■CHINA
Agency raises growth figure
China yesterday revised upward its economic growth for last year to 9.6 percent after a nationwide census, but said the change had little impact on this year’s growth rate. That raised China’s GDP to 31.4 trillion yuan (US$4.6 trillion), compared with an earlier estimation of 30.1 trillion yuan, the national statistics agency said. The original data reported 9 percent economic growth year-on-year for last year. The revised data will be used for this year’s estimation of economic growth as a comparison base, but will have little impact on this year’s number, the statistics agency said.
■ECONOMY
More signs of recovery
New orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods excluding transportation items surged last month and new US applications for unemployment aid hit the lowest level in 15 months last week, pointing to a firmly entrenched economic recovery. The US Commerce Department said on Thursday that durable goods orders excluding transportation rose 2 percent last month, more than reversing October’s 0.7 percent drop and beating market expectations for a 1 percent rise. A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 28,000 to 452,000 last week. That was the lowest since September last year.
■OIL
Nippon to close units
Nippon Oil Corp and Nippon Mining Holdings Inc, set to merge in April, will shut three oil refining units and cut capacity at another plant by March 2011 as fuel demand shrinks in the world’s second-biggest economy. Nippon Oil will close three crude distillation units in Japan with a combined capacity of 204,000 barrels a day, the company said in a statement released in Tokyo. Nippon Mining will also reduce capacity at a plant in Kashima, near Tokyo. The two companies aim to shed 600,000 barrels a day, or about one-third of capacity, by March 2015 and save ¥100 billion (US$1.1 billion) a year.
■FINANCE
Daiwa to buy SMBC stake
Daiwa Securities Group Inc will pay ¥173.9 billion to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc to buy out its stake in their investment banking venture, Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Sumitomo Mitsui, which holds a 40 percent stake in the venture, will retain a 40 percent stake in Daiwa Securities SMBC’s private equity unit.
■INVESTMENT
Goldman seeks clearance
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is seeking regulatory clearance to create exchange-traded funds, a fast-growing segment of the money-management business. The company filed an application today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to establish ETFs that track market indexes. The initial fund will seek to replicate an index based on the Brazilian, Chinese, Indian and South Korean stock markets, the New York-based company’s application said.
■TELECOMS
Lauer leaves Qualcomm
Qualcomm Inc said Len Lauer quit as chief operating officer of the world’s biggest maker of mobile-phone chips and accepted a chief executive officer’s role at another company. Lauer’s new employer is expected to be announced early next year, Qualcomm said in a filing on Thursday. Lauer, 52, joined Qualcomm in 2006 after spending eight years at Sprint Nextel Corp, most recently as chief operating officer.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
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