AUTOMAKERS
Chinese sales growth slows
China’s passenger-vehicle sales rose at a slower pace last month as consumer confidence waned amid signs that momentum for economic growth is slowing. Wholesale deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sport utility vehicles increased 9 percent to 1.4 million units last month, the state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday. That compares with growth of 13 percent in April and 13.3 percent in March. The slowing auto sales growth follows data showing average inventory levels at dealerships rose in April. Total sales of vehicles gained 9.8 percent to 1.76 million units last month, the association said.
gambling
Casino bill to be discussed
A group of Japanese lawmakers are close to hitting the jackpot in their bid to legalize casinos, betting the revenue bonanza could challenge Macau for the title of global gaming powerhouse. A bill is to be submitted to parliament later this year that, if passed, would pave the way for tie-ups with big name firms to build casinos across the country, senior lawmaker Takeshi Iwaya said. “Japan may be the only developed country without casinos. However, we are sprinting to the finish line,” Iwaya said.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple to start music service
Apple, aiming to overcome recent missteps and keep its cutting-edge reputation, is expected to unveil a streaming music service along with fresh hardware and software at an annual conference today. Speculation that Apple will provide developers with a look at an online radio service heightened on Friday with reports that the California company had inked a content deal with Sony Music. Universal and Warner music groups are already said to be on board with Apple, and enlisting the Japanese entertainment giant would mean that all three major music labels have been won over to the service.
BANKING
Standards to be debated
New proposals to improve standards and culture within UK banks will be thrashed out by British lawmakers in important meetings this week that could shape the industry for years to come. The UK Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, led by Conservative lawmaker Andrew Tyrie, was set up by the government in July last year after Barclays was found to have manipulated global interest rate benchmarks, sparking public outrage. After months of compiling evidence from former and current bank executives, regulators, central bankers, academics, politicians and consumer rights activists, the committee is putting the finishing touches to a 600-page report and will debate it today and tomorrow, sources said.
TRADE
China to boost ties
Argentina and China have agreed to expand their commercial ties by increasing soybeans and corn exports to the Asian country, Buenos Aires said on Saturday. “China approved three transgenic soybean and corn” varieties, Argentine Minister of Agriculture Norberto Yahuar said in a statement. “In the next season we will be using these approved seeds and obviously, we will be able to sell more,” he said, after talks in Beijing with his counterpart Han Changfu (韓長賦). The ministry also reported China’s first purchase of a shipment of Argentine corn — a 54,000 tonne sale made through a national private company. Bilateral trade between the two nations was worth US$14.5 billion last year, according to the Chinese embassy in Argentina.
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
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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