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☆ Bosch opens chip test centre in Malaysia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Robert Bosch (ROBG.UL) has opened a new test centre for chips and sensors in Malaysia for 65-million-euro ($71.62 million) and plans to invest a further 285 million euros by the middle of next decade, the German technology group announced on Tuesday. Up to 400 jobs will be created by the mid-2030s, it added. Bosch currently carries out most of the final testing of its semiconductors from its factories in the German cities of Reutlingen, Germany, Suzhou, China and Hungary. Those locations will be joined by the new test centre in Penang, for which Bosch is receiving funding from Malaysia. ($1 = 0.9075 euros)Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Riham AlkousaaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Robert Bosch, Bosch, Ilona Wissenbach, Miranda Murray, Riham Organizations: Bosch, Thomson Locations: Malaysia, Reutlingen, Germany, Suzhou, China, Hungary, Penang

Financial firms and their regulators have cut salaries and bonuses after China's top graft-busting watchdog vowed to eliminate "Western-style hedonism" in the $57 trillion sector. "Wage cuts will intensify deflationary risks and reduce willingness to spend," said Zhaopeng Xing, ANZ's senior China strategist. Reuters GraphicsWEAK BARGAINING POWERUnilateral wage cuts are illegal in China, but complex salary structures offer ways around that. Shao, who sold make-up in the eastern city of Suzhou and only gave her surname for privacy reasons, had a choice to leave her company or accept a 50% wage cut. Their bargaining power ... is weakened so they tend to accept wage cuts," said Aidan Chau, researcher at Hong Kong-based rights group China Labour Bulletin.

Persons: Yao, Zhaopeng Xing, ANZ's, Unit's Xu Tianchen, Zhaopin, Shao, Aidan Chau, Xu, he's, Xiangrong Yu, Ellen Zhang, Marius Zaharia, Liangping Gao, Kripa Jayaram, Kim Coghill Organizations: Communist Party, Financial, Economist, Reuters, Workers, China Labour Bulletin, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Citi, Graphics, Thomson Locations: China, BEIJING, HONG KONG, Hefei, Suzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing

☆ What new norm of slower Chinese growth could mean for the global economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Ying Tang | NurPhoto | Getty ImagesThe Chinese economy could be facing a prolonged period of lower growth, a prospect which may have global ramifications after 45 years of rapid expansion and globalization. The ruling Chinese Communist Party has set a growth target of 5% for 2023, lower than usual and notably modest for a country that has averaged 9% annual GDP growth since opening up its economy in 1978. For the global economy, however, the most immediate spillover of a Chinese slowdown will likely come in commodities and the industrial cycle, as China reconfigures its economy to reduce its reliance on a property sector that has been "absorbing and driving commodity prices." "This shift from a complementary economy, where Beijing and Berlin kind of benefit from each other, to now being competitors is another big consequence of the structural slowdown," Green said. He noted that beyond the immediate loss of demand for commodities, China's reaction to its shifting economic sands will also have "second order impacts" for the global economy.

Persons: Ying Tang, Julian Evans, Pritchard, Evans, it's, Xi Jinping's, Rory Green, Green Organizations: Beijing, Communist Party, Capital Economics, Triple, TS Lombard, CNBC Locations: Suzhou, Shanghai, China, Asia, Beijing, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Berlin

☆ China says two policies to support business coming soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A view of high-rise buildings is seen along the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, China on July 5, 2023. BEIJING — China's economic planner said Thursday that two new policies for supporting non-state-owned businesses will be launched soon. While it did not specify a date, the policy plans come a day after China's top party and government leadership announced lengthy "opinions" on supporting non-state-owned businesses. Business sentiment has generally soured amid lackluster economic growth after China's initial recovery from the pandemic. The two forthcoming policies will focus on promoting business investment and their overall development, Li Chunlin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Persons: Li Chunlin Organizations: National Development, Reform, CNBC Locations: Suzhou, Shanghai, China, BEIJING, Beijing

☆ China to ban food imports from Japan citing concerns over nuclear contaminated water
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

China will ban the import of food from about one-fifth of Japanese prefectures for safety reasons, Chinese customs said on Friday, citing Japan's move to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea. China customs said it would continuously strengthen the detection and monitoring of radioactive substances to ensure the safety of food imported from Japan in banning food from 10 prefectures. The move was to prevent the export of radioactive contaminated Japanese food to China and protect the food safety of Chinese consumers' imports, China said. For weeks China had publicly voiced strong opposition to Japan's move to discharge treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. China customs said the report did not fully reflect the views of all the experts involved in the assessment process, and the conclusions were not unanimously endorsed by the experts.

