STOCK MARKET
TWSE approves chairman
The the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s (TWSE) board of directors on Friday approved the appointment of former minister without portfolio Hsu Chang-yao (許璋瑤) as its chairman. The 66-year-old Hsu from 2004 to 2008 served as head of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, and was named minister without portfolio in charge of accounting, statistics and financial affairs in May last year. The government had been looking for a new chairman for the exchange since former chairman Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) became vice premier in September.
ENERGY
New CPC chair appointed
The Ministry of Economic Affairs on Friday appointed Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology principal Tai Chein (戴謙) to lead CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油). The state-run oil refiner is scheduled to convene a board meeting today to officially elect Tai as chairman, the ministry said. Tai was formerly vice minister of the National Science Council before he became principal of the university in August 2007. The ministry said Tai’s appointment reflects his expertise in science and his management capabilities.
AVIATION
CAL partners with Airbus
Airbus SE has chosen China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) to become one of its maintenance, repair and overhaul suppliers in Asia, a press release said on Thursday. CAL senior vice president Houng Wang (王宏) said the company will also provide aircraft conversion services for the European firm. After opening a new hangar next year, Wang said the company is confident that its growing capabilities will offer comprehensive solutions to support Airbus aircraft in Taiwan.
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
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