CHINA
Export growth remains stable
The nation maintained solid export growth of 12.6 percent last month, slightly slower than in April, but still providing good news for Beijing’s policymakers as they deal with tough trade negotiations with Washington. Imports grew 26 percent last month, the General Administration of Customs said, beating analysts’ forecast of 18.7 percent growth and compared with a 21.5 percent rebound in April. The nation posted a trade surplus of US$24.92 billion for the month, down from US$28.38 billion in April.
JAPAN
Economy back to contraction
The economy slid into negative territory for the first time in two years at the beginning of the year, official data showed yesterday, confirming preliminary figures issued last month. The world’s third-largest economy contracted by 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the January-to-March period, unchanged from the preliminary figure, after growth of 0.1 percent at the end of last year, the Cabinet Office said. The contraction brings an end to a series of eight consecutive quarters of growth.
UNITED KINGDOM
Economy to lag behind peers
The economy is on course to lag behind its international peers again this year as it nears its departure from the EU, according to forecasts from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), an employers’ group. The world’s fifth-largest economy looks likely to grow by 1.4 percent this year, the CBI said, weaker than projected growth in the eurozone of 2.2 percent and in the US of 2.8 percent. Growth looks set to slow to 1.3 percent next year, when it would again lag behind the eurozone and the US, the CBI said.
FINANCE
Ant is largest fintech firm
Chinese digital payments giant Ant Financial Services Group (螞蟻金服) yesterday said that it has raised US$14 billion in its latest financing round, making it the world’s largest fintech company ahead of an expected mammoth initial public offering. The cash infusion for Ant Financial, an affiliate of e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), said in a statement that the funds would be invested in new technologies and to accelerate Alipay’s (支付寶) expansion abroad and into new sectors.
TOURISM
Carnival to acquire railroad
One of the world’s largest cruise companies plans to buy a railroad used to carry summer tourists between the Alaskan community of Skagway and Carcross in Canada’s Yukon. Carnival Corp on Thursday said that it plans to buy the White Pass and Yukon Route rail and port operations from Ontario-based TWC Enterprises Ltd. TWC said the deal is worth US$290 million, with debt, taxes and other liabilities to be deducted. The deal is expected to close on July 31.
CHINA
Brazil faces dumping duties
Beijing is to impose anti-dumping duties on purchases of broiler-chicken products from Brazil, its top supplier, after an almost 10-month investigation found that surging imports damage the domestic breeding industry. Importers are to pay a deposit of as much as 38.4 percent to customs on purchases from June 9, the Ministry of Commerce said in a preliminary ruling, citing initial findings from an investigation that started in August last year.
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
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six