SINGAPORE -- Singapore revised up gross domestic product growth for the January-March quarter to 1.3% from a preliminary result of 0.2%, on the back of strong export demand.

The government on Tuesday also maintained its economic growth outlook for this year, at 4% to 6%, even as rising COVID-19 cases at home and abroad hit business activity.

In the data, compared with that of a year earlier, the manufacturing sector grew 10.7% from a year

SEOUL -- South Korean drugmaker Samsung Biologics will begin producing the Moderna coronavirus vaccine following an agreement struck during President Moon Jae-in's trip to Washington last week.

The company will produce hundreds of millions of vaccine doses at its facilities in Incheon and plans to ship the drug domestically and to other destinations excluding the U.S., according to Sunday's announcement.

This will mark the first vaccine production deal for Samsung Biologics, one of the world's leading contract manufacturers of biopharmaceuticals. The production arrangement

TOKYO -- SoftBank Group subsidiary Z Holdings, the parent company of Yahoo Japan, plans to sell its retail forex margin trading operations to market leader GMO in a 30 billion yen ($275 million) deal, Nikkei has learned.

GMO Financial Holdings will buy all outstanding shares of the unit -- known as YJFX -- from Z Holdings, which plans to focus its resources on other services such as mobile payment platform PayPay.

GMO Financial, parent of GMO Click Securities, led Japan's retail

TOKYO -- Policymakers in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party will push for a steep increase in the country's defense spending and capabilities as Tokyo eyes China's military buildup and tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Two LDP groups, the National Defense Division and the Research Commission on National Security, agreed at a meeting Monday to seek greater spending on necessary defense equipment beyond outlays already planned through fiscal 2023. They also recommended sharply increasing research and development spending on next-generation fighter jets and other arms

SHANGHAI -- Japan's Mizuho Bank will serve as a principal underwriter for China's first green bond that consists only of income streams from loans for low- and zero-emission cars as Beijing pursues an ambitious climate change goal.

The 910 million yuan ($142 million) offering will be created from loan claims held by a financial company affiliated with state-owned automaker SAIC Motor. Terms of the sale will be decided as soon as Tuesday.

Mizuho joins a co-lead manager team

TOKYO -- The U.S. on Monday warned against all travel to Japan, noting "a very high level of COVID-19 in the country" less than two months before the long-delayed Summer Olympics are to open here.

The State Department raised its advisory from Level 3, or "reconsider travel," to Level 4, or "do not travel" -- its highest for overseas trips. Sri Lanka's advisory was also raised to Level 4.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government will

GUANGZHOU -- Once wary of genetically modified crops, the Chinese government has pivoted toward backing companies active in the sector to ensure food security at home and expand influence abroad.

Long known as a resort destination, the southern island of Hainan also serves a key role in the agricultural field. Crops that are cultivated in China's northern or central regions during the summer are first test-grown in the island from autumn through spring, thanks to its tropical climate.

At a rice paddy there, researchers from a state-

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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Masaaki Shirakawa is a former governor of the Bank of Japan.

Assessments of inflation risk have now taken center stage in global financial markets after the surprise jump last week in the U.S. annual consumer price inflation rate for April to 4.2%. What is at issue is whether the rise in inflation is transitory.

As long as we take a traditional approach toward looking at the output gap, which is presumed to affect inflation, the official view of the U.S. Federal Reserve is understandable, because