International News

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping’s promises to open sectors from banking to auto manufacturing were unrelated to US trade complaints and not intended as a response, the country’s foreign ministry said. “I can tell you clearly that China’s announcement of major opening-up measures has nothing to do with the current China-US economic and trade conflicts,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang ...

Bloomberg Xiaopeng Motors, the Chinese car startup that’s backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Foxconn Technology Group, plans to raise more than 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) this year in a bid to take on rivals in the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles (EV). The company plans to start pre-sales of its first model, the G3 crossover, by ...

Bloomberg Lyft Inc. President John Zimmer said the US ride-hailing startup is considering entering Japan, one of the few large markets in the world where such services have not yet taken off. Zimmer said the company will “absolutely” be looking at the possibility and would probably team up with a local partner to do so. Rivals Uber Technologies Inc. and ...

Bloomberg Indonesian billionaire brothers Michael Hartono and Budi Hartono, who built their fortunes by providing banking services, are now turning their focus on telecom. PT Sarana Menara Nusantara, backed by Hartonos’ Djarum Group, is open to acquisitions to consolidate its leadership position in the cellular tower business, according to Vice President Director Adam Gifari. Sarana has cash or cash equivalent ...

Bloomberg British businesses overwhelmingly want to stick to European rules after Brexit, according to the most detailed sector-by-sector analysis of what companies need the UK to fight for in negotiations. The Confederation of British Industry, which compiled the data, argues that the opportunities presented by breaking free from European Union regulations are vastly outweighed by the cost of losing access ...

WASHINGTON / Reuters Fifteen US corporations including online retailer Amazon.com Inc, power company Duke Energy Corp and insurer Prudential Financial Inc avoided US tax on nearly $25 billion in combined profits last year, a tax watchdog group said. A report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, said data showed how profitable Fortune 500 companies have routinely ...

BRUSSELS / Reuters The European Union plans more powers for consumers to sue firms like Volkswagen after the Dieselgate scandal showed the limits of consumer protection authorities to curb corporate cheating. Wednesday’s proposal by the EU executive would give consumer groups the ability to launch collective action on behalf of clients and hand consumer protection authorities stronger powers to sanctions ...

Bloomberg The French economy may have just had its worst quarter in more than a year and there could be further pain ahead if planned strikes opposing President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms go forward. Industrial sentiment fell to the lowest in more than a year in March and manufacturing output unexpectedly declined in February, according to reports this week. A broad ...

Reuters Alexion Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy Sweden’s Wilson Therapeutics for 7.1 billion Swedish crowns ($855 million), boosting its line-up of rare disease drugs as a wave of deal-making in the biotechnology sector continues. The US group is acquiring the business through a cash tender offer worth 232 crowns per share, a premium of 70 percent compared to the closing ...

Bloomberg US antitrust enforcers are set to conclude their case against AT&T Inc.’s proposed takeover of Time Warner Inc. as their economic expert — a critical witness for the government — is scheduled to take the stand on Wednesday. Professor Carl Shapiro from the University of California at Berkeley will testify that AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner would raise costs ...