UNITED KINGDOM
GDP slumps under Brexit cloud
UK economic growth rose in the third quarter thanks to consumer spending, official data showed on Thursday, but the data are unlikely to push annual GDP above a gloomy government forecast, as poor productivity and Brexit cloud the outlook. GDP grew 0.4 percent in the July-to-September period, up slightly from 0.3 percent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said, confirming an initial estimate released last month. Analysts said the data pointed to GDP growth of 1.5 percent for the year, in line with the government’s latest updated forecasts.
FRANCE
Business confidence up
French business confidence hit a near 10-year-high this month, French statistics agency INSEE said on Thursday. The confidence indicator, based on a survey of French businesspeople, rose 2 points to 111, its highest level since January 2008 and well above the long-term average of 100 points. The job market, measured by employers’ hiring plans, also improved this month, INSEE said, with its indicator rising 1 point to 109 to reach its highest level since 2011. The French economy expanded 0.5 percent year-on-year in the July-to-September period, led by a pickup in household consumption and investment.
TOOLMAKERS
Chinese makers face tariffs
The US Department of Commerce on Wednesday said it had made a final determination that anti-subsidy duties should be imposed on tool chests imported from China. The department said in a statement that it would slap final anti-subsidy duties of 14.03 percent to 95.96 percent on Chinese exporters of the tool chests. The duties will take effect for five years if the US International Trade Commission finds the imports harm or are likely to harm US producers. The commission is scheduled to make its decision around Jan. 8.
BANKING
Fitch to see profit dip in China
Profit margins at Chinese banks might be squeezed next year and credit growth is likely to slow as increasing regulation eats up capital, Fitch Ratings said yesterday. The lending businesses of the nation’s smaller banks face the most pressure and they would rely more on larger state-owned rivals for liquidity, the ratings company said in a statement. At the same time, the shadow-banking sector, which one brokerage values at about US$19 trillion, would attract even more regulatory scrutiny next year, Fitch said. The ratings company kept its outlook on Chinese banks at stable, saying sovereign support for the sector remains “very strong.”
FITNESS
FountainVest eyes gym chain
FountainVest Partners (方源資本) is in advanced talks to buy control of Pure Group in a deal valuing the billionaire-backed Hong Kong gym chain at more than US$400 million, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Chinese private equity firm is holding late-stage negotiations with Pure Group owners, including buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners and businessman Bruce Rockowitz, the people said. Pure Group fitness centers cater to Hong Kong’s legions of well-heeled bankers and lawyers. They occupy prime real estate in spots like IFC Mall, a stone’s throw from the local headquarters of UBS Group AG and the stock exchange.
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