Over six months after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a national energy emergency, a new study revealed that the Philippines has taken the lead among major Southeast Asian economies in adopting renewable energy policies during the peak of the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Tuesday said it has adopted a new billing format for all distribution utilities (DUs) to reflect the removal of the 12% value-added tax (VAT) on the allowable system loss charges imposed by power utilities on their customers.

As the shadow of possible interest rate increases darkens Hong Kong’s property market outlook, well-known people including model-actress Eunis Chan Ka-yung and billionaire Angela Leong On-kei have recently decided the time was right to sell luxury properties, according to market sources. Chan sold a two-bedroom Mid-Levels flat for HK$32.25 million (US$4.1 million), making a profit of about 130 per cent, while Leong, a businesswoman and Macau legislator who was the fourth wife of the late casino...

Severe flooding in Bangkok and surrounding provinces is projected to reduce Thailand's 2026 economic growth by 0.3 percentage points, lowering estimates to 2.1%

Chinese memory chip giant ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) plans to invest 34.9 billion yuan (US$5.2 billion) in expansion, with a large portion of the capital going to domestic suppliers of chipmaking equipment, according to a source. The firm, listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market, would spend 24.1 billion yuan on a new technology research and development project and another 10.8 billion yuan on the second phase of a wafer testing base, according to a Monday stock filing. The...

Citi Research has turned bullish on China’s 30-year government bonds, projecting that yields will fall further even as US Treasury yields climb. In a Monday research note, analysts at the Wall Street bank recommended that investors go long on China’s 30-year sovereign debt, saying they expected the yield to fall towards 1.8 per cent while the 10-year yield could edge towards 1.6 per cent. The analysts attributed the outlook to easing supply pressures and improved market dynamics for China’s...

Shares of Akeso surged after British drug maker AstraZeneca moved to advance the Chinese biotech firm’s flagship cancer drug, while a new deal from US giant Merck further underscored the sector’s global momentum amid easing fears of US curbs. AstraZeneca on Tuesday announced a US$2 billion equity investment in Florida-headquartered Summit Therapeutics, which holds the exclusive rights to develop and commercialise Akeso’s immunotherapy drug ivonescimab outside China. Summit and AstraZeneca would...

Domestic workers will receive a P500 increase in their monthly minimum wage under a new wage order in Central Visayas, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Tuesday.

Global investors are turning to China again in search of alternatives to crowded US asset markets, with Pimco seeing Chinese bonds as one of the safest ways to diversify portfolios after sentiment towards the world’s second-largest economy “flipped 180 degrees”. The US-based asset manager, which oversaw more than US$2 trillion in assets by the end of June, had been pointing its clients, particularly those outside the United States, towards Chinese offshore bonds, according to its president,...

As the Philippines moves to include nuclear power in its energy mix, the Department of Energy (DOE) is pushing for a competitive procurement framework focused on strict grid readiness, staged delivery schedules, and rigorous pricing parameters.

Hong Kong welcomed four companies to start trading on Tuesday after they raised a combined HK$14.4 billion (US$1.83 billion) – but three opened below their offer prices, adding pressure to an already sluggish month for initial public offerings (IPOs). Automated equipment manufacturer RoboTechnik Intelligent Technology was the largest company to make its debut, having raised HK$5.18 billion, but its shares closed 4.9 per cent lower at HK$414.4 (US$52.82) after dropping as much as 9.8 per...

JPMorgan Chase, the world’s top bank by market capitalisation, plans to expand hiring and technology investment across mainland China and Hong Kong and is looking to take advantage of the city’s strengthening capital markets as well as its platform for serving companies operating in and out of the Chinese market, according to senior executives. CEO Jamie Dimon said the banking giant’s China-related business, measured by factors including client volume, has grown sharply over the past decade –...

Some securities companies have begun to clean up non-compliant overseas stock trading by mainland Chinese investors following a regulatory crackdown that started months ago with fines on Tiger Brokers and Futu Securities International. Orient Securities’ mainland-based clients that have trading accounts in its Hong Kong unit will be banned from buying stocks and transferring in funds starting on Wednesday, according to a notice to customers seen by the South China Morning Post. Guotai Junan...

