AUTOMAKERS
Tesla cuts jobs in China
Tesla Motors Inc, the electric car manufacturer led by billionaire Elon Musk, said it is cutting jobs in China after a local newspaper reported the company will reduce staff by 30 percent. Tesla is to eliminate some positions as it makes structural changes to its business in China, Tesla spokesman Gary Tao said yesterday. Tao said he did not know how many jobs would be affected. The Chinese-language newspaper Economic Observer reported that Tesla would eliminate 180 of the 600 positions at its China unit because sales have not met expectations. “The purpose is to better respond to the Chinese market,” Tao said. “The team remains stable and strong.” The current personnel changes started at the beginning of the year, Tao said, declining to provide additional details. The Economic Observer said Tesla’s local sales department would cut half of its workforce, the most among all its departments, including marketing, public relations and administrative offices.
E-COMMERCE
China targets counterfeits
The Chinese regulator that accused Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) of peddling fake goods is seeking tighter e-commerce rules to curb the proliferation of counterfeits. Greater oversight is needed to protect consumers and create a fairer business environment on the Web, Chinese Minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Zhang Mao (張茅) said. The spread of knock-off products posed a greater challenge online than in traditional retail, he added. Zhang’s remarks came less than two months after the SAIC issued a white paper accusing Alibaba’s online malls of accepting bribes and selling fake goods. The report was part of a wave of regulatory actions targeting major companies operating in China. The Chinese government projects that e-commerce transactions could reach 18 trillion yuan (US$2.9 trillion) this year — an 80 percent increase from 2013.
STOCKS
EU merger veto upheld
Deutsche Boerse AG lost an EU court challenge against the veto by EU regulators of its merger with NYSE Euronext, which would have created the world’s biggest exchange. The European Commission did not make any errors of law, the EU General Court in Luxembourg ruled yesterday. The commission, the EU regulator in Brussels, in February 2012 blocked the US$9.5 billion deal it said would have created a “near-monopoly” in European exchange-traded derivatives. The commission later cleared Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s bid for NYSE Euronext. Appealing a merger decision is a challenge to the commission’s legal reasoning and does not say anything about whether companies intend to resurrect a deal. The court’s decision can be appealed one last time.
TRADE
German surplus dips
Germany’s trade surplus narrowed in January as a drop in imports was outpaced by a decline in exports. The Federal Statistical Office yesterday said that exports fell by 2.1 percent in January to 96.3 billion euros (US$104.8 billion) when adjusted for seasonal and calendar variance. Imports dropped by 0.3 percent to 76.6 billion euros. The trade surplus narrowed to 19.7 billion euros in January, from 21.6 billion euros in December last year. Germany has drawn criticism for relying too much on exports and not importing enough to boost other European economies. However, it barely has a trade surplus with the rest of the 19-nation eurozone, while it has a large surplus with nations outside the EU.
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