Day: December 11, 2023

IDG weighs US$976 million deal for stake in Chery Auto’s parent: sources

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IDG Capital is considering buying shares in Chery Holding Group from existing shareholders for as much as 7 billion yuan (US$976 million), people familiar with the matter said, potentially giving the buyout firm exposure to one of the few unlisted major carmakers in China. Beijing-based IDG is raising funds from investors for the potential transaction, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Any deal would come as Chery Group looks to simplify its shareholding structure considering its revived plans to list its unit Chery…

China’s economic slowdown pushes UK firms to take ‘wait-and-see’ approach to investments, but 2024 optimism returns

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Of the 301 firms who responded to the survey, 60 per cent considered 2023 to be more difficult than last year, which was marked by lockdowns that hobbled labour and transport in China. 03:47 ‘Door to China-US relations will not be closed again’: Xi Jinping offers assurances to US businesses ‘Door to China-US relations will not be closed again’: Xi Jinping offers assurances to US businesses But respondents also showed a “slow return to optimism”, with 46 per cent “positive” about their 2024 prospects. The largest proportion of British-invested companies,…

Uyghurs mark 2 years since ‘genocide’ finding

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Uyghur activists and U.S. lawmakers on Monday marked two years since an independent tribunal in London handed down a decision that China’s government was committing genocide against Uyghurs. The Uyghur Tribunal on Dec. 9, 2021, declared that it was “satisfied” that Beijing had pursued a “deliberate, systematic and concerted policy with the object of so-called ‘optimizing’ the population” of Uyghurs in the far-western Xinjiang province in order to reduce birth rates. It implicated Chinese President Xi Jinping in the policies, which it said were also intended to erase Uyghur culture…

Nvidia in talks with Biden administration about AI chip sales to China, US commerce chief Gina Raimondo says

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The Biden administration is in discussions with Nvidia about permissible sales of artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China but emphasised that it cannot sell its most advanced semiconductors to Chinese firms. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, speaking in an interview with Reuters on Monday, said Nvidia “can, will and should sell AI chips to China because most AI chips will be for commercial applications”. “What we cannot allow them to ship is the most sophisticated, highest-processing power AI chips, which would enable China to train their frontier models,” she added.…

India tightens control of agricultural commodities ahead of election

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Indian authorities have stepped up efforts to control domestic supplies and prices of agricultural commodities such as sugar, onions and wheat ahead of next year’s general election, the latest in a series of interventions that have sent shockwaves through global markets. Authorities have in recent days banned onion exports, restricted the use of sugar for ethanol production and cut the size of the wheat stocks that traders and retailers are…

Ethnic Karenni forces control capital, key township in Myanmar’s Kayah state

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One month since launching an offensive against Myanmar’s military in Kayah state, ethnic Karenni joint forces are in control of the regional capital Loikaw and the strategic township of Moebye, the Karenni Army said Monday. On Nov. 11, the Karenni Army, or KA, Karenni National Defense Force, or KNDF, and anti-junta People’s Defense Force paramilitaries initiated “Operation 1111,” named for the starting date of the campaign, along the shared border between northern Myanmar’s Shan and Kayah states. Speaking to RFA Burmese on Monday, Col. Phone Naing, the KA’s adjutant general,…

Vietnam Wary of Chinese Pressure on Infrastructure Program, Experts Say     

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washington —  Although Vietnam has been cautious about accepting Chinese money through Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Hanoi will be facing pressure to take grants offered under the scheme when President Xi Jinping visits Hanoi this week as the Southeast Asian country seeks to balance its relationships with China and the United States. The initiative, introduced by Xi in 2013, is seen as a long-term strategy by China to enhance its influence in the world by providing its support and financial aid. Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, occupies a central…

India bets on worker dormitories as Apple leads tech pivot from China

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India’s appeal to the likes of Apple as a “China plus one” manufacturing hub may depend on how the country and foreign investors resolve one glaring issue: how and where to get enough workers in the right place. In China, hundreds of millions of migrant workers played a crucial role in the country’s rise as the “workshop of the world”. Executives hoping India will emerge as a parallel manufacturing centre as geopolitical tensions rise are waiting to see whether its workers will prove equally willing to leave their homes and…

China faces the risk of a debt-deflation loop

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is chief Asia economist at Morgan Stanley In 2002, Ben Bernanke, then a governor at the US Federal Reserve, gave a speech outlining the importance of keeping deflation at bay. He concluded: “Sustained deflation can be highly destructive to a modern economy and should be strongly resisted.” Such a warning might not seem pertinent for much of the world where central banks are arguably still fighting the battle…

Top US government audit agency urged to ensure China influence probes are kept ‘free from bias’

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Chu’s letter, also signed by the top Democrats on the House oversight and science committees, asserted that US government responses to concerns about influence attempts by foreign entities, particularly those in China, had led to disproportionately high numbers of ethnically Asian researchers being targeted and losing their jobs. In 2018, the National Institutes of Health – an American government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research – began investigating 246 US-based scientists who allegedly failed to disclose research conducted in another country or affiliations with foreign institutions. Chu’s letter…