■ ENERGY
China starts new oil dig
China has started drilling what it says will be Asia's deepest oil and gas well, state media said yesterday. State-owned Sinopec Corp (中國石化) plans for the Chuanke No. 1 Well in southwest Sichuan Province to reach a depth of 8,875m, more than the height of Mount Everest, Xinhua news agency reported. It will take the company, Asia's largest oil refiner, 676 days and 300 million yuan (US$39 million) to complete the project, Xinhua said. Last July, China completed drilling of the 8,408m Tashen No. 1 Well, in the Tahe oil field in the Tarim Basin -- but found no gas.
■ BANKING
CITIC Bank to go public
China CITIC Bank (中國國際信託投資), China's seventh-largest commercial bank, plans to go public at home and in Hong Kong at the end of next month, raising up to US$3 billion, state media said yesterday. The bank won approval to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange last week and is now awaiting approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to go public in China as well, Xinhua news agency reported. By listing on both stock markets, the bank aims to strengthen corporate governance in line with international practices, Xinhua said.
■ BANKING
Islamic meeting opens
Central bank governors from Iran to Saudi Arabia are to attend Malaysia's first international Islamic finance forum this week as the nation works to cement its future as an Islamic financial hub. The four-day Global Islamic Finance Forum starting today is expected to attract about 800 regulatory authorities and industry players. Malaysia's central Bank Negara, the event organizer, said it aims to highlight business opportunities as the nation ramps up efforts to draw foreign money -- Muslim and Middle Eastern funds in particular. Islamic finance fuses principles of Shariah (Islamic law) and modern banking. Funds are banned from investing in companies associated with tobacco, alcohol or gambling.
■ AVIATION
Good year forecast for HK
Hong Kong's aviation sector is set for a strong year this year as it steps up a gear to remain a leading regional air hub, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation said yesterday. The Sydney-based consultancy said in a new report that the city was eventually expected to privatize Hong Kong International Airport. The airport operator is also likely to step up investment in nearby Chinese cities where aviation demand is growing rapidly, the report said. It also said Cathay Pacific's tie-up with China's national airline Air China has the potential to allow the two outfits to become the biggest "combined carrier" by 2017.
■ MANUFACTURING
China's textile exports grow
China's textile exports will rise more than 15 percent this year despite quotas imposed by Western trade partners, Xinhua news agency said yesterday, quoting the National Development and Reform Commission. But with the yuan strengthening and production costs rising, the expansion would be less than last year, the commission said. Profits would also rise more than 15 percent this year, the commission forecasted. Chinese firms exported US$95.2 billion worth of clothing and US$48.8 billion in textile products last year, notching up annual growth of 28.9 percent and 18.7 percent respectively.
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
Heavy rain is expected to affect parts of Taiwan this week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday as a meteorologist said the active part of the annual plum rain season has started. A stationary plum rain front and southwesterly winds would bring unstable weather and abundant moisture to Taiwan from today for about a week, with the heaviest rainfall forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday, the CWA said. The agency said western and northeastern Taiwan, and mountainous areas in the east and southeast, could expect showers or thunderstorms on those two days, with localized heavy rain possible. Other parts of
RSS