Persons: Japan's Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency Locations: Hokkaido, Japan, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

[1/2] A Chinese national flag flutters outside the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) building on the Financial Street in Beijing, China July 9, 2021. China's long-awaited rules for offshore stock exchange listings form part of a regulatory tightening on cross-border listings after years of a laissez-faire approach. REGULATORY 'BLACKBOX'The new listing regime requires CSRC to respond within 20 working days upon accepting an issuer's listing filing. Submitting additional materials can be time-consuming and thus delay the listing process, said bankers and lawyers. Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, JD.com, Scott Murdoch, Kane Wu, Selena Li, Sumeet Chatterjee, Muralikumar Organizations: China Securities Regulatory Commission, REUTERS, China, U.S, iMotion Automotive Technology, Reuters, Thomson Locations: China, Beijing, Hong Kong, SYDNEY, HONG KONG, Suzhou, Sydney

☆ Taiwan scrambles fighter jets after 10 Chinese warplanes fly across the sensitive median line
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Taiwan deployed fighter jets after 10 Chinese planes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. Earlier this week, 37 Chinese military planes also flew into Taiwan's air-defense system. This is not the first instance of Chinese military activity around Taiwan this week. Reuters reported that 37 Chinese military planes flew into Taiwan's air-defense system before some headed to the western Pacific. China views Taiwan as part of its own territory, claiming that it is a breakaway province.

Persons: —, USS Chung, Xi Jinping Organizations: Service, People's Liberation Army Navy, Reuters, US, Fleet, 052D, Suzhou, Pacific Command, USS Locations: Taiwan, Taiwan Strait, American, China, Pacific

☆ New US Navy video clearly shows Chinese warship cutting off a US destroyer during 'unsafe' encounter in the Taiwan Strait
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new video, clearer than an earlier one, of a close call between US and Chinese destroyers in the Taiwan Strait has come out. The US Navy video shows the Chinese ship cutting off the US vessel. This incident follows another in the air in which a Chinese fighter jet flew directly in front of a US plane. "This is wildly unprofessional and provocative behavior on the part of the Chinese Navy," he said. American and Chinese naval vessels have had other close calls like this in the past, such as when a Chinese destroyer sailed dangerously close to the US destroyer USS Decatur near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea five years ago.

Persons: —, Arleigh Burke, Hoon, James Stavridis, Barry, Li Shangfu, Defense Lloyd Austin, Austin, Li Organizations: US Navy, Service, Fleet, 052D, Suzhou, Pacific Command, People's Liberation Army Navy, American, Twitter, Chinese Navy, PLA Navy, US, South China, US Air Force, Defense Locations: Taiwan, American, Montreal, Chinese, Decatur, Spratly, South, China, Singapore

☆ American jailed for spying by China rubbed shoulders with senior Chinese officials, CNN reporting shows, CNN reporting shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“He’s a very famous person, known by many overseas Chinese in the southern US,” Tang said. Reports published by Chinese-language media in Texas and China’s state media show Leung’s long-running access to senior Chinese officials. In 2014, he met with the director of Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office during a visit to Nanjing, the provincial capital. This photo shows John Leung with Wang Hua, the former director of Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. It also comes as American and Chinese officials are resuming high-level engagements since a dispute over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shattered efforts to mend ties earlier this year.

☆ China Sentences American Citizen to Life in Prison for Espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Dan Strumpf | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

John Shing-wan Leung was tried in the city of Suzhou near Shanghai. Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesHONG KONG—Chinese authorities said they sentenced an American citizen to life in prison on espionage charges, in a case that could further strain relations between Beijing and Washington. John Shing-wan Leung, a 78-year-old U.S. passport holder who also holds Hong Kong permanent residency, was found guilty and sentenced on Monday following a trial in the eastern city of Suzhou near Shanghai, according to a court notice.

☆ China Sentences a U.S. Citizen to Life in Prison for Espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Chang Che | Olivia Wang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese court said it sentenced a 78-year-old American citizen to life in prison on Monday on unspecified charges of spying, the latest in a wave of espionage cases the authorities have pursued amid growing wariness of foreign influence in the country. The Intermediate People’s Court in the southeastern city of Suzhou said in a short statement that it pronounced John Shing-Wan Leung guilty of espionage and sentenced him. Mr. Leung holds a United States passport and is a permanent resident of Hong Kong, according to the statement posted on the court’s social media account. A spokesman for the United States Embassy in Beijing said the embassy was aware of the reports about the case but declined to comment because of privacy concerns. American citizens arrested in China must sign a privacy waiver to allow embassies and consulates to release information about their cases to the public.

