■ Factory closures
Japan experiences rise
The number of factories in Japan that have been shut down or temporarily closed so far this year surged by more than 50 percent from the same period last year, a newspaper poll published yesterday showed. A total of 187 factories have been closed between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, by 105 companies, as Japan's domestic manufacturing industry continues to struggle, the Nihon Keizai said. "The number reflects a shift to China by makers of electronics and information and technology, who have been facing severe global price competition," the Nihon Keizai said.
■ US economy
War fears impact sales
US retail sales fell in September, and the threat of war and concern over a slowing economy pushed consumer confidence to a nine-year low, government and private reports showed. "We are on the cusp of a slowdown in spending," said Kevin Logan, senior market economist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities LLC in New York, one of 22 banks and securities firms that deal directly with the Federal Reserve. "Growth in the fourth quarter will be anemic." Sales fell 1.2 percent last month, as car, clothing and electronics purchases dropped, the biggest decline since November, the Commerce Department said. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for October fell to 80.4, the lowest since September 1993, from 86.1 last month, people with access to the report said.
■ Automakers
Shanghai Auto expands
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp said it will pay US$59.7 million to buy 10 percent of a South Korean venture between General Motors Corp and Daewoo Motor Co, becoming the first Chinese carmaker to expand abroad. The investment by Shanghai Auto, which already shares a US$1.5 billion car-making venture with General Motors in China, will mark the fourth venture between China's second-biggest vehicle maker and the Detroit-based automaker. "This is a very meaningful step by Shanghai Auto to go abroad," said Zhang Yu, who tracks China's car industry at Automotive Resources Asia Ltd in Beijing. "The investment will bring benefits in the long run." China's government has picked three companies, including Shanghai Auto, to be "pillars" of the country's auto industry to concentrate efforts to become competitive with bigger foreign rivals. Lower import tariffs, agreed by China when it entered the WTO last year, are also prompting Chinese carmakers to consider investing abroad as competition intensifies at home.
■ Retailers
Thai group enters China
Charoen Pokphand Group has leased four-fifths of the space at China's largest mall three months after it opened in Shanghai, an executive said. The group in July opened the US$400 million shopping and entertainment complex to tap shoppers in Shanghai, China's largest city. The 73,500m2 mall spans 13 floors on a 100-acre site in the Lujiazui financial district on the east bank of Shanghai's Huangpu River. "Demand for good shopping places is very high in China as higher economic growth gives Chinese more money to spend," Weeraphol Chokwitayarat, vice president of MallAsia Ltd, said . MallAsia, a unit of Charoen Group, is a distributor of goods from Thailand for the shopping mall.
Agencies
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
SELF-DETERMINATION: German lawmakers add earth to an art installation in front of the Reichstag to show that the face of a nation lies with its people, Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan’s future should be decided by Taiwanese, German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group chairman Till Steffen said yesterday, while giving former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) a tour of the German parliament building. Tsai arrived in Berlin on Sunday and the following day delivered a keynote speech at the Berlin Freedom Conference titled “Threats facing democracies: Taiwan’s experience defending freedom.” Tsai yesterday attended a tea gathering at the Bundestag, joined by former friendship group chairman of 15 years Klaus-Peter Willsch, German defense affairs specialist Roderich Kiesewetter and Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Brand. Noting that the
BOOST IN CONFIDENCE: The sale sends a clear message of support for Taiwan and dispels rumors that US President Donald Trump ‘sold out’ the nation, an expert said The US government on Thursday announced a possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet parts, which was estimated to cost about US$330 million, in a move that an expert said “sends a clear message of support for Taiwan” amid fears that Washington might be wavering in its attitude toward Taipei. It was the first announcement of an arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year. The proposed package includes non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, as well repair and return support for the F-16, C-130 and Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft,
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