CHINA
Services-industry index rises
A services-industry index rose in April as Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) grapples with countering a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy while avoiding large-scale stimulus. The non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was at 54.8 last month compared with 54.5 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics and the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in Beijing yesterday. A number more than 50 indicates an expansion. Property construction plunged in the first quarter and economic growth slowed as the country’s leaders face increasing challenges in trying to maintain the rate of expansion while reining in debt. GDP is projected by economists to expand 7.3 percent this year as the government controls credit, less than the government target of about 7.5 percent.
AUTOMAKERS
GM in settlement talks
A mediator for General Motors (GM) has begun negotiations about settling more than 300 claims related to a deadly ignition switch problem in some older-model small cars. Kenneth Feinberg confirmed in an interview that he met for four hours on Friday with Robert Hilliard, a Corpus Christi, Texas, lawyer who said he represents families of 53 people killed and 273 injured in crashes of defective GM vehicles. “I’m evaluating various compensation options for GM to consider,” said Feinberg, who plans to present the options to GM in the next few weeks. Hilliard said no dollar figures were discussed, adding that he would not settle at a discount to what his clients could get through court mediation.
TRADE
Canal’s revenue guess falls
A widened Panama Canal is expected to bring in about US$3.1 billion per year, considerably less than earlier estimates, the official responsible for the waterway said. Canal administrator Jorge Quijano said in an interview that receipts from the Panama Canal could reach US$3.1 billion by 2025, triple their current amount. However, the figure is less than the roughly US$5 billion that had been forecast after improvements to the century-old canal, seen as one of the world’s engineering marvels. Quijano, who said he was being “conservative” with his estimates, blamed a shaky world economic climate for the lowered revenue projections.
BANKING
Macquarie net income soars
Macquarie Group Ltd, Australia’s biggest investment bank, posted a 49 percent rise in full-year net income to a six-year high as revenue from trading and fund management increased. Profit for the year ended March 31 rose to A$1.27 billion (US$1.17 billion), the Sydney-based firm said in a statement yesterday. That beat the gain of as much as 45 percent the firm forecast on March 24 and compared with profit of A$851 million a year earlier. The bank’s shares fell the most in two weeks as it forecast similar earnings for the year to March next year. “It is a pretty solid result from Macquarie,” Christopher Hall, who helps manage about US$4.4 billion including Macquarie shares as senior investment officer at Adelaide-based Argo Investments Ltd, said by telephone yesterday. “The key is the guidance. While Macquarie says it would be broadly in line, the market is expecting it to be higher.”
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last