MANILA -- Filipino restaurant giant Jollibee Foods is attempting to set itself up for rapid growth once the pandemic winds down with an aggressive global brand acquisition strategy that is moving the group further away from its fast-food roots.

In August, the company said it would acquire the remaining 15% stake in Tim Ho Wan from its partner Titan Dining for 71.56 million Singapore dollars ($52.8 million). Jollibee initially bought a 45% interest in Tim Ho Wan for SG$

SINGAPORE -- Singapore logistics startup Ninja Van has closed a major round of funding, raising $578 million in a late stage Series E round with China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group as a big name backer.

The money raised will be poured into "infrastructure and technology systems that will support a sustainable long-term cost structure," and help in the quality and consistency of the company's operations, Ninja Van said in a news release on Sunday.

GeoPost/DPDgroup, B Capital Group, Monk

HANOI -- Vietnam's economy in the July-September quarter may have recorded less than 2% growth, underperforming the same quarter a year ago. A strict COVID-19 lockdown squeezed the country's southern commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City, putting pressure on the government to give up its goal of 6.5% growth for the year.

The economy, once praised for its effective response early in the pandemic, is now struggling to emerge from a wave of infections. The impact could continue to

HONG KONG -- China Evergrande Group's electric car unit has terminated plans for a maiden mainland share offering amid concerns over the fate of the embattled parent, which is fast running out of cash.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, which at its April peak was more valuable than Ford Motor despite having yet to sell a single car, said late on Sunday that it had decided to halt its plan to sell shares on Shanghai's STAR Market after "due and careful consideration." It did not share any

BEIJING -- The debt crisis at China Evergrande Group, the world's most indebted property developer, has cast new light on the health of China's real estate market.

According to Rushi Advanced Institute of Finance, condominium prices in the southern city of Shenzhen are now 57 times the average annual income, and 55 times that of income in Beijing. Even at the height of Japan's bubble economy in 1990, Tokyo condos were 18 times the average annual income.

With homes

TAIPEI (Reuters) -- The situation in the Taiwan Strait is "complex and grim", Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote in a congratulatory letter on Sunday to the newly elected leader of Taiwan's main opposition party, who has pledged to renew talks with Beijing.

Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) elected as their leader on Saturday former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu, who said he would rekindle stalled high-level contacts with China's ruling Communist Party.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has

TOKYO -- Following a recent deal by the U.S. and the U.K. to offer Australia classified technology to build nuclear-powered submarines, should fellow Quad member Japan also seek such a capability? The four candidates running for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race to succeed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga were asked the question Sunday on Fuji TV.

Poll leader Taro Kono, minister for administrative reform and also in charge of vaccine distribution, gave a thumbs-up. "As a capability, it is very important

TAIPEI -- Several key Apple and Tesla suppliers have halted production at some of their Chinese facilities to comply with Beijing's tighter energy consumption policy, putting supply-chain continuity at risk during a peak season for electronics goods including the latest iPhones.

Eson Precision Engineering, an affiliate of Foxconn -- the world's biggest iPhone assembler -- and a key mechanical parts supplier for Apple and Tesla, on Sunday said it suspended its production from Sunday until Friday at its facilities in the Chinese city of Kunshan in direct

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey still intended to buy a second batch of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, a move that could deepen a rift with NATO ally Washington and trigger fresh U.S. sanctions.

Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its F-35 fighter jets and to NATO's broader defense systems. Turkey says it was unable to procure air defense systems from any NATO ally on satisfactory terms.

"In the