Trade

The Nikkei Thailand Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, fell marginally to 49.7 in May from 49.8 in April. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion, while one below 50 points toward contraction. May’s data marked the second consecutive month of contraction. “Latest survey data ...

General Electric Co said on May 31 it had signed deals in Vietnam worth about $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines and services, its largest single combined sale with the country in GE’s history. The agreements came as Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was on a ...

U.S. President Donald Trump discussed trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a White House visit on May 31 and welcomed the signing of business deals worth billions of dollars and the jobs they would bring. General Electric Co said earlier it had signed ...

Japan’s first investment fund focusing on drone-related startups begins operation in June, offering financial assistance and business management advice for budding entrepreneurs. Though the small, unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly employed in various industries such as construction, logistics and tourism, Japanese companies have a weak ...

The Japanese retail investors behind the latest bitcoin boom may be in for a wilder ride than they expected, given the stiff challenges in determining virtual currencies’ underlying value and the ease with which souring sentiment can sink prices. The value of one bitcoin, the ...

Growth in China’s manufacturing sector in May kept pace with the previous month, an official survey showed on Wednesday, beating expectations in a reassuring sign the world’s second-biggest economy is not losing too much steam after a solid first quarter performance. The official Purchasing Managers’ ...

Panasonic looks to build up to 50% more televisions in Asia outside Japan by fiscal 2020, taking advantage of low labor costs to churn out mass-market to top-of-the-line sets. The Japanese appliance manufacturer targets 3 million units of production capacity in the region by then. ...

Samsung Electronics will spend around 10 trillion won ($8.91 billion) to double capacity at a cutting-edge memory chip plant in China by 2019, aiming to solidify its position at the top as the sale of rival Toshiba’s memory operations drags on. The South Korean giant ...

Yokohama Rubber will ramp up its tire output capability in China as it seeks to boost business with local automakers. The Japanese manufacturer will bolster its production capacity for passenger-car tires in China to 13.6 million units a year by 2020, up nearly 50% from 9.35 million units in ...

Top management of the listed arm of Zhejiang Geely Holding said they hope to turn the carmaker into a global player, just a day after its parent company announced a deal to acquire a 49.9% stake in Malaysia’s struggling Proton Holdings. Gui Shengyue, chief executive ...