FINANCE
CTBC scuttles China deal
CTBC Financial Holding (中信金控) yesterday announced that it has scuttled a HK$2.35 billion (US$303 million) deal to wholly acquire China CITIC Bank International (China) Ltd (中信銀行國際中國). The decision was due to lengthy delays and lack of progress after a year-long effort, CTBC Financial said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. CTBC Financial announced in May last year that it was planning to buy China CITIC Bank International (China), an affiliate of China CITIC Bank Corp Ltd (中信銀行), for NT$11.67 billion (US$368.49 million). The acquisition would have greatly accelerated CTBC’s bid to establish a full-service banking subsidiary in China, and put the company ahead of its Taiwanese rivals.
PHARMACEUTICALS
TaiGen inks deal with PC
TaiGen Biotechnology Co (太景生技) yesterday said it had signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Mexico-based Productos Cientificos SA de CV (PC) to develop and commercialize anti-infection drug Taigexyn in Latin America. Under the terms of the agreement, Productos Cientificos will be responsible for the development, registration and commercialization of the drug in Latin America and assume all associated costs, TaiGen said in a statement. In exchange for the exclusive rights, TaiGen will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for additional regulatory and commercial milestones in the future, it said. PC will also purchase Taigexyn at a pre-negotiated price from TaiGen for its commercialization in Latin America, it added. The pharmaceutical market in Latin-America is forecast by IMS Health to grow at between 9 and 12 percent from this year to 2020, TaiGen said.
SOLAR ENERGY
Prices of solar cells drop
Prices of Taiwan-made multi-crystalline silicon solar cells have dropped more than 2 percent this week as global demand remained slow, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. The average price of multi-crystalline silicon solar cells fell US$0.224 per watt, or 2.61 percent, from a week earlier on the spot market, TrendForce said. So far this month, prices of some types of solar cells have dropped 11.8 percent after an 8.96 percent decline last month, it said. The situation is not limited to Taiwan, as the average price of China’s multi-crystalline silicon solar cells fell US$0.221 per watt, or 2.64 percent, this week from last week. Trendforce said China’s multi-crystalline silicon solar cell prices dropped 9.38 percent last month and have declined another 11.95 percent this month. Taiwan and China are the world’s two major solar cell suppliers.
AVIATION
India cargo service to restart
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday said it will resume cargo services to India amid optimism toward the fast-growing South Asian economy. Partnering with India-based Ascent Air, CAL is scheduled to relaunch the cargo service in the Indian market, starting from Sunday. The Taiwanese carrier suspended its cargo flights to India four years ago. In an initial phase, the two partners will operate one round-trip flight a week, carrying cargo from East Asia to India and then to Europe, and in turn, delivering cargo from Europe to India and then back to Taipei, CAL said. According to a report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the compound annual growth rate of India’s cargo business is expected to hit 6.8 percent from 2014 to 2018, making it the world’s second-fastest-growing market.
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
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
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