The Notebook: Victoria Scholar on Chinese New Year, air fares and edible economics January 24, 2023 | City Talk The notebook is where interesting people say interesting things. Today it’s Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor, on Chinese New Year, why air fares are on the increase and what we can learn about economics from food As the Chinese New Year begins, investors are increasingly turning their attention back to markets in [...]
Huawei out of ‘crisis mode’ after years of US restrictions on Chinese tech giant December 30, 2022 Huawei, the Chinese technology giant, says it has emerged from “crisis mode” after years of US restrictions that have stifled its overseas sales, even though its revenue for 2022 failed to grow from a year earlier. “US restrictions are now our new normal, and we’re back to business as usual,” Eric Xu, Huawei’s current chairman, [...]
Fears of tougher restrictions sweep China after first Covid death in months November 21, 2022 Fears of tougher restrictions have reignited across China today, after the country recorded its first Covid-19 death in six months. On Sunday, an 87-year-old man in Beijing died as infections across the country spike. Beijing has in recent days moved to confine some residents to their homes and ordered others to quarantine centres. Markets fell [...]
Apple asks Taiwan suppliers to label products as ‘Made in China’ August 8, 2022 Apple yesterday asked Taiwan-based suppliers to use the ‘made in China’ label, as the firm reportedly wants products to comply with Bejing rule in a bid to avoid disruption from Chinese customs inspections. According to Nikkei, the company wants manufacturers on the island to label components bound for China as made in “Chinese Taipei” or [...]
Latest Chinese economic data sends shockwaves through Asia as world’s second-largest market shrinks July 15, 2022 After Shanghai and other cities shut down to fight coronavirus outbreaks, China’s economy contracted in the three months ending in June compared with the previous quarter. The world’s second-largest economy shrank by 2.6 per cent, down from the January-March period’s already weak 1.4 per cent, official data showed today. Activity was “much weaker than expected”, [...]
World Bank slashes global growth forecast after warning the world is teetering on the edge of ‘stagflation’ June 7, 2022 THE WORLD Bank yesterday slashed its forecast for global growth this year by more than 1 per cent due to increasing inflation and the economic after-effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The body had anticipated global growth of 4.1 per cent at its last update in January, but cut that in an announcement yesterday to [...]
‘Live by the sword, die by the sword’: Chinese plot to take control of Congolese lithium mine could crash Australian firm’s shares May 20, 2022 A plot by a coalition of powerful Chinese battery manufacturers, to take control of the world’s biggest lithium mine, threatens to crash the share price of Australian miner AVZ Minerals, a mysterious short seller has said. AVZ Minerals could lose control over the Manano lithium mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and be [...]
Tesla: Workers in Shanghai must sleep on factory floor as China restarts production in 600 companies amid draconian Covid measures April 19, 2022 Shanghai’s Tesla factory workers have to sleep on the floor of the factory, as Elon Musk’s company restarts production and China continues a draconian covid policy. With hundreds of firms restarting operations across China, workers have to abide by a strict policy of living on site, in line with the country’s ‘closed loop’ restrictions, according [...]
Ukraine war is dramatically dialling up risk of global recession April 5, 2022 The war in Ukraine has dramatically dialled up the risk of a global recession, according to leading economist. The conflict has thrown a ‘massive monkey wrench’ into what was a gradually improving post-pandemic picture, Ira Kalish, chief global economist at Deloitte told delegates at the World Retail Congress in Rome. And it could have damaging, [...]
From price inflation and Brexit rows to Evergrande and Biden v Putin: Here are the market risks to watch this year January 4, 2022 The world is a pretty turbulent and unpredictable place at the moment, with Covid variants not making life easier. From tensions between Russia and the US over Ukraine’s NATO membership to Brexit conflicts and China’s Evergrande property scandal, 2022 is set to become everything but dull. So what developments and issues could disrupt or disturb [...]