Asia

28 Mar Chinese conglomerate Fosun International to accelerate asset sales as deleveraging campaign boosts financial profile

Posted at 07:46h in Asia

Fosun International, one of China’s largest private sector conglomerates, will hasten its exits from noncore businesses to lower its indebtedness and focus on its cash-flow generating assets in a bid to sustain its turnaround.The company, whose businesses span a wide range of industries including tourism,...

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28 Mar China’s ‘Princess of Wahaha’ Zong Fuli looks to revive US$2 billion family beverage business after founder’s passing

Posted at 04:33h in Asia

For about two decades, Kelly Zong Fuli operated in the shadows of her father, beverage tycoon Zong Qinghou – once China’s richest man. His death last month is now thrusting the woman known as the “Princess of Wahaha” into the spotlight.It will not be easy...

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28 Mar Amazon invests US$2.75 billion more in OpenAI rival Anthropic to boost generative AI efforts

Posted at 02:52h in Asia

Amazon.com says it is investing an additional US$2.75 billion in Anthropic, completing a deal it made last year to back the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up and expand a partnership between the companies.The infusion brings Amazon’s total investment in Anthropic, a well-regarded builder of AI tools...

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28 Mar Hong Kong stocks rebound as Xi strikes upbeat tone on China’s economy in meeting with US business leaders

Posted at 02:48h in Asia

Hong Kong stocks rose, after President Xi Jinping met with US business leaders in a bid to boost confidence about the China’s growth prospect, pledging a market-oriented business environment in the world’s second largest economy.The Hang Seng Index added 0.2 per cent to 16,426.49 as...

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27 Mar Climate crisis: countries must deliver on agreements they have signed, breach of Paris Agreement limits inevitable, Johan Rockstrom says

Posted at 23:00h in Asia

The world is just beginning to see the worst impacts of climate change, and world leaders must put aside their distrust and geopolitical tensions to move “as fast as we can” to deliver on their decarbonisation commitments and prevent irreversible damage to the planet, one...

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27 Mar Chinese social media platform Weibo removes fake images showing a rapidly ageing Tencent founder Pony Ma

Posted at 14:30h in Asia

Chinese social media platform Weibo has deleted a number of accounts publishing and spreading a retouched photo of a grey-haired and wrinkle-faced Pony Ma Huateng, Tencent Holdings’ founder and CEO, in the latest example of efforts to protect the country’s top entrepreneurs from online abuse.“A...

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27 Mar Bocom delivers more confident outlook after posting slight rise in profits

Posted at 13:45h in Asia

Bank of Communications (Bocom), one of China’s top state-owned lenders, delivered a cautiously optimistic outlook for its business and the country’s economy even as it posted its slowest earnings growth since at least 2004.Net profit at the Shanghai-based bank rose 0.7 per cent to 92.7...

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27 Mar PetroChina on track to peak carbon emissions, double output powered by low-carbon energy: top executives

Posted at 13:00h in Asia

PetroChina, the nation’s largest oil and gas producer, is on track to reach its goal to peak carbon emissions next year and is confident it can double the contribution of low-carbon energy to total output capacity over two years, its top leaders said.As it reported...

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27 Mar Apple’s iPhone shipments slumped in February, highlighting why CEO Tim Cook went on a charm offensive in China

Posted at 13:00h in Asia

Apple’s iPhone shipments in China fell by about one third in February from a year ago, according to official state data released Tuesday, a sign that the US tech giant is losing ground to Chinese smartphone brands in the world’s second-largest economy.Apple chief executive Tim...

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27 Mar Hong Kong must continue to promote itself to attract international listings, capital and investors, Paul Chan and Bonnie Chan tell forum

Posted at 11:32h in Asia

The government and HKEX have been promoting the unique features of the city’s capital market to Middle Eastern and Asean countries since last year, and such efforts will continue, he added.“We are diversifying our sources for new listed companies, as well as the sources for...

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