Japan upper house election, G-20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Nike ends 'Run Club' in China
Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
Voters in Japan head to the polls for an upper house election on Sunday. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is leading in opinion surveys, but people are growing frustrated with the government's response to rising prices for food and energy, which may give an opening to the opposition.
In China, Shanghai will hold university entrance exams later this week. The annual gaokao exams were postponed for one month due to COVID-19 lockdowns in the city. More public places, including movie theaters and museums, are also set to reopen, but online reservations will be required.
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This is an adapted version of Nikkei Asia’s Your Week in Asia newsletter - a briefing of the most important business, economic and political events happening across Asia this week. Register to our full selection of newsletters.
MONDAY
Mutual trading of ETFs between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese markets starts
Securities regulators in Hong Kong and mainland China will allow investors in both places to buy and sell certain exchange-traded funds listed on each other's equity markets. The Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong and the China Securities Regulatory Commission agreed in May to broaden the existing Stock Connect arrangement, which kicked off in 2014, enabling trading of shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai. That arrangement was later expanded to include Shenzhen.
Ukraine Recovery Conference
The Ukraine Recovery Conference will open in Lugano, Switzerland. The two-day conference will provide a forum for a Ukrainian delegation, including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and members of the Ukrainian cabinet, to discuss how to rebuild the country after the devastation of the Russian invasion. The meeting will bring together international leaders, ministers and multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It will call for funding and lasting commitments to Ukraine's Recovery and Development Plan.
Lancang-Mekong Cooperation meeting in Myanmar
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be in Bagan, Myanmar to chair a meeting on the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, which involves Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The LCM is part of Wang's 12-day tour that will also take him to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Through these visits, China said it hopes to strengthen cooperation on Belt and Road Initiative, and to promote the Global Development Initiative, the country's latest diplomatic agenda to counter the U.S.-led world order.
TUESDAY
Monetary policy statement: Australia
WEDNESDAY
Monetary policy statement: Malaysia
Company earnings: Aeon
THURSDAY
Recommended by LinkedIn
G-20 foreign ministers meet in Bali
Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 economies begin a two-day meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali to discuss issues including multilateralism and the food and energy crises. Most participants are expected to attend in-person, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Shanghai holds delayed college entrance exams
High school students in Shanghai will take the gaokao college entrance exam, which was postponed due to the monthslong COVID-19 lockdown in the city that ended last month. Cinemas will also reopen on Friday, joining other public facilities, as the city further relaxes virus prevention measures.
Chinese state-owned Huaneng Power to delist from New York
Huaneng Power International, a major state-owned power producer in China, is set to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. The company's American depository shares have been listed in the U.S. since 1994, but Huaneng Power cited low trading volume compared with its Hong Kong-listed H-shares, on top of the "considerable administrative burden and costs of maintaining the listing" on the NYSE as reasons for pulling out. A number of Chinese companies have left the U.S. capital market, including the three state-owned telecom operators that were deemed to be connected to the People's Liberation Army, but Huaneng stresses that its delisting is "voluntary."
Company earnings: Seven & i Holdings
FRIDAY
Nike ends China 'Run Club' app
Over 8 million Nike Run Club users will have to bid farewell to the popular app in the latest disappearance of U.S. software from China as Beijing tightens data protection rules in the country. LinkedIn, an employment-focused social media site owned by Microsoft, and Yahoo Mail are among the services that have ceased to operate in China in the past year. Amazon.com's Kindle digital bookstore will also pull back from Asia's largest economy by June 2023.
WEEKEND
China inflation data
On Saturday, China announces June factory-gate and consumer inflation, which have trended lower in recent months, in contrast to surging global prices, as demand for commodities and household products has cooled in China.
Japan upper house election
Japanese voters head for the polls in an upper house election on Sunday, with 545 candidates competing for 125 seats. Recent surveys show Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party leading, while opposition groups try to gain traction by criticizing the government's response to rising prices. The voting starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m. The results will be known later that night.
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Realtor Associate @ Next Trend Realty LLC | HAR REALTOR, IRS Tax Preparer
2yThanks for the updates