An editorial montage of the Japan flag and Japanese yen cash bank notes Javier Ghersi | Moment | Getty Images Japan’s central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday for the first time since 2007, ending the world’s only negative rates regime and other unconventional policy easing measures enacted over the course of the last few … Read more
High-rise residential and commercial buildings are being constructed near Dongyu Road, Qiantan, in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, China, on March 15, 2024. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s economic data for the first two months of the year beat analysts’ expectations on Monday. Retail sales rose 5.5%, better than the … Read more
A soldier in front of the Great Hall of the People on March 11, 2024, the closing day of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China. Yin Hon Chow | CNBC BEIJING — China’s weeklong annual parliamentary meetings ended on Monday and for the first time in decades, the Chinese premier did not host a … Read more
Commuters walking at Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo © Marco Bottigelli | Moment | Getty Images Japan averted a technical recession as revised official data on Monday showed the economy returned to growth in the the October-December period last year, bolstered by strong capital expenditure. The upward revisions though were weaker than estimated, with private consumption remaining … Read more
Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, answers a question at a press conference during the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 6, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP) (Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images) Wang Zhao | Afp | Getty Images BEIJING — … Read more
China’s central bank governor said there was room to further cut banks’ reserve requirements, and pledged to utilize monetary policy to prop up consumer prices. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s central bank governor said there was room to further cut banks’ reserve requirements, and pledged to utilize monetary policy to “mildly” … Read more
Missiles on the background of the Chinese flag Anton Petrus | Moment | Getty Images China is set to increase its defense spending by 7.2% to 1.67 trillion yuan in 2024, according to a budget report released by the Ministry of Finance, as part of the country’s annual parliamentary meetings in Beijing. This year’s military … Read more
China’s Premier Li Qiang speaks during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 16, 2024. Denis Balibouse | Reuters BEIJING — China set a growth target of “around 5%” for 2024, according to the “Government Work Report” released Tuesday. The targets for GDP and other economic indicators were published … Read more
Pedestrians walking across with crowded traffic at Shibuya crossing square. Jaczhou | E+ | Getty Images Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit a record high Thursday, powered by banking, electronics and consumer stocks as robust earnings and investor-friendly measures fuel a blistering rally in Japanese equities this year. The Nikkei 225 jumped nearly 2% to hit 39,029, … Read more
Customers use automated teller machines (ATM) at an HSBC Holdings Plc bank branch at night in Hong Kong, China, on Saturday, Feb 16, 2019. Anthony Kwan | Bloomberg | Getty Images HSBC reported on Wednesday its full year 2023 pre-tax profit climbed about 78% to $30.3 billion from a year ago, missing median estimates of … Read more