Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
The Consumer Goods Forum is holding its Global Summit in the Japanese city of Kyoto this week. It will draw big international companies including Microsoft and Alibaba.
The annual Lujiazui Forum resumes in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday, after being canceled last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. The financial event is co-hosted by China's financial regulators and Shanghai's municipal government. Representatives from the world's top financial institutions will attend.
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MONDAY
India, U.S. defense chiefs meet
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to meet his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi as the two countries work toward strengthening military ties. According to the Pentagon, Austin's India visit is the third leg of his four-nation tour that also includes Japan, Singapore and France. The Defense Department sees the India stop as a chance "to accelerate new defense innovation and industrial cooperation initiatives, and drive ongoing efforts to expand operational cooperation between the U.S. and Indian militaries."
TUESDAY
Consumer Goods Forum opens in Kyoto
The Consumer Goods Forum's three-day meeting will be held in Kyoto, starting Tuesday. The annual event brings together CEOs and business leaders in the consumer goods industry from more than 200 companies in 40 countries, giving them a chance to discuss challenges such as tackling the climate emergency and managing supply chain disruption.
Under the theme "Pursuit of Harmony in Turmoil: Working Together to Make a Difference," this year's meeting will focus on maintaining business growth amid global crises. Sessions will cover a range of topics, such as combatting plastic waste, harnessing the power of technology and accelerating action toward net-zero carbon emissions. Key Asian business leaders, including Alibaba Group's Daniel Zhang will give speeches at the forum.
TSMC AGM
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's biggest contract chipmaker, holds its annual shareholders meeting in the northern Taiwanese city of Hsinchu, Taiwan's chip production hub. The company's management team is expected to answer questions from stakeholders, including on talks over its plan to build its first chip plant in Europe, and the supply situation for Nvidia's advanced H100 processor, the chip behind generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.
Nvidia CEO and founder Jensen Huang confirmed to Nikkei Asia last week that TSMC is the sole supplier of H100, and that he does not have plans to split orders for the chip with TSMC's rival Samsung Electronics due to the technical challenges of making the advanced semiconductor.
Chinese-built cruise ship to set sail
China's first domestically built cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, is set to leave the shipyard in Shanghai that serves as it home port. The 135,500-tonne vessel, which can accommodate 5,246 passengers, is owned by CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping, a joint venture between China State Shipbuilding Corporation and Carnival, a U.S. cruise operator.
Japan and countries in Southeast Asia are among the places the cruise line is expected to serve later this year.
Monetary policy: Australia
WEDNESDAY
China releases trade statistics for May
GDP: Australia
THURSDAY
Lujiazui Forum, Shanghai
China will host the annual Lujiazui Forum aimed at touting the country's determination to liberalize its financial markets. The two-day event comes amid calls by developed countries for de-risking economic ties with China and the country's uneven recovery from the pandemic. Named after Shanghai's financial district, the forum will be co-chaired by Li Yunze, head of China's new national financial regulator, his foreign counterparts and executives from JPMorgan Chase, AIA Group and other institutions.
Taiwan presidential candidate speaks in Tokyo
Ko Wen-je, leader of Taiwan's People's Party (TPP), will speak at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo to discuss recent developments on the island and what he would do as its president. Taiwan's presidential election will take place in mid-January 2024 and the world will be watching closely, given tensions across the Taiwan Strait with China.
Ko, a physician and former mayor of Taipei, is widely seen as one of the three main presidential candidates. The TPP is positioning itself as a "third force" in Taiwanese politics, which has long been dominated by the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party.
Japan's Fukuoka court rules on same-sex marriage
A court on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu will rule Thursday on whether the country's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples violates the constitution. The decision will follow a ruling by Nagoya District Court last week that Japan's lack of marriage equality is unconstitutional, a win for the LGBTQ community.
The Kyushu District Court's ruling will be the fifth in a series of lawsuits brought in five Japanese cities by same-sex couples against the state. Three out of four courts so far have said that not allowing same-sex unions is constitutionally problematic.
GDP: Japan (revised)
Monetary policy: India
FRIDAY
China inflation data
WEEKEND
Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Expo
China will hold an inaugural exhibition to showcase its adoption of green and low-carbon technologies and products. Starting Sunday, the four-day Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Expo in Technologies, Products and Achievements comes nearly two years after the country launched an emissions trading scheme as part of its national program for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.
