ASIA: A World Health Organization (WHO) team of international experts tasked with investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic will arrive in China on January 14, Chinese authorities said on Monday. Lack of authorization from Beijing had delayed the arrival of the 10-strong team on a long-awaited mission to investigate early infections, in what China’s […]

ASIA: Against the backdrop of possible US sanctions on the $5.4 billion deal with Russia for S-400 air defense systems, India on Friday said it has an independent foreign policy that guides defense acquisitions in line with national security interests. Recent reports have suggested the US could impose secondary sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries […]

ASIA: US authorities are now debating whether to ban investments in Alibaba and Tencent, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be a dramatic blow to two of the companies whose shares are most widely held by global investors. Already on Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with […]

ASIA: Chinese regulators are reportedly pressing Jack Ma’s fintech Ant Group to share consumer data with Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Ma, founder of Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Group, hasn’t been seen in public in two months. On Monday, CNBC anchor David Faber reported that he was laying low, rather than missing. […]

ASIA: China’s economic growth could reach as high as 9 percent next year, and its rapid rebound from the coronavirus pandemic may help the economy overtake the US to become the world’s largest later this decade, analysts said. Nomura and China International Capital Corporation put China’s gross domestic product growth for 2021 at 9 percent. […]

ASIA: The UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said China’s “skillful” management of Covid-19 would boost its relative growth compared to the US and Europe in coming years, and China will overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy by 2028, five years earlier than previously forecast. Meanwhile, India is tipped to […]

NOTE: We wish our readers a happy and healthy holiday season. Due to decreased market activity, and some well deserved time off, we will suspend Market Talk until January 4, 2021. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to providing you with Market Talk blog postings again in the new year! ASIA: China […]

ASIA: Following a US announcement of new visa restrictions on Chinese officials, China hit back with reciprocal actions Tuesday against unnamed American officials in the latest back-and-forth. The Foreign Ministry also called on President Donald Trump not to sign into law legislation approved by Congress on Tibet. The visa action came in response to a […]

ASIA: Chinese leaders who attended the Central Economic Work Conference from Dec. 16 to 18 were buoyant about China’s relative successes, while remaining cautious on major changes to stimulus policies, CNBC reported according to state media. The annual gathering sets development priorities for the upcoming year. Analysts who followed the meeting said it provided little […]

ASIA: India has decided to put restrictions on some Chinese firms that make telecom equipment. The Narendra Modi government will make a list of trusted companies to buy the equipment from, which means that certain companies will have to face restrictions. So far, Chinese companies have dominated the telecom sector, but they will have to […]