Day: March 28, 2024

China’s 5G market set to expand, fuel economic growth as tech solidifies status as pillar industry

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China’s flourishing 5G market is expected to add almost US$260 billion to its gross domestic product in 2030, with its 5G connections accounting for nearly a third of the worldwide total according to a recent report. The mobile industry contributed to 5.5 per cent of China’s GDP last year, and in each of the coming years through 2030, nearly a quarter of that contribution will come from 5G – the highest echelon of current cellular technology – per the results of a study issued on Tuesday by the Groupe Speciale…

China’s Vanke vows to cut debt by $14bn as property woes mount

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Vanke, one of China’s leading property developers, said it would cut its debt by $14bn after a nationwide slowdown in the sector hit its sales and saw its profits fall by almost half in 2023. The company’s net income fell 46 per cent to Rmb12.2bn ($1.69bn) last year, the state-linked company said in an exchange filing late on Thursday. In February, its sales dropped by 53 per cent year-on-year to…

Stakes Are High for Turkish President, Opposition in Local Elections

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washington —  Millions of Turkish citizens will head to the polls Sunday to elect mayors and local administrators for their cities and districts. The elections come less than a year after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured his term for another five years last May. “Now we have 2024 ahead of us,” Erdogan said in his victory speech, adding, “Are you ready to win both Uskudar [a district in Istanbul where Erdogan’s personal residence is] and Istanbul in the local elections in 2024?” Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)…

Ukraine urges India to rethink ‘Soviet legacy’ of Russia ties

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. India’s close ties with Russia are based on a “Soviet legacy” that is “evaporating”, Ukraine’s foreign minister warned as he urged New Delhi to stand by Kyiv. On a visit to the India, Dmytro Kuleba also said it should be concerned about Russia’s deepening ties with China, which is locked in a tense border conflict with its southern neighbour India.  Speaking to the Financial Times, Kuleba said “the co-operation…

Rohingya activists call for more control of aid money

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Rohingya Muslim activists representing fellow refugees forced out of Myanmar and into “prison-like” camps in Bangladesh said in Washington on Thursday that foreign aid to the camps would go further if some of it was given directly to refugee-run groups. But a representative of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, said little money was left over after aid cuts that currently see the refugees provided with only $10 worth of food a month. About 90% of the 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh struggled to have “acceptable food…

Desperate farmers in North Korea steal insulating plastic film from each other

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It’s planting season in North Korea, and farmers are stealing plastic film from each other so that they can protect their rice seedlings from frost as they worry about meeting their quotas, residents told Radio Free Asia. The plastic film and other farm supplies such as fertilizer are in short supply as imports from China have not picked up after the shutdown in trade during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In rural areas of our country, where farming material shortages are chronic, the number of thieves of plastic film from farms increases…

16 Indians rescued from scam operations in Laos

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Sixteen Indian nationals who said they were lured in Mumbai to work as online scammers in Laos were rescued this week from the Chinese-run Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, an official with knowledge of the situation told Radio Free Asia on Friday. The zone, which sits along the Mekong River in northwestern Bokeo province, is a gambling and tourism hub catering to Chinese tourists and has been described as a de-facto Chinese colony.  It has become a haven for cyber scams, prostitution, money laundering, drug trafficking, and human and wildlife…

How Taiwan Breaches Censors’ Barriers

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Breaking the barriers of censorship in China, Myanmar and North Korea is a daunting task, as these countries have built almost impenetrable firewalls against outside news and information. But Radio Taiwan International is successfully using shortwave radio to break through. “We potentially have 70 million to 1.2 billion listeners who rely on shortwave to get information [from] outside of their country,” said Isis Lee, RTI’s vice president. On the air since 1928, RTI say their mission is to bring listeners stories they won’t or can’t hear or see on television,…

South China Sea: Beijing urges Southeast Asian nations to ‘cherish peace’ and help stop tensions spiralling out of control

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“People in East Asian countries should be aware of and cherish the three-decade-long regional peace since the end of the Cold War, and efforts should be spared to prevent new conflicts from emerging in the South China Sea,” Liu told a panel discussion about the disputed waterway. China’s special envoy for climate change Liu Zhenmin addresses a panel discussion at the Boao Forum. Photo: Xinhua He also warned: “The past year has witnessed closer military cooperation among the United States, Japan and the Philippines. Many are concerned that this would…

AI boom drives global stock markets to best first quarter in five years

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Global stock markets have recorded their best first-quarter performance in five years, buoyed by hopes of a soft economic landing in the US and enthusiasm about artificial intelligence. An MSCI index of worldwide stocks has gained 7.7 per cent this year, the most since 2019, with stocks outperforming bonds by the biggest margin in any quarter since 2020, even as traders scale back their expectations for rapid interest rate cuts. The…