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SHANGHAI — Huawei's revenue growth slowed significantly in the first nine months of 2020, the Chinese telecom giant said on Friday, citing "intense pressure" on operations during the coronavirus and as the US moves to cut off its access to vital components.

Huawei, the leading global supplier of telecoms networking equipment and a top smartphone producer, said it grossed 671.3 billion yuan ($100.7 billion) in revenue in January-September, up 9.9 per cent year-on-year.

That's down from 24.4 per cent growth over the same period last year, while its profit margin fell to 8 per cent from 8.7 per cent last year.

Washington views Huawei, founded in 1987 by former People's Liberation Army engineer Ren Zhengfei, as a Chinese espionage threat and has lobbied allies to shun its gear while attempting to block its access to global semiconductor supplies.

"As the world grapples with COVID-19, Huawei's global supply chain was put under intense pressure and its production and operations saw increasing difficulties," the company said.

It vowed to "do its best to find solutions, to survive and forge ahead". 

The brief announcement made no direct reference to the US pressure, nor did it include a performance breakdown for its various segments, such as smartphone sales. Privately held Huawei provides such details only for half-year and full-year earnings.

But during the online launch of the company's latest smartphone on Thursday, Huawei's CEO of consumer products Yu Chengdong said the company was "suffering" from the escalating US pressure, which he called "unfair".

"For Huawei, nowadays we are in a very difficult time," Yu said.

Bad news has been mounting for Huawei, which the United States alleges is controlled by Beijing. 

Washington says Huawei equipment could contain security holes that China could exploit for spying, but the firm and the Chinese government reject the claim, saying the US has never provided evidence.

Washington has essentially barred Huawei from the lucrative US market and pressured allies to do the same.

Britain in July banned mobile providers from using Huawei equipment in their new 5G networks, giving British companies until 2027 to rip out any existing hardware.

France has also placed heavy restrictions on use of Huawei gear and Sweden this week banned the company and Chinese rival ZTE from its own 5G network.

Writing on the wall 

Much of the full impact from the US measures to cut off access to semiconductors and other components has been postponed so far by the Trump administration's granting of a series of waivers delaying full implementation while it carried out long-running talks on a trade deal with China.

But analysts said the writing is on the wall for Huawei, which may need to make major business adjustments.

US moves to prevent Huawei's access to much of the Google Android system could damage its global market position on smartphones, said Marc Einstein, Chief Analyst at ITR Corporation in Tokyo.

But it should remain strong in China's domestic market, and Huawei maintains a solid foothold in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, even if more developed markets such as Europe appear to be closing.

"It's completely feasible that if a huge [US-China] trade deal is reached, some of these challenges could recede," Einstein said.

"Huawei is not going anywhere."

Huawei overtook Samsung as the world's top smartphone seller in the second quarter on strong domestic demand, industry tracker Canalys said in July, adding that it was the first quarter in nine years that a company other than the South Korean giant or Apple held the top spot.

Huawei said last month that its nascent homegrown operating system could be available on smartphones from early next year as it rushes to build an alternative app ecosystem.

Phil Marshall, chief research officer with Tolaga Research, said Huawei may "lose some of the edge" that it enjoys in networking gear and 5G technologies, but that it had racked up so many 5G patents over the years that it should remain a global player.

The US pressure also will force Huawei to achieve tech self-reliance by making its own chips.

"We know how successful they have proven to be at developing technology. You just can't rule them out," Marshall said.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN — Greenpeace on Tuesday criticised the European Central Bank (ECB) for "bias" in its bond purchases that favour "carbon-intensive sectors" when the institution is looking for ways to address climate change. 

According to a study by the environmental pressure group and the UK-based think-tank New Economics Foundation, 63 per cent of bonds held by the ECB at the end of July were attached to fossil fuels, energy-intensive manufacturing, non-renewable utilities and carbon-intensive transport.

"The ECB needs a climate-friendly realignment," said Greenpeace economist Mauricio Vargas, arguing that the bank must set "the framework for a green European financial system".

As the bank tees up a wide-ranging strategy review, due to conclude next year, "the ECB now has the chance to listen and to correct its monetary-policy misstep," Vargas says. 

