■ Retail
Wal-Mart sales rise
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said last month's sales figures at its stores open at least a year were higher than expected, following a bleak November for the world's largest retailer. Sales rose 1.6 percent for last month's reporting period, which included the busy holiday shopping time of Nov. 25 through Dec. 29, the company said on Saturday. Earlier last month, the retailer said it anticipated December same-store sales to be flat to 1 percent. In November, Wal-Mart reported its first sales decline in a decade. Officials attributed the 0.1 percent drop to lagging clothing sales.
■ Economy
Trade surplus plunges
South Korea posted a 28 percent drop in its trade surplus last year despite record-high exports, the government said yesterday. Exports rose 14.6 percent year-on-year to US$325.9 billion last year, while imports soared 18.4 percent to US$309.3 billion, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said. Imports were fueled by high energy and raw material prices, it said. As a result, the trade surplus dwindled to US$16.65 billion last year from US$23.18 billion in 2005. Ministry officials said exports are expected to reach US$360 billion this year.
■ Automobiles
Nissan to invest in India
Japan's second largest automaker Nissan Motor plans to invest some US$840 million in the construction of auto factories in India, a newspaper said yesterday. Nissan is considering two or three coastal cities in western and southern India as possible locations and plans to negotiate with local governments before making a decision, which could come as early as this month, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Construction on a main assembly plant will begin this year, the Nikkei said, adding that Nissan expected to launch operations in the latter half of 2009 with an annual output capacity of around 200,000 units. With about 10 auto parts manufacturers that supply Nissan also slated to start local production in India in line with the move, the group's overall investment is expected to total ?100 billion (US$840 million), it said.
■ Banking
ICBC to acquire bank
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 中國工商銀行) said yesterday it had agreed to acquire the small Bank Halim of Indonesia in its first such overseas purchase. ICBC said it would buy 90 percent of Bank Halim, with an option to buy the remaining 10 percent from shareholders in three years. No value of the deal was given. The Bank Halim deal still has to be approved by regulatory authorities.
■ Manufacturing
Shoemaker joins lawsuit
A fifth Chinese shoemaker, Taiwan-invested Apache Footwear Ltd (阿帕奇鞋業), has joined a lawsuit against the EU over anti-dumping duties imposed on its products, Chinese state media said yesterday. Guo Weiwen, manager of the company, told the Xinhua news agency the suit was filed on Friday at the Court of First Instance, Europe's second-highest court located in Luxembourg. Late last month, four other Chinese companies including the Aokang Group (奧康集團), the biggest private producer in the country, filed suits at the court. The companies claim EU regulators failed to examine their prices properly before the anti-dumping tariffs were introduced.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft