Asia

The G7, which began this morning in Japan, saw emphasized by leaders committed fears about the emerging economies, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made noise with the statement in which he likened the current situation to the financial crisis triggered by the Lehman bankruptcy in 2008.

"The G7 leaders share the idea that emerging economies are facing a difficult situation even though there are those who say that the current framework can not define ‘crisis’," said the deputy head of the Cabinet Secretariat, Hiroshige Seko , speaking to reporters at the beginning of the two-day G7 in Ise-Shima.

Twelve associations, representing the most influential global steel producers, have appealed to the G7 leaders to take appropriate measures to support the sector, which is suffering very negatively of "distorting practices" of some governments, which no regard for the situation of the market, continue to promote the production, indifferent to global overcapacity.

Toyota bought a stake in the capital of Uber, the world leader in the sector. The transaction value was not disclosed, but the agreement provides an important trade chapter: Toyota will ensure the leasing of vehicles to drivers which in turn will repay with shares of their tariffs. The move of the Japanese manufacturer is the answer to the initiatives that competitors have implemented in recent weeks: the GM found for $ 500 million participation in Lyft, while Volkswagen has entered the Israeli Gett putting on the plate 300 million. The more substantial the wildcard has nonetheless played the Apple, ready to bet a billion of Didi-Chuxing, the Chinese Uber growing very fast.

In the opinion of analysts, Uber is the right partner to Toyota with its smaller models can easily deal with the traffic of the most congested urban areas where the US company is the undisputed leader.

Fighting poverty in China over the next five years: the Agricultural Development Bank of China (Agricultural Development Bank of China, ADBC) plans to allocate 3 trillion yuan (about 460 billion US dollars) to fight poverty among the Chinese population, reports state newspaper "People’s Daily."

Also according to the newspaper, by 2020, the Chinese leadership has set a goal to get out of poverty 70 million people. At the end of 2014, 70 million and 170 thousand Chinese residents in rural areas were living below the poverty line while the their annual income amounted to $ 376.

The newspaper said some of the funds will be used for transfer to other areas of the population, to support programs to tourism and education, for assistance to farmers and the construction of infrastructure in rural areas, which should help reduce poverty of the population.

Japan’s exports dropped in April at the quickest pace in three months as a stronger Yen and weakness in China and other emerging markets take their toll on the country’s shipments, denting growth prospects for the current quarter. Overseas shipments plunged 10.1% in April from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said, while economists had predicted a 10.0% annual decline and following a 6.8% decrease in March. It was the seventh straight month of declines and the biggest since 12.9% in January, when Japanese shipments to Asia slowed sharply ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. The drop was likely exaggerated by a fall in US-bound car exports due to supply-chain disruptions caused by last month’s earthquakes in southern Japan, but a surging Yen and tepid global demand are clouding the outlook for the year.

Still under the spotlight the purchase of luxury items made by Chinese tourists in Switzerland. In fact, even in April they fell purchases, according to the latest statistics issued by Global Blue, a company that handles VAT refunds on the taxed products. On a year, sales actually declined by 7.8%, after a fall of 19.6% in March.

For Switzerland figures relate mainly to sales of watches, the most purchased items from travelers in transit. The phenomenon concerns however over Europe and France is the country most affected, with a drop of 23% in April after -29.3% in March. The main concerns are the concerns about China’s growth, a certain frugality related to anti-corruption campaign and the beginning of April the new import tax.

The scandal over the falsification test for anti-smog emissions in Japan has led to the resignation of the president of Mitsubishi Motors. A statement from the Nissan announced that Tetsuro Aikawa will leave the company with effect from June 24, for "the problems caused to customers and shareholders." The scandal had prompted the earlier group to accept entry-saving in its capital of Nissan countryman, who will become the largest shareholder.

No sign of recovery for the prices to Japanese production, confirming the deflationary trend triggered mainly by the collapse of energy products and petroleum.

In April, the data showed a drop of 0.3% on a monthly basis after -0.1% in March. This was communicated by the Bank of Japan. Year over year, prices showed a fall of 4.2%, after falling 3.8% the previous month.
Analysts had expected an increase of 0.2% on the month and a 3.7% on-year.

The export prices rose by 0.7% on a monthly basis, while over-year showed a decrease of 4.2%. The import prices rose by 0.8% on the month, showing a decrease of 13.7% trend.