China has issued the highest typhoon warning as Typhoon Saola crawled closer to the south-eastern coastline, threatening Hong Kong and other major manufacturing hubs in neighbouring Guangdong province. Chinese forecasters issued a typhoon red warning at 6am on Thursday. China’s National Meteorological Centre said Saola, which lies about 295km (183 miles) south-east of Guangdong province, will move north-west across the South China Sea at a speed of about 10km/h (6mph), gradually approaching the coast of Guangdong, then slowly weaken in intensity. Wind speeds at 9am were clocked at 209km/h. The…
Day: August 30, 2023
China Issues Highest Typhoon Warning as Saola Moves Toward Hong Kong
BEIJING — China issued the highest typhoon warning on Thursday as Typhoon Saola crawled closer to the southeastern coastline, threatening Hong Kong and other major manufacturing hubs in neighboring Guangdong province. Chinese forecasters issued a typhoon red warning at 6 a.m. (2200 GMT). China’s National Meteorological Center said Saola, currently located about 295km southeast of Guangdong province, will move northwest across the South China Sea at a speed of about 10 kph, gradually approaching the coast of Guangdong, then slowly weaken in intensity. Wind speeds at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT)…
China’s Factory Activity Shrinks for 5th Month
BEIJING — China’s manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August, but at a slower-than-expected pace, an official factory survey showed on Thursday, maintaining pressure on Beijing to step up policy support for the stuttering economy. The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 49.7 from 49.3 in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, staying below the 50-point level demarcating contraction from expansion. The reading was above a forecast of 49.4. The Chinese economy risks missing Beijing’s annual growth target of around 5% as it contends…
China’s economic recovery sputters as manufacturing PMI remains in contraction for fifth straight month
China’s manufacturing activities showed little sign of strengthening this month, despite Beijing having ratcheted up support for its ailing economy since a late-July meeting of the decision-making Politburo. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 49.7 in August from 49.3 in July, but it remained in contraction territory for the fifth month in a row, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. Within the official manufacturing PMI, the new-orders subindex jumped into expansionary territory as it reached 50.2, up from 49.5 a month…
China’s food security: Xinjiang develops seawater aquafarming in desert region amid agriculture focus
China’s inland Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has started to develop seawater aquafarming, including freshwater fish, king prawn, abalone and lobsters, as part of efforts to seek technological breakthroughs in agriculture. Aquaculture firm Xinjiang Shi Shi Xian, which was founded in the rural region in 2022, said it has succeeded in a pilot project to develop technology to simulate seawater in its fishery located on the edge of a desert. The saline level – a mixture of salt and water – in southern Xinjiang is naturally “close to the level in…
Hillhouse targets new renminbi fund as dollar interest in China dries up
What is included in my trial? During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your…
China and Myanmar pledge to fight online scams as Beijing seeks stronger ties with junta
According to the readout, the two sides agreed to step up communication and information-sharing to improve cooperation on border affairs. The two-day meeting was part of a bilateral mechanism under which officials of both sides have met annually since the early 2000s. However, no meeting was held in the previous three years, even via video link. Advertisement The latest meeting was held as Beijing steps up its crackdown on cross-border telecoms fraud, which has triggered nationwide outrage since reports surfaced that Chinese citizens, lured by high pay, had been smuggled…
Chinese developer Country Garden reports $6.7bn loss amid fears of another Evergrande
Embattled Chinese developer Country Garden reported a 48.9bn yuan ($6.7bn) loss for the first half of the year in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, adding to worries of a potentially catastrophic default. Its tenuous state has sparked fears of a collapse that could have far-reaching consequences for the Chinese financial system two years after the fall of Evergrande. Country Garden, which was China’s largest real estate firm last year, has four times as many building projects underway as Evergrande. When the latter halted construction projects in recent times it…
US OKs Military Aid to Taiwan Under Program Usually Reserved for Sovereign Nations
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has approved the first-ever U.S. military transfer to Taiwan under a program generally reserved for assistance to sovereign, independent states. The State Department notified Congress of the sale on Wednesday. It said the material would “be used to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities through joint and combined defense capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability.” The package is modest — only $80 million of what Congress had set aside as a potential $2 billion — but the implications of using the so-called Foreign…
Will a rare strike threaten the ‘buy Japan’ moment?
Receive free Japanese business & finance updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Japanese business & finance news every morning. As incarnations of customer service go, the staff at a Japanese department store take some topping. Pristine, polite and propelled through their day by an atomic engine of etiquette, these were the people whose expertise and charm once redefined urban retail across the country. In the hands of their superlative salesforce, these stores were democratisers of finery, and pioneers in the peddling of luxury…