Receive free Chinese capital controls updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Chinese capital controls news every morning. China’s biggest mutual funds are nearing government limits on offshore investment, as they seek higher returns elsewhere against a backdrop of slower growth at home. China’s so-called Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor scheme, introduced in 2006, allows banks, brokerages and asset managers to bypass the country’s strict capital controls and buy securities abroad. Beijing has steadily increased the total quota from $87bn a decade ago to its…
Day: August 5, 2023
Chinese economists told not to be negative as rebound falters
Receive free Chinese economy updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Chinese economy news every morning. Chinese authorities are putting pressure on prominent local economists to avoid discussing negative trends such as deflation, as concerns mount about Beijing’s ability to boost a flagging recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. Multiple local brokerage analysts and researchers at leading universities as well as state-run think-tanks said they had been instructed by regulators, their employers and even domestic media outlets to avoid speaking negatively about topics ranging…
South Korean politician urges US to abandon China chip strategy
Receive free Semiconductors updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Semiconductors news every morning. An influential South Korean legislator has strongly criticised Washington’s interventions in the global semiconductor industry, in a sign of the disquiet in Seoul over US efforts to corral Asian allies into its economic security agenda. Yang Hyang-ja, a former chip engineer and Samsung executive who chaired a ruling party committee on South Korea’s semiconductor competitiveness until early this year, said that measures to curb China’s ability to access or produce…
South Korean lawmaker urges US to abandon China chip strategy
Receive free Semiconductors updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Semiconductors news every morning. An influential South Korean lawmaker has strongly criticised Washington’s interventions in the global semiconductor industry, in a sign of the disquiet in Seoul over US efforts to corral Asian allies into its economic security agenda. Yang Hyang-ja, a former chip engineer and Samsung executive who chaired a ruling party committee on South Korea’s semiconductor competitiveness until early this year, said that measures to curb China’s ability to access or produce…
North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un Visits Arms Factories, State Media Says
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave field guidance at major weapons factories between Thursday and Saturday, including production lines of engines for strategic cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, KCNA state news agency said Sunday. Kim also inspected factories producing shells for super large-caliber multiple rocket launchers and transporter-erector-launchers, which are normally used to fire ballistic missiles, KCNA reported. He gave instructions for increasing production capacities at the factories as an important part of bolstering the country’s defense capabilities, KCNA said. Inspecting the munitions factory,…
Suez Canal tugboat sinks after collision with Hong Kong-flagged tanker, crew member dies
A Suez Canal tugboat has sunk after colliding with a Hong Kong-flagged LPG tanker in the strategically important waterway, the canal authority said on Saturday and a tugboat crew member died, his family said. The tanker, Chinagas Legend, is waiting in Port Said, Egypt until the completion of procedures related to the accident, canal authority head Osama Rabie said in a statement. Two canal sources said Chinagas Legend was unharmed by the collision, was functioning normally and had anchored at Port Said. The dead crew member, Sayed Moussa, was a…
A Warm July in China-Nicaragua Relations
Advertisement An eventful July in China-Nicaragua relations kicked off with the fourth round of negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA), which were held in Managua from July 3-5 by China’s vice minister of commerce and Nicaragua’s minister of development, industry, and trade. A few days later, Presidential Advisor Laureano Ortega Murillo travelled to China, signing several cooperation agreements and reaffirming Nicaragua’s commitment to the One China principle. Ortega Murillo – who is, perhaps more notably, the son of President Daniel Ortega – met multiple high-profile statesmen, including director of…
Power Prices Surge as Cost-of-Living Pressures Increase in Australia
SYDNEY — New Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals a record number of people are working multiple jobs as households try to keep up with the surge in the cost of living. Inflation has been at record highs, and Australians are paying some of the world’s highest power prices. Sharp increases in power prices are making a cost-of-living crisis even worse. In some parts of the country, prices have risen by up to 25%. Power prices in Australia have been fueled by various factors, including high inflation. There have also…
China’s northeast braces for Doksuri fallout after typhoon takes toll on Hebei
While the flooding in Hebei province eased on Saturday, the remnants of the storm were being felt to the northeast. Alarms were sounded for water levels in 25 rivers in Heilongjiang province and the two county-level cities of Wuchang and Shangzhi reported serious flooding, with residents trapped and homes and bridges damaged, according to Xinhua. Advertisement The Ministry of Emergency Management sent a team to the province to assess conditions and the People’s Liberation Army’s Northern Theatre Command set up a centre to coordinate rescue efforts. A resident moves his…
Bertelsmann Investments to plough $700mn into Chinese start-ups
Receive free Bertelsmann SE & Co KGaA updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Bertelsmann SE & Co KGaA news every morning. One of Germany’s biggest venture capital funds plans to invest $700mn in Chinese start-ups, bucking widespread gloom among western investors about the country’s tech scene. Carsten Coesfeld, chief executive of Bertelsmann Investments, said he had been struck on a visit to China by its “very impressive” entrepreneurial talent. Along with co-investors including large financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds, the company will…