Apple suppliers warn China's energy rules threaten supply chain
TAIPEI -- Manufacturers are warning that further disruptions to energy supplies in China would create havoc in the tech supply chain at a time when the industry is gearing up for peak production season, including of the latest iPhones.
Several companies including key Apple suppliers have already said they had to halt or reduce operations at facilities in Jiangsu Province, China's industrial tech heartland, after local governments there restricted the supply of electricity for industrial use through the end of the month.
Cities in Jiangsu have either told enterprises to stop using
Japan's JERA to invest $1.58bn in Philippine utility Aboitiz Power
TOKYO -- Japanese power generator JERA is investing $1.58 billion in the leading utility company in the Philippines, Aboitiz Power, as it hopes to benefit from growing electricity demand in the country while making a transition from coal to cleaner energy.
JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, has signed an agreement to purchase shares from Aboitiz Power's parent company Aboitiz Equity Ventures and its affiliate companies. JERA will own about a 27% stake in Aboitiz Power, it announced
Developer Sunac seeks support from Chinese city to stem slowdown
HONG KONG -- Property developer Sunac China Holdings has asked for "special policy support" from a city government to stem slowing sales, underscoring challenges faced by once high-flying companies in the world's second largest economy.
Sunac asked Shaoxing city -- famous for its yellow rice wine -- in eastern Zhejiang province for support as rules introduced in June had curbed demand and hurt local projects, according to a letter written by one of its units and seen by Nikkei Asia. The company did not specify what type
Thailand to let more businesses open and shorten curfew hours
BANGKOK -- Thailand this week is expected to allow spas, cinemas and museums to reopen and also shorten its nighttime curfew as it moves to get its tourism infrastructure back up and running, a crucial step now that it is weeks away from welcoming back the free-spending international travelers who support much of its economy.
The government's policymaking agency for coronavirus-related issues is recommending 29 provinces, including Bangkok, be allowed to trim an hour off the curfew and that more businesses be given the go-ahead
HNA restructuring moves ahead with $5.7bn airline funding
HONG KONG -- Bankrupt Chinese conglomerate HNA Group moved a step forward in its restructuring process on Monday with a plan to inject fresh capital into its core airline subsidiary.
Investors in Hainan Airlines Holding agreed to a plan to double the capital base and allot new shares to a designated strategic investor and a certain group of creditors who will be compensated in stock, according to an announcement. The bankruptcy administrators, appointed by the People's High Court of Hainan Province, have selected Liaoning Fangda Group, an industrial conglomerate with operations
China's fiscal deficit follows Evergrande, power crunch as next worry
BEIJING -- Already grappling with the twin trouble of the Evergrande crisis and a crippling power shortage, China also faces the long-term problem of a rapidly rising fiscal deficit -- a challenge that could force Beijing to tackle unpopular reform.
China's fiscal deficit is on track to more than double to over $150 billion in 2025, as a slowing rise in tax intake and impending mass retirements among the baby boom generation further weight on government finances.
The Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences,
Deep freeze to mild chill? China warms relations with U.S.
TOKYO -- Autumn is here. But even as temperatures cool in much of the Northern Hemisphere, a different change is afoot in geopolitics.
Sino-American relations are showing signs of life again after a long deep freeze. Not a full-blown warming, but stepped-up diplomatic maneuvering to gain the upper hand.
In trade, China filed its membership application for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on Sept. 16 -- hours after Australia, the U.K. and the U
Afghanistan will not address U.N. General Assembly
UNITED NATIONS -- There will be no address delivered by the Afghan mission to the United Nations General Assembly Monday as the country’s U.N. representatives face a crisis of credibility on the international stage following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August.
Afghanistan's Amb. Ghulam Isaczai, who was appointed by deposed President Ashraf Ghani in July, was set to give the penultimate address of the General Assembly, before being removed from the schedule Monday morning. U.N. Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary
Fujifilm cuts into ex-partner Xerox's European turf
TOKYO -- The company formerly known as Fuji Xerox will start selling office machines in some European countries and other markets that had been off limits, now that a long-standing deal between Japan's Fujifilm Holdings and U.S.-based Xerox has ended, Nikkei has learned.
Fujifilm Business Innovation will introduce large commercial printers under its own brand next month in Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal, tapping its parent Fujifilm Holdings' sales networks.
More products, including multifunction machines, debut later this year in
Japan PM hopeful Kishida leads in LDP lawmaker support: poll
TOKYO -- Over 120 ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers plan to back former party policy chief Fumio Kishida in the LDP presidential election, putting him ahead of the pack in with 30% parliamentary support, a Nikkei/TV Tokyo survey on Monday found.
Administrative reform minister Taro Kono followed Kishida with more than 100, or over 20%, of parliamentary votes, while former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi appears likely to garner around 20%.
A fourth candidate, former internal affairs minister Seiko