China Executive Insights
Japanese companies that make drones and their components are seeing a surge of investor money. (Illustration by Nikkei) TOKYO -- Money is flowing into Japanese drone companies amid rising military demand for unmanned systems, as investors seeking diversification options away from artificial intelligence stocks look beyond the traditional defense stocks that surged last year.
IT moves services near No. 1 spot as merchandise exports stall despite support While India's services exports have grown at a compound annual rate of 9.3% over the past 12 years, goods exports have increased at barely a third of that pace. (Source photos by Reuters) © Reuters BENGALURU -- India's services exports are on the cusp of overtaking merchandise exports for the first time, underscoring how the country is increasingly dependent on information technology for growth even as policymakers push to transform the nation into a manufacturing powerhouse.
First major redesign in 16 years seen as key test of automaker's turnaround strategy Nissan Motor unveils the new Elgrand in Yokohama, Japan on July 16. (Photo by Marie Yoshimura) YOKOHAMA, Japan -- Nissan Motor on Thursday launched a fully redesigned Elgrand premium minivan in the Japanese market -- the model's first major overhaul in 16 years -- as part of the automaker's strategy to revive domestic sales as it tries to achieve a business turnaround.
With the economic boom concentrated among chipmakers, central moves to address inflation BANGKOK -- South Korea's central bank raised its key rate for the first time in more than three years on Thursday as it grapples with inflationary pressure at least partially stemming from quickening growth.
US chipmaker to supply technologies to be used in traffic management Nvidia will team with Woven by Toyota, which operates Toyota's smart city, Woven City. (Source photos by Nikkei and Woven by Toyota) TOKYO -- Nvidia is working with Toyota Motor's Woven City, a smart city conducting demonstration experiments in Shizuoka prefecture, central Japan, as the U.S. chipmaker looks to speed up the spread of artificial intelligence in Japan by providing foundational technologies.
Speakers include Thai deputy prime ministers, leaders from Sony, Didi and SGX From left: Sony Group Executive Chairman Kenichiro Yoshida, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. (Source photos by Nikkei) BANGKOK -- A major business forum hosted by Nikkei kicks off in Bangkok on Thursday, with over 20 company and political leaders from the Asia-Pacific set to discuss topics ranging from the energy crisis to mobility and the future of artificial intelligence.
Japan motorcycle maker banks on continued electric shift in cities Motorcycles and scooters are essential to daily life in Vietnam. (Photo by Yuji Nitta) HANOI -- Honda Motor plans to begin production of its UC3 electric motorcycle in Vietnam as early as September, General Director Sayaka Arai of local subsidiary Honda Vietnam told Nikkei, as the company expects a continued shift toward electric vehicles in urban areas.
China's AI tools are making cognitive warfare personal, persistent and cheap A fake video claiming that a demonstration calling for Okinawa's independence took place in Japan went viral after being posted on May 12, 2024. (Screenshot from bbcctv6's X page) Brett J. Goldstein is a professor at Vanderbilt University who specializes in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence and is Director of the Wicked Problems Lab at Vanderbilt's Institute of National Security.
Xi Jinping had an ulterior motive in launching an SLBM over the Pacific Ocean on July 6 -- to see if Donald Trump might acquiesce to a suggestion that Barack Obama long ago snubbed. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and PLA Navy's WeChat account) Route sent a message to the Philippines while avoiding South Korea fallout Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent, and later as China bureau chief, and was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.
TAIDE aims to counter global models' tendency to reflect mainland language, views Taiwan's TAIDE is being developed as a homegrown AI model built with local data on top of open source foundations. (Illustration by Nikkei) TAIPEI -- Taiwan is rushing to further develop its local generative artificial intelligence model, aiming to protect its language and culture by countering the mainland Chinese content that other models are trained on.
Weak consumption weighs in second quarter; outlook hinges on exports remaining robust A worker assembles a wind turbine generator at an industrial park in Baotou, in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on June 13. The country's industrial production rose 5.4% in the first half of 2026, driven by robotic and semiconductor sectors. © Reuters TOKYO -- China's growth momentum slowed in the second quarter after a strong start to the year, underscoring the fragile state of the economy even though trade tensions with the U.S. and turmoil in the Middle East have so far been less damaging than feared.
Developer eyes services in local languages as home market faces declining birthrate Japanese photo sharing app FamilyAlbum allows parents to easily share photos of their children with relatives. It also offers photo printing and photo book creation services. (Source photos by Mixi) TOKYO -- FamilyAlbum, a Japanese developed app for sharing photos and videos mainly with family members, has ambitions to aggressively expand its number of users and services in overseas markets after surpassing 30 million of them on a cumulative basis as its home market faces population decline.