Day: November 8, 2023

Can Japan ever pass the ‘Buffett horizon’?

Media Library

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Japanese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, its bankers confirmed on Wednesday, is planning to issue yen-denominated corporate bonds for what will be the second time this year, and the seventh since 2019. The two popping sounds you might be hearing are, one, the celebratory corks of “Japan is back” brokers and fund managers relieved that the world’s most famous investor seems content to remain at this historically frustrating table for…

China’s economy tumbles back into deflation in blow to recovery

Media Library

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China’s economy edged back into deflation last month, spurred by falling pork prices, as policymakers struggled to reignite domestic demand in the midst of a rolling property sector crisis and following the end of strict pandemic controls early this year.  The consumer price index fell 0.2 per cent in October year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday, compared with a 0.1 per cent fall…

Tania Branigan’s Red Memory wins 2023 Cundill history prize

Media Library

Guardian leader writer Tania Branigan has won the 2023 Cundill history prize for her book Red Memory, about the ongoing trauma of China’s Cultural Revolution told through the rarely heard stories of the people who lived through it. Branigan will receive $75,000 (£60,984) as part of the award, which is the largest cash prize for a book of nonfiction in English. She was announced as the winner at a ceremony in Montreal on Wednesday evening. Judging chair and historian Philippa Levine said that Branigan’s “sensitive study of the impact of…

China Consumer Prices Fall, Renewing Fears of Deflation

Media Library

Prices are falling again in China after a two-month reprieve, with households and businesses wary of spending even as state-controlled banks pump money into the construction of more factories. The decline in prices could put China on the cusp of a pernicious economic condition called deflation, in which companies and workers find that they receive less money for their goods or their work, while their debts remain as heavy as ever. In the United States, by contrast, inflation has been brought down substantially, although consumer prices are still higher than…

China releases action plan to reduce methane emissions ahead of COP28 climate summit

Media Library

China has unveiled its long-awaited plan to reduce methane emissions ahead of the COP28 climate summit, showing its willingness to work closely with the international community to tackle the second-biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Wednesday released the action plan to curb methane emissions after a four-day meeting between the US climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in California from November 4-7 to address the climate crisis. Although the plan did not mention firm targets or timetables…

China’s foreign-investment boon of years past has ended, but economists say all hope is not lost for FDI

Media Library

China needs to up its game if it hopes to restore confidence in its economy and woo foreign investment, economists and policy advisers say as the world’s second-largest economy has seen a first-ever quarterly deficit in direct investment liabilities. Wang Tao, chief China economist for UBS Investment Bank in Hong Kong, said the fall in foreign investment has been driven by factors such as “de-risking” efforts by Western governments and the high costs of borrowing in the US dollar. “All foreign firms are concerned about political and commercial pressure from…

Crisis-hit Afghanistan celebrates surprise Cricket World Cup success

Media Library

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Afghanistan’s cricket team have emerged as the underdog success story of the Cricket World Cup in India, with historic victories that have enthralled fans and catapulted the crisis-hit nation into the sport’s elite. The men’s team, a newcomer to high-level cricket, has beaten teams including current world champions England and Afghanistan’s arch-rival Pakistan during the six-week tournament that started last month. They play South Africa in Ahmedabad on Friday with…

China Bends to Seoul’s Demands on Tracking Fishing Boats

Media Library

WASHINGTON —  A new maritime deal requiring Chinese fishing vessels to keep location tracking devices turned on when operating in South Korean waters signals a concession by Beijing — a small gesture to save ties from declining further with Seoul, experts say. China agreed with South Korea that it will be mandatory for its fishing fleets to install and keep on the internationally accepted automatic identification system (AIS) while sailing in South Korea’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) starting in 2024. The requirement to install and turn on the location tracking…

Chinese phonemakers Oppo and Transsion seek growth in south-east Asia

Media Library

Some of China’s leading smartphone makers are betting that a push into south-east Asia will pave the way for a recovery in sales next year as the return of Huawei heats up competition in their home market. Oppo held the global launch of two premium foldable smartphones, the Find N3 and N3 Flip, in Singapore last month, the first time in 10 years it had chosen the city-state as its venue for such an event. The world’s fourth-biggest smartphone maker sees foldable phones as essential for energising the saturated handset…

China inflation: weak consumer prices continue in October, deflationary pressure deepens

Media Library

This is in sharp contrast to many Western countries, which have been haunted by high inflation over the last 18 months. China’s CPI had suffered a rare 0.3 per cent decline in July, but economists attributed the fall for the first time since 2021 to the high comparison base from a year earlier and also weak domestic demand. But China’s imports in October rose for the first time in eight months, with the surprise 3 per cent year-on-year increase pointing to a potential rebound in domestic demand amid supportive government…