TOKYO -- Japan doled out more foreign aid than other countries in the 1990s but now ranks only fifth, partly on the ending of assistance to China.

Official development assistance by Japan totaled $13.6 billion in 2020, up 17% on the year. But its share of the overall amount provided by members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shrank to 8% from the 1990 figure of 17%.

These

HONG KONG -- HSBC Holdings on Thursday announced its exit from U.S. retail banking, pulling the plug on years of underperformance, to focus on its profitable operations in Asia.

The London-headquartered bank, which has one of the largest U.S. businesses of any non-American bank, said it had reached agreements to sell 90 branches, would convert up to 25 others to serve wealthy international clients and would close as many as 40 others.

The lender said it expects to incur

DALIAN, China/HONG KONG -- When 30-year-old Li's eyes began hurting in April, he decided to try out JD Health's telemedicine service instead of visiting a doctor's office.

Before he knew it, the Beijing resident spoke online with a doctor and had medicated eyedrops delivered to his home.

"I'd still go to the hospital for something serious, but telemedicine is very convenient for minor issues," Li said.

JD Health, a subsidiary of e-

TOKYO -- Japan is preparing to launch a new initiative aimed at helping the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations cut greenhouse gas emissions and realize a decarbonized society.

Tokyo will take the lead in compiling a road map to decarbonization, set up a public and private investment and loan facility of $10 billion, and encourage development of renewables and stronger energy conservation measures, government sources said.

The move comes as Japan seeks to contribute to global decarbonization efforts while helping maintain growth in emerging economies in Southeast Asia

TOKYO -- Japanese electronics retailer Nojima is set to begin procedures for selling its 18.52% stake in the embattled Suruga Bank, Nikkei has learned.

The two companies have clashed over the appointment of directors, and if repairing relations proves difficult, Nojima will start the procedures for selling its share of Suruga Bank, a regional bank based in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Nojima has already informed Suruga Bank and the Financial Services Agency, which has issued approval for major shareholders. It is unknown at this time when

TOKYO -- When China landed a probe on Mars this month, President Xi Jinping hailed the success of the mission as well as the status of Beijing's burgeoning space program.

"The landing left a Chinese mark on Mars for the first time," he said, per Xinhua News Agency. "It is another landmark progress in China's space industry development."

The Tianwen-1 mission resulted in China becoming only the second country to land a rover on Mars successfully, after the U.S.

MUMBAI -- Facebook-owned WhatsApp is challenging the Indian government in the Delhi High Court over a new rule that requires it and other social media companies to track information on their platforms.

The law, which comes into effect on Wednesday, violates user privacy rights and is unconstitutional, said WhatsApp. Complying with the law would require WhatsApp, which has around 400 million users in India, to break end-to-end encryption designed to protect user privacy.

The rules, announced in February, require "intermediaries

HONG KONG -- The Chinese operator of the Australian port of Darwin on Wednesday defended the company's investment as "purely commercial," rejecting security concerns that spurred Canberra this month to launch a review of its 99-year lease.

The lease deal, worth 506 million Australian dollars ($392.44 million), has come under focus amid a drastic cooling of relations between Beijing and Canberra. The U.S. military uses a naval base close to the port and Washington

HONG KONG -- Chinese game developer NetEase said on Wednesday that it had filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering of its music-streaming unit which people familiar with the deal said could raise about $1 billion.

Cloud Village is poised to use the funds to expand as it gears up to take on bigger rival Tencent Music Entertainment Group in the fast-growing music streaming sector in China. NetEase holds a 62.5%-stake, with Alibaba Group Holding and Baidu also backing the company.

In a