TOKYO -- China is on track to overtake Japan as the world's largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, yet another sign of Beijing's economic ascendance and the relative decline of Tokyo's standing.

Chinese LNG imports are projected at 75.5 million tons this year, according to analytics firm Rystad Energy, edging out Japan's 75.1 million tons.

Japan has been the world leader in LNG purchases for the past half century. But the national market has matured and topped out.

BANGKOK -- Thailand's ambitious quarantine-free tourism experiment began on Thursday morning as an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi carrying fully vaccinated passengers landed on the island of Phuket.

After clearing immigration, the visitors were taken straight to their hotels, where they will wait for the results of PCR tests COVID-19. If the results are negative, the tourists are free to roam the entire island.

"I can't wait to walk on the beach," said a father of two children traveling from

SEOUL -- South Korean computer game developer Krafton cut its initial public offering price range by more than 10% on Thursday and postponed its listing, surrendering to a demand by regulators to fix the valuation.

Krafton, known for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, or PUBG, said that it will lower its IPO price to a range of 400,000 won ($353) to 498,000 won from its previous band of between 458,000

KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysian government has awarded Sweden's Ericsson an 11 billion ringgit ($2.6 billion) contract to design and build its 5G telecommunications network, snubbing Chinese competitor Huawei Technologies.

Thursday's announcement comes as Malaysia aims to make 5G connectivity available by year-end and cover 80% of the population by 2024. For starters, services are to be rolled out in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as well as multimedia hub Cyberjaya within 2021.

SEOUL -- SK Innovation will spend 30 trillion won ($26.5 billion) on its electric vehicle battery business over the next five years, the South Korean energy and materials company said Thursday, looking to multiply production capacity by a factor of five to capture surging global demand.

The world's sixth-largest battery producer reports already having orders worth 130 billion won on its books.

"We are transitioning from carbon to green, and we will transform into an energy and materials company that

TOKYO -- Uniqlo is rolling out Friday its first made-in-Tokyo clothing, a limited release heralding a new design process and business model for operator Fast Retailing.

The three new items, which include a 2,990 yen ($27) 3D-knit cotton crewneck sweater, will be available at a Uniqlo flagship store in central Tokyo and online.

Fast Retailing plans to produce just enough to meet customer demand -- a model made possible by the first foray into manufacturing by a company

HONG KONG -- July 1 has been a public holiday in Hong Kong since 1997 to mark the handover of sovereignty from the U.K. to China, but it also has served as the day for the territory's people to hit the streets in protest on a wide range of issues.

The most notable protest occurred in 2003, when 500,000 people showed up to voice their opposition against the authorities' first attempt to impose national security legislation on Hong

YANGON/BANGKOK -- Myanmar's military on Feb. 1 detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in a general election in November . But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud.

For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page.

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TOKYO -- Negotiators from 130 nations and territories on Thursday reached a broad agreement on corporate taxation meant to halt a race to the bottom in tax rates and pin down borderless tech giants.

The proposed plan calls for a minimum tax rate of at least 15%, an amount pushed for by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration. At the same time, a new digital tax would target about 100 tech companies that make at least 20 billion euros ($23.