Features

From left: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, diplomat Wang Yi, Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Qin Gang. (Source photos by Xinhua/AP, Kyodo and Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: China's Li Qiang orchestrates warm welcome for Hayashi

New premier needs better relations with Japan to reignite the economy

4 April 2023
Thailand goes to the polls on May 14, with a cast of leadership hopefuls aiming to unseat Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, right. 
Asia Insight

Thailand election becomes game of economic handouts, nostalgia

Prayuth, Pheu Thai and Move Forward eye escape from middle-income trap

4 April 2023
Analysts point that out that the commercial real estate sector is particularly sensitive to rising rates, weighing on hopes for a revival in the market. (Source photo by AP)
Market Spotlight

From Hong Kong to Japan, commercial property sector faces chill in Asia

REITs could lose out as China reopening hopes fade and interest rates bite

3 April 2023
Measured on an hourly basis, Japan's wages and productivity have risen over the past decade. But experts say most of this growth comes from a decline in the average number of hours worked.
Datawatch

Japan's hourly wages up 12% in 10 years but, can it last?

Higher total wages needed to create virtuous circle of economic expansion

1 April 2023
Many Chinese companies are looking to establish a presence in the U.S. as a buffer against global tensions and uncertainties. (Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
Business Spotlight

China Inc. keen on setting up shop in the U.S. despite tensions

Incentives, risky supply chains and harsh Beijing policies nudge companies stateside

31 March 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping has chosen longtime aide Cai Qi as his chief of staff. (Nikkei montage)
China up close

Analysis: Xi's chief of staff Cai Qi is symbol of powerful court

Former Beijing chief to oversee all aspects of security

30 March 2023
Toyota's incoming president Koji Sato, pictured at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, is tasked with steering the world's largest automaker toward an electrically powered future. 
The Big Story

Toyota's new chief Koji Sato vows to get serious about EVs

Faced with 'once in a century' industry transformation, world's biggest carmaker may be prisoner of past success

29 March 2023
The grand military parade to mark Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, the capital, on March 27 was attended by representatives of only ten nations. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Asia Insight

Myanmar military's might fails to crush decades-old resistance

Armed forces face no external threats, accused of widespread atrocities at home

28 March 2023
AT1 prices were hit last week after Swiss regulators decided to wipe out $17.5 billion of such bonds issued by Credit Suisse as part of its acquisition by UBS. (Source photos by Getty Images and Reuters) 
Market Spotlight

Chinese regulation seen boosting AT1 bond prices during crisis

Investors find comfort in Beijing bureaucrats' history of supporting wobbly banks

27 March 2023
The net flow of people into the Tokyo metropolitan area is a long-term trend, but Tokyo itself is not luring all generations equally and has lost families with young children.
Datawatch

Younger families leaving Tokyo for Japanese capital's neighbors

Increase in new homes arouses concern about glut in three prefectures

25 March 2023
The Taiwanese government is cleaning silt from the Tsengwen Reservoir while the water level is extremely low. (Photo courtesy of Taiwan’s Water Resources Agency) 
Business Spotlight

Taiwan braces for drought in key chip hubs again

Water challenge comes as island pushes to maintain 'silicon shield' against China

24 March 2023
China's aging and shrinking population presents a potential demographic crisis, putting pressure on an already strained pension system and threatening future economic growth. 
The Big Story

China's aging population threatens a Japan-style lost decade

Beijing's brutal one-child policy tackled overpopulation but did it go too far?

22 March 2023
Analysts say Chinese President Xi Jinping has been consolidating power and strengthening Communist Party control over a range of matters, including the country's vast trove of data.
Asia Insight

China's new power structure tightens grip on data, tech, finance

State and CCP overhaul aims to counter U.S., boost economy, curb dissent

21 March 2023
Like Silicon Valley Bank, Japan's big lenders have been investing a lot of their depositors' money in securities, many of which are now losing value as interest rates climb. (Source photos by AP/Reuters)
Market Spotlight

SVB collapse hits Japanese banks harder than Chinese ones

Investors punish Asian lenders with big portfolios of interest rate-sensitive bonds

20 March 2023
An investment strategy that was successful in a deflationary environment has backfired for many Japanese savers after a recent rise in consumer prices.
Datawatch

Inflation shatters Japan's savings myth

Purchasing power of time deposits sinks to 48-year low

18 March 2023
Young people drink coffee at a local coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Business Spotlight

Vietnam's coffee culture survives 10 years of Starbucks

Deep history, popularity of local brews make country hard for global brands to crack

17 March 2023
President Xi Jinping, center, has picked an economic team that includes, clockwise from top left, Premier Li Qiang, Central Bank Gov. Yi Gang, Finance Minister Liu Kun and Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/Kyodo/Yusuke Hinata)
China up close

Analysis: Heavyweight Xi Jinping gives himself a lightweight cabinet

Economic ministers are marginalized as the CCP takes over policymaking

16 March 2023
A suicide blast killed 101 in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan in January. Terror attacks in the country have increased since the Taliban took power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Big Story

Pakistan faces terrorism surge post-Afghan war

Islamabad helped bring the Taliban to power, now it faces the consequences

15 March 2023
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is promoting the Maharlika Investment Fund with an eye on his legacy, some observers say.
Asia Insight

Maharlika Investment Fund provides 'make or break' test for Marcos

Amid opposition and historical baggage, president pushes sovereign wealth fund

14 March 2023
The regulatory changes in China come as President Xi Jinping is placing loyalists into key government positions. (Source photos by Getty Images and Yusuke Hinata)
Market Spotlight

China's debt issues loom as Beijing revamps financial regulation

Changes could make it harder for local governments to borrow, analysts say

13 March 2023
Given the scarcity of academic achievements since the 2010s, Japan will likely see its Nobel Prize winners fall sharply from the 2030s.
Datawatch

Japan sees pool of Nobel hopefuls drain

Nation's scholars lag Chinese and other rivals in high-tech academic citations

11 March 2023
U.S. officials are concerned that TikTok could be used for spying or the dissemination of propaganda by China.(Source photos by AP) 
Business Spotlight

TikTok's U.S. woes grow as efforts to lobby Washington falter

Bipartisan senate proposal would enable president to ban social media app

10 March 2023
Stream article image
Most read in 2023

Analysis: In his parting words, Li Keqiang warns that 'heaven is watching'

Veiled dig comes as Xi neuters State Council to bolster party

9 March 2023
Deepika Padukone, seen as Queen Rani Padmavati on the poster for the 2018 Bollywood hit, "Padmavaat."
The Big Story

Bollywood's gender revolution: Women are rewriting the rules

Exclusive Nikkei data analysis points to slow but significant change in India's prolific film industry

8 March 2023
Sri Lankan port workers protest against an income tax increase in Colombo on March 1, 2023. About a year after economic frustration ignited a popular uprising that forced a change of government, citizens are still feeling the strain.
Asia Insight

Sri Lanka says IMF aid in reach after year of anger, hunger and fear

President hints new China letter will seal deal; local elections in focus

7 March 2023