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Lionel Lim

Lionel Lim

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DeepSeek isn’t China’s only new AI model, and analysts are calling the flurry of new applications ‘coordinated psyops’

At least three other companies including those backed by Alibaba and Tencent released updates to their applications in recent weeks.

previous day 1

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Chinese consumers can’t get enough of durian, a fruit so pungent it’s banned in Southeast Asian airports

Chinese imports of durian rose to 1.56 billion kilograms last year, 2.5 times what it imported in 2019. 

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Fortune

Lionel Lim

Luckin Coffee beat Starbucks in China. It’s now taking its playbook overseas to markets like Malaysia

Luckin Coffee—booted from the Nasdaq in 2020—has overtaken Starbucks in China revenue and store count.

24.01.2025 7

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Singapore’s prime minister warns of a ‘third world war’ if U.S. and China force rest of the world to pick sides

Fortunately, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong thought a full split was unlikely: “I can’t see how a full decoupling can happen at this...

24.01.2025 30

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Trump says new 10% tariff on China could come by Feb. 1, repeating November pledge

Markets were cautiously optmistic after Trump took a lighter approach to China on Monday. That sentiment lasted a day.

22.01.2025 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

French customs seize illegal ‘aphrodisiac honey’ that the nation can’t get enough of

Use of the "aphrodisiac honey" has increased in recent years, with officials warning of potentially serious health risks from ingredients not listed...

21.01.2025 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Trump throws TikTok a lifeline—yet floats 100% tariffs on China if a deal isn’t reached

Trump signed an executive order on Monday that delays a divest-or-ban law for TikTok for 75 days.

21.01.2025 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

A Chinese actor’s kidnapping reignites fears over travelling to Southeast Asia, and renews concerns over scam centers run by criminal gangs

Users on Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu asked if it was safe to travel to Thailand while a Hong Kong singer-actor canceled his Bangkok concert.

21.01.2025 4

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Nintendo finally unveiled its long-awaited Switch successor. Investors weren’t impressed

Nintendo's shares slid by as much as 7% when markets opened Friday, after the company released few details about its next gaming device.

17.01.2025 8

Fortune

Lionel Lim

What is ASEAN and why is it popping up in Trump cabinet nominee hearings?

The bloc has a GDP of around $4.2 trillion and came up during a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday.

16.01.2025 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

After ‘historic’ investment in chips and data centers, can Malaysia maintain its optimism in the age of Trump 2.0?

"We are no longer satisfied with playing the spectator."

15.01.2025 7

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Cleveland-Cliffs CEO blasts ‘evil’ Japan, home of rival Nippon Steel: ‘You did not learn anything since 1945’

There’s renewed uncertainty over U.S. Steel’s future after President Biden decided to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition bid, worth over $14...

14.01.2025 30

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Biden argues China ‘will never surpass us’, as Washington aligns on being tough on Beijing

Biden's final foreign policy featured harsh rhetoric on China, as Washington embraces tough-on-China policies.

14.01.2025 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Chinese EV brands make their presence known at the Singapore Motor Show

BYD's new luxury supercar, the Yangwang U9, stole the show with its "dance" in a massive booth near the exhibition's entrance.

13.01.2025 20

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Smaller countries must ‘double down’ on being open and neutral to survive a multipolar future, says Malaysia’s economic minister

“Defending global trade is very important to us as a country," Rafizi told Fortune the day after Malaysia and Singapore unveiled the Johor-Singapore...

09.01.2025 9

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Singapore slots itself into the HBM supply chain—key to the AI boom—with a $7 billion Micron investment

It's Singapore's first facility dealing with HBM, part of the AI chips that's powering companies like Nvidia and TSMC to new heights. 

08.01.2025 7

Fortune

Lionel Lim

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby wants a new competitor to Airbus and Boeing—but think it’s ‘unlikely’ China’s COMAC fills the gap

"We need more competition in the aerospace business," Kirby said during an aviation podcast interview.

