CHINA
Manufacturing activity rises
Manufacturing activity accelerated last month, a survey showed yesterday. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its purchasing managers index rose to 52.4 from October’s 51.6 on a 100-point scale, on which numbers above 50 show activity accelerating. Components of the survey, which measure imports, exports and new orders, all improved, while employment indicators fell to the lowest level in a year. Manufacturing activity is likely to slow despite the latest positive indicators, Capital Economics Ltd economist Julian Evans-Pritchard said.
JAPAN
Factory output edges up
Factory output edged up in October, government data showed yesterday. Factory output rose 0.5 percent month-on-month in October, the industry ministry said, following a 1.0 percent drop in September. However, the increase was below market expectations of a 1.8 percent rise, as falls in the production of electronic devices and petroleum products offset gains in electrical machinery and transport equipment.
SWITZERLAND
Economic growth quickens
Economic expansion accelerated in the third quarter, growing at the fastest pace since late 2014 when the central bank still had a currency cap in place. GDP rose 0.6 percent in the three months through September after a revised 0.4 percent in the previous quarter, the State Secretariat for International Economic Affairs said yesterday. Consumption by Swiss private households rose 0.4 percent, while government demand increased 0.5 percent and investment in equipment grew 0.9 percent in the third quarter.
DENMARK
Growth revised downward
The economy shrank more than analysts feared last quarter, with preliminary numbers suggesting the country suffered its worst contraction since 2011. GDP fell 0.6 percent in the third quarter from the previous three-month period, Statistics Denmark said yesterday. Quarterly growth in the second quarter was revised down to 0.6 percent from 0.7 percent, the statistics office said. Exports fell 1 percent in the quarter, while private consumption declined 0.6 percent, led by a slump in vehicle purchases. Gross investments fell 2.1 percent, the office said.
UNITED STATES
Business boasts optimism
The economy grew at a modest to moderate pace through the middle of last month as price pressures strengthened and the labor market tightened, a Federal Reserve survey showed. The central bank’s Beige Book report, based on anecdotal information collected by the 12 regional Fed banks through Nov. 17, said business contacts reported a brightening view as they look ahead. The data followed a Department of Commerce report released on Wednesday, showing that the economy expanded at a 3.3 percent annualized pace in the third quarter.
FOREIGN TRADE
IMF projects 4.2% increase
The IMF is projecting that the volume of trade in goods and services will have climbed 4.2 percent during this year, up from 2.4 percent last year. That would be the first time that trade has outpaced output growth since 2014 and harks back to the pre-crisis days when such outperformance was a regular occurrence. “The global economy appears set to remain in good shape next year as the broad-based economic strength seen this year carries over,” Oxford Economics said.
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
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
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
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