■CHINA
Economy to grow 8 percent
The Chinese economy will grow 8 percent this year and achieve more than 9 percent annual growth in 2011, Cheng Siwei (成思危), former vice chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, said yesterday. The government’s 4 trillion yuan (US$585 billion) stimulus package is having an effect and will aid a full recovery by 2011, Cheng told a financial forum in Ningbo, Zhejiang. “Only when China’s growth rebounds to 9 percent can we say the economy has recovered,” he said. “The economy will certainly be able to regain a growth rate of more than 9 percent in 2011.”
■BANKING
First Financial raises capital
First Financial Holding Co (第一金控 ), Taiwan’s sixth-largest listed financial services company, plans to raise as much as NT$3 billion (US$91 million) in a private placement of 120 million shares at an issue price of NT$25 each, to boost its capital structure, it said in an exchange filing on Friday. Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), meanwhile, is in contact with four major Chinese banks on possible cooperation opportunities, the Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮). The four banks are Bank of China Ltd (中國銀行), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (中國工商銀行), China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) and Bank of Communications Co (交通銀行).
■BANKING
Five US banks seized
Five US banks with total assets of about US$1.04 billion were seized by regulators, pushing this year’s tally of failures to 45 as a recession drives up unemployment and home foreclosures. Community Bank of West Georgia, in Villa Rica, Georgia; Neighborhood Community Bank of Newnan, Georgia; Horizon Bank of Pine City, Minnesota; MetroPacific Bank of Irvine, California; and Mirae Bank of Los Angeles were closed on Friday by state regulators, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.
■ELECTRONICS
Sony to open R&D centers
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc intends to set up research and development centers in Taiwan to work with Taiwanese companies to develop game products for its gaming consoles, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources. The paper said Sony would hold a press conference with the Ministry of Economic Affairs tomorrow to make the formal announcement.
■TOURISM
Longwaytour calls it quits
Longwaytour Travel Service Ltd (明泰旅行社), a Taipei-based travel agency that focused on Southeast Asia and Russia formally shut down earlier this month because of financial difficulties, the Central News Agency reported on Friday, citing unnamed employees. The report said the 20-year-old travel agency has incurred debt of more than NT$10 million, including NT$8 million in late payments to airline companies and NT$1 million for employee salaries.
■COMPUTERS
Court rules against IBM
IBM Corp won’t be able to block its former mergers and acquisitions chief from working at rival Dell Inc while a lawsuit against the executive works its way through the courts. A US federal judge on Friday rejected IBM’s request for a preliminary injunction against David Johnson. IBM is suing Johnson, claiming he violated a noncompete agreement by taking the job at Dell. IBM argues that Johnson has trade secrets of IBM’s that he could use to help Dell.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
‘LASER-FOCUSED’: Trump pledged tariffs on specific sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, copper and aluminum, and perhaps even cars US President Donald Trump said he wants to enact across-the-board tariffs that are “much bigger” than 2.5 percent, the latest in a string of signals that he is preparing widespread levies to reshape US supply chains. “I have it in my mind what it’s going to be but I won’t be setting it yet, but it’ll be enough to protect our country,” Trump told reporters on Monday night. Asked about a report that incoming US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent favored starting with a global rate of 2.5 percent, Trump said he did not think Bessent supported that and would not
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