China

CHINA: Saturday (16th of July) saw a US Navy destroyer sail near the disputed Spratly Islands, the second such “freedom of navigation” exercise in the South China Sea in a week, according to the US Navy. Chinese officials claimed to have “forced away” the USS Benfold, which was sailing near the disputed Paracel Islands, on Wednesday. In the South China …

CHINA: After months of brutal Covid lockdowns, China’s economy had its worst quarterly performance in more than two years. The world’s second-largest economy’s gross domestic product grew by just 0.4% in the three months ending June 30 this year compared to the same period last year, according to NBS data released on Friday. Reuters polled economists had predicted a 1% …

CHINA: There has been a strong reaction among the Chinese public to the discovery in Wuhan, China, of a cholera-causing bacteria that was also detected in food market samples taken from softshell turtles. Officials in the area stated late on Thursday that the food market where samples from softshell turtles tested positive for the bacteria that can cause cholera had …

CHINA: A record quarterly profit from Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing pushed the company’s share price to its highest level this year in Tokyo trade on Friday. One-day gains of 8.5% were the most since April 15, and it was expected to conclude at its best level since November 2021. China, Fast Retailing’s most important international market, had severe losses in …

TAIWAN: According to a government official, Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, would need permission from the Taiwanese government to invest in troubled Chinese semiconductor firm Tsinghua Unigroup (Jul 14). According to reports in Taiwan’s media, Foxconn Industrial Internet, a China-listed affiliate of Foxconn, aims to invest 9.8 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in Unigroup as part of Foxconn’s strategy …

CHINA: A team of Chinese scientists from Sichuan University in southwest China believes that robot fish that “eat” microplastics could one day assist in cleaning up the world’s filthy oceans. These robots, which are only 1.3 centimeters in diameter, have already begun removing microplastics from shallow water. Wang Yuyan, one of the researchers behind the robot’s development, explained that the …

CHINA: The country’s market regulator announced on Sunday that a number of companies, including Alibaba and Tencent, had been fined for violating anti-monopoly regulations regarding the transparency of transactions (Jul 10). There were 28 trades that were found to have broken the rules by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). Alibaba’s Youku Tudou streaming platform is one of the …

SHANGHAI: As reported by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Friday, Tesla, the American electric vehicle manufacturer, sold 78,906 Chinese-made vehicles in June. Passenger car sales in China in June were 1.97 million, an increase of 22% over the same period last year, according to the CPCA. Despite restrictions to stop the spread of Covid in Shanghai, Tesla Inc.’s …

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Tuesday (Jul 5) that President Joe Biden’s team is still considering whether to reduce tariffs on Chinese imports in an effort to reduce inflation. As of late Tuesday, the US Trade Representative’s office had received more than 400 petitions to maintain tariffs in place on Chinese imports. This complicates Biden’s decision-making. A group of …

CHINA: Fresh rounds of mass COVID-19 testing are taking place in eastern China as the country risks new outbreaks and continues to recover from spring outbreaks that affected Beijing and Shanghai. The “dynamic COVID zero” approach of China’s government calls on local authorities to detect and contain new infections as quickly as possible, although the country has advised against overly …