07.01.2025 2

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Foreign-branded smartphones are losing a lot of ground in China

Data from government-affiliated research firm show an almost 50% year-on-year decline in shipments of foreign-branded phones in November 2024.

06.01.2025 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Vietnam’s economy smashes growth forecasts as trade-obsessed Trump returns to the White House

Vietnam's GDP grew by 7.09% in 2024, ahead of government forecasts of 6.5%. Yet Vietnam's trade surplus with the U.S. could put it at risk of new...

06.01.2025 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Malaysia wants Big Tech to get licensed as Asia-Pacific cracks down on social media platforms

From Jan. 1, social media platforms with more than 8 million users in Malaysia need to have a license to operate or risk getting blocked.

04.01.2025 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

China plans to curb exports of minerals and battery technology—key to your EVs and electronics

Beijing may be taking a page out of Washington's playbook in its use of export controls and trade blacklists.

03.01.2025 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Trump is set to hike tariffs. Should Southeast Asia be worried?

Countries like Vietnam benefited from Trump's trade war. That could put them at risk in the second round.

27.12.2024 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

China’s in the driver’s seat as EV sales are set to keep growing into 2025

China “will add nearly twice as many EV sales next year as the rest of the world combined," predicts Rho Motion's Will Roberts.

24.12.2024 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Singapore’s Straits Times Index is Southeast Asia’s best performing index for 2024—and it’s all due to its Big Three banks

A share rally in Singapore's biggest banks—DBS, UOB and OCBC—lifted the Straits Times Index to end the year above Malayis'a Kuala Lumpur...

23.12.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Malaysia’s auto industry releases its first-ever EV—but locals wonder if it’s really homegrown

Proton's e.MAS 7, unveiled on Monday, was developed concurrently with Geely's Galaxy E5.

20.12.2024 6

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Malaysia’s plan to build a high-speed train to Singapore struggles to leave the station

The ambitious high-speed rail project has been bogged by financial issues since it was first announced in 2013.

19.12.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

How a Global 500 insurer’s $1.6 billion Singapore deal fell apart

Allianz's bid to take over Singapore's Income Insurance drew scrutiny from both public officials and prominent Singaporeans.

18.12.2024 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

The U.S. reportedly plans to investigate China’s dominance of legacy chips

The Biden administration's investigation, reported by the New York Times, could lead to tariffs or import bans.

17.12.2024 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Starbucks hires its first-ever China chief growth officer as it battles fierce local competition

Starbucks' China revenue fell 7% last quarter, as Chinese shoppers turned to more affordable drinks sold from local chains like Luckin Coffee.

16.12.2024 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

‘No time to spare’ to address Japan’s baby bust as Tokyo promises free daycare to all preschoolers

It's the second family-friendly out of Tokyo, following the municipal government's decision to offer a 4-day work week to employees.

12.12.2024 6

Fortune

Lionel Lim

The AI boom nets hundreds of Australian data center employees a $41,300 holiday bonus

AirTrunk is giving away the money to celebrate its $16 billion acquisition by the U.S. private equity giant Blackstone.

11.12.2024 10

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Nvidia slapped with a Chinese antitrust probe as Beijing collects ‘bargaining chips’ ahead of Trump’s return

An analyst from the consultancy firm Trivium China thinks Beijing is preparing for some tough negotiations ahead.

10.12.2024 4

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Founders must embrace ‘design with a capital D’ if they want to convince investors, says partner at Alphabet’s GV

“Design is critical for a successful company,” said Vanessa Cho, design partner at GV, at Fortune's Brainstorm Design conference on Dec. 5

10.12.2024 7

Fortune

Lionel Lim

BYD could near Honda and Ford in cars sold this year as EV giant looks set to surpass its 4 million sales target

BYD sold around 3.8 million cars in the first 11 months of 2024, a 40% year-on-year jump.

