Day: October 2, 2023

China’s Evergrande Resumes Hong Kong Trading

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HONG KONG —  Shares in Chinese property giant Evergrande soared as trading resumed on Tuesday, following a suspension last week when the heavily indebted company announced its boss was under criminal investigation. In early trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, prices jumped more than 60% before dropping to 10% and then rising again. The resumption follows an application notice filed late Monday, though there was no such request for the firm’s electric vehicle unit. A separate statement said trading for Evergrande Property Services would also re-start at 9 a.m.…

World Bank Sees China’s Growth Sputtering to Slowest Rate Since 1960s

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN —  Hours after the People’s Republic of China celebrated its 74th birthday October 1 with fireworks and flowers, the World Bank cut its forecast for the country’s growth next year. The World Bank said in its semiannual regional forecast released Sunday that it now expected China’s economic output will grow 4.4% in 2024, down from the 4.8% it expected in April. The bank cited the persistent weakness of its property sector for the changed outlook. The bank also warned that east Asia’s developing economies, including China, are set…

India tells Canada to withdraw dozens of diplomatic staff

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India has told Canada to withdraw dozens of diplomats from the country, in an escalation of the crisis that erupted when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said New Delhi may have been linked to the murder of a Canadian Sikh. Ottawa has been told by New Delhi that it must repatriate roughly 40 diplomats by October 10, according to people familiar with the demand. One person said India had threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of diplomats who remain after that date. The Canadian foreign ministry and the Indian government declined…

China Establishes Temporary ‘Border Control Zone’ to Fight Myanmar Scam Operations

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Advertisement China is restricting the movement of people in border regions of Yunnan province in a bid to combat the rampant telecom fraud committed by Chinese nationals in remote, rebel-occupied regions of Myanmar. The Chinese media outlet Caixin reported last week that the Chinese authorities have set up a “strict border control zone” in the city of Tengchong, one of the main gateways to Myanmar. From October 1 until the end of the year, Caixin reported, individuals and vehicles entering the zone in Tengchong will be registered and checked upon…

For Chinese chip-making, lack of advanced lithography systems becomes a focal point in wake of Huawei’s breakthrough

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Hopes are high in China that the latest smartphone from Huawei Technologies signals the country is making progress in making its own chips, but experts caution that Chinese firms remain years behind in producing the lithography systems needed to advance further. Even after China has spent years pursuing self-reliance in semiconductors, the lithography machines needed to make advanced chips today only come from one company: Netherlands-based ASML Holding. Producing this kind of complex machinery entirely within China is not likely to happen in the foreseeable future, industry insiders say. Constricted…

Shares of Evergrande and its property unit jump in Hong Kong as they resume trading after confirming chairman is under police control

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China Evergrande Group’s shares jumped when they resumed trading in Hong Kong, after a two-day halt to announce that its founder and chairman Hui Ka-yan has been placed under so-called ‘mandatory measures’ by the police in mainland China. Evergrande shares jumped by 9.4 per cent to 35 Hong Kong cents as soon as trading resumed, and soared by as much as 28 per cent within minutes. Shares of the company’s Evergrande Property Services unit rose 6.8 per cent to 63 Hong Kong cents. Shares of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle…

Australian Open to Make Changes for 2024 Tournament

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The Australian Open will begin on a Sunday next year, expanding the Grand Slam tennis tournament to a 15-day event for the first time, with the intention of decreasing the likelihood of late-night finishes. Tennis Australia announced the change Monday, saying it hopes to make things better for the athletes and spectators by avoiding matches that stretch well past midnight. The change for next January’s tournament at Melbourne Park comes after this year’s Australian Open included a second-round match between Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis that concluded after 4 a.m.…

China flexes green thumb as it pursues agricultural self-reliance

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Though relatively small, the yield carried great symbolism. The tropical fruit, known for its potent smell, is mainly produced in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. The domestic durians were priced at around 120 yuan (US$16) per kilogram – about three times the cost of most imported durians – and their farming area was only 93.3 hectares. As the world’s largest durian consumer market, China imported 825,000 tonnes of the fruit in 2022, according to customs data. 05:57 Our reporter had never tried durian, so we sent her to sample everything at…

Southeast Asian Migrant Workers in Taiwan: Human Rights and Soft Power

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Advertisement Taiwan’s population is expected to rapidly age over the next five years. Currently, more than 20 percent of the population is over the age of 65. By 2060, the elderly will encompass more than 41.4 percent of the population. This demographic shift poses a major question: how will Taiwan manage its impending labor shortage? To meet the challenge, it will need to enhance worker protections for the army of elder-care workers and other migrant laborers – including those from Southeast Asia – who are filling vacant roles in other…

China’s ‘opening up’ policy risks becoming an empty promise without going beyond simple business deals

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The phrase “opening up” has rich implications in China. Its original meaning was about Deng Xiaoping’s policy of welcoming foreign investment and technology, but it also has a strong ideological undertone of accepting new ideas. Economic liberalisation and tolerance of new views have been mutually reinforcing over the past few decades, pushing forward China’s development, and it is hard to say which is more important. To some extent, China’s economic growth in the last four decades would not have been possible without “thought emancipation”. Yet the role of this “spiritual”…