■ china
FX reserves hit US$1.65tn
The nation's foreign exchange reserves rose by US$118.9 billion in the first two months of the year to US$1.65 trillion, the China Business News reported yesterday. The reserves increased US$61.6 billion and US$57.3 billion in January and last month respectively, it said, citing unnamed sources. China's foreign exchange reserve, the world's biggest, rose by 43.32 percent or US$461.9 billion last year to US$1.53 trillion, figures released by the central bank showed. A spokesman with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange declined to comment on the report.
■ leisure
GIC teams with Host Hotels
Singapore has teamed up with US-listed Host Hotels and Resorts in a US$600 million venture to explore investments in the hospitality trade in Asia and Australia, the partners said. Host Hotels and Resorts will hold a 25 percent stake in the venture, which will have a maximum equity of US$600 million, they said in a statement late on Tuesday. An affiliate of the real estate arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), which is partnering with the US hotelier in the venture, will own the remaining 75 percent, GIC said.
■ mining
Vale suspends Xstrata bid
Brazilian mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce SA said on Tuesday it had halted negotiations to acquire Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata PLC in a deal reportedly worth as much as US$90 billion. Vale said in a statement that talks were discontinued after Xstrata failed to agree to its latest offer of cash and stock. The company said it reserves the right to make a new offer within six months. The purchase would be the largest ever made by a Brazilian company. Two years ago, Vale paid US$17.6 billion for Canadian nickel miner Inco Ltd.
■ banking
Maybank to buy rival
Maybank, Malaysia's top lender, said yesterday it planned to acquire Indonesia's sixth-largest bank, Bank Internasional Indonesia, for US$2.7 billion as part of an aggressive regional expansion. In a statement to the stock exchange, Maybank said it had agreed to buy Sorak Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, which owns 56 percent of Bank Internasional, for US$1.5 billion. Maybank will then make a tender offer for the remaining 44 percent stake in Bank Internasional for US$1.2 billion, it said. Bank Internasional has a network of 230 branches and some 700 ATMs. Sorak is 75 percent held by Singapore's Temasek Holdings and 25 percent by South Korea's Kookmin Bank.
■ energy
Chevron reports find
Chevron Corp has found at least 142 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Malay Basin offshore southwest Vietnam, it said yesterday. Chevron said in a statement that a three-month drilling program ended in the middle of this month confirmed a greater development potential than first believed. Chevron Vietnam operates exploration in several exploration blocks in the Malay Basin on behalf of partners PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Co, Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration Co Ltd and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PCL. Timing of first production is contingent on further commercial negotiations with PetroVietnam, Chevron said.
THREATS: Naval facilities have been built in Shanghai and Zhejiang, while airbases have been expanded in Xiamen, Fuzhou and Zhangpu, across the Strait from Taiwan The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of China. That means the CCP might be preparing for potential conflict in Taiwan, it said, adding that there are five such construction sites from north to south. A naval base has been built in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, with underground oil storage tanks, railway
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
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