China’s prime minister promised Wednesday to increase its trade with the U.K. during Theresa May’s visit to the country at a time of economic uncertainty in Britain amid Brexit negotiations. Following meetings between the U.K. and Chinese premiers and officials, Li Keqiang told a press conference that both countries were “committed to upholding to free […]

SoftBank has entered an agreement with Japan’s most popular messaging service Line to acquire a majority stake in the company’s mobile business. Line Corp, which is dual-listed in New York and Tokyo, said Wednesday that it would enter into a strategic partnership with the Japanese tech giant to expand the provision of its mobile service. […]

President Donald Trump‘s first State of the Union address was rife with promises to put “America First,” but investors and political analysts in Asia seem to be taking it in their stride. “There was only one name check of China in the speech, and then one allusion to intellectual property rights, so it was less […]

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to protect American intellectual property, but made no mention of China, which his administration has accused of trade abuses, in his first State of the Union speech to Congress. Trump had been expected to deliver strong warnings to countries about unfair trade practices, including stealing intellectual property and […]

Japan’s Fujifilm is set to take over Xerox, and combine the U.S. company into their joint venture Fuji Xerox in an effort to cut costs, the companies said on Wednesday. Fujifilm will own 50.1 percent of Xerox shares, and combine Xerox with Fuji Xerox, their joint venture in which the Japanese company already holds a […]

Japanese messaging service Line Corp is expanding its reach into financial technology, or fintech, with a new company that offers a cryptocurrency exchange, loans and insurance. The Tokyo and U.S.-listed firm already offers a money transfer and payment service called Line Pay, but on Wednesday announced it would launch a new division called the Line […]

British Prime Minister Theresa May landed on Wednesday in China, where she will be seeking a free trade agreement ahead of the U.K. exiting the European Union trade bloc. Beijing knows that, and Chinese leaders are thought to be looking for something themselves: an endorsement of President Xi Jinping’s pet project, the Belt and Road […]

Korea expert Victor Cha was widely expected to be nominated to be the next U.S. ambassador to Seoul. A few days after being told he was no longer in the running, the former George W. Bush advisor publicly criticized the White House’s North Korea strategy. In a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday, Cha stressed the […]

Chinese video-streaming firm Leshi Internet Information & Technology said it expects a net loss of 11.6 billion yuan ($1.83 billion) for 2017, citing a cash crunch at embattled technology conglomerate LeEco that hurt its revenues. Leshi had reported a profit of 554.8 million yuan in 2016. It was once the main listed unit of LeEco […]

South Korea has uncovered cryptocurrency crimes worth 637.5 billion won ($594.35 million), which includes illegal foreign exchange trading, a statement released by the country’s customs service said on Wednesday. The statement said domestic investors bought 1.7 billion won worth of cryptocurrencies, which they sent to overseas partner companies through virtual wallets. The transfers were then […]