January, 2023

• 17 January

  China boost for flagging world economy as reopening starts

  

    Bloomberg China’s sudden reopening is set to offer a boost to a flagging world economy. The growth impulse will be felt through services sectors such as aviation, tourism and education as Chinese people pack their bags for international travel for the first time since the pandemic. Tourism-reliant nations in Southeast Asia will likely be among the first to note ...

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• 17 January

  China bad-debt firms plan property support of up to $24 billion

  

    Bloomberg Chinese financial regulators and the nation’s biggest bad-debt management companies plan to offer as much as 160 billion yuan ($24 billion) of refinancing support to high-quality developers in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter. Under the plan first announced on Friday with little details, the People’s Bank of China will channel 80 billion yuan ...

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• 17 January

  Taiwan remains semiconductor leader as chip exports rise again

  

    Bloomberg Taiwan’s exports of integrated circuit chips rose in 2022 for a seventh consecutive year, further solidifying the economy’s leadership status in a global semiconductor industry that has been roiled by US-China tensions and diversifying supply chains. Exports of IC chips — which are pivotal components of electronic appliances, computers and smartphones — rose 18.4% from a year earlier, ...

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• 17 January

  Marcos sees Philippine inflation easing

    Bloomberg Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he sees inflation that’s at a 14-year high easing as the government aims to boost agricultural output. “Inflation is high, so we’ll have to bring that down for the rest of the year, and I think it will,” Marcos said, according to a transcript of his media interview in Davos on Sunday. ...

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• 17 January

  Didi wins okay to relaunch apps as China tech crackdown ebbs

  

    Bloomberg Didi Global Inc. has secured the green light to resume signing up new users, suggesting the worst is over for a ride-hailing giant that symbolized Beijing’s bruising campaign to rein in its powerful internet industry. The widely anticipated decision is one of the clearest signs yet that Xi Jinping’s administration, keen to jumpstart an economy that’s sagged under ...

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• 17 January

  Japan looks beyond US alliance for help to deter China military

  

  Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is looking beyond his country’s alliance with the US to deter China, bolstering security ties with democracies from Australia to Europe. On his tour of Group of Seven countries last week, which came after the biggest overhaul of Japan’s security policy since World War II, Kishida told French President Emmanuel Macron that the security ...

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• 17 January

  Japan, India hold first joint air drill as China concerns grow

  

    Bloomberg Japan and India held their first joint air drills in an area outside of Tokyo as both countries step up military exercises with other countries amid worries about China’s assertiveness. About four F-2 and four F-15 fighters are expected to take part in the drills that started Monday and will run through around Jan. 26 at an airbase ...

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• 17 January

  Turky’s Erdogan keeps the world guessing on Nato expansion

  

  Bloomberg Six months since Turkey agreed to Nato allies inviting Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, the expansion has stalled as Ankara holds out on ratifying the applications. Fresh tensions flared last week after protesters in Stockholm affiliated with Kurdish movements hanged an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prompting Turkey to put yet more pressure on Sweden to ...

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• 17 January

  German defense minister Lambrecht quits

  

  Bloomberg German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stepped down following a series of missteps and days of speculation over her future, a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government as it weighs crucial decisions on arming Ukraine. Lambrecht asked to be relieved of her cabinet post, blaming intense media reporting as an unacceptable distraction, and Scholz accepted the request and respects the ...

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• 17 January

  UK, EU vow to keep pushing for Brexit deal on Northern Ireland

    Bloomberg The UK and European Union pledged to continue working toward a post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, but stopped short of formally announcing an intense final phase of negotiations. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said in a joint statement Monday that they need to find “solutions together to tackle comprehensively the real-life concerns of ...

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