CHINA
Industry, retail sectors surge
Growth in industrial output and retail sales accelerated last month, with consumption increasing at its fastest pace since December last year, official data showed yesterday, in signs of renewed strength in the world’s second-largest economy. Industrial production rose 8.8 percent year-on-year last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement, up from 8.7 percent in April. Retail sales, a key gauge of consumer spending, increased 12.5 percent last month from a year ago, the NBS said in a separate statement, up from a gain of 11.9 percent in April and the highest since 13.6 percent at the end of last year.
SOUTH AFRICA
Fitch announces downgrade
Fitch ratings agency yesterday revised the outlook on the nation to negative from stable and affirmed its credit rating at “BBB,” near the bottom of the investment-grade scale. The ratings agency said the outlook revision was partly due to a strike at platinum mines, the country’s longest-ever mining strike, which began in January when workers downed tools demanding higher wages. Fitch said South Africa’s outlook for growth had deteriorated after a contraction in the first quarter of this year, and it revised its GDP forecast down to 1.7 percent for this year from the 2.8 percent that it issued during the last country review in December.
GREECE
Minister faces judge
Former finance minister George Papaconstantinou has appeared before an investigating judge to answer criminal charges over his handling of data on Greeks with Swiss bank accounts. Papaconstantinou, who handled the nation’s first international bailout in 2010, was released on Thursday on bail of 30,000 euros (US$40,000) and ordered to appear at a police station monthly. He denies charges of breach of duty and tampering with a document, arguing he is the victim of a smear campaign. The accusations stem from the fate of a list of about 2,000 names provided by French authorities in 2010 as Greece’s economy was struck by a major crisis.
CHIPMAKERS
Intel raises guidance
Intel Corp on Thursday raised its revenue guidance, saying sales of computers for businesses have been stronger than expected. The world’s largest chipmaker is now forecasting revenue of US$13.4 billion to US$14 billion in the second quarter. The Santa Clara, California-based company had expected US$12.5 billion to US$13.5 billion in revenue in the quarter. Intel also expects stronger profit margins. It also said it expects revenue to grow this year. In January, Intel said its sales would be about the same as last year’s total of US$52.71 billion.
SALARIES
CEO payments rise 10-fold
Pay for chief executives of US companies has soared nearly 10-fold over the past 35 years to an average of US$15.2 million last year, according to a study released on Thursday. Total compensation, including bonuses and stock options, jumped 937 percent since 1978, said a report by the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which is partially funded by labor unions. The ratio of CEO pay to that of average workers rose from 29.9-1 in 1978 to 295.9-1 last year, the study said. EPI tied the shifts in CEO compensation to the fortunes of the stock market. Policy ideas proposed in the report include raising taxes on the wealthiest and removing tax incentives that promote stock options.
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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