☆ China sentences 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison for espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —A 78-year-old American citizen has been sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court on spying charges. Leung was detained on April 15, 2021 by state security authorities in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, according to the brief statement, which did not provide details on his charges. Chinese authorities and state media have not previously disclosed any information on Leung’s detention or the court process that led to his conviction. In China, cases involving state security are usually handled behind closed doors. In another high-profile case, two Canadians – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – were detained by China for nearly three years.

☆ US citizen sentenced to life in prison for espionage - Chinese court
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - A 78-year-old U.S. citizen and Hong Kong resident was on Monday convicted of espionage and sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in eastern China, a court statement said. The court added that Leung was a Hong Kong resident and a U.S. passport holder. The court gave no specifics of his alleged offence, but said: "Suzhou's National Security Bureau began investigating Leung on April 15, 2021, on suspicion of spying." Last week, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met China's top diplomat Wang Yi to try to keep open channels of communication and to stablise the relationship between the superpowers. Hong Kong and Chinese media outlets reported that Leung had once been a senior member of a Chinese patriotic group in the United States called the U.S.-China Friendship Promotion Association.

☆ China sentences 78-year-old U.S. citizen to life in prison on spying charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Relations between Washington and Beijing are at their lowest in decades amid disputes over trade, technology, human rights and China's increasingly aggressive approach toward its territorial claims involving self-governing Taiwan and the South China Sea. Jason Lee | ReutersChina sentenced a 78-year-old United States citizen to life in prison Monday on spying charges, in a case that reflects the deterioration in ties between Beijing and Washington over recent years. Details of the charges against John Shing-Wan Leung, who holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, have not been publicly released. High-level government visits have been on hold and U.S. companies are delaying major investments amid mixed-messaging from Beijing. Now the world’s second-largest economy, China is expanding its footprint in ports, railways and other infrastructure from Europe to Southeast Asia and beyond.

Hong Kong CNN —China’s state security authorities raided multiple offices of international advisory firm Capvision, state media reported Monday, part of a broader crackdown on the consulting industry as Beijing tightens control over what it considers sensitive information related to national security. The consultancy firm, which is headquartered in Shanghai and New York, adds to a growing list of global consulting companies that have been ensnared in Beijing’s widening crackdown on what it perceives as national security risks. In the report, Capvision was singled out as a “leading company” in the industry. According to state security police, he downloaded 5,000 documents from his state-owned company’s internal network. The authorities said he had provided clients with six pieces of information that were classified as state secrets, CCTV said.

☆ China probes Capvision in national security warning to consulting firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Chinese authorities have carried out an investigation into consulting firm Capvision Partners, state media CCTV reported on Monday. CCTV said that investigations by Chinese national security authorities had found that overseas institutions have used domestic consulting firms to steal state secrets and intelligence on areas key to China. Chinese authorities have carried out an investigation into consulting firm Capvision Partners, state media CCTV reported on Monday, in a warning to other advisory firms as the country tightens its national security laws. CCTV said that investigations by Chinese national security authorities had found that overseas institutions have used domestic consulting firms to steal state secrets and intelligence on areas key to China. CCTV did not say whether authorities levelled any punishment against Capvision but that the national security agency had dealt with the company "in accordance with regulations."

☆ China Raids Offices of Another Global Firm in Espionage Crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( David Pierson | Daisuke Wakabayashi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China has targeted another global business consulting firm on national security grounds, launching an investigation of the Shanghai-based Capvision Partners as part of a broader crackdown on the industry, state media reported on Monday night. Officers raided several of the firm’s offices in China, including in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Shenzhen, state media said, explaining that the company was not “earnestly fulfilling the responsibilities and obligations” of preventing espionage. The investigation is the latest in a recent government crackdown on consulting and advisory firms, whose clients include overseas investors and foreign companies seeking information into Chinese industry. Mintz Group, an American company that specializes in corporate investigations, said in March that Chinese authorities had raided its offices, detained five of its Chinese staff and closed the branch. Last month, Bain & Company, a U.S. consulting firm, said security officials had visited its offices and questioned employees.

☆ Chinese digital currency stocks surge amid new efforts to promote e-CNY
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) - Chinese digital currency-related stocks jumped on Monday in a weak broader market, amid the latest measures that China is taking to promote the use of its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan. "The development marks the latest trial China is doing to promote its e-CNY," said Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, referring to the digital yuan. Shares in Global Infotech Co (300465.SZ) soared 13% by midday, Chutian Dragon Co (003040.SZ) surged 8%, while Newland Digital Technology Co (000997.SZ) and Northking Information Technology Co (002987.SZ) also rose. However, the three people all said they don't find adequate scenarios to spend the digital yuan in their daily life. "I don't know how to use it, to be honest, no merchant around me receives digital yuan," Yang told Reuters, only giving her surname as she is not authorised to speak to the media.