US chip giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has agreed to acquire World Labs, the artificial intelligence start-up founded by renowned Chinese-American computer scientist Li Fei-Fei, for US$8.2 billion in an all-stock deal, as the company steps up its rivalry with Nvidia. The acquisition, expected to close by the end of this year, would integrate World Labs’ research team and spatial-intelligence model expertise into AMD, according to an announcement on Monday. Li, a Stanford University professor...

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Tuesday announced that it has started the bidding or competitive selection process (CSP) for suppliers of its 900-megawatt (MW) baseload power requirement.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said Tuesday the suspension of excise taxes on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene would provide direct relief to Filipino households amid elevated global oil prices.

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Going by the figures alone, there is no escaping just how important investment in future planning has become for Asia’s high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families, with industry watchers predicting they will drive an estimated US$5.8 trillion in asset transfers in the region by 2030. But behind these figures lie some lingering questions, chief among them being how much investment can be considered...

Shares of Shein Global Holdings fell as much as 14 per cent to a record low in Hong Kong on Tuesday after the online fashion retailer posted a 67 per cent drop in second-quarter profit in its first earnings report since listing, warning that tariff headwinds and logistics cost volatility would persist for the rest of the year. The stock sank to as low as HK$30.24 during the day and closed 10.7 per cent down at HK$31.50. Both the intraday and closing prices hit their lowest levels since the...

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Tuesday said the show cause orders and the P100,000 daily fine against DITO Telecommunity Corporation (DITO), Globe Telecom Inc. (Globe), and Smart Communications Inc. (Smart), are not limited to observed poor mobile broadband services in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Philippines could unlock between 3.6% and 7.1% of GDP in combined savings and additional revenue annually by broadening the tax base, improving collection efficiency, and making public spending more efficient and equitable, according to a report by the World Bank Group.

The region’s 680 million people largely skipped the credit card era and went straight to mobile-first payments and, in the process, accelerated the buildout of digital payment infrastructure at scale.

Globe Telecom Inc."s digital assets, led by its stake in GCash parent Mynt Inc., are viewed as a key growth driver for the telecommunications company to expand beyond its traditional connectivity business, according to an independent financial analyst.

Hong Kong’s Town Planning Board has rejected an application from a consortium of developers to rezone a commercial project in Kowloon for development as residential flats, leaving sellers struggling with high vacancy rates, according to analysts. A consortium formed by CSI Properties, Asia Standard International, and Chongqing-born property tycoon Cheung Chung-kiu applied to the Town Planning Board to redevelop “Harbourside HQ” – a grade A office building at 8 Lam Chak Street, Kowloon Bay, which...

Hong Kong's economy has moved past pandemic-era skepticism, achieving 3.6 percent growth in 2025 with continued momentum projected at 3.4 percent in 2026.

Jamie Dimon’s recent whirlwind visit to Hong Kong followed a similar script: a schedule packed with meetings involving the entrepreneurs and business leaders connecting China with global markets. But it was his increasingly visible stance on global issues that appeared to extend his career beyond market strategy and financial industry leadership as CEO of JPMorgan Chase. His preoccupation with economic growth and world affairs drew particular attention in Hong Kong last week, shortly before...

The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) of Thailand met with South Korean agencies to enhance cooperation on AI, copyright enforcement, and rights management, aiming to support creators and the digital economy. Key Points The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) held bilateral meetings in Seoul with four major South Korean copyright agencies, aiming to bolster cooperation […]

Wall Street's main indexes fell after Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to end the war, leading to a spike in crude prices that revived inflation worries and drove Treasury yields higher.

Volkswagen Group and its Chinese partner Gotion High-tech have stepped up a gear in tapping global demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries with plans to invest a combined €3.22 billion (US$3.66 billion) to set up three production lines in Europe and North Africa. The factories, to be jointly owned by the German marque and China’s fourth-largest EV battery maker, would be capable of delivering 37.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of lithium-ion battery capacity and 100,000 metric tons of cathode...

The fuel surcharge for the first half of October will rise to Level 17, three notches higher than the current Level 14, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said Monday.

The global electronics industry is entering a structural transition. For over two decades, China served as the dominant manufacturing centre, with an unmatched concentration of suppliers, skilled labour, infrastructure, logistics and engineering capabilities. That concentration is being diluted. But interpreting this as the decline of Chinese manufacturing would be a mistake. China is exporting parts of its manufacturing process while retaining the industrial capabilities that matter...