June, 2021

• 8 June

  China’s trade boom continues to surge on high global demand

  

  Bloomberg China’s exports continued to surge in May, although at a slower pace than the previous month, fuelled by strong global demand as more economies around the world opened up. Imports soared, boosted by rising commodity prices. Exports grew almost 28% in dollar terms in May from a year earlier, the customs administration said on Monday, weaker than forecast and ...

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• 8 June

  SoftBank-backed firm files bankruptcy in US

  

  Bloomberg Construction firm Katerra Inc filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, bookending the implosion of a startup that raised about $2 billion from investors including SoftBank Group Corp. The company filed Chapter 11 proceedings in the Southern District of Texas court. It estimated liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion and assets of $500 million to $1 billion. The ...

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• 8 June

  Evergrande reverses drop after operation concerns

  Bloomberg China Evergrande Group, the country’s most indebted developer, reversed losses in Hong Kong trading after the company clarified that operations remained normal and it was compliant in dealings with a banking unit. The shares rose 3.7% on Monday after earlier sliding 5.3%. Evergrande said various “rumours,” including that it was resorting to widespread price discounts, were false. Chinese developers ...

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• 8 June

  Flipkart in talks to raise $3b from SoftBank, wealth funds

  

  Bloomberg Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce giant controlled by Walmart Inc, is in talks to raise at least $3 billion from investors including SoftBank Group Corp and several sovereign wealth funds, according to people familiar with the matter. The startup is targeting a valuation of about $40 billion and is in discussions with Singapore’s GIC Pte, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, ...

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• 8 June

  China’s hot summer is test of its carbon-neutrality drive

  

  Bloomberg For the second time in six months, Chinese provinces are rationing electricity as the nation’s grids struggle to manage a surge in demand. This time, it’s partly because residents are blasting their air conditions to keep cool during an unusually warm summer. Cities in Guangdong, a manufacturing hub in the south that’s home to 130 million people, have been ...

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• 8 June

  Singapore’s Nium expands in UK before IPO

  Bloomberg Nium, a Singapore-based fintech startup backed by state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte, agreed to buy payments firm Ixaris for an undisclosed amount to expand in Europe before pursuing an initial public offering in the US. All of Ixaris’s 86 employees in London and Malta will join Nium, according to an emailed statement from Nium. Ixaris, based in London, is ...

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• 8 June

  China policies to cut Uyghur numbers by one-third: Report

  

  Bloomberg Chinese policies could reduce the growth of southern Xinjiang’s ethnic Uyghur population by one-third over the next two decades, according to a new report, data that could bolster arguments that the effort represents genocide. Policies from birth control to forced labour transfers are on track to cut the Uyghur population in the region’s southern portion by 2.6 million to ...

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• 8 June

  China faces nationalist anger over US military plane in Taiwan

  

  Bloomberg China’s muted reaction over a US military flight to Taiwan prompted criticism from nationalists online, underscoring the pressures on President Xi Jinping to follow through on heated “red line” rhetoric. The US Air Force C-17 cargo plane made a three-hour stopover in Taipei to carry a bipartisan congressional delegation visiting Taiwan. Three US senators — Democrats Tammy Duckworth and ...

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• 8 June

  S Korea court dismisses WWII lawsuit that roiled Japan ties

  

  Bloomberg A South Korean court dismissed a lawsuit filed against Japanese companies to compensate Koreans who were conscripted to work in factories during World War II, in a case that has raised tensions between the two US allies. The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Monday that the 85 former labourers and their families suing the 16 Japanese companies, including ...

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• 8 June

  India to give free vaccines to citizens

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free shots for all adults in an address to the nation, a move prompted by criticism of his administration’s handling of India’s deadly second virus wave and a botched vaccination roll out. In a half hour-long address on national television, Modi said all Indians above the age 18 will be vaccinated for free starting ...

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