Business

China's domestic spending sluggish as economy recovers from virus A domestic consumption pickup is crucial to China as external demand weakens, with other countries battling the pandemic. BEIJING: China's retail sales dropped in July, official data showed Friday, indicating that sluggish consumer spending could hold up the country's recovery from the coronavirus outbreak. Retail sales -- a key indication of consumer sentiment -- shrank by 1.1% on-year, falling short of forecasts and suggesting many are still reticent about going out to spend time and money, even as China appears to have the virus largely under control. The latest data follows a drop of 1.8% on-year for retail sales in June. Bloomberg analysts had projected sales would recover to a modest 0.1% growth. While the sale o...

Covid-hit businesses get B884m boost (Bangkok Post photo) The cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval for 884.62 million baht to be spent to fund 157 economic recovery projects in 57 provinces around the country that have been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said the money would be allotted to support many farming businesses, including organic agriculture, goat farms and mulberry farms. Ms Rachada said some of it would also be used to promote businesses linked to tourism in the provinces. Meanwhile, Cherdkiat Atthakor, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said three Thai monks out of five at a Buddhist temple in Las Vegas, Nevada had been infected with the coronavirus, according to the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Los Angeles. M...

VANCOUVER — A Joe Biden White House would benefit Canada as it grapples with mainland China’s increasingly hostile foreign policy, analysts say. Dan Ikenson, director of the Herbert A. Stiefel Centre for Trade Policy Studies at the Washington, D.C.-based Cato Institute, said Biden’s stance on China and his desire to repair the international reputation of the United States will give Ottawa more leverage against Beijing. “What Biden is likely to do is to recognize if we have problems with China the best way to handle those problems is to have as many allies as possible on board paddling in the same direction,” Ikenson said. Canada’s relations with mainland China have been in a downward spiral since the 2018 arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the request of the United States

Afghan women negotiators to face hardline Taliban in peace talks Fawzia Koofi, one of the negotiators and a high-profile women's rights campaigner, says the Taliban 'have to understand they are facing a new Afghanistan'. KABUL: Five Afghan women who endured the Taliban's oppressive rule and fought for fragile gains since the militants were ousted are now preparing to face the hardline group in peace talks. Their presence at the negotiating table is significant in patriarchal Afghanistan, though they will be outnumbered by the rest of the Afghan government's team of 16 men and the Taliban's male-only side. "The Taliban have to understand that they are facing a new Afghanistan with which they have to learn to live," said Fawzia Koofi, one of the negotiators and a high-profile women's rig...

Keynote speakers at the webinar on S-Curve industries co-organised by Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Thai Chamber of Commerce, the 'Post Today' and the 'Bangkok Post'. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya) Thailand needs a better ecosystem to support the Internet of Things (IoT), an important tool to help the government attain its ambitious goal of building smart industries following the Covid-19 period. 5G wireless technology, which promises super-fast exchange of data, is crucial but was not emphasised when Jesada Sivaraks, head of government and industry relations at Ericsson (Thailand), looked at how the country can move towards the fourth industrial revolution focusing on technological advances. Mr Jesada instead preferred an IoT ecosystem that requires a combination of key pl...

Japan, Taiwan to reopen borders for residents from Sept 8 A woman walks with her luggage at the Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture on Aug 19, 2020. (AFP file photo) Japan and Taiwan have agreed to reopen their borders for newly arriving expatriates and other long-term residents from Sept. 8, easing restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese government said Tuesday. Japan has also agreed with Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar to resume travel for long-term residents from Sept 8, provided they take precautionary measures against the virus including a 14-day self-isolation period upon arrival, it said. The four countries and Taiwan are among 16 economies with which Japan has launched talks to gradually ease restrictions for long-term reside...

US wants to eliminate Chinese apps from US app stores The targeting of app usage and cloud services expands the 5G Clean Path program the State Department unveiled on April 29, 2020. WASHINGTON: The US is expanding its China-targeted Clean Network programme to include Chinese-made cellphone apps and cloud computing services that it claims are security risks, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday. Pompeo said the US wants to ban untrusted Chinese apps from the app stores of US mobile carriers and phonemakers. "With parent companies based in China, apps like TikTok, WeChat, and others are significant threats to the personal data of American citizens, not to mention tools for CCP content censorship," he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. But he added that the US...