Multinational companies are borrowing in rem at a record rate as they search for cheaper funding and a way to hedge against USChina relations. Panda bond issuance is rem borrowing by overseas companies in the mainland. In 2024, total borrowing was almost 200 billion remmbb which is the highest on record. In the first quarter of this year, panda bond issuance was more than 40 billion remmbb the second highest quarter on record.This marks a shift in strategy by global companies to raise debt for their Chinese ...

The European Union is making a new push for deeper, more integrated capital markets in an effort to reduce a competitiveness gap visa v the United States and boost its own growth. Given the lack of dynamism in the economy, the issue has shut up the top of the political agenda. For many in the business and political elite, the leakage of EU listings to the US, it's not just a missed opportunity, but a structural threat.To fix that, earlier this year, the European Commission presented the Savings and Investme ...

[Music] Japan is having fewer babies than ever [Music] before. Meanwhile, the number of very elderly people is at a record high. This year brings the country to a tipping point known as the 2025 problem with Japan's huge postwar baby boom generation now all in their mid to late 70s.When it comes to living with a shrinking and aging population, the data clearly shows that Japan is ahead of other countries, but also that its path isn't unique, and neither are the potential solutions. So, the rest of the world ...

Japanese anime has shifted over the years from something niche to a global phenomenon. One of Japan's most potent vectors of soft power. Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, Akira, and a galaxy of others have become touchstones of culture for 800 million fans worldwide, including sports stars, musicians, and even politicians.International studios and investors have seen the appeal of its extensive back catalog of characters and plot lines, at least to superhero franchises have founded. The global mark for anime ...

The FT does this kind of lighthearted thing every year where we have a stock picking competition and in my list of shorts I put Micro Strategy and I got annihilated and what I want to do is understand what it is that I'm missing here. Okay. Um what are people missing about Bitcoin and what are they missing about strategy.This is Michael Sailor. His company, Strategy, owns more Bitcoin than any other on the planet. Right now, that's about $50 billion worth.And in the crypto world, that makes him kind of a bi ...

The world is facing an alarming surge in forest fires. Between 2001 and 2023, the amount of tree cover the world lost each year due to fires rose dramatically. But new AI supported technology could help slow some blazes.In March, Farsat, a nonprofit collaboration of corporations, wildfire authorities, and others, launched the first of some 50 planned firefighting satellites. They all make up an AI enhanced network designed to cover the globe and detect flames before they spread beyond a 5x 5 m square area i ...

China has high hopes that the C919, the country's first domestically made passenger jets, could challenge the aircraft manufacturing markets currently dominated by Boeing and Airbus and showcase technological advancements made by its statebacked plane maker Comarmac. But as the US China trade war escalates, analysts warned that the C919's heavy reliance on US suppliers for critical components could threaten plans to increase production and even hits maintenance supports for the C919 jets that are already in ...