Tuesday, April 23 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
HONG KONG – HSBC’s Flash China Manufacturing PMI has come in at 50.5 for September, up from 50.2 in August) at a two-month high. The Flash China Manufacturing Output Index was at 51.8 in September, unchanged from August’s two-month low.
TAIPEI - Taiwan’s export orders rose 5.2% on-year in August to US$38.21 billion, buoyed by booming global demand for mobile devices and machinery, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. “August marked the seventh consecutive month of growth” said Lin Lee-jen, Director-General of the MOEA Department of Statistics. “The dollar amount is another record high for the period.”
BEIJING - China will not dramatically alter its economic policy because of any one economic indicator, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said in a statement after many economists lowered growth forecasts due to the country's latest set of weak data. China's total social financing aggregate, a broad measure of lending in the economy, was the weakest in nearly six years—indicating credit levels were far below average.
BEIJING - The Chinese Government has confirmed approval for a pilot zone for economic and cultural co-operation with overseas Chinese in Shantou in South China's Guangdong province. The pilot zone will utilise Chinese investors from overseas to build a stronger, freer economic zone.
SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's has revised the outlook on its 'A+' long-term foreign currency sovereign rating on South Korea to positive from stable. S&P also affirmed its 'A+/A-1' foreign currency and 'AA-/A-1+' local currency credit ratings, and said the outlook on the long-term local currency rating remains stable. S&P’s transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment remains 'AA'.
PARIS – The French shipping line CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping company, has signed three agreements on the biggest worldwide maritime trades with China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC). The agreements, to operate under the name OCEAN THREE, cover Asia-Europe, Asia-Mediterranean, Transpacific and Asia-US East Coast trades, and involve a combination of vessel sharing, slot exchanges and slot charter agreements.
The agreements are pending authorisation from the Federal Maritime Commission.
SEOUL – The Korean Finance Ministry’s 2015 Government Budget proposal to be submitted to the National Assembly by September 23, is expansionary, and will likely lift 2015 GDP growth by 0.2%, according to ANZ Bank which has revised upwards its forecast of 2015 GDP growth rate to 3.9%.
BEIJING - There is new momentum behind a proposed economic corridor between China and Singapore after mayors of cities along the route reached a consensus on the initiative at the ongoing meeting between China and ASEAN. The corridor will promote construction of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and Maritime Silk Road, from the Chinese cities of Nanning and Kunming, running through the Indo-China Peninsula and linking cities in China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore with highways and railroads.
BEIJING - Chinese merger and acquisition deals in agriculture have reached a record US$9.8 billion so far this year — a seven-fold jump from 2013 — according to international financial software company Dealogic PLC, which says that by the start of September, Chinese firms made 27 deals in the field of agriculture with a markedly large number overseas.
COLOMBO - The Ministry of Defence and Urban Development of Sri Lanka is inviting applications from foreign manufacturers, their agents and suppliers to register with the ministry for supply of goods and services during 2015. Interested parties can download applications to apply for registration under different categories from the following websites.
BANGKOK - Active use of fiscal stimulus will be Thailand’s main economic policy driver, with monetary policy shifting to a more neutral stance, according to ANZ Bank, which is predicting GDP growth of 4.8% for Thailand in 2015 compared with 1.3% for 2014.
GENEVA - Air freight volumes continue to show solid gains on a year ago, supported by economic improvements in some regions, according to a quarterly report by IATA, which says emerging Asia trade volumes have rebounded after weakness in Q1 and consumers in the US are more optimistic about future economic performance.
HONG KONG - Emerging from a period of stagnation triggered by the global financial crisis, world trade is set to resume its growth trajectory in 2016, presenting fresh opportunities for businesses that have positioned themselves to benefit, a new study from HSBC Commercial Banking shows.
BEIJING - Premier Li Keqiang has advocated improving the quality of Chinese products as a way to alleviate the side-effects of decelerating economic growth, in an address to the China Quality Conference — the first meeting of its kind held in China. His comments follow a National Bureau of Statistics report that value-added industrial output expanded by 6.9% on-year in August, the slowest pace in six years.
BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland dropped 14% in August from a year earlier, settling at US$7.2 billion, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Tuesday. The fall follows a 17% drop in July—the lowest volume in nearly five years.
HANOI - The Vietnamese Government has set an annual GDP growth target of 6.5-7% for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020 with primary objectives of macro stability, inflation control and sustainable development.