CHINA
Inflation stays at 23 percent
China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.3 percent last month from a year earlier, well below the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) target of 3.5 percent for the year. The latest inflation rate was unchanged from June, according to data released yesterday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The rise in the index was driven largely by higher food prices, which increased by 3.6 percent. Prices for fruits and eggs rose the fastest. Experts predict the inflation rate is to stay stable this year, leaving room for interest rate cuts or other measures to stimulate the economy if necessary.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Tekmira shares surge
Shares of Canadian company Tekmira Pharmaceuticals surged on Friday after US officials loosened restrictions on the use of its experimental drug to treat the Ebola virus. Tekmira shares traded 36.1 percent higher at US$19.42 a share. Tekmira announced on Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration had “verbally confirmed” that it had shifted the classification of its TKM-Ebola treatment to a partial clinical hold from a full clinical hold. “This action enables the potential use of TKM-Ebola in individuals infected with Ebola virus,” the company said.
MACROECONOMICS
IMF to bail out Ghana
The IMF said on Friday it is ready to aid Ghana after the country formally requested assistance to surmount fiscal and economic challenges. The fund gave no information on how much money the Ghanaian authorities are requesting to bridge a deep financing gap that has resulted in a plunge in its currency. Earlier this week Ghanaian President John Mahama said his country needs help to make structural adjustments, including to the huge government wage bill, so that it can balance its budget.
INSURANCE
Premiums climb for Sherpas
Foreign mountaineers are to have to spend more for the insurance cover of their Sherpa guides to climb any Himalayan peak in Nepal including Mount Everest, the Indian government said. An ice avalanche on Mount Everest in April killed 16 Sherpa guides in the biggest disaster in the history of the world’s tallest mountain. Tourism Ministry official Dipendra Paudel said that insurance cover for the guides would be raised to US$15,000 from US$10,000. Medical insurance for each guide has also been increased to US$4,000 from US$3,000. The new rates, to apply for all mountains including the 8,850m Everest, would come into force from next month, Paudel said.
AUTOMAKERS
GM recalls hit 29.1 million
General Motors Co (GM) on Friday recalled more than 300,000 vehicles, most of them to address ignition problems, taking to over 29 million the number of GM cars recalled this year. GM, which faces a number of government probes over its handling of ignition switch problems linked to at least 13 deaths, recalled around 215,000 model year 2002 to 2004 Saturn VUEs because the ignition key can be removed when it is not in the off position. That could lead to unintended vehicle motion, resulting in a possible crash, according to the automaker. GM said it is aware of two crashes and one injury potentially related to the problem. With Friday’s announcement, GM has recalled about 29.1 million vehicles this year.
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
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six