By Minami Funakoshi | TOKYO TOKYO U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to visit Japan, South Korea and China this month to discuss North Korea on his first trip to the region since he took up his post, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Tillerson’s trip would come as the United States and China try to put relations on an even keel after a rocky start […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Friday it had made a final finding that the U.S. industry was being harmed by the dumping and subsidization of imports of carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from China. The finding allows for the final imposition of duties by the U.S. Commerce Department. The investigation into the imports was prompted by a petition from Nucor Corp and U.S. […]
With its high growth rates and huge potential, battery demand is a key focus for metals markets. If 2016 was all about lithium, then 2017 should see cobalt start to attract greater attention. Prices have already accelerated to levels last seen in 2011, as rising demand from the core portable electronics meets relatively stagnant supply growth. And while risks remain — technological on the demand side and […]
By Michael Martina and Philip Wen | BEIJING BEIJING Defying pressure for a strong increase in defence spending, China said on Saturday its military budget this year would grow about 7 percent, its slowest pace since 2010. Last year, with China’s economy slowing, the defence budget recorded its lowest increase in six years, 7.6 percent, the first single-digit rise since 2010, following a nearly unbroken two-decade run […]
By Benjamin Kang Lim and Philip Wen | BEIJING BEIJING China’s sweeping overhaul of its anti-corruption architecture could enable President Xi Jinping to justify retaining his key ally and top graft buster Wang Qishan beyond retirement age, sources with ties to the leadership say. Breaking the unwritten retirement rule could also set a precedent for Xi, 63, to defy current expectations that he will step down as […]
BEIJING Ri Jong Chol, a suspect in the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader, said in Beijing that he was a victim of a conspiracy by Malaysian authorities attempting to damage the honour of North Korea. Ri, a North Korean, accused Malaysia of using coercion to try to extract a confession from him, he told reporters outside the North Korea embassy in Beijing on […]
A tell-tale sign of a booming equity market is a hot technology listing and the blockbuster debut by Snap, duly summoned memories of the dotcom era. Shares in the parent of the popular messaging app surged more than 40 per cent in their New York Stock Exchange debut on Thursday where the fresh-faced co-founders rang the opening bell to cheers from the trading floor. On Friday, they […]
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO Institutional investors anxious not to be left out of this year’s marquee initial public offering helped Snap Inc (SNAP.N) pull off the biggest U.S.-listed technology share sale this week since Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group Holding Inc (BABA.N) smashed records in 2014. Keen to boost returns and with a dearth of new stocks to buy, the IPO of a buzzy social media group was […]
BEIJING China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said it had expressed concern about a large-scale joint military exercise between South Korean and U.S. troops that began this week. The exercise, called Foal Eagle, comes amid heightened tension following the latest test launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea on Feb. 12. Previous such exercises have prompted threats by Pyongyang to launch military action in retaliation. “We have […]
Beijing is banning Chinese tour groups from visiting South Korea, the latest retaliation against the planned Korean deployment of the US-built Thaad missile shield, according to two people with knowledge of the plans. Wang Ki-young, a director at South Korea’s culture ministry, said on Friday that Chinese authorities had ordered tourism agencies in Beijing to halt tours to South Korea from mid-March. Mr Wang said the move […]
BEIJING A new Chinese cruise ship has embarked on its maiden voyage to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, the latest effort by Beijing to bolster its claims in the strategic waterway. The Changle Princess sailed from Sanya on the southern Chinese island province of Hainan on Thursday afternoon with 308 passengers on a four-day voyage, Xinhua […]
BEIJING, Activity in China’s services sector expanded at the slowest pace in four months in February, with new business still growing at a solid rate but increasing competition making it harder for companies to raise prices, a private survey showed. The findings echoed a similar softening in growth in China’s official services activity survey released on Wednesday, and contrasted with an unexpected pick-up in growth in its […]
