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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Chinese electric vehicle battery maker CATL said it would raise at least $4bn in what is set to be Hong Kong’s biggest listing this year.The company’s shares will be priced this week and start trading on May 20, according to a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.Chinese oil company Sinopec and sovereign fund Kuwait Investment Authority are leading a group of more than 20 cornerstone investors.CATL, which already has shares listed on China’s Shenzhen stock exchange, is the…

KARACHI: The price of cotton remained generally stable. The conflict between Pakistan and India has affected business, leading to a decline in volume. All commercial and industrial institutions in the country have declared full solidarity with the Pakistani military in the war between Pakistan and India. There were earlier indications that a decision on Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) would be made in the upcoming budget, but during a recent Senate session, it was stated that no decision on EFS would be included in the budget. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) and other relevant industrialists have expressed serious concerns. Iftikhar…

GENEVA: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday reported “substantial progress” in US talks with China’s top economic officials to de-escalate a damaging trade war, but offered no details of an agreement reached as two days of negotiations wrapped up in Geneva. Bessent told reporters that details would be announced on Monday and that US President Donald Trump was fully aware of the results of the “productive talks.” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who participated in the talks with Bessent, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and two Chinese vice ministers, described the conclusion as “a deal we struck with our…

KARACHI: The price deregulation of non-essential medicines in early 2024 has improved access to medicines and brought much-needed stability to the pharmaceutical sector, creating space for sustainable and long-term industry growth. The policy shift, aimed to create a market-driven approach while addressing longstanding challenges in the sector, provided flexibility to pharmaceutical firms, allowing them to adjust prices in line with market conditions. By aligning prices with inflation and currency fluctuations, companies have managed to stabilise production of medicines that were previously at risk of becoming unavailable due to pricing constraints, according to experts. Pharma sector: SIFC backs deregulation as exports…

LAHORE: The Businessmen Panel (BMP) of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has raised significant concerns about the recently implemented Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2025. FPCCI’s Businessmen Panel Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar observed that the ordinance could severely harm the country’s investment climate, which is already under pressure due to various economic challenges. He further warned that if not reconsidered, these tax measures may discourage both domestic and foreign investors from engaging with Pakistan’s economy, thus hindering growth. Anjum Nisar expressed disappointment that the new tax laws, while aimed at increasing government revenue, could backfire by…

Southeast Asian companies like lender DBS Group Holdings and fast-food chain operator Jollibee and local education institutions are giving Hong Kong’s property market a much-needed boost, fanning hopes the worst of the investment slump may have passed.Southeast Asian firms and education firms each contributed around 22 per cent of the total HK$6.28 billion (US$809 million) property investment in Hong Kong in the first three months of the year, according to data compiled by Colliers. The rebound also aided momentum in the leasing segment, the property consultancy added.Southeast Asian investors’ outlay of HK$1.36 billion in the first quarter was more than…

Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding has announced a breakthrough in reducing the cost of training artificial intelligence (AI) models for search by nearly 90 per cent, as companies strive to enhance AI capabilities while reducing development expenses.Researchers at Alibaba introduced a new approach called ZeroSearch, which improves AI models’ search capabilities through simulations without the need to interact with actual search engines, according to a research paper published last week. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.This method eliminates the high costs typically associated with routing queries through commercial search engines. It does so by enabling AI models –…

The Philippines is drafting a long-term strategy to safeguard its claims in the South China Sea, aiming to preserve its assertive maritime stance beyond the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, according to the country’s national security chief.The move, observers said, could help Manila avoid the “pendulum” swing that had seen its foreign policy shift repeatedly between Washington and Beijing in recent years, and instead forge a more consistent approach rooted in national interest.At a security forum on Tuesday, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said the initiative was a direct response to “China’s baseless, excessive and expansive territorial claims, militarisation,…

Chinese companies are stepping up efforts to unlock business opportunities in the Middle East to hedge against worsening US-China trade ties, hoping to use the region as a springboard to expand into new markets in Africa and Europe.They include Hong Kong start-up NEXX Global, a logistics platform operator backed by CK Asset Holdings, and Beijing-based franchise platform operator Tojoy, according to the company officials.NEXX, which uses generative artificial intelligence to help warehouses reduce costs and improve efficiency, will sign a memorandum of understanding with Qatari logistics group Milaha and Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics during a trade mission this week. They…

Take a week away to the Low Countries, on an art barge no less, and you are conscious of an actual boom in Europe. Each stop in town and at museums that we made in our floating hotel, we saw cranes everywhere. Barely an empty storefront. No graffiti all over abandoned buildings. Streets packed. It’s almost as if you can see why these European markets are roaring, and we are way behind. Of course, your eyes are always anecdotal, and Belgium and the Netherlands, up 3.0% and 2.50% respectively, aren’t poster children for the continent. But Germany, Spain, and Britain…