Tag: east asia

JD.com Wins Antimonopoly Suit Against Alibaba
World

JD.com Wins Antimonopoly Suit Against Alibaba

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com said it won a lawsuit against rival Alibaba Group Holding, which was fined 1 billion yuan ($140.7 million) over monopolistic practices.Zhejiang Tmall Network, Zhejiang Tmall Technology and Alibaba Group were found to have abused market dominance and engaged in monopolistic practices, causing severe damages to JD.com, it said in a statement Friday, citing a Beijing court ruling.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Francis Collins Has Regrets, but Too Few
Health

Francis Collins Has Regrets, but Too Few

Hard to believe it’s been four years since the first reports of a mysterious virus spreading in Wuhan, China. Now comes a Covid lockdown mea culpa—if you can call it that—from former National Institutes of Health chief Francis Collins.“If you’re a public-health person and you’re trying to make a decision, you have this very narrow view of what the right decision is, and that is something that will save a life,” Dr. Collins explained in a Covid discussion this summer for Braver Angels, an outfit that aims to bridge political divides. A video of the discussion surfaced this week on X.com.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
How China Manages Its Currency—and Why That Matters
World

How China Manages Its Currency—and Why That Matters

Updated Dec. 29, 2023 8:31 am ETChina’s approach to its currency is a mix of bold ambition and fear of dollar strength.The yuan has lost 3% of its value against the greenback in 2023 and was doing even worse before the dollar slipped against most global currencies in November. The yuan traded around 16-year lows against the dollar in September. A dollar now buys around 7.11 yuan.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
JD.com Wins Antimonopoly Suit Against Alibaba
World

JD.com Wins Antimonopoly Suit Against Alibaba

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com said it won a lawsuit against rival Alibaba Group Holding, which was fined 1 billion yuan ($140.7 million) over monopolistic practices.Zhejiang Tmall Network, Zhejiang Tmall Technology and Alibaba Group were found to have abused market dominance and engaged in monopolistic practices, causing severe damages to JD.com, it said in a statement Friday, citing a Beijing court ruling.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
2024 Could Be the Year of the Yen
Money

2024 Could Be the Year of the Yen

The Japanese yen has been one of the worst performing currencies of the past couple of years. It could do better in 2024.The yen has lost around 20% against the dollar since the end of 2021, underperforming other major currencies. Japan’s central bank kept its ultralow interest rates while most of its peers have been raising rates aggressively. Higher yields outside of Japan have driven the currency lower and lower.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The New Star on the Political Scene: The Chip Industry
Technology

The New Star on the Political Scene: The Chip Industry

Updated Dec. 29, 2023 12:06 am ETSemiconductors have played the starring role in state visits. Nvidia’s chief executive was feted by heads of state like a visiting dignitary. Government delegations have shuttled around the globe hobnobbing with chip makers. For an industry that suddenly finds itself as a geopolitical showpiece, the attention is a mixed bag.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
China Central Bank to Help Boost Consumer Prices Amid Deflation Risks
World

China Central Bank to Help Boost Consumer Prices Amid Deflation Risks

Dec. 29, 2023 1:20 am ET|WSJ ProChina’s central bank has vowed to boost consumer prices as the world’s second-largest economy is battered by tepid demand and weakening confidence.The People’s Bank of China said it would “promote price recovery from low levels and keep prices at reasonable levels,” according to a statement released late Thursday summarizing the central bank’s fourth-quarter monetary policy meeting.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The New Star on the Political Scene: The Chip Industry
World

The New Star on the Political Scene: The Chip Industry

Updated Dec. 29, 2023 12:06 am ETSemiconductors have played the starring role in state visits. Nvidia’s chief executive was feted by heads of state like a visiting dignitary. Government delegations have shuttled around the globe hobnobbing with chip makers. For an industry that suddenly finds itself as a geopolitical showpiece, the attention is a mixed bag.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The Nippon Steel Deal Is Good for America
Health

The Nippon Steel Deal Is Good for America

Democrats and Republicans alike are assailing Nippon Steel’s prospective purchase of U.S. Steel as a threat to national security. The complaints are misplaced. Essential to national security is economic competitiveness, which is strengthened by global connections such as inward foreign direct investment.A more competitive economy is better able to fund the military and ameliorate the inevitable guns-for-butter trade-offs. Consider the Cold War. Fast labor-productivity growth after World War II expanded America’s tax base to fund investments in defense, science and space exploration. America eventually won the Cold War largely because the Soviet empire couldn’t deliver the goods. The Berlin Wall fell in part because people behind the Iron Curtain yearned for Mercedes sedans rather than Tra...
China Confronts a New Political Reality in Taiwan: No Friends
World

China Confronts a New Political Reality in Taiwan: No Friends

Updated Dec. 29, 2023 12:08 am ETTAIPEI—A drawing of Taiwan at the presidential campaign headquarters of the island’s ruling party shows strikingly little concern for north and south. Instead, the island is shown turned on its side, with China and the Taiwan Strait conspicuously absent.The drawing reflects the worldview of the Democratic Progressive Party, which over the past eight years has sought to carve out an identity for the self-ruled island that is separate from mainland China. But it also represents a broader change in Taiwan that sits uneasily with Communist Party leaders 1,000 miles to the northwest in Beijing.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8