Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/11
By: C.W. Chen and Lillian Lin

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) Japan is willing to support Taiwan’s participation in the negotiations

over the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, an official of the National Development Council (NDC) said, quoting Japan’s chief delegate to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Cebu, the Philippines.

Connie Hui-chuan Chang (張惠娟), director-general of NDC’s Department of Overall Planning, said that Shinjiro Koizumi, parliamentary vice minister of the Cabinet Office of Japan, told NDC Minister Duh Tyzz-jiun (杜紫軍) at a bilateral talk during the second Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting (SRMM) of APEC, Sept. 7-8, that Japan will support Taiwan’s participation in the next round of negotiations.

Chang said that during the two-day APEC meeting, Duh took time to hold bilateral talks with delegates from the United States, New Zealand and Japan, expressing Taiwan’s interest in joining the TPP.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/12
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) The Evergreen Group (長榮集團), Taiwan’s largest container shipper, has signed an agreement with Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding Co. to build 10 new container vessels with a capacity of 2,800 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) to expand its fleet.

The delivery of the 10 vessels from Imabari, Japan’s largest shipbuilder, will start from the first half of 2018 and be completed in the first half of 2019, Evergreen said.

The new shipbuilding plan is the second time in the past month that the shipping company has decided to add 2,800-TEU container ships to its fleet.

In August, Evergreen signed an agreement with Taiwanese shipbuilder CSBC Corp. (台船) for 10 new vessels with a capacity of 2,800 TEUs each.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-12
By: CNA

Taiwan will strive to negotiate an economic cooperation agreement (ECA) with Australia

but will not set a deadline for sealing such an agreement, Economics Minister John Deng said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s Cabinet, approved a set of regulations that day to expedite Taiwan’s trade liberalization, according to Deng.

Under the proposed regulations, enterprises and workers hurt by market liberalizations due to the potential legislative approval of the trade-in-services and trade-in-goods agreements could apply for government assistance, Deng said, adding that the government will set up a NT$100 billion (US$3.1 billion) development fund to provide financial subsidies to those affected.

The regulations and rules will soon be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review, according to Deng.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/12
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Market capitalization of the local main board rose and returned to the NT$24 trillion (US$733.94 billion) level this week after the weighted index gained almost 4 percent, as global equity markets showed signs of stabilizing to some extent, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Data compiled by the TWSE indicated that market cap of the local main board rose NT$937.79 billion or 4.01 percent from a week earlier to NT$24.3 trillion as of Friday after the weighted index rose 305.22 points or 3.81 percent from a week ago to 8,305.82 points.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-11
By: CNA

Taiwanese wireless carriers began taking pre-orders for Apple’s new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus

on Thursday, the latest iteration of the US tech giant’s lucrative smartphones that can sense the degree of pressure of a single finger tap.

Starting from 4pm Thursday, local consumers can pre-order the new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch versions of the iPhone via the websites of Taiwan Mobile Company and Far EasTone Telecommunications, said the country’s second and third-largest mobile providers in separate statements.

Chunghwa Telecom Company, Taiwan’s largest telecom operator, said it is not accepting pre-orders from customers but will send alerts to them when the phones are available. None of the three carriers have disclosed a release date or local pricing.

Sources from local distributors and operators have listed Oct. 2 or Oct. 9 as the possible dates for the Taiwan launch of the new iPhones.     [FULL  STORY]

TRANSFORMATION:Premier Li Keqiang sought to address economic slowdown fears, but warned that China is not immune to international market changes

Taipei Times
Date  Sep 11, 2015
By: AFP, BEIJING

China’s factory gate prices fell at their fastest rate in six years last month, the government

said yesterday, as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) warned that transforming the world’s second-largest economy is going to be a “painful and treacherous” process.

However, Li expressed confidence the country would hit its expansion target of around seven percent, as Beijing looks to soothe fears about a growth slowdown that have rocked global financial markets in recent weeks.

Moderate inflation can be a boon to consumption as it pushes buyers to act before prices go up, while falling prices encourage shoppers to delay purchases and companies to put off investment, both of which can hurt economic expansion.

However, prices for China’s factory-produced goods have fallen as growth has slowed and overseas demand slackened, while the key property market has also weakened, hitting demand for construction materials. Plants — many of them state-owned — are also loath to drastically cut employees, leading to continued production even when demand is weak.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/10
By: Milly Lin and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) Taiwan will strive to negotiate an economic cooperation agreement (ECA) with Australia but will not set a deadline for sealing such an agreement, Economics Minister John Deng (鄧振中) said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s Cabinet, approved a set of regulations that day to expedite Taiwan’s trade liberalization, according to Deng.

Under the regulations, enterprises and workers hurt by market liberalizations due to the potential legislative approval of the trade-in-services and trade-in-goods agreements could apply for government assistance, Deng said, adding that the government will set up a NT$100 billion (US$3.09 billion) development fund to provide financial subsidies to those affected.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-10
By: CNA

Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC has teamed up with online music streaming service

Spotify to provide recommended playlists formulated to match users’ facial expressions.

It is part of a marketing campaign posted Tuesday via HTC’s official Twitter account, which says: “Smile! Or not. Whatever your mood, post a selfie here and you’ll get a playlist to match it. http://spotify-htc.com/”

Users of HTC’s Desire 626 entry-level smartphone, which has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, can upload their selfies or a picture using the website in HTC’s Twitter post and receive a personalized Spotify playlist to suit their mood.

It remains unclear whether the service is available for other HTC phone models or the period of the service. HTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the issue.     [FULL  STORY]