09.12.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Beats by Dre designer Robert Brunner’s advice for creatives trying to make themselves heard: ‘Go take the comedy class’

"Learn how to stand up in front of people to communicate thoughts and ideas”, Ammunition founder Robert Brunner said at Fortune Brainstorm Design.

09.12.2024 7

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Gadi Amit, famed Fitbit designer, wants his peers to challenge the ‘money and tech folks’

At Fortune's Brainstorm Design, NewDealDesign founder Gadi Amit said he was "proud" of his early skepticism of design thinking.

05.12.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Designers need to learn how to talk like executives, says UnitedHealth Group’s former chief design officer

CEOs often "think of [designers] as black turtleneck-wearing creative people that make stuff pretty," Dan Makoski said at Fortune's Brainstorm...

05.12.2024 4

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Data, trust, and time are the key ingredients to make old neighbourhoods like Bangkok’s Charoen Krung hip again

Pichit Virankabutra and Thailand's Creative Economy Agency are trying to revive one of Bangkok's oldest neighborhoods: “When we moved in, it was...

05.12.2024 4

Fortune

Lionel Lim

The €550 million lawsuit against Meta by Spanish media publications set to begin October 2025

Meta has been slapped with a lawsuit for allegedly violating EU data protection rules.

28.11.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

China’s carmakers don’t see the country’s fierce price war ending anytime soon as they press suppliers for discounts

Both BYD and SAIC Motor reportedly asked suppliers for 10% discounts amid fierce competition in China's oversaturated EV sector.

28.11.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Trump fires the first salvo of his renewed trade war with China: A 10% across-the-board tariff

On Truth Social, Trump alleged that Chinese inaction on illegal fentanyl was the reason behind the new 10% tariff.

26.11.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Beijing’s internet censors have a new target: Social media echo chambers

Chinese internet giants will get about three months to adhere to Beijing’s new directive against “information cocoons”.

25.11.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Thailand, the “Detroit of Southeast Asia” is at the forefront of China’s battle for the global auto market

China has invested at least $1.4 billion in the nearby country’s auto plants.

25.11.2024 4

Fortune

Lionel Lim

EVs and their ‘innate feeling of luxury’ will create a ‘new type of premium,’ says Kia’s top designer

“EVs allow us to create...a very premium experience for people who may not have been able to afford it in the past,” says Karim Habib, Kia's head...

23.11.2024 30

Fortune

Lionel Lim

China’s richest person wants a personal apology from ByteDance’s founder for not stopping social media attacks against him

Zhong Shanshan, chairman of Nongfu Spring, is blaming two of China's Big Tech companies for troubles at his bottled water company.

22.11.2024 7

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Ryanair threatens to drop 10 French regional airports over ‘short-sighted’ airline ticket tax hike

Ryanair currently operates at 22 smaller French regional airports, but says this will be cut by nearly 50% if ticket taxes are raised.

21.11.2024 3

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Swiss pharma giant Novartis says 30 pipeline drugs with ‘significant potential’ will drive long-term growth

CEO Vas Narasimhan said the Novartis pipeline has "significant potential to rejuvenate our portfolio and support mid-single-digit growth post 2029."

21.11.2024 3

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Adani Group shares plunge by double digits after U.S. accuses Indian billionaire Gautam Adani of bribery

Shares in Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship company, fell by over 20%, helping erase an estimated $15 billion from Gautam Adani's net worth.

21.11.2024 3

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Apple’s said to increase its Indonesia investment tenfold to reverse iPhone sales ban, signaling the country’s growing importance for U.S. tech giant

IDC, a market intelligence firm, notes that Indonesia is one of Apple's fastest growing markets in Southeast Asia.

19.11.2024 5

Fortune

Lionel Lim

Leading Singapore property developer CEO says simplicity beats complexity when it comes to design: ‘Boring is okay’

GuocoLand's Guoco Midtown mixed use development boasts occupancy rates of over 90% despite its more simple looking facade.

19.11.2024 7

Fortune

Lionel Lim