■ INFLATION
Beijing orders faster food
China's government has issued a wide-reaching order to speed up food shipments to markets as the bad winter lashing much of the country hampers efforts to rein in persisting inflation. The order, issued late on Friday and published in state media yesterday, calls on police, railway bureaus and even gas stations to do all they can to ensure timely delivery of food supplies after snow and ice storms clogged roads, cut electricity and delayed deliveries. Under the measure, food trucks will be exempt from paying road tolls. Potential shortages in food and energy would add to inflationary pressures.
■ BANKING
Crisis followed FSA 'failure'
The Northern Rock crisis has revealed systemic failures at Britain's financial regulator after it failed to spot the reckless behavior of the bank's directors, British lawmakers said in a report published yesterday. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) failed to properly supervise Northern Rock, Britain's fifth-largest mortgage lender, the Treasury select committee said. The report recommended the FSA improve its communications procedures to prevent panic in the future as well as an expanded role for the central bank's deputy governor, who would advise the Treasury chief on potential crises. The FSA said it was studying the report and would release the conclusions of an internal review in March.
■ AVIATION
China to build 100 airports
China yesterday announced plans to build nearly 100 new airports by 2020 to cater for soaring demand. The proposals will mean eight out of every 10 residents will live within 100km of an airport within 12 years, the General Administration of Civil Aviation said. It put the cost of building the 97 new airports at 450 billion yuan (US$61.6 billion). Air traffic volume rose 16 percent to 185 million passengers last year, official figures show. The General Administration predicts passenger traffic will grow by 11.4 percent a year between now and 2020, and freight traffic by 14 percent.
■ FOOD
Dunkin' to enter Shanghai
Dunkin' Brands Inc, the owner of the Dunkin' Donuts chain, will open up its first shop in Shanghai this year and plans to have 100 stores in China in the next decade. The first store might open in May, Michelle King, a spokeswoman for the Canton, Massachusetts-based firm, said on Friday. Dunkin' Brands recently granted franchisee rights for Dunkin' Donuts for Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Mercuries & Associates Ltd (三商行), which is the company's partner in Taiwan. Dunkin' Donuts opened its first outlet in Taiwan last January.
■ WTO
Green light for Ukraine
The WTO agreed on Friday to accept Ukraine as a member, giving President Viktor Yushchenko a powerful new sales pitch as he made the case here for greater foreign investment. WTO membership also will require the former Soviet republic to continue reforms aimed at bringing Ukraine closer to the EU, which it has aims of ultimately joining. Yushchenko said joining the body could also improve Ukraine's troubled trade relations with Russia, which also aspires to WTO membership but still has numerous issues to resolve. The WTO's 151-member general council will formally invite Ukraine to join on Feb. 5, after which the country still must sign the accession treaty.
Taiwan would remain in the same international network for carrying out cross-border payments and would not be marginalized on the world stage, despite jostling among international powers, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday. Yang made the remarks during a speech at an annual event organized by Financial Information Service Co (財金資訊), which oversees Taiwan’s banking, payment and settlement systems. “The US dollar will remain the world’s major cross-border payment tool, given its high liquidity, legality and safe-haven status,” Yang said. Russia is pushing for a new cross-border payment system and highlighted the issue during a BRICS summit in October. The existing system
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to grow its revenue by about 25 percent to a new record high next year, driven by robust demand for advanced technologies used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and crypto mining, International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday. That would see TSMC secure a 67 percent share of the world’s foundry market next year, from 64 percent this year, IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) predicted. In the broader foundry definition, TSMC would see its market share rise to 36 percent next year from 33 percent this year, he said. To address concerns
Intel Corp chief financial officer Dave Zinsner said that a formal separation of the company’s factory and product development divisions is an open question that would be decided by the chipmaker’s next leader. Zinsner, who is serving as interim co-CEO following this month’s ouster of Pat Gelsinger, made the remarks on Thursday at the Barclays technology conference in San Francisco alongside co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus. Intel’s struggles to keep pace with rivals — along with its deteriorating financial condition — have spurred speculation that the next CEO would make dramatic changes. That has included talk of a split of the company’s manufacturing
PROTECTIONISM: The tariffs would go into effect on Jan. 1 and are meant to protect the US’ clean energy sector from unfair Chinese practices, the US trade chief said US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to raise tariffs on solar wafers, polysilicon and some tungsten products from China to protect US clean energy businesses. The notice from the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) said tariffs on Chinese-made solar wafers and polysilicon would rise to 50 percent from 25 percent and duties on certain tungsten products would increase from zero to 25 percent, effective on Jan. 1, following a review of Chinese trade practices under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974. The decision followed a public comment period after the USTR said in September that it was considering
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