☆ Chinese trapeze artist falls to her death during performance with husband
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A Chinese acrobat has fallen to her death during an aerial silks performance, sparking horror and outcry on social media over the lack of safety measures. She was taken to hospital but died of her injuries, the Tongqiao district government said in a statement Monday. How come there are no safety measures?”The acrobat couple are seen performing another set of aerial silks routine before the accident. The show was hosted by a local farm business owner, who contracted the Anhui Yaxi Performing Arts Media Company to run the performance, the statement said. The report added that the female acrobat had been married to her husband for more than a decade and left behind two children.

April 14 (Reuters) - The United States has charged leaders of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel with running a fentanyl trafficking operation fueled by Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Friday. Federal prosecutors unsealed three separate indictments charging more than two dozen defendants based in Mexico, China and Guatemala, eight of whom are in custody. Among those awaiting extradition is Ovidio Guzman Lopez, one of El Chapo's sons, who was arrested in Mexico earlier this year. Prosecutors also charged four owners of Chinese companies that allegedly provided precursor chemicals to the cartel. "The PRC government must stop the unchecked flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals that are coming out of China," he said, referring to the People's Republic of China.

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese companies in action over fentanyl
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Treasury said it also designated five people based in China and Guatemala in the action targeting fentanyl production. "Illicit fentanyl is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year," the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement. The Treasury in the statement said it slapped sanctions on China-based chemical companies Wuhan Shuokang Biological Technology Co Ltd and Suzhou Xiaoli Pharmatech Co Ltd, as well as four Chinese nationals. Also targeted was a Guatemala-based broker of fentanyl precursor chemicals, who the Treasury said buys fentanyl precursor on behalf of Mexico-based drug traffickers. Mexico and the United States on Thursday agreed to ramp up the fight against fentanyl trafficking.

☆ Chinese companies and tycoons rush to calm investors after SVB collapse causes anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which courted Chinese start-ups, has caused widespread concern in China, where a string of founders and companies rushed to appease investors by saying their exposure was insignificant or nonexistent. “As China’s first technology bank, SPD Silicon Valley Bank is committed to serving Chinese science and technology companies, and has always had sound operations in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations.”It’s unclear what will happen to SVB’s ownership of the joint venture. BeiGene, one of China’s largest cancer-focused drug companies, said Monday it had more than $175 million uninsured cash deposits at SVB, which represents approximately 3.9% of its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Zai Lab, a pharmaceutical firm, announced that its cash deposits at SVB were “immaterial” at about $23 million. “We never opened an account with Silicon Valley Bank, nor placed a deposit,” he said late Sunday on his Weibo account.

☆ Exclusive: Tesla taps Asian partners to address 4680 battery concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Details about Tesla's Cybertruck battery strategy, including use of 4680 cells and consideration of other options, have not been reported. The Tesla-designed 4680 cell - so named for its external dimensions (46mm diameter, 80mm length) - is crucial to future production plans. Last year, LG said it planned to open a new 4680 production line at its Ochang plant in Korea in the second half of 2023. Tesla also has been installing first-generation 4680 cells with "wet" cathodes in so-called structural packs in Texas-built Model Ys. Tesla plans to use a cathode with more than 90% nickel in the next generation of 4680 cells, two sources said.

Analysts estimate that nearly $700 billion of mortgages – close to one-eighth China's outstanding total – have been prepaid since early last year, when banks started to lower borrowing rates. This threatens banks' profits on mortgages, which accounted for about 30% of outstanding loans at China's five biggest banks as of last June, according to their latest financial reports. The current disinterest in new home purchases contrasts sharply with the overheated property market of prior years, when authorities kept mortgage rates high to cool speculation. Towards the middle of last year, however, regulators began lowering benchmark mortgage rates to prop up property demand, after a liquidity crisis among developers sent home prices and sales into a downward spiral. "I decided to do so because I'm burdened with a mortgage rate that's too high," Wang said.

☆ Chinese savers stashed away $2.6 trillion last year but property crash will cool ‘revenge spending’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Burberry (BBRYF) said last month that it’s seeing “very promising” signs in China, according to Reuters. Since real estate accounts for 70% of household wealth in China, “revenge spending” will be limited, analysts said. They expect household consumption growth to rebound to 9.5% in 2023 from about 3% in 2022, fueling annual GDP growth of more than 5%. Morgan Stanley analysts expect to see some “revenge spending” mostly from household with stable incomes. They’re expecting household consumption growth to rebound to 8.5% in 2023, contributing to full-year economic growth of 5.7%.

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