China’s economy grew 5 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, putting Beijing on track to meet its annual growth target even as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to cloud the global economic outlook. The closely watched gross domestic product growth figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, beat the 4.86 per cent forecast by economists polled by finan...
China’s economy grew 5 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, putting Beijing on track to meet its annual growth target even as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to cloud the global economic outlook. The closely watched gross domestic product growth figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, beat the 4.86 per cent forecast by economists polled by financial data provider Wind. It marked an acceleration from the 4.5 per cent recorded in the last three...
Amirul Islam is riding the wave of change sweeping through India’s software services industry—a wave that threatens to cast many of his peers adrift. Freshly graduated from one of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Information Technology , Islam joined Infosys Ltd. in 2022 as one of the tens of thousands of code jockeys the tech giant recruits each year. Today the 26-year-old heads a team report...
Amirul Islam is riding the wave of change sweeping through India’s software services industry—a wave that threatens to cast many of his peers adrift. Freshly graduated from one of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Information Technology , Islam joined Infosys Ltd. in 2022 as one of the tens of thousands of code jockeys the tech giant recruits each year. Today the 26-year-old heads a team reporting directly to the company’s chief technology officer; it’s tasked with designing software that works with AI agents, robotics and vision systems. The group’s newest creation: a “vibe coding” tool embedded in Infosys’ proprietary AI platform that allows the company’s consultants to develop software for clients in real time by describing in plain language what they need it to do. This development could do away with the elaborate dance of slide decks and next‑steps meetings that characterizes the work of the company’s customer-facing staff. “They can build a working prototype of a solution within 30 minutes,” Islam says. He recalls how, at a recent meeting with a retailer, the Infosys crew delivered a usable app before the coffee in the conference room had gone cold. “The client went, ‘Wow,’ ” he recalls, flashing a gap-toothed smile. AI won’t entirely replace engineers, Islam says, but it will doom “coders who don’t have the ability to articulate newer problems.” Even for someone who’s filed four AI-related patents in the past year, the pressure is palpable. “There’s fear,” he says. Everyone is dogged by the same question: How do I keep up? India’s $315 billion IT industry is one of the main engines of the country’s economy. For decades, coveted jobs at Infosys and competitors HCL Technologies , Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro offered millions of college-educated Indians a path into the upper middle class. The work involved building software systems for foreign airlines, Wall Street banks and Silicon Valley giants. “Graduates who treat AI as a force multiplier rat...
China’s economic growth rebounded more than expected in the first quarter, suggesting limited spillovers so far from the war in Iran and giving policymakers more time to be patient with stimulus. Gross domestic product expanded 5% from a year ago, the fastest in three quarters, according to a statement from the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. That compares with the 4.8% median forecast ...
China’s economic growth rebounded more than expected in the first quarter, suggesting limited spillovers so far from the war in Iran and giving policymakers more time to be patient with stimulus. Gross domestic product expanded 5% from a year ago, the fastest in three quarters, according to a statement from the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. That compares with the 4.8% median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and a gain of 4.5% in the previous quarter. Industrial output grew 5.7% in March from a year ago, more than forecast but slowing from the first two months of this year. Retail sales fell short of forecasts with an increase of 1.7%, weakening from the 2.8% expansion in the January-February period. “Overall, the main macro indicators rebounded in the first quarter, and new drivers are growing rapidly,” the NBS said in a statement. “But we also need to see that the external situation is more complex and volatile, and the imbalance between strong domestic supply and weak demand is still stark.” The war, now in its seventh week, has yet to threaten the momentum that built at the start of 2026, thanks in part to China’s moves in past years to strengthen energy security and insulate its economy from global turmoil. Years of deflationary pressure have also blunted the potential for an immediate impact on consumer prices from higher oil costs. An upbeat report on the economy will likely reduce the urgency for additional stimulus, especially after Beijing adopted a more flexible approach toward growth by lowering its GDP goal to a range of 4.5% to 5% — the lowest since 1991. Fixed-asset investment gained 1.7%, slightly weaker than the 1.8% increase in the first two months. Property investment slumped 11.2%. The surveyed urban jobless rate unexpectedly climbed to 5.4%, the highest in a year. A rising number of economists is forecasting the People’s Bank of China won’t cut interest rates this year, because the oil shock pushed up inflation expectatio...
Elon Musk ’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers including Applied Materials Inc. , Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Lam Research Corp. for his envisioned Terafab , early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc. and SpaceX have sought price quotes and delivery times for an ...
Elon Musk ’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers including Applied Materials Inc. , Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Lam Research Corp. for his envisioned Terafab , early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc. and SpaceX have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to be named disclosing private discussions. The Terafab team also asked chip manufacturing partner Samsung Electronics Co. for support. The South Korean company instead proposed allocating more capacity for Tesla at its planned factory in Taylor, Texas, according to the people. The outreach suggests Musk is pressing ahead with Terafab in the face of skepticism from the semiconductor industry. The project, as envisioned, aims to reshape the chipmaking landscape and propel the world’s richest person into an arena dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Intel Corp. said it will join the Terafab initiative, with its Chief Executive Officer Lip Bu Tan posting a photo of Musk on a recent visit to the chipmaker’s Santa Clara office. Musk’s representatives have asked for speedy price estimates while providing minimal information about the products to be made. In one case, they asked a supplier on a holiday Friday for an estimate to be delivered the following Monday, one of the people said. Musk wants to move at “light speed,” the person was told. The Terafab project — which has a mind-boggling goal to supply 1 terawatt of annual computing capacity — is the latest ambitious undertaking by Musk. While Tesla designs its own autopilot FSD chips, Musk’s companies have never manufactured semiconductors. Yet he’s now proposing to make them at a sc...
A fire at one of Australia’s two operating oil refineries could hit petrol production more than diesel and aviation fuel, authorities said on Thursday, as emergency crews worked overnight to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters were battling flames as tall as 60 metres (200 feet) at Viva Energy’s motor petrol production unit at its Geelong refinery in Victoria state, which processes crude into high...
A fire at one of Australia’s two operating oil refineries could hit petrol production more than diesel and aviation fuel, authorities said on Thursday, as emergency crews worked overnight to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters were battling flames as tall as 60 metres (200 feet) at Viva Energy’s motor petrol production unit at its Geelong refinery in Victoria state, which processes crude into high-octane petrol. No injuries have been reported from the fire, which emergency crews were alerted to...
(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. jumped on Thursday, after the world’s biggest maker of electric-vehicle batteries announced plans to expand its footprint in critical minerals and strengthen supply-chain security as its first-quarter net income beat estimates.The stock rose as much as 10.2% in early Hong Kong trading, while its Shenzhen-listed shares jumped as much...
(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. jumped on Thursday, after the world’s biggest maker of electric-vehicle batteries announced plans to expand its footprint in critical minerals and strengthen supply-chain security as its first-quarter net income beat estimates.The stock rose as much as 10.2% in early Hong Kong trading, while its Shenzhen-listed shares jumped as much as 4.8%.CATL said its board has approved the creation of a new wholly-owned subsidiary with a regis