TRADE
PRC buys US pork, soybeans
Beijing yesterday said that it had bought a “considerable” amount of US pork and soybeans, the latest sign of conciliation between the two nations. “Recently Chinese enterprises have ... started price inquiry and purchases of US agricultural products, and have also completed a transaction of soybeans and pork of considerable size with the US,” Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng (高峰) told a press briefing.
BANKING
ABN Amro being probed
Dutch prosecutors are investigating alleged money laundering at ABN Amro, saying that they suspect the lender had failed to report or probe suspicious transactions for years. Prosecutors yesterday said they believe ABN Amro reported suspicious transactions too late or not at all over a long period, adding that the bank failed to properly investigate client behavior and did not sever ties with suspect clients in a timely fashion. Prosecutors said the probe was based on information provided by the Dutch central bank, which earlier this year ordered ABN to review all local retail clients for possible money laundering or other criminal activities.
SINGAPORE
Factory output dives
Factory output last month plunged far more than economists predicted, in a sign that the city-state’s manufacturing downturn could be worsening. Industrial production dropped 8 percent from a year earlier, worse than all the forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists, making it the biggest contraction this year, including June’s revised 7.9 percent decline. It shrank 7.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis. US-China and Japan-South Korea trade tensions, as well as a broader slowdown in China and elsewhere, continue to weigh on Singapore, where the government has slashed its full-year growth forecast to nearly zero.
INTERNET
Baidu to sell some of Ctrip
Baidu Inc (百度) is selling about one-third of its stake in online travel Web site Ctrip.com International Ltd (攜程旅行網), generating about US$1 billion to counter a slowing economy and intensifying competition in its key advertising business. Ctrip yesterday announced a proposed secondary offering of 31.3 million American depositary receipts held by Baidu. That represents about 30 percent of its stake in Ctrip and is equivalent to about US$1 billion based on Ctrip’s current share price. Baidu is to remain Ctrip’s largest shareholder, with a 19 percent stake.
INDIA
Fiscal gap to widen: Fitch
The nation’s combined fiscal gap, including states’ deficits, is seen widening to the highest in about eight years, as the government boosts measures to stimulate a slowing economy. The general government deficit is seen at 7.5 percent of GDP in the year to March, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch’s reading is well above the “BBB” category median of 1.9 percent.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Glaxo targets RSV vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline PLC is taking aim at respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which kills tens of thousands of children each year. Experimental shots targeting RSV are the top pipeline priority for Glaxo’s vaccines unit, senior vice president for research and development Emmanuel Hanon said in an interview yesterday. Glaxo plans to move those vaccines into the final stage of testing by the end of next year, he 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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last