Nikkei Asia is tracking the spread of the coronavirus that was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Cumulative global cases have reached 191,903,032, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The worldwide death toll has hit 4,125,614.

For more information about the spread of COVID-19 and the progress of vaccination around the world, please see our interactive charts and maps.

-- Global coronavirus tracker charts

-- Status of

TOKYO -- Automotive suppliers Asahi Kasei and JFE Steel have jumped onto the decarbonization bandwagon by developing processes that save energy and reduce the industry's carbon footprint.

Asahi Kasei, a chemical producer, is creating coating material for automotive steel sheets that can be applied at lower temperatures while maintaining conventional performance. The product could erase 300,000 tons of carbon output annually if adopted by the entire Japanese auto industry.

Coating is the most carbon-intensive auto production process due to the amount of heat involved

MANILA -- Philippine fintech player Mynt aims to more than double its valuation to $2 billion in its future fundraising , a top executive told Nikkei Asia, a level that would make the Ant Group-backed payment provider the country's most valuable fintech company.

Mynt, the group behind the popular GCash app, closed a $175 million funding round in January that valued the company at nearly $1 billion. It has added 11 million users since then and is aiming to boost its financial firepower as

TOKYO -- The Tokyo Olympics are finally upon us after a long journey filled with controversy, and an unprecedented one-year postponement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While some sports have already held events, it officially begins with the opening ceremony at the National Stadium on Friday evening.

Key events to watch on July 23 ( Tokyo time)

8 p.m. Opening ceremony

Archery

9 a.m. Women's individual ranking round. The field includes world record holder Kang Chae-young of

BEIJING (Reuters) -- China's President Xi Jinping visited the Tibet Autonomous Region on July 21-22, according to the official Xinhua news agency, in his first recorded visit as leader of the nation.

Xi flew into the city of Nyingchi on Wednesday and took a train to Tibetan capital Lhasa the following day along a section of the high-elevation railway being built to link the mountainous border region with Sichuan province.

In Lhasa, Xi visited a monastery and the Potala Palace Square, and "

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC is leaning more heavily on private markets to sustain returns, as it posted its best performance since 2015 during its last fiscal year.

The investor on Friday said that after accounting for global inflation, its portfolio achieved an annualized real rate of return of 4.3% over a 20-year period that ended on March 31 this year.

GIC, one of the world's most prolific institutional investors, uses this benchmark to gauge its performance

HONG KONG -- Demand for space in central Hong Kong's premium office towers has started to rebound even as the U.S. warns multinationals about heightened risks under the national security law imposed on the city by Beijing a year ago.

Analysts say that occupied office space in Hong Kong's central business district rose during the April-June quarter, the first net gain since mass anti-government protests erupted in the city two years ago.

"We are starting to see the bottom of the market,"

TOKYO -- The Tokyo Olympics are finally upon us after a long journey filled with controversy, and an unprecedented one-year postponement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While some sports have already held events, it officially begins with the opening ceremony at the National Stadium on Friday evening.

Key events to watch on July 23 ( Tokyo time)

8 p.m. Opening ceremony

Archery

9 a.m. Women's individual ranking round. The field includes world record holder Kang Chae-young of

Nikkei Asia is tracking the spread of the coronavirus that was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Cumulative global cases have reached 191,903,032, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The worldwide death toll has hit 4,125,614.

For more information about the spread of COVID-19 and the progress of vaccination around the world, please see our interactive charts and maps.

-- Global coronavirus tracker charts

-- Status of