South Korea offers shipbuilding tie-up as clock ticks on US tariff deadline
Speaking at the airport before departing for Washington, Koo said he would propose at Thursday's meeting a 'programme' South Korea had prepared and consult on areas where they could cooperate in the mid-to-long term, such as shipbuilding.
South Korea's Hanwha Group, parent of shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, had submitted a major investment plan to government officials, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The plan included expanding its recently acquired Philly Shipyard in the state of Pennsylvania and involved Hanwha Group and some of its affiliates, said the sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Hanwha Group's Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan also flew to Washington to support trade negotiations, local media reported.
Seoul officials are scrambling in an all-out push to clinch a trade deal ahead of the August 1 deadline to remove or reduce tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump against the country's key industrial exports to the United States.
Koo's plan to travel to Washington last week for talks with Bessent was postponed due to the US treasury chief's scheduling conflict.
'Treasury Secretary Bessent holds the important position of overseeing trade negotiations in the Trump administration,' Koo said in brief remarks to reporters.
'We will make the best effort to derive an agreement based on our national interest that would allow South Korea and the United States to co-exist,' he said.
Koo said he would be joining Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo who have been holding talks in Washington with US officials including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for an 'all-out response.'
Lutnick said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that South Korean officials had flown to Scotland to meet with him.
'Think of how much they really, really want to get a deal done,' he said.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will also visit Washington this week for a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, following a visit to Japan on Tuesday to meet his counterpart. — Reuters
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The Sun
6 minutes ago
- The Sun
AsiaInfo Technologies Expects to Achieve Accelerated Growth from the Three Core Growth Engines in 2025H2, with Full Year Profit Exceeding Last Year[1]
Future prospects in 2025H2: The results for 2025H2 is expected to improve significantly compared to the 2025H1, and the Group is determined to achieve its full-year targets. The annual performance is expected to remain stable. In 2025H2, the three core growth engines are projected to achieve accelerated growth, while the revenue decline in the ICT support business is anticipated to narrow significantly. Profit for the year is expected to exceed that of the previous year (excluding the impact of one-off severance compensation due to personnel restructuring optimisation). The Group will adhere to a steady and progressive development strategy, continue to consolidate the foundation of its core telecommunications business to promote a steady recovery of its fundamental operations in ICT support business, and continue to focus on cultivating three core growth engines, including AI large model application and delivery, 5G private network and application, and digital intelligence-driven operation. The Group will also accelerate the pace of signing contracts, to maintain a stable and healthy annual performance. The Board has attached great importance to the shareholders' interests and returns, and after giving due consideration to the Group's business development, profitability, and cash flow level, the Board has recommended the guideline of the final dividend for the year 2025 is 40% of the annual net profit attributable to shareholders. Results highlights & business review: In 2025H1, the Group's overall revenue and profit declined due to the effects brought by the ongoing cost-reduction and efficiency-enhancement within the telecommunications sector. The Group managed to effectively control costs through its mature cost control mechanism and optimised personnel restructuring optimisation. - Revenue[2] amounted to approximately RMB2,598 million. - Gross profit was approximately RMB783 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.1%, with a gross profit margin of 30.1%, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.4 percentage points. Net operating cash outflow improved by 35.3% year-on-year. - Net loss was approximately RMB202 million compared to a loss of approximately RMB70 million in the same period of the previous year. Excluding the impact of one-off severance compensation due to personnel restructuring optimisation, net loss was approximately RMB48 million. AI large model application and delivery business achieved explosive growth, with revenue of approximately RMB 26 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 76 times; the order amount for 2025H1 was approximately RMB 70 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 78 times, demonstrating strong market demand. Through collaborations with Alibaba Cloud, Baidu Intelligent Cloud, NVIDIA, AsiaInfo Security and others, the Group has constructed end-to-end industrial large model solutions. Revenue from the 5G private network and application business was approximately RMB47 million; the order amount for 2025H1 was approximately RMB82 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 51.7%, which reflects growth potential in the market. Revenue from the ICT support business was approximately RMB2,118 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of 14.7%. Revenue from the digital intelligence-driven operation business was approximately RMB408 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of 8.8% which was mainly driven by cost reductions from operators, but with continued growth in the non-telecommunications industry. HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 5 August 2025 - AsiaInfo