SUPERMARKETS
JD open in Beijing
JD.com Inc (京東) has opened its first of a chain of high-tech supermarkets in Beijing, following archrival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) into the world of physical retail. The chain of “7Fresh” stores represent its biggest foray into traditional retail, and like Alibaba it is counting on reaching new customers and securing valuable data by connecting online and offline shopping. JD’s new stores and Alibaba’s Hema chain both allow shoppers to use a mobile app and digital payments.
AUTOMOBILES
BlackBerry, Baidu partner
Canadian telecommunications software company BlackBerry Ltd and China’s Web giant Baidu Inc (百度) on Wednesday announced a partnership for autonomous and connected vehicles. The two are to collaborate to accelerate the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technology for automotive original equipment manufacturers and suppliers worldwide, they said. BlackBerry’s operating system is to be the foundation for Baidu’s Apollo autonomous driving open platform, they added.
TELECOMS
AT&T launches 5G in US
AT&T Inc aims to be the first US carrier to provide 5G mobile service to customers this year, pitting the wireless giant against Verizon Communications Inc and T-Mobile US Inc in a costly network upgrade race to spur revenue growth. Unlike current trials using 5G technology to beam signals between stationary antennas, AT&T said in a statement it would introduce a commercial mobile service in more than a dozen US cities later this year. AT&T said it has upgraded networks in 23 cities for 5G.
AUTOMAKERS
US sales decline
Automakers on Wednesday reported the first annual decline in US sales since the end of the financial crisis, a dip offset by continued strength in sales of trucks and other large vehicles. The three leaders in the US market — General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp — all reported modest declines compared with the sales records set in 2016. The results put an end to US auto industry’s eight-year streak of increases, as the national total slipped 1.5 percent to 17.23 million, Autodata said.
ENERGY
Petrobras to settle lawsuits
Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras has agreed to pay US$2.95 billion to settle lawsuits in the US over the sprawling corruption scandal that has ensnared dozens of officials and business executives across Latin America. The company on Wednesday said that the deal ends a legal battle with investors who allegedly suffered losses after a corruption probe exposed mushrooming corruption in the company. Petrobras also says it was a victim of the corruption scheme and that the “agreement does not constitute any admission of wrongdoing or misconduct” by the company.
INDIA
Services sector expands
The nation’s services sector expanded last month, reversing November last year’s decline and boosting expectations that the worst is over for the third-largest economy in Asia. The Nikkei India Services purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.9 from 48.5 in November, data showed yesterday, above the 50 mark that separates growth and contraction. The manufacturing gauge had advanced to 54.7 from 52.6, pushing up the composite index to 53 from 50.3 — the highest since October 2016.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
LIMITED MEASURES: The proposed restrictions on Chinese chip exports are weaker than previously considered, following lobbying by major US firms, sources said US President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China that would escalate the US crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions, but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, said sources familiar with the matter. The restrictions could be unveiled as soon as next week, said the sources, who emphasized that the timing and contours of the rules have changed several times, and that nothing is final until they are published. The measures follow months of deliberations by US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) yesterday said it expects any impact of new tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump to hit the company less than its rivals, citing its global manufacturing footprint. Young Liu (劉揚偉), chairman of the contract manufacturer and key Apple Inc supplier, told reporters after a forum in Taipei that it saw the primary impact of any fresh tariffs falling on its clients because its business model is based on contract manufacturing. “Clients may decide to shift production locations, but looking at Foxconn’s global footprint, we are ahead. As a result, the impact on us is likely smaller compared to
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
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