CHINA
Regulator merger mulled
China is considering a merger of its banking and insurance regulators, people familiar with the matter said, as it seeks to better coordinate its attempts to counter financial risks in the world’s second-largest economy. Government agencies under the direction of a Communist Party central reform group are drafting a plan that would combine the Banking Regulatory Commission and the Insurance Regulatory Commission under a single head, the people said. The plan, which is under discussion and could still change, could be announced after the National People’s Congress begins its annual session on March 5, two of the people said.
JAPAN
Consumer costs climb
Consumer prices edged up last year for the first time in two years, government data showed on Friday, but inflation was still far below a long-standing target of 2 percent. Government data showed the core inflation rate was up 0.5 percent last year following a 0.3 percent fall the previous year. Last month alone, the core inflation rate rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier, the 12th straight year-on-year gain, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said. When volatile fresh food and energy were stripped out, prices rose by even less — just 0.3 percent last month, it said.
REAL ESTATE
US home sales slump
Americans cut back their purchases of new homes last month as harsh winter weather dampened demand. The US Department of Commerce on Thursday said that new-home sales skidded 9.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000. It was the biggest drop since August 2016. Last month’s sales had been expected to fall after strong November figures, but the drop was steeper than economists had forecast. On Wednesday, the US National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 3.6 percent last month, dragged down by rising prices and a scarcity of available homes on the market.
EMPLOYMENT
Spain unemployment drops
Official statistics show the number of people out of work in Spain dropped by nearly half a million last year, further evidence of the country’s resurging economy. The Spanish National Statistics Institute on Thursday said that 471,100 fewer people were unemployed at the end of last year, making for a rounded total of 3.76 million. The unemployment rate finished at 16.6 percent, compared with 18.6 percent in 2016. The figure is still the second-highest rate in the EU behind Greece. Unemployment in Spain peaked at 27 percent in 2013 before it began to emerge from a severe five-year financial crisis.
BEVERAGES
Starbucks sales disappoint
Starbucks Corp on Thursday reported disappointing sales growth in its most recent quarter. The Seattle-based company said sales rose 2 percent at established stores worldwide in its fiscal first quarter, missing the 3 percent growth analysts expected, according to FactSet. The company’s net income was US$2.25 billion, or US$1.57 per share, in the three months that ended on Dec. 31 last year. That compares with SU$751.8 million, or US$0.51 per share, in the same period a year ago. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to US$0.65 per share, beating the US$0.57 per share analysts expected.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained