Washington Post (June 9)
China is now “the world’s leading exporter of automobiles, handily ousting Japan from that position. It is especially strong in electric vehicles. Two of every three EVs made in the world are made in China. As we think about China’s weaknesses these days (and it has several), it is worth remembering China’s formidable strengths and the degree to which it is intertwined into the global economy.”
Tags: Automobiles, China, EVs, Exporter, Formidable, Global economy, Intertwined, Japan, Strengths, Weaknesses, World’s leading
South China Morning Post (May 25)
Several factors help explain “the outperformance of Japanese shares.” Improved corporate governance and the end of deflation are important, but “the explanation with the most resonance for investors is Japan’s role as a safe haven in an increasingly risky world. This has taken on added significance because of concerns about the deepening geopolitical rift between the US and China, as well as economic and regulatory risks in China itself.” Japan boasts “the only market in Asia big and liquid enough to offer an alternative to China while still providing exposure to the reopening of its economy.”
Tags: Big, China, Corporate governance, Deflation, Economic, Exposure, Factors, Geopolitical rift, Investors, Japan, Liquid, Outperformance, Regulatory risks, Reopening, Risky world, Safe haven, Shares, US
Financial Times (May 22)
“China ordered a swath of its infrastructure companies to stop buying from US chipmaker Micron” hours after the G7 ended and President Biden spoke of a thaw in relations. China also summoned Japan’s ambassador to protest related issues. This “underscored the big challenges to stabilising US-China relations at the end of a summit in Hiroshima where Biden and other leaders of the advanced economies issued their harshest criticism of Beijing — while also acknowledging the need to co-operate with China.”
Tags: Ambassador, Biden, Challenges, China, Chipmaker, G7, Hiroshima, Japan, Micron, Protest, Relations, Summit, Thaw, U.S.
Financial Times (May 16)
“Japan’s Topix rose to its highest level in almost 33 years on Tuesday, boosted by a rally led by foreign investors. Buyers have been drawn to Tokyo stocks by potential improvements to corporate governance, a return to wage inflation and the perceived stability of the market compared with geopolitics-riven Chinese stocks.”
Tags: 33 years, Buyers, Corporate governance, Foreign investors, Japan, Market, Rally, Stability, Stocks, Tokyo, Topix, Wage inflation
Newsweek (April 30)
“Familiar alarm bells sounded in Japan this month as year-end population figures and new projections combined to paint an uncertain future for Asia’s No. 2 economy.” The latest figures show a “12th consecutive annual decline” with the nation’s population standing “at 124.94 million for the year to October, a decrease of over half a million people from 2021.” Moreover, “the working population, aged 15 to 64, fell to 74.2 million, and those above 65 reached 36.23 million—both respective records.” Japan is approaching the “point of no return.”
Tags: 124.94 million, Alarm bells, Asia, Decline, Decrease, Japan, No. 2 economy, Point of no return, Population, Projections, Records, Uncertain future
Fortune (April 11)
“Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is visiting Japan for the first time in more than a decade, and his thoughts are on his large—and growing—investments in the East Asian nation.” So far, it appears that “Buffett is looking to increase those stakes again.”
Tags: Billionaire, Buffett, Increase, Investments, Investor, Japan, Stakes
Global Times (February 25)
Chinese shipbuilders have “won all 17 new orders for pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) worldwide in January, as domestic enterprises break Japanese and South Korean monopoly of PCTC construction thanks to the nation’s booming car exports.” January’s new orders “totaled a combined 510,000 deadweight tons with 152,000 parking spots.”
Tags: Booming, Car, Car exports, Carriers, China, January, Japan, Monopoly, New orders, Shipbuilders, South Korea, Truck, Won
Financial Times (February 19)
The Bank of Japan’s “ultra-loose policy is now on a somewhat pre-determined path — towards (if not quite through) the exit door.” The impact of investment flows retreating to Japan may be “most significant for the US Treasury market, where Japan is the largest single foreign holder.” But Japanese investors also hold sizeable market shares “in Australia, New Zealand and parts of western Europe. A shift in policy under Ueda will matter not just for Japan, but for pockets of global debt markets, too.”
Tags: Australia, BOJ, Europe, Exit, Impact, Investment flows, Investors, Japan, Market shares, New Zealand, Retreating, Sizeable, Treasury, U.S., Ueda, Ultra-loose policy
Financial Times (January 21)
“In a country where companies have resisted raising pay and the workforce has refrained from aggressive salary demands for most of the past three decades, Fast Retailing’s move is a watershed for the government and the Bank of Japan’s battle to lift the economy out of deflation.” Should the approach gain momentum, “the ramifications could be far-reaching,” potentially leading to “a virtuous cycle of rising wages, consumption and prices” that “would allow Japan to finally move away from the negative interest rates and ultra-loose monetary policies.”
Tags: BOJ, Consumption, Deflation, Demands, Economy, Fast Retailing, Interest rates, Japan, Prices, Raising pay, Rising wages, Salary, Ultra-loose, Virtuous cycle, Watershed, Workforce
Reuters (January 20)
“The end of a long battle to wring some value from Toshiba is finally within reach.” Foreign investors and private equity are unlikely to be encouraged. The process “typifies the tortuous journey required of pushy shareholders to get Japanese executives to allocate capital more shrewdly.”
Tags: Allocate, Battle, Capital, Encouraged, Executives, Foreign investors, Japan, Private equity, Pushy, Shareholders, Tortuous, Toshiba, Value
