TRADE
US to ease limits on Huawei
The US will soon issue licenses allowing some US firms to supply non-sensitive goods to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), the New York Times said on Wednesday, as high-level officials from the two countries yesterday met to resume trade talks. The licensing decisions would give much needed clarity to US companies, which have been looking for guidance since US President Donald Trump promised in late June to provide some relief to firms that did business with Huawei.
TIRES
Michelin to shutter factory
Tire maker Michelin yesterday said it would close a French factory with 619 employees next year, as competition from cheaper Asian manufacturers knocks its profit margin. The company promised a “support plan” for affected employees, and said it would offer every one a chance to remain in the company in France. It would also seek out “a major public-private project” in a bid to relaunch the failing site. Michelin said 74 people who work at a factory in nearby Maine-et-Loiret, manufacturing rubber for the site in La Roche-sur-Yon, would also be affected. CEO Florent Menegaux blamed “difficulties in the market for high-end heavy-duty tires both in Europe and abroad,” coupled with “increased competition.”
RETAIL
Japan cutting 7-Elevens
Seven & i Holdings Co, the largest convenience store operator in Japan, yesterday said it would close 1,000 unprofitable 7-Elevens and eliminate 3,000 jobs from its other units, as the Japanese retailer continues its structural reform and cuts back on 24-hour operations. The company said it would implement new policies for its franchisees, such as reducing monthly fees. Its 7-Eleven Japan business would take a ￥10 billion (US$93 million) charge due to the new incentives for the franchisees, CEO Ryuichi Isaka said in Tokyo while announcing the company’s second-quarter results.
GREECE
EU approves bad loan plan
The European Commission yesterday approved the government’s plan to reduce bad loans by up to 30 billion euros (US$33.04 billion) at the nation’s banks. Bankers close to the process last month said that they expected a green light from the EU executive to put in place the asset protection scheme that would help its banks offload the loans. The plan, known as Hercules Asset Protection Scheme, aims to bring down the amount of bad loans that are weighing on Greek banks, without distorting the market through government subsidies.
CHINA
Ma tops rich list again: poll
The nation’s richest businesspeople got richer this year, despite a tariff war with the US and an economic slowdown, a survey showed yesterday. The average net worth of the richest 1,800 people rose 10 percent from last year to US$1.4 billion, the Hurun Report said. Jack Ma (馬雲), who retired last month as chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) , was No. 1 for a second year, with a net worth of US$39 billion. Ma Huateng (馬化騰), chairman of games and social media firm Tencent Holdings (騰訊), was second at US$37 billion, up 8 percent. The number of businesspeople on the list from the tech, pharma and food industries rose, while those from manufacturing declined. “Wealth is concentrating into the hands of those who are able to adapt to the digital economy,” Rupert Hoogewerf, the company’s founder and chief researcher, said in a statement.
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
MORE WEIGHT: The national weighting was raised in one index while holding steady in two others, while several companies rose or fell in prominence MSCI Inc, a global index provider, has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices and left the country’s weighting unchanged in two other indices after a regular index review. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.02 percentage points to 2.25 percent, while maintaining the weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the most closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 20.46 percent. Additionally, the index provider has left Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index unchanged at 23.15 percent. The latest index adjustments are to
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