China may chalk up more debt as lockdowns hit the economy

Covid lockdowns have hit China’s economy, and the Asian giant might have to issue more debt to continue meeting its growth target. Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images China may have ...

China’s consumer prices climb as Covid prompts food stockpiling

Fresh vegetable prices rose by 24% year-on-year in April as consumers stocked up to prepare for potential stay-home orders. Pictured here is a delivery driver for Alibaba’s Hema Fresh supermarke...

Shanghai production plunged in April after Covid lockdown

Although Shanghai began in mid-April to prioritize several hundred companies for resuming work, foreign business organizations have said that doesn’t mean the factories can operate at full capac...

Is Japan open to travelers? Some locals not ready to reopen borders

As countries across Asia reopen to international travelers, Japan — one of the continent’s most popular destinations — remains firmly closed. That may soon change. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a...

US businesses in China cut revenue forecasts, investment plans

Truck drivers, such as the one pictured here in Shanghai in late April, typically need to show valid negative virus tests in order to move goods between cities in China. The American Chamber of Commer...

China’s Xi Jinping calls for sticking to zero-Covid policy

Xi Jinping seen giving a speech during the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, in Fuyang on July 1, 2021. From a political perspective, 2022 is a particularly critical year for C...

Orsted moves forward with plans to grow corals on wind turbines

Alongside their natural beauty, coral reefs have an important role to play in the natural world. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, around one quarter of the ocean’...

From Estee Lauder to Apple, China’s Covid restrictions take their toll

Factories in China affected by Covid lockdowns can conditionally resume work, by housing workers on-site. Pictured here is an auto parts manufacturer in Suzhou that has had 478 employees on site since...

LIC, India’s largest-ever IPO, will test foreign investor appetite

The LIC logo looms above a couple of passersby in Mumbai in India last week. The IPO of the biggest payer in life insurance in the country is expected to fetch $2.7 billion in the country’s bigg...

Beijing city bans in-restaurant dining as China’s Covid controls tighten

As part of the latest Covid controls, China’s capital city of Beijing banned in-store dining as a five-day holiday kicked off, prompting restaurants to sell food outside. Kevin Frayer | Getty Im...

Should I join a group tour alone?

Everyone told me not to travel solo during a pandemic. Especially not to learn snowboarding, a sport that not all travel insurance policies cover. It didn’t help that I wanted to visit a country...

China sticks to Covid controls, Beijing luxury mall closes

Major luxury goods mall Beijing SKP, pictured here in 2021, said Friday it would close — with no reopening date specified — after the city confirmed three Covid cases in an apartment community nearby....

Singapore fintech Nium plans aggressive expansion in Europe

Europe’s fintech sector is fiercely competitive, with privately-held start-ups worth tens of billions of dollars vying to steal market share from incumbent banks. Oscar Wong | Moment | Getty Ima...

Americans view Asian nations as safer for travel now than 4 years ago

A new study shows American travelers view many Asian nations as safer travel destinations now than they did four years ago. South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, China and Vietnam rose in the annua...

Hong Kong residents moving to Singapore, snapping up rental homes

Stifled by strict Covid restrictions in Hong Kong, residents from the financial hub are continuing to move to its rival, Singapore. Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images SINGAPORE — After eight years in ...

Central bank tries to slow weakening yuan vs US dollar

The Chinese yuan has weakened sharply against the U.S. dollar in the last several weeks as the greenback strengthens and investors worry about China’s economic growth. Fotoholica Press | Lightro...

U.S. universities reinstate mask mandates

Masked to protect against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), senior Lauren Pyjar takes advantage of the warm sunshine to study outdoors at Georgetown University in Washington, March 9, 2021. Kevin La...

China’s capital city Beijing begins Covid testing in business district

China’s capital city of Beijing reported a spike in Covid cases over the weekend and began mass testing Monday in the business district of Chaoyang. Within the district, one community that’...

Singapore moves closer to pre Covid living, lifts most pandemic measures

Singapore is set to ease most Covid measures from April 26, authorities said. Lauryn Ishak | Bloomberg | Getty Images SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to remove nearly all virus safety measures from Tuesd...

U.S. 10-year Treasury yield climbs, here’s what it means for China

BEIJING — The rapid rise in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield to three-year highs has erased its gap with its Chinese counterpart, something that hasn’t happened for more than a decade. As the yie...

Investors cautious on China markets amid growth concerns, delisting fears

While mainland Chinese stock fund held onto inflows, European stock funds saw billions of dollars in net outflows in the first quarter, with declines in Japanese stock funds as well, according to EPFR...

Shanghai reports first Covid deaths since start of latest lockdowns

Shanghai, China’s largest city and the one hit hardest by the latest Covid outbreak, announced another round of mass virus testing that’s set to end Thursday, April 21. Str | Afp | Getty I...

Q1 GDP beats expectations to grow 4.8% YOY

A traffic police officer prepares to check a truck at a service station near Shanghai, which has ordered tighter restrictions on travel in and out of the city as China battles its most severe Covid ou...

Shanghai by the numbers: China’s Covid lockdowns

The Huangpu River splits the Chinese city of Shanghai between the older settlement on the west and the newer, financial center on the east. Johannes Eisele | Afp | Getty Images China’s latest wa...

China’s 2022 Covid lockdowns inflation risk bigger vs 2020

China’s automobile and component exports more than doubled in 2021 from a year ago, exceeding 30% growth in China’s exports overall, Bernstein analysts found. Yi Fan | Visual China Group |...

Chinese electric car company Nio hikes prices, suspends production

Nio said it has suspended production due to Covid-related restrictions in the last several weeks that halted production at suppliers’ factories. Long Wei | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJ...

Guangzhou closes schools, Shanghai record cases

All 11 districts of Guangzhou city began another round of mass Covid testing late last week, while elementary and middle schools shifted to online learning as of Monday. Costfoto | Future Publishing |...

Asia faces threats from climate change. Here’s what can be done

A boy searches for remaining food in polythene packets at roadside in Allahabad, India, on May 11, 2018. In 2021, over 57 million people were affected by climate disasters in Asia, the International F...

China securities regulator on U.S.-listed Chinese stocks audit delisting

The China Securities Regulatory Commission and U.S. securities regulators have been locked in a dispute over allowing U.S. review of Chinese company audits, threatening delisting in coming years. Cost...

Citi raises its forecast for China’s GDP growth

Real estate and related sectors account for at least 25% of China’s economy, according to Moody’s. Costfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s economy faces so much...

AmCham survey on China’s latest Covid lockdowns, American businesses

The metropolis of Shanghai, where many foreign businesses are located, entered a two-part lockdown this week as municipal authorities sought to control an outbreak in China’s worst Covid wave in...

Globalization isn’t over, just don’t invest in countries run by despots

Kyle BassThe Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine is not a death knell for globalization but should be a wake-up call about the risks of investing in countries that aren’t democracies, ...