ASIA: China has warned Taiwan that any attempt to seek independence “means war.” The warning comes days after China stepped up its military activities and flew warplanes near the island. This reaction from China came after new US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to Taiwan, and set out his stance in Asia. The US […]

ASIA: A World Health Organization (WHO) team has come out of quarantine and will start on-the-ground investigations into the origins of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The scientists will begin interviewing people from research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market linked to the initial outbreak. Their research will rely upon evidence provided […]

ASIA: Profits at China’s industrial firms grew for the eighth straight month in December, suggesting a sustained recovery as the manufacturing sector rapidly emerged from its COVID-19 slump, Reuters reported. Profits surged 20.1% year-on-year in December to 707.11-billion-yuan ($109.40 billion), after rising 15.5% in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Wednesday. […]

ASIA: The IMF expects the US and China to be by far the most successful at steering their economies through the pandemic, leaving Europe and other emerging markets trailing in their wake. In its updated forecasts for the global economy, the fund predicts that by 2022 recoveries in the US and China will leave their […]

ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 increased 190.84 points or 0.67% to 28,822.29 Shanghai increased 17.49 points or 0.48% to 3,624.24 Hang Seng increased 711.16 points or 2.41% to 30,159.01 ASX 200 increased 24.30 points or 0.36% to 6,824.70 Kospi increased 68.36 points or 2.18% to 3,208.99 SENSEX […]

ASIA: Barring another wave of COVID-19 infections, the worst is over for India’s economy and policymakers may soon have more room to support a recovery, the central bank said in its January bulletin released on Thursday. The RBI slashed interest rates early last year to cushion the shock from the coronavirus crisis, but has left […]

ASIA: The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday and revised its economic forecast for the next fiscal year, signaling that it has delivered sufficient stimulus, for now, to cushion the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. As widely expected, the central bank kept unchanged its target for short-term interest rates at […]

ASIA: Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has made his first appearance since Chinese regulators cracked down on his business empire. The billionaire met 100 rural teachers in China via a video meeting on Wednesday, according to local government media. The Chinese government slapped sanctions on former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser […]

ASIA: China’s economy grew at the slowest pace in more than four decades last year, official figures show but remains on course to be the only major economy to have expanded in 2020. The economy grew 2.3% last year, despite Covid-19 shutdowns causing output to slump in early 2020. China’s mainland share markets as well […]

ASIA: Shares in China’s Xiaomi sank after the US government added the smartphone group to an investment blacklist in a move that is likely to thin its ranks of American shareholders. The Beijing-based company’s stock dropped 10.3 percent in Hong Kong trading on Friday, hours after the Pentagon added it to a list of companies […]