CHINA
Industrial output rises
The nation’s industrial output, which measures production at factories, workshops and mines, rose 10 percent last month year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday. That was a slowdown from the 10.3 percent expansion recorded in October. Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, increased, gaining 13.7 percent last month from the year before — an acceleration from the 13.3 percent registered in October.
UNITED STATES
Fed to meet on bond buying
Improvements in the labor market since September last year, when the US Federal Reserve started its most recent round of stimulus, provided the most powerful argument for reducing bond purchases, St Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Monday. Bullard, a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee, was speaking in St Louis. Fed policymakers is to meet next week, though few analysts are predicting that they will make changes to their bond-buying program. The meeting is to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
VENEZUELA
Gasoline prices might rise
The government on Monday floated the idea of raising gasoline prices, in one of the least expensive fuel markets in the world. “We have to have big debates in Venezuela,” Vice President Jorge Arreaza said in a meeting with business leaders. “For example, we have to talk about budget issues, for example the price of gasoline, starting to charge for it since it is given away almost for free.” Arreaza said the idea would be studied in consultation with “the people, in neighborhood councils, with businesses and with all Venezuelans.”
ARGENTINA
IMF sets economic timetable
The IMF on Monday gave the nation a timetable to improve its data on inflation and economic growth, after censuring the country last year for shoddy statistics. The censure decision has the potential to open the way for the Latin American country to lose its voting rights or membership at the IMF. In October, the official annual inflation rate stood at 10.3 percent, while a group of private-sector economists put the figure at 26 percent.
AVIATION
AA world’s largest airline
American Airlines (AA) emerged as the world’s largest airline on Monday, combining with US Airways after a hard-fought battle to overcome US competition concerns. AMR Corporation, the parent of AA, and US Airways Group announced they had completed the deal after AMR emerged from bankruptcy protection. The new American Airlines Group is a goliath, providing nearly 6,700 daily flights to more than 330 destinations in more than 50 countries.
AUTOMAKERS
China car sales increase
China’s passenger-vehicle sales rose 16 percent last month as Japanese automakers extended their recovery in the world’s largest auto market. Wholesale deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sport utility vehicles climbed to 1.7 million units last month, the state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday. Industrywide, total sales of vehicles — including buses and trucks — reached 19.9 million units this year through last month, putting China on course to be the first country to ever see 20 million units in annual vehicle sales.
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