World

China must maintain and open financial channels for private companies.
27Nov By Michael SmithNo Comments
China, World

China must maintain and open financial channels for private companies.

Top Chinese government departments led by the central bank said on Monday that measures needed to be stepped up to strengthen financial support for private companies, including unblocking and sustaining of funding channels. State agencies have in recent months unveiled a flurry of initiatives to support private businesses after authorities vowed to make the sector "bigger, better and stronger", in a bid to shore up an economic recovery. Private firms, which account for 60% of China's gross domestic product and 80% of urban jobs, were hurt by three years of COVID curbs and a regulatory crackdown that targeted sectors from technology to private tutoring. Efforts should be made to "unblock" financial channels such as loans, bonds and shares, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC) in...
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Property stocks plummet in China, leading the Asia market downturn, while service inflation in Japan increases.
27Nov By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
China, World

Property stocks plummet in China, leading the Asia market downturn, while service inflation in Japan increases.

Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Monday as the Chinese market dropped due to a decline in property firms, while Japan’s service inflation surged to a 45-month high. Data showed Japan’s service PPI rose 2.3% in October to its highest level since January 2020 and more than the prior month’s reading of 2%. On Monday, China’s industrial profits continued to shrink in November, but at its slowest pace in almost a year, according to data released by the government. The world’s second largest economy will release its official factory activity figures for November on Thursday, while the Caixin survey for the same metric will be out on Friday. Australia will release its October inflation figures on Wednesday, which will offer clues to its central bank’s policy moves. India’s gross domestic ...
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Pakistan secures first IMF sanction, hopes to enhance fiscal stability with $700 million
16Nov By Mike TrudellNo Comments
Asia, World

Pakistan secures first IMF sanction, hopes to enhance fiscal stability with $700 million

Pakistan has achieved a crucial milestone in its economic recovery journey, securing initial approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of the next loan tranche from a $3 billion bailout program. According to a Bloomberg report, the announcement came as the Washington-based lender revealed a staff-level agreement, signalling a green light for Pakistan to access a payout of approximately $700 million, contingent on approval from the IMF’s executive board. The funding is deemed essential for Pakistan to avoid defaulting on debt obligations as the government intensifies efforts to rectify economic imbalances, such as adjusting gas prices and combating the illicit dollar trade. According to Bloomberg, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva commended Pakistan...
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8Nov By Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

What Causes the Economic Downturn in China?

The growth of the Chinese economy over the last four decades is one of the most globally transformative events of the last few centuries. Beginning in 1979, the country has radically transformed from an agrarian economy to one dominated by service and industry, and China stands today as the world’s top trading nation. Recently, however, this “growth miracle” has shown signs of weakening. Even before the country’s COVID shutdowns, growth had begun stalling amid demographic headwinds, an emerging slowdown in the real estate sector, and a re-emergence of state-led economic policymaking. The centralization of power has fed into a worsening relationship with China’s western partners that further threatens the country’s growth prospects. China's government began to play a larger role in pri...
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US and Japan Issue Warning About New China Hacker Following “60,000 Emails Stolen”
29Sep By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China, USA, World

US and Japan Issue Warning About New China Hacker Following “60,000 Emails Stolen”

The warning came on the heels of a Washington briefing which said Chinese state-linked hackers had stolen 60,000 emails from 10 State Department accounts American and Japanese authorities have warned multinational companies about the sophisticated hacking practices of China-linked group BlackTech, in an advisory issued late on Wednesday. Authorities urged firms to review the internet routers at their subsidiaries, saying BlackTech was capable of “modifying router firmware without detection”. The warning came on the heels of a US State Department briefing in which officials told lawmakers that Chinese state-linked hackers had stolen 60,000 emails from 10 State Department accounts. The hack they were referring to was revealed in July when US officials and Microsoft said that Chi...
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Highlights of Zoo’s Food Plea Local debt crisis in China
21Sep By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Highlights of Zoo’s Food Plea Local debt crisis in China

China’s provincial governments were forced to spend billions on Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy and have been hit hard by the country’s property woes China’s regional government debt crisis has seen one city forced to appeal for food to feed hungry animals at its municipal zoo, A Chinese wildlife conservation group made the plea for animals kept at a zoo inside the local government-run Dongshan Park in the northern province of Liaoning, the report went on.  Provincial authorities have been hit hard after spending billions of dollars on mass testing and lockdowns to enforce President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid campaign, as well the crisis in the property market which has seen a sharp drop in land sales, depriving them of a major revenue source.
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Asia is affected by the recession in China’s economy.
4Sep By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia, China, World

Asia is affected by the recession in China’s economy.

China’s slowing growth is sparking warnings of contagion in Asia, as waning consumer demand and slower manufacturing hit neighbouring countries with close ties to the world’s second-largest economy. A manufacturing slump in South Korea has extended to its longest in nearly half a century while other big exporters in east Asia area also being hit by slow demand. South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, is viewed as a bellwether for the region’s technology supply chain, which has helped underpin global growth for decades. The country’s exports fell in July at the steepest pace in more than three years, led by smaller shipments of computer chips to China, while purchasing managers’ indices on Friday showed that factory activity fell in August for the 14th consecutive month, the l...
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Global South in the Wake of Global Tax Deal
18Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, World

Global South in the Wake of Global Tax Deal

Over the last two years, OECD and G20 leaders have been drafting a new Global Tax Deal to reform the taxation of Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs). Regarded as the most crucial tax reform in decades, the Global Tax Deal provides two pillar solutions to the existing tax rule issues. Pillar One applies to re-allocate part of the profit of the biggest MNEs to their ‘market jurisdictions’ (i.e., countries where their consumer are). Pillar Two subjects a much larger group of MNEs to a global minimum corporate tax. Thus, even if the MNEs are operational in low-tax jurisdictions, they must adhere to the minimum tax rate of 15% on their profits. Though the global tax deal is welcomed for addressing tax avoidance, coherent international tax rules, and addressing taxation challenges in a digital...
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Third biggest economy in Modi’s third term? Anatomy of India’s development
31Jul By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
World

Third biggest economy in Modi’s third term? Anatomy of India’s development

Inaugurating the newly built International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC), named Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that when he took charge in 2014, India was the tenth-largest economy in the world. During his second term as PM, he said, India had become the fifth-largest economy. “I want to assure that during the third tenure of our government, India will be among the top three economies of the world,” he said. The table below shows the top 10 economies of the world in 2014. The size of an economy is mapped by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the market value of all final goods and services produced within the geographical boundaries of a country. The GDP here is expressed in billions of US dollars. The data sourced fro...
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Despite Japan’s faltering economy, stock prices have risen.
28Jul By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
World

Despite Japan’s faltering economy, stock prices have risen.

Japan experienced the ‘bubble economy’ throughout the 1980s, followed by its subsequent burst in the early 1990s. For nearly 20 years after that, it suffered from economic stagnation indicated by repeated negative economic growth and long-term deflation, often called the lost two decades. Japan’s bubble experience provides a valuable lesson about the limitations of trying to revive the economy solely through macroeconomic policies while ignoring structural reforms. Today, despite concerns about the arrival of the ninth wave of the COVID-19 crisis, the Japanese economy is recovering and returning to its pre-COVID situation. In May 2023, the government downgraded the classification of COVID-19 infections to Class 5, which is the same category as seasonal influenza. As a sign of Japan...
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