBUs totaled US$34.56 billion, up from US$31.57 billion registered in August.
Central bank auctions debt
The central bank on Friday sold NT$100 billion of 364-day negotiable certificates of deposit (NCDs) through an auction with an average interest rate of 0.758 percent, down from 0.805 percent recorded in the previous sale, as the market was awash with liquidity.
The interest rate for the 364-day NCD also plunged to a new low in 21 months, according to the central bank’s statistics.
The rate had hit had been as high as 1.054 percent at a similar sale of such debt in August last year.
Local financial institutions participating in Friday’s auction offered a total of NT$356.5 billion worth of funds to bid the NT$100 billion NCDs, higher than the NT$347 billion bidders put up in the previous sale.
So far, outstanding 364-day NCDs have totaled NT$1.2 trillion.
The sale has the same effect as the central bank raising the bank deposit reserve ratio by about 4.5 percentage points.
Taiwan in closer Bhutan links
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) and Bhutan’s largest business group signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to work more closely together on bilateral trade promotion.
Topgyal Dorji, president of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, signed the memorandum on behalf of his country’s business delegation, while Chao Yuen-chuan (趙永全) signed on behalf of TAITRA in his capacity as the council’s secretary-general.
Bhutan has no manufacturing industry and relies on imported products.
Therefore, there are business opportunities for Taiwanese entrepreneurs, according to TAITRA.
Bank extends China base
Taipei-based China Development Industrial Bank (CDIB, 中華開發工銀), the flagship investment banking unit of China Development Financial Holding Co (中華開發金控), will work with a Chinese counterpart to set up a private equity fund in China.
CDIB signed a memorandum of understanding with Jiangsu High-Tech Investment Group (江蘇高科技投資集團), also known as Govtor Capital, on Friday to set up a 2 billion yuan (US$321 million) private equity fund in the Chinese province.
It is the second private equity fund for CDIB in China after the Taiwanese investment bank built the first in Fujian Province in September last year.
However, CDIB did not disclose its own share in the joint fund with Govtor Capital.
Taiwan, UK in ‘smart grid’ deal
Taiwan and the UK will work more closely together on developing the “green industry” by signing a protocol of collaboration today, according to the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei.
A UK smart grid mission, composed of representatives from SmartGrid GB, Cornwall Council and British Gas, is visiting Taiwan for a four-day stay to establish industrial and academic links to work with local companies and research institutions in developing smart grid technology and business opportunities, the office said in a recent statement.
On the first day of their visit, Cornwall Council will sign a protocol of collaboration with the Penghu County Government to promote smart grid solutions and the development of the outlying county into a low-carbon island.
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained