A slowdown in China’s economy is perceived as being the biggest risk to Asia’s economic growth, a survey of powerbrokers in the region released yesterday said.
While there were also worries about the weakness in the European and US economies, the survey by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) think tank said there was more concern over the effects of a slowdown in China.
“In terms of risks to growth, regional opinion leaders were more worried about the impact of a slowdown in China than they were for slowdowns in Europe and the US, albeit by a slight margin,” it said.
Results of the survey — which included business executives, senior government officials and academics — were released in the Russian city of Vladivostok ahead of this weekend’s APEC leaders’ summit.
Donald Campbell, co-chair of the PECC, said the survey results emphasized China’s growing importance as global economy driver.
“If you take 10 years ago in terms of economic output, the Asia Pacific region was about 20 percent. Now it’s 35 percent, it’s the fastest-growing ... and it’s driven by China,” Campbell said.
“China is becoming very, very critical in terms of the world economy and growth so you can see the concern over any diminution in growth,” he added.
China’s insatiable appetite for raw materials and other goods has kept the factories of other Asian countries humming despite slower exports to the US and Europe following the 2008 financial crisis.
China is the largest trading partner of the 10-member ASEAN grouping, but a raft of recent data has shown the world’s second biggest economy is slowing.
China’s manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in more than three years last month, according to a closely watched survey compiled by British banking giant HSBC.
This came after the Asian giant’s economic growth slowed to 7.6 percent in the second quarter, the worst performance in three years and the sixth straight quarter of slower growth.
According to the PECC survey, 56 percent of respondents “are gearing themselves for weaker economic performance from China over the next 12 months,” up from 36 percent in the previous poll last year.
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
RSS