ASIA!

Nobody really believes these figures, but here they are: Macau’s unemployment rate officially dipped 0.3 percentage point to 2.9 per cent in the first quarter, with its population standing at 530,000. In fact Macau now has so many illegal immigrants from neighbouring Guangdong and Fujian that its actual population is probably closer to 1 million. Employment – both legal and illegal – is running at full tilt.

China has launched its first data relay satellite, "Tianlian I" (sky curtain). It was launched on a Long March carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province and will go into operation in the second half of this year to support the launch of the Shenzhou VII manned mission.

Mitsui Mining and Smelting has developed a new catalyst for diesel engine cars that replaces the use of platinum with silver, which reduces the cost of catalytic converters by more than 90%. Both silver and platinum clean car exhaust fumes but silver is considered too soft for extended use. Mitsui says it has succeeded in making a silver compound that can withstand the heat of vehicle exhaust fumes.

Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer, is rumoured to have secured orders to produce 25 million units of the new version iPhone in the second half of the year.

China’s Internet population hit 212 million in February, up 11 million in just two months. China now has the world’s largest base of Internet users.

Baidu, which controls 60% of China’s online search market, announced a 71% jump in first-quarter net profit to 146.6 million yuan. Revenue more than doubled to 574.4 million yuan in the same period.

Sohu.com posted a near fivefold increase in first-quarter profit to US21.6 million as advertisers poured into online ads in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in August.

China has a "human resources reservoir" of 42 million people in science and technology, said a report by the China Association for Science and Technology. Two thirds of these people are below the age of 40 and men outnumber women two-to-one. The number is a 20% increase from the 35 million recorded in 2005.

Diamond imports into China rose 40% in a year to reach a value of US$282 million, according to figures from the Shanghai Diamond Exchange.

China aims to increase its wind power generating capacity by five times to 100,000 megawatts by 2020, the year it aims to get 15% of its energy needs from sustainable sources.

Jeweller Tse Sui Luen, owner of the Hong Kong-listed company of the same name, was convicted in a Hong Kong court for falsifying accounts, theft and bribery. Four of his employees, including his son, were also convicted.

A survey in Hong Kong found that 83% of the respondents found mainland visitors – a major source of income for the tourist trade – unbearable in their coarse manners and dirty habits, which includes urinating at the gates of underground stations.

China-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp has dropped out of the DRAM memory chip race, the first player to quit the overcrowded market. SMIC produces between 1-2% of the world’s output for DRAM chips.

Macau’s "casino king" Stanley Ho, facing an increasingly competitive home market where he once held the monopoly, is reportedly making a visit to Taiwan to see whether it is worth his while to set up a casino there.

Two of America's largest retailers, Sam’s Club (part of Wal-Mart) and Costco, are limiting customers' rice purchases due to the global shortage.

Three mobile phone giants – Vodafone of the UK, China Mobile and Softbank of Japan – have jointly announced a research project aimed at speeding the roll-out of Internet services.

Goldman Sachs has come under investigation in Taiwan over a 10-year forex derivatives contract it signed with Chunghwa Telecom in September last year. Chunghwa just booked T$4 billion in losses arising from US/New Taiwan dollar options.

China state-owned iron ore trader Sinosteel Corp has secured approval from the board of Australian mine prospector Midwest Corp for a A$1.36 billion takeover. The approval came after Sinosteel raised its offer by 14% to A$6.38, though it is still lower than the A$7 asked by Midwest directors. The higher bid transformed a hostile bid into a friendly one. As it stands, it is the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese mining firm.

Whirlpool, the world's leading home appliance maker, and Chinese conglomerate Hisense have formed a 50-50 joint venture to produce high-end washing machines and refrigerators under the Hisense and Whirlpool brands for global consumers. Each party will invest 900 million yuan in the venture, which plans to produce 2 million washing machines and 1 million refrigerators annually.

The coming flood of Chinese tourists into Taiwan following the election of Ma Ying-jeou has created a new business opportunity – selling mobile phones. Due to the strength of the renminbi and other factors, phones in China are on average 10% pricier than in Taiwan. Samsung Taiwan estimates the difference could result in the sale of 1 million phones in Taiwan annually.

Sinopec chairman Su Shulin (above) has expressed concern over the "great uncertainty" over whether Beijing will further relax price controls that have led the state-owned company to declare losses at its refining business. Sinopec imports 80% of the oil it refines into petroleum and other products but is unable to pass on the soaring price of oil to consumers due to China’s anti-inflationary measures.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission will tighten rules for initial public offerings to stem excessive speculation. Currently institutional investors can order on- and off-line portions of shares while individuals are limited to the on-line portion. Many "strategic investors" such as Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee have made hundreds of millions of dollars from IPOs.

China's mobile phone production growth has slowed significantly in the first quarter, where 141.3 million units were produced, up 6.7% year-on-year but much less than the 27.8% registered in the first quarter of 2007. In Tianjin, a major phone manufacturing centre, much of the slowdown was due to trouble experienced by US company Motorola.