Reuters Asia Business

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s vice chancellor and economics minister, Robert Habeck, has reduced liability for investments by German companies in China by around five billion euros ($5.48 billion) since taking office, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Thursday. Habeck’s officials have four times rejected new applications from German companies for their investments in China, …

German vice chancellor cuts investment guarantees for China by $5.5 billion -Spiegel Read More »

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department plans to lend up to $9.2 billion to a joint venture of Ford Motor and South Korea’s SK On to help it build three battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky, the biggest-ever award from the government program. The conditional commitment for the low-cost government loan …

Ford-SK venture to get $9.2 billion US loan for battery plants Read More »

(Reuters) -TikTok Chief Operating Officer V. Pappas is stepping down after five years with the short-video company owned by China’s ByteDance, according to an email seen by Reuters on Thursday. In an email to staff, Pappas said they would be taking on an advisory role for the company during the transition. “Given all the successes …

TikTok COO Pappas quits after five years in the role Read More »

(Reuters) – Lordstown Motors founder and former CEO Stephen Burns has sold his entire stake in the electric-vehicle maker, according to a regulatory filing. The company in May implemented a reverse stock split to comply with Nasdaq’s minimum $1 listing requirement and appease investor Foxconn that had threatened to scrap a $170 million funding in …

Lordstown Motors founder sells remaining stake in EV startup Read More »

By Giulio Piovaccari MILAN (Reuters) -Chinese state-owned Sinochem Group is expected to keep its stake in Pirelli despite a move by the Italian government to limit its influence at the tyre maker, three sources close to the matter told Reuters. Rome last week intervened over a governance agreement at Pirelli between its largest shareholder Sinochem …

China’s Sinochem expected to keep Pirelli stake despite Italy’s curbs -sources Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) – Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos pledged on Thursday that its bumper investment in South Korean content would not bypass young local talent, after calls by some lawmakers for the streaming giant to share more profits with creators. South Korea has created some of the Californian company’s biggest shows, which have become synonymous with …

Netflix CEO says $2.5 billion Korean investment won’t exploit local talent Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) – Renault Korea Motors plans to build infrastructure at its plant in the southeastern city of Busan to manufacture electric vehicles (EVs), the Busan city government said. The automaker aims to produce 200,000 EVs a year at its Busan facilities, a statement issued by the city cited Renault Group Executive Vice President Guido …

Renault Korea to manufacture EVs in city of Busan: city government Read More »

By Kaori Kaneko TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s employment trends showed “improvement recently”, the government said in its latest monthly assessment of the economy, noting a decline in the jobless rate and the positive impact of bigger wage rises awarded by major firms. It was the first time that the government had upgraded its assessment of …

Japan raises view on employment in June for first time in 11 months Read More »

By Leika Kihara and Takahiko Wada TOKYO/NAHA, Japan (Reuters) -Bank of Japan (BOJ) board member Asahi Noguchi said on Thursday the central bank must maintain ultra-loose monetary policy to ensure wages, seen as key to driving inflation to its 2% target, continue to increase as a trend. Noguchi said core consumer inflation, which has remained …

BOJ policymaker calls for keeping low rates, focus on wages Read More »