Bloomberg China’s state-backed funds pumped $2.25 billion into a Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) wafer plant to support advanced-chip making as Washington tightens technology restrictions on the Asian nation. The Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp plant’s registered capital jumps from $3.5 billion to $6.5 billion after the investment, the company said in an announcement. The chipmaker’s stake in the Shanghai facility ...

Bloomberg India will open up its space facilities, mineral blocks and power distribution to private companies, as it seeks new investments to help shore up an economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration will also allow foreign investment up to 74% in defense manufacturing to attract investments, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi. The ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s cash handout included in a host of relief measures promised by the government could be received by eligible recipients as early as July, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said. The HK$10,000 ($1,290) handouts will be received mid-July if recipients opt for electronic registration with banks to collect the money in their personal accounts — the fastest channel for ...

Bloomberg The Philippines’ fight against the coronavirus is likely to become more complicated with the onset of typhoon season, during which it typically has to evacuate tens of thousands of people from storm-hit areas. “As the rainy season approaches, the battle against the virus will become more challenging,” the finance department said in a May 15 bulletin. “The flu season ...

Bloomberg Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s biggest metropolis, faces an increasing risk of flood disasters given rapid infrastructure expansion driven by economic growth, according to McKinsey Global Institute. The chance of such events could increase five to 10 times by 2050, resulting in economic and infrastructural damage that could cost billions of dollars, according to a McKinsey report, dated April. ...

Bloomberg China and South Korea have asked Japan to join them in relaxing controls on business travel as virus cases tail off, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. Japan remains reluctant to loosen what are currently some of the tightest border controls in the developed world, which were introduced over the past few weeks in ...

Bloomberg At the first meeting of the World Health Organization’s governing body since Covid-19 stormed the globe, China is set to be challenged on two of its most sensitive issues: The Communist Party’s initial handling of the virus and the status of Taiwan’s participation. While the US has launched a daily barrage of attacks on China, including suggesting the virus ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson said Britain may not be free of the coronavirus “for some time to come,” an admission that highlights the difficult task he has of persuading people to return to work and schools as the nation’s death toll from Covid-19 remains the highest in Europe. In an opinion piece for the Mail on Sunday, Johnson acknowledged people’s frustration ...

Bloomberg Barack Obama told this year’s graduates at historically black colleges and universities that the coronavirus pandemic has “torn back the curtain” on the idea that those in charge of the country know what they’re doing. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge,” the former US president said during the first of two virtual commencement speeches. ...

Bloomberg A new study on the behaviour of Hong Kong’s police force during pro-democracy protests will be published by June, according to one of the foreign experts hired by the city’s police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC). Clifford Stott, member of the Independent Expert Panel brought in to advise the watchdog, tweeted on Sunday that he would be ...