Tag: economy

Japan’s factory output rises 4.0 percent in April: govt

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese factory output rose 4.0 percent in April from the previous month, official figures showed Wednesday, bolstering data indicating the world’s third-largest economy is finally seeing moderate expansion. However, the figure was slightly down on market expectations of a 4.2 percent rise and came a day after data showed consumer demand remains weak despite years of government efforts to boost spending. The positive reading comes after it factory output fell 1.9 percent […]

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Vanguard establishes first subsidiary on Chinese mainland

BEIJING, China (Reuters) – Vanguard, the world’s biggest mutual fund, launched its first wholly-owned subsidiary on the Chinese mainland last week. The group’s chairman and chief executive officer William McNabb III said the move was aimed at a greater penetration of the Chinese market. Headquartered in Shanghai, the subsidiary will conduct business ranging from investment management, research to consultation in China. McNabb said they tend to achieve two things with the new company. One is […]

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Asian markets brush off North Korean missile launch

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Stock markets in Japan and South Korea rose Monday morning as investors brushed off Pyongyang’s missile launch, and after record gains on overseas bourses. The short-range projectile flew for several minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) — the latest in a series of launches that have ratcheted up tensions over the North’s bid to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States. The political reaction in Asia […]

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Chinese mainland welcomes Taiwan participation in Belt and Road Initiative

BEIJING, China (Reuters) – The Chinese mainland welcomes participation by Taiwan in the Belt and Road construction to share development opportunities, a mainland spokesperson told a press briefing on Thursday in Beijing. Spokesperson for State Council Taiwan Affairs Office An Fengshan, said that the cross-Strait communication and negotiation mechanisms have been broken off because of the Democratic Progressive Party’s refusal to recognize the 1992 Consensus. The mainland, however, still expects and welcomes the participation of Taiwan […]

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Eurozone fails to reach Greece debt deal amid IMF row

by Alex Pigman Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Eurozone finance ministers failed to reach a deal for fresh bailout cash for Greece on Monday, as a row with the International Monetary Fund over debt relief dragged on. After more than eight hours of talks in Brussels, ministers from the 19-member single currency bloc could not settle deep differences on debt relief pitting Germany, the eurozone’s most powerful member, against the IMF. “I think we […]

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Japan’s economy posts longest expansion in a decade

by Miwa Suzuki Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has posted its longest economic expansion in over a decade, government data showed Thursday, marking a win for Tokyo’s growth bid even though its battle to conquer deflation is still far from won. The world’s number three economy grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter — or an annualized 2.2 percent. That was the fifth straight rise and up from a 0.3 percent expansion in the […]

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Pessimism rife in working-class Tehran ahead of poll

by Ali Noorani Agence France-Presse TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) – In a working-class district of Tehran teeming with porters, motorbikes and pickup trucks, residents have little enthusiasm about next week’s presidential election. Iranians have tried it all — reformists, establishment figures, rabble-rousing populists, and for the past four years a moderate cleric, President Hassan Rouhani, who struck a historic deal to reintegrate Iran into the world. But residents of Molavi, in capital’s south, say their lives […]

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China factory gate inflation slows to 6.4% in April

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Prices for goods at the factory gate in China rose at a slower pace than expected in April, the government said Wednesday, as commodity prices have fallen. The producer price index (PPI) rose 6.4 percent year-on-year in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), slightly lower than economists’ expectations of a 6.7 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey. It slumped following a 7.6 percent gain in March — the […]

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Australia holds rates steady ahead of budget

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s central bank held interest rates at a record low 1.50 percent Tuesday after annual inflation moved back into its target range, as it treads water ahead of the federal budget next week. The Reserve Bank of Australia slashed 300 basis points from borrowing costs between November 2011 and August last year to support non-resources industries as the economy transitions out of a mining investment boom. It has remained on […]

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China creates 3.34 million new jobs in urban areas in Q1 of 2017

CCTV — China created 3.34 million new jobs in the first quarter this year, according to a press conference held by Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in Beijing on Tuesday. China’s employment situation was recorded as generally stable in the first quarter, with the number of new jobs created in urban areas from January to March this year being 160,000 higher than in the same period of 2016. The unemployment rate in the […]

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China’s economy grows 6.9% in first quarter of 2017: gov’t

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s economy grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, government data showed Monday, beating expectations in the latest sign of stabilization in the world’s second-largest economy. The reading was better than the median analyst expectation of 6.8 percent in an AFP poll. “The national economy in the first quarter has maintained the momentum of steady and sound development,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. It added […]

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China producer prices jump in March as demand goes up

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Prices for goods at the factory gate in China jumped in March, the government said Wednesday, in a positive sign of strengthening demand for the world’s second-largest economy. The producer price index (PPI) rose 7.6 percent year-on-year in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, slightly beating economists’ expectations of a 7.5 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey. Factory gate inflation “has eased,” NBS analyst Sheng Guoqing said in […]

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