Category: Asia Focus

China’s President Xi Jinping used talks in Beijing with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Tuesday to press for closer ties with Madrid, casting Spain as a useful partner at a time of what he described as a “crumbling” international order. The meeting placed Spain at the centre of China’s broader effort to keep channels open with Europe as trade frictions, security tensions and strategic rivalry with Washington continue to reshape diplomacy.

Sánchez, on his fourth trip to China in

Singapore’s crowded digital marketing sector has gained a new entrant after SEOExpert said it was launching with proprietary artificial intelligence tools and a results-only commercial pitch aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, stepping into a market where agencies are increasingly selling automation, search visibility and measurable returns as core differentiators.

The company, which appears to have been incorporated in Singapore in March 2026 as SEOEXPERT PTE. LTD., is presenting itself as a performance-driven agency focused on SEO, paid advertising and

KK Éclat, a France-founded luxury skincare label with Hong Kong ties, has staged an invitation-only gala in Central after its UV and Pollution Blocker Cream won “Best Everyday Sunscreen” at the 2026 Vogue Hong Kong Beauty Awards, giving the brand a fresh marketing lift in an increasingly crowded premium sun-care market. Vogue Hong Kong’s awards coverage lists the product among this year’s winners, while the company said the celebration was held in March

South Korea’s exports rose 36.7 per cent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of April, extending a powerful trade run driven by semiconductor demand and offering fresh evidence that the country’s technology cycle remains firmly supported by global spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. Outbound shipments reached $25.2 billion in the April 1-10 period, the highest ever recorded for the opening 10 days of a month, according to Korea Customs Service data carried by Yonhap on Monday.

The

Japan will release an additional 20 days’ worth of oil reserves from May as Tokyo tries to shield domestic fuel supplies from continued disruption in the Middle East and reduce its exposure to shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told a cabinet meeting on April 10 that the move would come from the public stockpile, adding to emergency releases already under way since mid-March.

The decision marks a further escalation in Japan’s energy contingency

Asian buyers of liquefied petroleum gas are stepping up purchases from the United States and other Atlantic Basin suppliers as disrupted Gulf shipments upend one of the region’s most important fuel trades. India and China, the two biggest Asian importers of Middle East LPG, are at the centre of the shift, with traders, analysts and shipbrokers saying the scramble for replacement cargoes has pushed spot premiums to unprecedented levels and forced governments and industry to rethink supply security.

The immediate

China has announced 10 measures aimed at signalling goodwill towards Taiwan after a rare meeting between President Xi Jinping and Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang, offering easier tourism, broader trade access and a possible new party-to-party contact channel even as Beijing kept its conditions on sovereignty unchanged.

The package, unveiled on Sunday at the close of Cheng’s visit to China, includes moves to restore more flights across the Taiwan Strait, permit some residents of Shanghai and Fujian

Beijing has pushed its reusable space programme a step further with the launch of an experimental spacecraft that state media described as a technology-verification mission, underlining how the country is trying to cut launch costs, raise flight tempo and broaden the range of missions it can carry out in orbit. The spacecraft was launched on 7 February aboard a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, in

Jack Ma-backed Yunfeng Capital and Hillhouse Investment are among investors said to be planning to buy shares in Victory Giant Technology’s Hong Kong share sale, a deal that could raise about $2 billion and add fresh momentum to the city’s revival as a venue for large equity offerings. Bloomberg reported on Friday that the Guangdong-based company could begin taking investor orders as early as Monday, though the proposed allocations and timing were described

Bank of Korea left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50 per cent on Friday, extending its policy pause to a seventh straight meeting as policymakers confronted a harder mix of rising price pressures, a weak won and a growth outlook darkened by higher energy costs and disruption linked to conflict in the Middle East.

The seven-member Monetary Policy Board said uncertainty had intensified and judged it appropriate to hold the base rate while assessing how the conflict, financial-market volatility

China has authorised state oil refiners to draw on commercial crude reserves as the Middle East war enters its sixth week, a move that points to mounting concern in Beijing over supply security, refinery operations and fuel stability in the world’s biggest crude importer. The decision marks a notable shift after reporting in March indicated that access to such reserves had been denied, underscoring how sharply the market backdrop has changed.

The

S&P Global Ratings has lowered the Philippines’ outlook to stable from positive, while affirming its long-term sovereign credit rating at BBB+, saying the war in the Middle East has raised the risks facing the country’s external accounts and public finances. The move keeps the nation within investment-grade territory but signals that a near-term upgrade is now less likely as higher energy costs, inflation pressure and a weaker peso complicate the policy outlook.

The ratings agency said elevated oil prices are

China’s electric-arc furnace steelmakers are lifting output at the fastest pace in more than two years, helped by improving margins and a seasonal pickup in construction demand, giving the lower-carbon segment a rare competitive opening in a market still burdened by oversupply and weak property-linked consumption. Industry data showed average capacity utilisation among 94 independent EAF mills rose to 61.2% in the week of March 27 to April 2, the highest level since January 2024 and the fifth straight weekly

Singapore’s parliament is set to turn its attention on Tuesday to the economic and security consequences of the war involving Iran, with lawmakers filing 62 questions and three ministers due to deliver statements on how the conflict could affect energy supplies, inflation, transport costs and broader national resilience. The questions, lodged by 32 members from both the ruling People’s Action Party and the opposition, underline growing concern in the trade-dependent city-state over

Indonesia Blockchain Week will return to Jakarta on August 12 and 13 with organisers positioning the 2026 edition as a pivot point for Web3, arguing that the sector is moving beyond pilot projects and speculative narratives towards infrastructure with measurable economic use. Official event channels identify the Jakarta International Convention Center as the venue and carry the theme “Turning Infrastructure into Impact”, framing the gathering as Southeast Asia’s leading institutional-focused blockchain conference.

That message reflects a wider shift in digital

Beijing HyperStrong Technology, one of the country’s biggest battery energy-storage system suppliers, expects shipments to more than double in 2026 as utilities, renewable developers and industrial customers accelerate orders at home and overseas. The company is projecting deliveries of about 70 gigawatt-hours this year, up from 26 gigawatt-hours in 2025, according to comments published on April 6, a jump that underscores how quickly large-scale storage is moving from a supporting technology to a

Beijing HyperStrong Technology, one of the country’s biggest battery energy-storage system suppliers, expects shipments to more than double in 2026 as utilities, renewable developers and industrial customers accelerate orders at home and overseas. The company is projecting deliveries of about 70 gigawatt-hours this year, up from 26 gigawatt-hours in 2025, according to comments published on April 6, a jump that underscores how quickly large-scale storage is moving from a supporting technology to a

Dentsu has appointed Yusuke Kagohara as chief financial officer for Southeast Asia, handing him a mandate that goes beyond traditional finance oversight as the advertising and marketing group tightens governance and prepares for a more disciplined phase of expansion across one of Asia’s most competitive markets. The appointment took effect immediately, and Kagohara will report to Sanjay Bhasin, chief executive for Southeast Asia.

The move lands at a sensitive point for global

Microsoft has unveiled a $10 billion investment plan for Japan running from 2026 to 2029, marking one of the company’s biggest artificial intelligence commitments in Asia and a major escalation from its earlier pledge in the country. The package, worth about 1.6 trillion yen, is aimed at expanding AI infrastructure, strengthening cyber defence cooperation with Tokyo and widening access to domestic cloud capacity for government agencies and businesses.

The announcement signals how sharply competition for AI infrastructure has intensified across

China’s central bank has pulled cash from the banking system for the first time in about a year, signalling a more cautious near-term approach to liquidity management as higher oil prices begin to feed into factory costs, transport bills and corporate margins.

The People’s Bank of China conducted a small reverse repo operation on 2 April while a far larger batch matured, producing a net daily withdrawal of 223.5 billion yuan. The move

South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.2 per cent in March from a year earlier, quickening from 2.0 per cent in both January and February as higher energy costs fed through the economy and kept inflation above the Bank of Korea’s medium-term 2 per cent target. The increase was milder than market expectations for 2.4 per cent, but it still marked the fastest annual pace since December and underscored the strain created by

KKR is preparing to take Taiyo Holdings private in a deal that values the Japanese electronics materials and pharmaceuticals group at about ¥528.56 billion, marking one of the bigger private equity transactions in Japan this year and signalling renewed appetite for take-private deals built around manufacturing, healthcare and semiconductor-linked supply chains. Taiyo’s board has backed the move, while major shareholders including DIC, Kowa and Oasis Management have agreed to participate in the transaction or related steps, giving KKR support tied

English Schools Foundation, one of Hong Kong’s biggest international school operators, is seeking an investment adviser to help oversee an endowment valued at about $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that underscores how large education groups are taking a more institutional approach to treasury and long-term capital planning. The development comes as ESF, which operates 22 schools and serves about 18,500 students, balances fee pressures, capital spending and the management of a growing pool