China’s 200 richest lawmakers are worth more than $500bn, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks the fortunes of the country’s wealthiest people. The Communist party officially welcomed private-sector business people into its fold in 2002, when the Chinese economy was the world’s sixth-largest. Their wealth has since soared in tandem with the Chinese economy, which is now second only to that of the US. According to […]
BEIJING China’s leaders are expected to telegraph their willingness at this year’s annual parliament meeting to let reforms overtake policy stimulus as their priority amid concerns over financial instability in the world’s second-largest economy. Pro-growth policies, evident by a lending binge and increased government spending last year, have fueled worries among policymakers about high debt levels and an overheating housing market. Top leaders at the National People’s […]
Uber’s US rival Lyft is seeking $500m in a new fundraising round to provide fresh ammunition as the transportation company takes its fight with Uber to a growing number of US cities, according to two people close to the process. The fundraising comes at a time when Uber has been struggling with a series of public relations crises, including allegations of sexual harassment and a video of […]
The Fitbit Blaze The wearables market is under constant scrutiny for its growth potential, but despite a few moments of uncertainty, 2016 turned out to be a blockbuster year for the category overall. According to the latest data from IDC, Wearable shipments globally hit an all-time high of 33.9 million units in Q4 2016, an increase of nearly 17 percent year over year. Shipments for the entire […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks looked set to climb further on Thursday after a record day on Wednesday, as strong economic data added to the optimism about the U.S. economy. Wall Street’s main indexes rallied on Wednesday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sailed past the 21,000 mark, boosted by President Donald Trump’s more measured tone in a speech to Congress and as bank stocks surged on […]
Jeff Sessions, the US attorney-general, failed to disclose during his confirmation hearings that he twice met the Russian ambassador while acting as a close adviser to Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign. Mr Sessions met Sergey Kislyak on September 8 in the then senator’s private office in the US Capitol building, after having spoken with him briefly two months earlier at an event sponsored by the […]
CK Chow struck a cautious note at the start of the week when revealing the Hong Kong Exchange’s annual results. With average daily turnover down 37 per cent, the exchange chairman’s wariness was understandable as he talked of a “challenging” outlook and volatile markets. Yet such caution is out of step with the mood in the market. Hong Kong’s blue-chip Hang Seng index and the Hang Seng […]
By John Ruwitch | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI The fortunes of the richest 100 members of China’s parliament and its advisory body – all dollar billionaires – grew about 64 percent in the four years since Xi Jinping rose to power, according to data from an organisation tracking wealth in China. Xi has overseen a crackdown on corruption and decadence, and made the fight against poverty a top priority […]
By Christian Shepherd | BEIJING BEIJING Chinese state media said on Thursday that a prominent Chinese rights activist had made up “fake news” of torture to grab international headlines, but his defenders said the accusations were a coordinated attempt to smear his name. State media said disbarred lawyer Jiang Tianyong, 46, was behind news reports of police torturing another detained rights activist, Xie Yang, and that Jiang […]
SEOUL Isolated North Korea is developing sophisticated tools to digitally spy on its citizens, who are increasingly using mobile devices to connect to each other, a U.S. government-funded report released on Wednesday says. The report, “Compromising Connectivity”, says North Korea has allowed the growing use of mobile phones and domestic internet access in return for the detailed information the network feeds Pyongyang’s surveillance state. “By giving citizens […]
Cheung Kong Infrastructure and Fosun International are among several Asian groups that have submitted bids for Q-Park, one of Europe’s largest parking lot operators, in a deal that could fetch more than $2.4bn. China Oceanwide, a Beijing-based conglomerate owned by a billionaire banking magnate, and Shougang Group, a state-owned Chinese steel company, also joined the first round of bidding on the Netherlands-based parking group, two people familiar […]
In 2011, the Kabul foreign press corps numbered 85, by the reckoning of Dominic Medley, who has worked here for many years as a press officer for NATO, the American military and the United Nations. The American military was surging, reaching more than 100,000 troops by 2012. The press surged as well, with regular visitors in addition to the resident press corps, plus dozens of reporters going […]
