China might focus more on domestic demand and reduce its reliance on exports to drive its economy in the post-COVID-19 era, which would affect Taiwan and South Korea the most, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) said on Friday.
China, which absorbs more than 40 percent of Taiwanese exports, might follow a domestic-focused growth path following the COVID-19 pandemic due to lingering trade tensions with the US and mounting deglobalization risks, ANZ said.
China’s GDP last quarter contracted 6.8 percent, with all components — including net exports — tumbling, because of drastic lockdowns and other measures to contain the virus, it said.
Its economic growth has slowed from a peak of 10 percent in 2012 to 6.2 percent last year, ANZ said.
The contribution of consumption and investments has lost traction over the past decade, while a reduced reliance on exports to drive growth also grew conspicuous, it said.
Although exports surprisingly gained 3.5 percent year-on-year last month on the back of electronics sales, uncertainty is rising amid renewed tariff threats from the US, ANZ said.
More than half of China’s imports — mostly high-tech goods — come from Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia, it said.
These economies form the pillars of the electronics supply chain across Asia and play a pivotal role in China’s goal toward technology-driven growth, it said.
A structural policy change would have profound implications for major trade partners and the effects would be evident in the next two to three years, ANZ said.
The economies with close trade links to China are the most vulnerable: Taiwan and South Korea, it said.
Their exports are highly reliant on China, reflecting their deeply integrated parts in regional supply chains, especially in the electronics sector, ANZ said.
China last month accounted for 44.4 percent of Taiwanese exports, while markets elsewhere took a hit from the pandemic, according to Ministry of Finance data.
Supply chains in Asia are tightly interconnected, making individual economies interdependent on one another, and they revolve around China, a major trading partner for almost all of them, it said.
In the short term, these economies would continue to play disproportionately large roles in China’s growth aspirations, ANZ said.
In addition, they are well-placed to reap positive spillover effects from China’s foray into new sectors, such as technology and 5G, it said.
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,
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
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS