CHINA
Exports surge, imports dip
China’s export growth accelerated last month, but imports sagged in a possible sign of weakness in the world’s second-largest economy. Exports jumped 14.5 percent from a year earlier, double June’s 7.2 percent growth, customs data showed yesterday. Imports fell 1.6 percent, down from the previous month’s 5.5 percent expansion. Last month’s exports totaled US$212.9 billion, while imports were US$165.6 billion. China’s global trade surplus more than doubled over a year earlier to US$47.3 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
China sales growth slows
Passenger-vehicle sales growth slowed in China last month. Retail deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sports utility vehicles climbed 11.5 percent to 1.32 million units last month, the China Passenger Car Association said yesterday on its Web site. Sales expanded 14 percent in June. Industrywide vehicle inventories last month stayed at levels considered to indicate greater pressure and risks to dealers, the China Automobile Dealers Association said.
TRADE
Germany’s surplus shrinks
Germany’s trade surplus narrowed in June, as imports grew faster than exports, official data showed yesterday. In seasonally adjusted terms, Germany exported goods worth a total of 93.7 billion euros (US$125 billion) in June, up 0.9 percent from the figure for May, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement. Imports grew 4.5 percent to 77.4 billion euros. That meant the seasonally adjusted trade surplus decreased to 16.3 billion euros in June from 18.8 billion euros in May.
GAMING
Zynga’s loss balloons
Zynga said on Thursday it wants to perform better, as the social games firm reported losses widened and revenues sank in the past quarter, sending its share price tumbling. The loss for the past quarter deepened to US$62.5 million, compared with a deficit of US$15.8 million in the same period a year ago. Revenues dropped sharply to US$153 million in the three months ending June 30, from the US$230 million seen a year earlier.
PUBLISHING
News Corp posts slim profit
Rupert Murdoch’s publishing group News Corp reported a slim profit on Thursday, amid lower newspaper revenues from both advertising and circulation. Net profit for the group amounted to US$12 million in the past quarter, coming a year after a US$1.1 billion loss in the final quarter before Murdoch split the publishing unit from his media entertainment group. Overall revenues were down 3 percent from a year ago at US$2.2 billion.
MINING
Rio Tinto profits double
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said on Thursday that net profit more than doubled to US$4.4 billion in the first half, as it continued a cost-cutting program and wound back its net debt. “During the first half we have increased underlying earnings by 21 percent to US$5.1 billion and enhanced operating cash flow by 8 percent,” Rio chief Sam Walsh said.
INTERNET
Facebook buys PrivateCore
Facebook announced on Thursday it was buying California-based cybersecurity startup PrivateCore, in a move to boost defenses of its vast server network. PrivateCore specializes in protecting servers against malware and other kinds of intrusions.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI