■CHINA
Agency raises growth figure
China yesterday revised upward its economic growth for last year to 9.6 percent after a nationwide census, but said the change had little impact on this year’s growth rate. That raised China’s GDP to 31.4 trillion yuan (US$4.6 trillion), compared with an earlier estimation of 30.1 trillion yuan, the national statistics agency said. The original data reported 9 percent economic growth year-on-year for last year. The revised data will be used for this year’s estimation of economic growth as a comparison base, but will have little impact on this year’s number, the statistics agency said.
■ECONOMY
More signs of recovery
New orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods excluding transportation items surged last month and new US applications for unemployment aid hit the lowest level in 15 months last week, pointing to a firmly entrenched economic recovery. The US Commerce Department said on Thursday that durable goods orders excluding transportation rose 2 percent last month, more than reversing October’s 0.7 percent drop and beating market expectations for a 1 percent rise. A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 28,000 to 452,000 last week. That was the lowest since September last year.
■OIL
Nippon to close units
Nippon Oil Corp and Nippon Mining Holdings Inc, set to merge in April, will shut three oil refining units and cut capacity at another plant by March 2011 as fuel demand shrinks in the world’s second-biggest economy. Nippon Oil will close three crude distillation units in Japan with a combined capacity of 204,000 barrels a day, the company said in a statement released in Tokyo. Nippon Mining will also reduce capacity at a plant in Kashima, near Tokyo. The two companies aim to shed 600,000 barrels a day, or about one-third of capacity, by March 2015 and save ¥100 billion (US$1.1 billion) a year.
■FINANCE
Daiwa to buy SMBC stake
Daiwa Securities Group Inc will pay ¥173.9 billion to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc to buy out its stake in their investment banking venture, Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Sumitomo Mitsui, which holds a 40 percent stake in the venture, will retain a 40 percent stake in Daiwa Securities SMBC’s private equity unit.
■INVESTMENT
Goldman seeks clearance
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is seeking regulatory clearance to create exchange-traded funds, a fast-growing segment of the money-management business. The company filed an application today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to establish ETFs that track market indexes. The initial fund will seek to replicate an index based on the Brazilian, Chinese, Indian and South Korean stock markets, the New York-based company’s application said.
■TELECOMS
Lauer leaves Qualcomm
Qualcomm Inc said Len Lauer quit as chief operating officer of the world’s biggest maker of mobile-phone chips and accepted a chief executive officer’s role at another company. Lauer’s new employer is expected to be announced early next year, Qualcomm said in a filing on Thursday. Lauer, 52, joined Qualcomm in 2006 after spending eight years at Sprint Nextel Corp, most recently as chief operating officer.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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