The report recommended that the ECB stop buying bonds issued by fossil fuel and energy-intensive companies, and instead buy bonds from the green and renewable sectors as part of its multitrillion-euro (dollar) asset-purchase programme.

"Its corporate purchases are structurally misaligned with EU commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement and do not adequately reflect climate-related financial risks," the authors said.

The study also argued that the Frankfurt-based institution needs to row back on market neutrality, the principle that guides asset purchases.

Intended to not favour one industry over another, the authors said it instead "hardwires a carbon bias" by in effect subsidising the companies' debt. 

Sectors with a heavy carbon footprint such as energy companies and airlines have benefited from the ECB's bond-purchase policies, the study said. 

Last week, ECB President Christine Lagarde said that the bank might revise its rules on neutrality in its strategy review. 

Implementing these policies would be "in line with the climate emergency that we are currently facing but would also support climate-related financial stability objectives", the report said. 

The move would also encourage more financial institutions to move away from business models that harmed the environment, it added.

The study comes ahead of a crunch monetary-policy meeting at the central bank next week.

The Paris climate pact, signed in 2015, commits countries to keep temperature rises below 2ºC compared with pre-industrial levels by cutting their use of fossil fuels. 

BEIJING — China's super wealthy have earned a record $1.5 trillion in 2020, more than the past five years combined, as e-commerce and gaming boomed during pandemic lockdowns, an annual rich list said on Tuesday.

An extra 257 people also joined the billionaires club in the world's number-two economy by August, following two years of shrinking membership, according to the closely watched Hurun Report.

The country now has a total of 878 billionaires. The US had 626 people in the top bracket at the start of the year, according to Hurun in its February global list.

The report found that there were around 2,000 individuals with a net worth of more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) in August, giving them a combined net worth of $4 trillion.

Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce titan Alibaba, once again topped the list after his wealth surged a whopping 45 per cent to $58.8 billion as online shopping firms saw a surge in business owing to people being shut indoors for months during strict lockdowns to contain the virus.

He was followed by Pony Ma ($57.4 billion), boss of gaming giant and WeChat owner Tencent who made an extra 50 per cent despite concerns about his firm's US outlook after it was threatened with bans there over national security fears.

First-time list member Zhong Shanshan, 66, best-known for his bottled water brand Nongfu, parachuted into third spot with $53.7 billion after a Hong Kong IPO in September, the report found.

'Never seen this 

much wealth' 

"The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year," Hurun Report chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said in a statement.

This year's list shows China was "moving away from traditional sectors like manufacturing and real estate, towards the new economy", he added.

Wang Xing, founder of food delivery app Meituan, quadrupled his wealth and jumped 52 places to 13th in the list with $25 billion, while Richard Liu, the founder of online shopping platform JD.com doubled his money pile to $23.5 billion.

Healthcare entrepreneurs also moved up the list on the back of the pandemic, with Jiang Rensheng, founder of vaccine-maker Zhifei, tripling his value to $19.9 billion.

China shut down major cities around the country in late January and February to contain the virus that first emerged in Wuhan, causing an unprecedented economic contraction in the first quarter.

With infections appearing to be under control, the country is on track to become the only major economy to expand this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

On Monday, data showed the economy expanded 4.9 per cent in the third quarter but away from the glittering figures many ordinary workers and fresh graduates are struggling to find jobs.

The urban jobless rate inched down to 5.4 per cent in September, although analysts have warned of higher unemployment than officially reported this year.

NEW YORK — US petroleum giant ConocoPhillips announced on Monday it would acquire Texas-based shale oil rival Concho Resources in a transaction valued at $9.7 billion.

The acquisition comes as global oil giants have struggled in recent months amid the COVID-19 pandemic that caused a slowdown in the global economy and a plunge in the price of crude.

“The leadership and boards of both companies believe today’s transaction is an affirmation of our commitment to lead a structural change for our vital industry,” ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement.

Together the two companies will produce 1.5 million barrels a day and become a major player in the Permian Basin area straddling New Mexico and Texas, which is rich in hydrocarbons.

“The combination is remarkable. Just in regards to scale, ConocoPhillips is adding enough Permian production to nip at the heels of ExxonMobil’s massive programme,” Robert Clarke, vice president at Wood Mackenzie, said in an analysis.

After plunging in the pandemic’s early weeks, oil stabilised at around $40 a barrel in the third quarter but that is still below a profitable level for many producers, which have borrowed heavily in recent years and now are seeing profits in the red.

Several companies have filed for bankruptcy or come close, while the sector has seen a wave of acquisitions, with Chevron buying oil and natural gas producer Noble for $5 billion in July, and Devon Energy acquiring WPX Energy in September.

The transaction between ConocoPhillips and Concho is set to close in the first quarter of next year. Under the terms of the agreement approved by both boards of directors, each share of Concho will be exchanged for 1.46 shares of ConocoPhillips stock.

This represents a 15 per cent premium to the closing price on 

October 13.

The two companies have a total of approximately 23 billion barrels in reserve at a cost of less than $40 a barrel.

They expect to be able to make savings of around $500 million per-year by 2022.

WASHINGTON — The US budget deficit surged 218 per cent to a record $3.1 trillion in the fiscal year that ended on September 30 due to a massive increase in spending to help the economy weather the coronavirus pandemic, the government announced on Friday.

That was more than double the previous record deficit of $1.4 trillion hit in 2009 during the global financial crisis.

As spending ramped up and tax receipts fell due to the widespread business shutdowns, the Treasury Department said total government US debt soared to $26.9 trillion — larger than the size of the economy which shrunk in the second quarter to less than $20 trillion.

The budget gap under President Donald Trump already had been on the rise prior to the pandemic and hit $1 trillion this year for the first time since 2012 following the massive tax cut passed in late 2017.

Administration officials tried to put a positive spin on the figures, crediting Trump with acting quickly to deploy resources to ease the economic damage for American businesses and families.

"Under President Trump's leadership, the economy has begun an incredible comeback," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Budget Chief Russell Vought said in a joint statement.

"The Administration remains fully committed to supporting American workers, families, and businesses and to ensuring that our robust economic rebound continues," Mnuchin added.

Trump's team for weeks has been locked in talks with Democratic leaders in Congress on a new rescue package to follow up on nearly $3 trillion in resources deployed in the early days of the pandemic, including the $2.2 trillion CARES Act.

Officials now acknowledge that it will be difficult to reach a deal before the November 3 presidential election, or to get the funds out even if they manage to agree.

Federal government outlays increased 47 per cent in the fiscal year while outlays declined 1 per cent.

However, the fiscal picture has been helped by borrowing rates near zero, dropping interest payments by 9 per cent or $50 billion.

NEW YORK — US stocks ended the week mixed on Friday as optimism over positive economic data was tempered by a soaring US deficit and the growing realisation a new stimulus package is unlikely anytime soon.

Better-than-expected retail sales data and consumer confidence showed Americans remain willing to spend -- for now -- and shares were boosted by positive news about Boeing's 737 MAX and drugmaker Pfizer.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to finished an up-down week at 28,606.31, while the broad-based S&P 500 was essentially flat, rising just 0.1 per cent to end at 3,483.81.

But declines by industry titans like Amazon, Apple and Netflix reversed early gains in the tech-rich Nasdaq, which lost 0.4 per cent to close at 11,671.55.

US retail sales climbed 1.9 per cent in September, triple expectations, with purchases of cars and parts, clothing and sporting goods increasing dramatically, according to the Commerce Department report released before markets opened.

The data was a reassuring sign of the economy's resilience after key provisions of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act preventing layoffs and providing support to consumers expired in recent months.

Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating on another stimulus package but growing signs that nothing would be approved before the November 3 presidential election has sent indices closing lower in recent days.

However, separate data from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in September declining for the first time in five months, losing 0.6 per cent as manufacturing and utilities fell.

Peter Cardillo of Spartan capital Securities said that shows the recovery was losing steam and the economy still needs stimulus.

"The market seems to be holding onto hopes that eventually we will get a stimulus plan," he told AFP. 

"I still think there is a possibility that we'll get it before the elections even though it does not appear that way. It would make political sense for both parties to come up with a plan."

There were glimmers of optimism following market close with news Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin may yield to some Democratic demands on Covid-19 testing to get a stimulus deal passed.

Pfizer jumped 3.8 per cent and BioNTech rose 4.1 per cent after announcing they would seek emergency authorisation for their Covid-19 vaccine in late November. 

Boeing rose 1.9 per cent after the director of the European Union's aviation safety agency told Bloomberg the grounded 737 MAX aircraft was safe to fly again and could return to the skies by the end of the year.

NEW YORK — The British pound wobbled on Friday, boosting London stocks, after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned he was ready to walk away from European Union trade talks and prepare for a "no-deal" Brexit.

Sterling fell below $1.29 before crawling back after Johnson accused the EU of failing to negotiate seriously -- and declared Britain should "get ready" for an Australia-style agreement based on World Trade Organisation rules from January "unless there is a fundamental change of approach" from Brussels.

A Johnson aide ramped up the rhetoric by adding that trade talks were over unless Brussels "fundamentally shifts its position." 

Their comments came after an EU summit this week demanded Britain urgently give ground on fair trade rules to unblock post-Brexit negotiations. 

"Sterling fell sharply on comments from PM Boris Johnson calling for the UK to prepare for a no-deal exit in January and accusing the EU of not negotiating seriously," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.

Analyst Craig Erlam at Oanda commented that "the market is broadly taking it for what it is, one final push at concessions from the EU."

But he added: "It would be terrible for all of this to end without a deal after four years of work and in the midst of a pandemic when businesses are already pushed to the brink."

Johnson's comments helped propel the London stock market 1.5 per cent higher at the close, but Wall Street ended in an uninspired fashion with the Dow gaining 0.4 per cent and the Nasdaq slumping by the same amount.

Virus restrictions cloud outlook 

A devalued pound lifts the share prices of companies listed on the FTSE 100 index that generate a large proportion of their income in dollars.

"A weak pound has been good for the multinationals on the FTSE 100, while some better earnings have lent support to European stocks" overall, said Rabobank analyst Jane Foley. 

"However, fresh Covid-19 restrictions continue to cloud the outlook," she told AFP.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's main stocks index closed 1.6 per cent higher, with industrial giant Thyssenkrupp closing up 10.8 per cent after British rival Liberty made an informal but undisclosed bid for its steel activities.

"As long as Wall Street holds up there shouldn't be a DAX correction," ventured Jochen Stanzl of CMC Markets.

Paris gained 2.0 per cent despite a looming coronavirus curfew in the French capital.

Oil prices recoiled on stubborn energy demand fears ahead of a meeting of key crude producers next week.

Traders were also keeping tabs on developments in Washington as lawmakers struggle to find agreement on a new stimulus for the beleaguered US economy, with a disappointing jobs report earlier in the month highlighting the need for action.

Additionally, while September US retail sales came in above expectations, industrial production contracted 0.6 per cent, below forecasts of 0.5 per cent growth.

With polling showing him well behind in the White House race, President Donald Trump said he was open to a bigger stimulus package than the $1.8 trillion he offered last week as the US leader seeks to win over voters and close the gap with his election challenger Joe Biden.

MONTREAL — Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has committed to a multi-year investment in assembling electric vehicles in Canada and to add up to 2,000 new jobs, a union representing some of the carmaker's workers indicated.

The company has agreed to invest up to Can$1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) in southern Ontario's Windsor plant as part of a tentative three-year deal with union Unifor, the group's national president Jerry Dias said in a statement on Thursday.

Under the deal, Fiat Chrysler's investment would outfit the factory to assemble plug-in hybrids and battery-powered vehicles, with at least one new model in 2025, he added.

Up to 2,000 jobs would be added to the Windsor plant in 2024, according to the union, which comes after roughly 1,500 positions were cut at the factory earlier this year.

The Brampton assembly plant would also see Can$50 million in investment, which would allow additional models to be produced there.

Workers must still ratify the deal through a virtual vote set for Sunday and Monday.

This tentative deal is based on the one struck with Ford workers in Canada and includes a five per cent pay bump.

Unifor plans to launch talks with General Motors next week to renew their deal.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government and the province of Ontario announced last week investments of Can$295 million each in a Ford factory billed as the largest electric vehicle plant in North America.

The three large North American groups as well as Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda have a total of some 44,000 workers on assembly lines in Ontario, according to Unifor. 

WASHINGTON — New applica-tions for US jobless benefits unexpected-ly rose last week to 898,000, the Labour Department said on Thursday.

The 53,000 increase from the prior week was the sharpest rise in seasonally adjust-ed initial claims since the week of August 15, as the United States attempts to re-cover from mass layoffs caused by busi-ness shutdowns earlier this year to stop Covid-19.

The jump brought the levels of initial claims back to where they were in late August, and remained above the single worst week of the 2008-2010 global fi-nancial crisis, the last economic down-turn.

Another 372,891 people also filed claims for benefits under a special program to help workers not normally eligible for benefits and who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, about 91,000 less than the week prior, according to the unadjusted figures.

The report comes amid an ongoing im-passe in Washington over passing more aid to the beleaguered US economy, with Democrats and Republicans still unable to agree on a new stimulus package after the expiration of key measures of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March.

"Based on today's jobless claims data, the employment situation is fading faster than expected, likely weighed down by tens of thousands of layoffs by major employers such as airlines and Disney," said Robert Frick of Navy Federal Credit Union.

The insured unemployment rate in the week ending October 3, the latest for which data was available, ticked down about a percentage point to 6.8 per cent.

However, Rubeela Farooqi of High Fre-quency Economics said that improvement reflects "people being hired but also indi-viduals exhausting their benefits. Overall, the signal from the claims data is still one of extremely weak conditions in the la-bour market."

Separate data from regional Federal Re-serve banks showed manufacturing con-tinuing its recovery after shutdowns para-lysed production.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank's Empire survey was at 10.5 per cent in Oc-tober, a drop of about seven points from September but indicating manufacturing in New York state and parts of New Jer-sey and Connecticut was expanding for the fourth consecutive month.

Manufacturing activity increased at a faster pace in the area covered by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, with its industry survey climbing 17 points to 32.3 per cent in this month, as a majority of firms reported an increase in new or-ders.

However, Oren Klachkin of Oxford Eco-nomics warned that with Covid-19 still rife in the US, "Weak demand, supply chain disruptions and virus uncertainty will constrain manufacturing's recovery until a health solution is broadly imple-mented."

WASHINGTON — As demands increase on their limited resources, governments will need to raise taxes on wealthier families and firms and target spending away from protecting "old jobs", the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

As countries continue to struggle with the economic damage inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF's Fiscal Monitor report also urges policymakers to invest in job-creating projects like infrastructure and green energy.

Governments have injected a stunning $12 trillion into the global economy since the start of the pandemic, but now "many countries will need to do more with less, given increasingly tight budget constraints," Vitor Gaspar, head of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, said in a blog post about the report.

As the recovery continues, policymakers "should become more selective and avoid standing in the way of necessary sectoral reallocations as activity resumes", he and his coauthors said. 

"Support should shift gradually from protecting old jobs to getting people back to work," by reducing measures like wage subsidies in favour of training to give people skills to find new employment. 

With low interest rates making borrowing easier, boosting public investment — beginning with maintenance and ramping up projects — can create jobs and spur economic growth.

Steps like a broad tax cut are "unlikely to be cost-effective" and would have limited impact on promoting growth and jobs, the report said.

A better alternative would be "to accelerate job-intensive public investments such as maintenance or public works".

With public debt in many cases approaching 100 per cent of GDP, including in the United States, governments also may need "revenue-enhancing measures, including both increasing tax compliance and the progressivity of taxes on more affluent" firms that may have profited from the pandemic, the IMF said.

"The design of corporate income taxes to appropriately capture very high profits of firms in a rapidly changing economy, including those that made windfall profits during the crisis, can help finance priority areas."