Reuters Insider - Asia Insight: Trump and Xi positive on resolving trade war

Nippon Sharyo

03/11/2018 17:17

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Source: Reuters Insider

Description: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping talk on the phone and express
optimism about resolving the trade war. Japan approves draft legislation to
bring in more foreign blue-collar workers. Tencent announces plans to expand
its business into other industries including healthcare.
Short Link: https://reut.rs/2Jx1sX9

Video Transcript:

Hello and welcome to your Asia Insight. I am Angeline Ong. Our top story this
Friday: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have expressed optimism over the push to
resolve China and America's bitter trade dispute. The two leaders have spoken
on the phone ahead of the scheduled meeting on the sidelines of the G20 later
this month. In a tweet, the US president said he had a "very good phone
conversation" with his Chinese counterpart with a strong emphasis on trade. Xi
Jinping also released a statement after the phone call saying both sides have
good wishes for healthy and stable relations. A report from Bloomberg citing
people familiar with the matter says President Trump wants to strike a deal at
the G20 and has asked officials to start drafting potential terms.
Intellectual property theft is a sticking point on a potential deal. The -- of
the cold US Justice Department took aim at another Chinese firm it accused of
unfair practices. But the positive reports on trade have had a strong impact
on markets with all the major Asian indices up significantly. The solid close
on Wall Street also helped the MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside
Japan, rose around 3%. The Nikkei closed up by 2.5%, its biggest daily gain
since March. And Chinese stocks surged on the trade news with the CSI300
finishing the day up 3.5%. The Japanese cabinet has approved controversial
draft legislation to open the door to more overseas blue-collar workers.
Revised law would create two new visa categories for foreigners and sectors
with labor shortages. It's going to see another 500,000 people from overseas
join the 1.3 million foreign workers already in Japan. The business community
has been the biggest supporter of the change amid the tightest labor market in
decades. But the dilution of Japan's immigration laws has also angered many in
a country that traditionally prizes its ethnic homogeneity. US prosecutors
have unveiled criminal charges against two former Goldman Sachs bankers tied
to the alleged theft of billions from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Prosecutors say Roger Ng was arrested in Malaysia and is expected to be
extradited while Tim Leissner has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to
launder money. A third person named in the indictment, a Malaysian financier
known as Jho Low, is still on the run. A total of $4.5 billion was
misappropriated from the 1MDB fund. The prime minister at the time, Najib
Razak, is facing charges but has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Well,
let's take a look at some companies in the news then and Australia's Macquarie
Group has flagged a record annual profit, raising its profit guidance from 0
to 10%. It's also reported a 5% rise in first-half earnings, driven by its
investment banking and commodities division. The earliest profit forecast in
years is being seen as a sign of confidence at the bank just one month before
a new CEO takes over. The Chinese investment group Tencent says it has plans
to promote growth beyond its current consumer business. Famed for being
China's biggest social media and gaming company, Tencent says it wants to
provide services and industries such as healthcare and connected cars. Tencent
officials say they believe the focus of the Internet's growth will shift from
consumers to industry and business over the next two decades. The
restructuring is also partly a response to gaming and online services growing
at a slower pace this year. This is after being hit by new regulatory hurdles.
The Japanese manufacturer of a train that derailed in Taiwan this month,
killing 18 people, says it has found a crucial design flaw. Nippon Sharyo says
its investigation found a wiring flaw that failed to alert the central control
system that an automatic safety feature had been turned off. The company says
the flawed wiring blueprint was used in 19 train sets built for Taiwan and
that a decision on whether to fix the wiring is up to the Taiwan Rail
Authority. And finally, a new report has found Tokyo's subway system could
struggle to meet demand during the 2020 Olympics. Reports say the system could
be operating at 300% during the two weeks of the games. The system is already
over capacity with almost 20 million people currently using public transport
daily in the Greater Tokyo area. And that's it from your Asia Insight. I'm
Angeline Ong and this is Reuters