China said it will ban or closely monitor overseas investments by state-owned firms in certain sectors, the latest move in a government fight to stem capital flight and what it has called “irrational” spending abroad.
The the Chinese State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which manages the country’s 102 state-owned giants, plans to draw up a list of sectors that will either be off-limits to investment by state-owned enterprises (SOE) or under strict supervision, according to a government statement on Wednesday.
The notice by the agency gave no details on what sectors would be singled out, nor any timing.
However, the state-run China Daily yesterday reported that the list would include heavily polluting industries or those vulnerable to global commodity price fluctuations, such as business related to energy, mining, real estate and the oil sector.
It quoted commission Vice Chairwoman Huang Danhua (黃丹華) as saying the government will seek to encourage SOE overseas investment in sectors including high-speed rail, roads, telecommunications and nuclear power.
Overseas direct investment last year surged 44 percent to 1.13 trillion yuan (US$165 billion at current exchange rates), surpassing inward investment of 813.2 billion yuan, according to Beijing, as Chinese companies went on a worldwide spending spree across a range of sectors.
In one of the largest moves, China National Chemical Corp (中國化工) made a US$43 billion bid for Swiss giant Syngenta AG that is awaiting approval by EU regulators.
The tide of outgoing investment has alarmed authorities, who are grappling with slowing economic growth, capital flight and the weakening yuan, which is close to eight-year lows against the US dollar.
Chinese authorities have responded by urging domestic companies to avoid “irrational” overseas investments and tightening screening of such plans while also announcing a number of measures aimed at attracting more foreign investment to China.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
RSS