The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday said China’s economy would grow slightly faster than expected this year, at 6.9 percent.
An ADB report said Asia’s developing economies remain resilient to economic weakness in industrialized countries and are on track to grow 5.8 percent this year and 6 percent next year.
It said the region’s growth is supported by vibrant private consumption and services in China. The ADB, which in September forecast China’s economy to grow 6.8 percent this year, kept next year’s forecast at 6.7 percent.
“Despite some softening in prospects for major industrial economies, developing Asia is poised to meet growth forecasts,” the report said. “Sluggish recovery in the US and further contraction of gross domestic product in Japan prompt downward revisions in the growth projections for these economies in 2015 and 2016,” it said.
In a supplement to the September 2015 Asian Development Outlook Update report, the ADB lowered this year’s growth projections for Japan to 0.5 percent from 0.7 percent in September, and to 2.5 percent from 2.6 percent for the US.
The ADB also downgraded its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth for this and next year.
Citing disappointing exports, the report said Taiwan’s GDP will grow 1 percent this year and 2.4 percent next year, slower than the 1.6 percent and 2.6 percent it had previously projected.
The ADB maintained its 2.7 percent growth forecast for South Korea this year, but revised its projection for next year from 3.4 percent to 3.3 percent.
Expanded industrial production in India and other countries also buttressed the regional economy even as countries reliant on commodities were hurt by the slump in prices, a slow US recovery and Japan’s contraction.
Southeast Asia’s growth prospects were unchanged from September’s forecasts of 4.4 percent for this year and 4.9 percent for next year, even as the ADB lowered projections for Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore.
The report said Singapore’s GDP will expand 2 percent this year and 2.3 percent next year, slower than the 2.1 percent and 2.5 percent previously projected.
Additional reporting by CNA
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS