‘More space, better service’: Hongkongers flock to mainland for July 1 holiday
City’s checkpoints packed with residents heading across border for shopping and dining day trips, drawn by wider variety and better value
· Fiona Sun
Follow the story
Business & Economy
A focused view of neutral reporting on Business & Economy, brought together across publishers.
Explore all topics →
Neutral reports only
Newest first · UTC+11:00Australia eyes Big Four accounting reforms after scandals
The Big Four accounting firms in Australia are regulated as partnerships rather than companies, meaning they do not currently face oversight from the corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. (Source photos by Mayumi Kuze, Reuters and Yuji Murakami)
· Staff Writer
Microsoft planning 2.5% cut in workforce in latest round of tech company layoffs - report
Microsoft is planning to cut under 2.5% of its workforce in the latest round of layoffs that could be announced as early as next week, Business Insider reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
· REUTERS
Russian Manufacturing Returns to Growth for First Time in Over a Year
Russia's manufacturing sector returned to growth in June for the first time in just over a year as output rose at its fastest pace since January 2025 and new orders stabilized, a business survey showed on Wednesday.
· Reuters
Top diplomats of S. Korea, Guatemala discuss FTA, development cooperation
SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with his Guatemalan counterpart, Carlos Martinez, in Seoul on Wednesday and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation on trade, development assistance and other issues of mutual interest, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
· Oh Seok-min
Trump’s court win reignites fight to sink €1.7T data deal with Europe
A United States Supreme Court victory for Donald Trump is prompting Europe's most powerful privacy defenders to try to kill a data flow deal underpinning €1.7 trillion in transatlantic trade each year.
· Ellen O'Regan, Alfred Ng
Manus on Markets: Trump's $1.4 billion crypto earnings raise many questions | The National
From tariff turmoil and stock shocks to market meltdowns, the global financial system has never been in such flux.
· Manus Cranny
Why China’s billionaire-backed research universities are looking for more money
Newcomers began admitting undergraduates last year and are now vying with older institutions for tuition fee revenue
· He Huifeng
Why China’s billionaire-backed research universities are looking for more money
Newcomers began admitting undergraduates last year and are now vying with older institutions for tuition fee revenue
· He Huifeng
‘Life-saving’ drug for people with opioid dependency to be pulled from Australia by end of year
Exclusive: Fears that US companies may withdraw more medicines as global markets react to policy changes by the Trump administration
· Melissa Davey
Indonesia logs first trade deficit in six years as imports soar
Oil storage tanks in Jakarta: Southeast Asia's largest economy relies heavily on imported oil, the price of which has soared as a result of the Iran war. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
· Staff Writer
Hongkongers snap up July 1 freebies and discounts with gusto
Residents take full advantage of handover anniversary deals, forming long queues at restaurants and museums and taking free rides on trams and ferries
· Cannix Yau
Hongkongers snap up July 1 freebies and discounts with gusto
Residents take full advantage of handover anniversary deals, forming long queues at restaurants and museums and taking free rides on trams and ferries
· Cannix Yau
Gulf sovereign funds defy war uncertainty with record first-half investments | The National
Despite the Iran war-driven volatility that soured investment climate globally, dealmaking by sovereign wealth funds from the Gulf region hit a record in the first six months of this year.
· Sarmad Khan
Fraud trial hears of businesses paid $30k for hiring Chinese nationals
Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 5:26pm
· Melinda Hayter
Forrestania locks in $310M to fuel dual WA gold hub strategy
Forrestania Resources has cleared its final funding hurdle to close out a game-changing transactional play in Western Australia, locking away firm commitments for a massive 310 million in fresh equity through a heavily backed, two-tranche institutional share placement.
· Murray Ward
Buyers eye Hong Kong luxury properties as agents predict price growth will remain mild
Big-ticket luxury home prices expected to rise up to 2% as more buyers enter the market and momentum stays buoyant after strong first half
· Chris Tsang
Buyers eye Hong Kong luxury properties as agents predict price growth will remain mild
Big-ticket luxury home prices expected to rise up to 2% as more buyers enter the market and momentum stays buoyant after strong first half
· Chris Tsang
PH to sign deals on energy, trade with Canada during Marcos' visit
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is set to sign several bilateral agreements with Canada during the official visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Vancouver from July 1 to 4, 2026, Malacañang said Wednesday.
· Catherine S. Valente
McLaren builds WA titanium story from Eucla sands
Promising resources developer McLaren Minerals is looking less like a freshly rebranded junior and more like a small-cap building serious mineral sands muscle from the broad, flat country of WA’s Eucla Basin.
· Doug Bright
Japan raises visa fees fivefold to tackle overtourism
Narita Airport near Tokyo bustles with international visitors to Japan in June 2023. (Photo by Shinya Sawai)
· Staff Writer
Samsung, Shinhan join Open USD stablecoin network
Korean financial institutions have joined a global consortium backing Open USD, a new dollar-pegged stablecoin aimed at business payments and cross-border transactions.
· Choi Ji-won
North Sea oil and renewables: The UK’s next PM faces a defining energy policy decision
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's likely successor, Andy Burnham, could face an immediate test in office: whether to expand drilling for North Sea oil or double down on renewables, amid a global energy shock.U.S. President Donald Trump has poured gasoline on the debate, blaming Starmer's resignation this month on h…
· Cameron Marshall, Ritika Gupta
Advance bolsters Mexican silver play with high-grade copper-gold
Advance Metals has intersected a broad zone of copper-silver-gold mineralisation beneath a known high-grade silver system at its Gavilanes project in Mexico, hinting it could be sitting on a much bigger, multi-layered high-grade discovery.
· Andrew Todd
Major banks' household loan grows sharpest in 11 months in June
SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- Household loans at major South Korean banks increased by the largest amount in 11 months in June as borrowers took out more credit for stock investments and to finance home purchases, data showed Wednesday.
· Park Sang-soo
(LEAD) Watchdog launches review on Google's alleged fair trade violation
(ATTN: ADDS Google's response in paras 12-14, details throughout)By Kang Yoon-seung
· Kang Yoon-seung
Creatives sound alarm on copyright as Pocock calls $50bn datacentre proposal ‘ultimate dirty deal’
Proposal has been put to cabinet to allow AI companies to mine content, in exchange for investment and $350m fund to compensate artists, sources say
· Dan Jervis Bardy, Tom Mcilroy
Atletico Madrid expands into Korean market as Lee Kang-in move nears
Atletico Madrid has launched a major push into the South Korean market.
· Korea Herald
Trump reports over $1.4 billion in income from crypto ventures
US President Donald Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family’s crypto ventures last year, showing how Trump now derives most of his income from digital assets that have benefited from his policies, according to a review of his latest financial disclosures on Tuesday.
· REUTERS
Wharfie who showed bikini photo of coworkers to colleagues reinstated
A Melbourne port terminal operator has failed to appeal a Fair Work Commission ruling forcing it to reinstate a wharfie who showed a bikini photo of coworkers in the workplace and was alleged to have used crude language and put his genitals in a colleague’s sandwich.
· Millie Muroi
Worst in class: Why our sharemarket performance is a global outlier
July 1, 2026 — 3:58pm
· Elizabeth Knight
Augustus set to drill deeper into WA gold story at Music Well
Emerging gold explorer Augustus Minerals is set to launch into a diamond drilling program at its Clifton East prospect, part of the company’s 1242-square-kilometre Music Well project 25 kilometres north of the historic gold mining town of Leonora in WA’s Eastern Goldfields region.
· Craig Nolan
North Korea's Kim reaffirms support for Xi, hails Pyongyang summit as milestone in China ties
Since 2017, I have covered South Korea’s political and economic landscape as a reporter, with a focus on foreign affairs, inter-Korean relations and security.As a foreign affairs reporter, I closely follow developments from the Ministry of Unification, the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry, tracking shifts i…
· Jung Min-kyung
Its employee was chased into a toilet by a TV crew. Now the loan company is in liquidation
When an employee of non-bank lender Oak Capital was chased through the lobby of the Rialto in Melbourne’s CBD by a TV reporter 18 months ago and cornered in a women’s toilet cubicle, it was seen as tabloid media behaving badly.
· Stephen Brook
Indian IT firms ramp up acquisitions as AI reshapes growth
The string of acquisitions by Indian software exporters, such as Persistent System's deal to buy Germany-based Nagarro, underscores the urgency of building a bulwark as challenges mount, such as from AI. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Persistent's website)
· Staff Writer
South Korean exports in June soar past $100bn for first time on chip demand
Trucks haul shipping containers at a port in South Korea. The country's June exports surged to a record monthly high in value terms. © Reuters
· Staff Writer
SK signs deal to form renewable energy JV with KKR
SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- SK Inc., SK Group's holding company, said Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) & Co., a U.S. investment firm, to establish a joint venture for renewable energy as part of its business rebalancing efforts in response to rising energy demand.
· Kim Boram
Trump made over $1.4 billion in crypto last year | The National
US President Donald Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family’s crypto ventures last year, showing how Mr Trump now derives most of his income from digital assets that have benefitted from his policies, according to a review of his latest financial disclosures on Tuesday.
· Reuters
Japan spent $74 billion propping up the yen. Investors say the real battle is with the Fed
The yen's slide to a fresh four-decade low is underscoring a difficult reality for Japan: it can spend billions defending its currency, but it may not be the Bank of Japan that ultimately pulls it out of the rut.
· Lee Ying Shan
Toyota to harmonize vehicle specs with AI, helping to speed production
Toyota will harmonize terminology for specifications across its planning, production and sales divisions. (Toyota Motor)
· Staff Writer
Survey shows Japan's business sentiment improving
Tokyo container terminal is pictured in Tokyo on Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
· Yuri Kageyama
Aureka maps out low-cost restart at historic Victorian gold pit
Aureka Limited has revealed a potentially efficient, low-capital pathway to re-open its Comstock gold and silver project in Victoria, immediately backing the study by lodging a small-footprint prospecting licence application over the key Walkers Pit.
· Murray Ward
HK inno.N earns top ESG rating from Sustinvest
HK inno.N said Wednesday it received the highest ESG rating of AA from Sustinvest for the first half of 2026, ranking first among Korean companies with assets of 2 trillion won ($1.3 billion) or more.
· Lee Han-gyoul
Saying there’s an upside to falling house prices is sacrilege. But Labor needs to admit it
Politics and Australia’s real estate market are not the place to look for consistency.
· Shane Wright
Chris Mason: The crunching trade-offs and big numbers Burnham may soon confront
If, as expected, Andy Burnham becomes prime minister next month, he will inherit a £4.7bn bill to deliver the Defence Investment Plan, or DIP, and that is before he worries about how to boost defence spending further as the next general election looms.
· Bbcnews
Big egg producers artificially inflated prices as Americans struggled to buy groceries, must now pay $3.3M: DOJ
See more of our coverage in your search results.
· Zoe Hussain
UN changes budget rule to cope with financial crisis
UNITED NATIONS — The UN General Assembly on Tuesday made a new rule to bar member states from demanding return of unspent funds before paying their contributions to the financially troubled organization.
· Agence France-Presse
NHA distributes over P48M aid to Mindanao quake victims
MANILA, Philippines — The National Housing Authority (NHA) has released P48.270 million in financial assistance to hundreds of families affected by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Mindanao in June.
· Arlie O. Calalo
Employers who laid off workers citing AI are already starting to regret it
Companies are rapidly changing their minds that artificial intelligence can "do it all" by rehiring employees to propel their businesses forward, as investors fret over the longevity of the ongoing AI boom happening in the financial markets.
· Justina Lee