Technologies Limited ('AsiaInfo Technologies' or the 'Company', which together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as the 'Group'; HKEX stock code: 01675), is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2025 (the 'Period'). In the first half of 2025 ('2025H1'), the Group's current overall operating scale is under pressure due to the ongoing cost-reduction and efficiency-enhancement in the telecommunications sector. Revenue was approximately RMB2,598 million, representing a decrease of 13.2% year-on-year. However, amid the wave of new AI technologies, the Group's AI large model application and delivery business has achieved explosive growth, while the 5G private network and application business has continued to gain momentum, and it has kept optimising the business structure of digital intelligence-driven operation. Meanwhile, the Group has strengthened internal cost management to support sustainable development, and its business fundamentals will continue to be sound in the long term. To cope with challenges of the ICT support business transformation, the Group implemented a series of cost-reduction and efficiency-enhancing measures proactively, such as personnel restructuring optimisation, applying AI tools to enhance efficiency, strengthening centralised procurement, and the one-stop official consumption platforms, which have achieved significant results in cost control. In 2025H1, gross profit was approximately RMB783 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.1%, with a gross profit margin of 30.1%, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.4 percentage points. Net operating cash outflow improved by 35.3% year-on-year. Excluding the impact of one-off severance compensation due to personnel restructuring optimisation, net loss for the period was approximately RMB48 million, and the Group expected that net profit will continue to rebound in the second half of the year ('2025H2'), with full-year profit better than last year. The Board has attached great importance to the shareholders' interests and returns, and after giving due consideration to the Group's business development, profitability, and cash flow level, the Board has recommended the guideline of the final dividend for the year 2025 is 40% of the annual net profit attributable to shareholders. AI Large Model Application and Delivery Business Achieves Explosive Growth In 2025, the industrial application of AI large models witnessed explosive growth. In 2025H1, the Group secured orders worth approximately RMB70 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 78 times. In addition, the Company entered into a framework agreement that accounted for more than RMB40 million with a company. Revenue from the AI large model application and delivery business reached approximately RMB26 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 76 times. Through collaborations with Alibaba Cloud, Baidu Intelligent Cloud, NVIDIA, AsiaInfo Security and others, the Group has constructed end-to-end industrial large model solutions covering energy and power, industrial manufacturing, transportation, smart retail, and other large enterprises. The Group has become a partner in Alibaba Cloud's AI Large Model Galaxy Program, jointly developed nearly 100 projects and created numerous benchmark cases for large model delivery. With a robust pipeline of business opportunities, the Group is driving the industrialisation of large models. 5G Private Network and Application Business Continues to Gain Momentum The Group's 5G private network and application business provides an important emerging telecommunications network for energy industries such as the power and mining industries. By providing customised 5G private network products and advanced industry solutions, as well as offering professional one-stop services and turnkey projects, the Group created differentiation in its competitive advantage and became a leading company in the field of 5G private network. In 2025H1, the Group signed orders for the 5G private network and application business amounted to approximately RMB82 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 51.7%, while revenue amounted to approximately RMB47 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of 26.3%, which was mainly attributable to the delay in some nuclear power orders and the delay in revenue recognition. In 2025H2, the Group will expedite order conversion, which is expected to drive rapid performance growth. In terms of nuclear power, in 2025H1, on the basis of maintaining the continued market leadership of CNNC, the Group has successfully achieved a breakthrough in Huaneng Group and signed a contract for the 5G private network project for units 3 and 4 of the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant in Hainan. Up to this point, the Group's nuclear power 5G private network projects have covered 29 units in seven national nuclear power bases, further consolidating its top one position in the market share of nuclear power 5G private network. In 2025H1, the country's investment in the new nuclear power sector exceeded RMB200 billion, and the Group's 5G private network in nuclear power business is expected to grow continuously. In the field of new energy, the Group continues to make efforts in wind power and photovoltaic markets, and has currently covered more than 210 new energy stations and achieved project breakthroughs for a number of energy group customers. In the field of mining, the Group established an associated company with Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group Company Limited to explore the new model of 'digital and intelligent operation of mines and equipment manufacturing'. In 2025H1, the Group acquired projects such as Zhengzhou Coal Smart Supervision Platform, China Coal AI Management and Control Platform, China Coal Pingshuo Open-pit Mining Smart Transportation and others. In addition, the Group's launch of intrinsically safe 5G private network base stations has obtained network access authorisation, and the Group has entered into cooperation with multiple 5G intrinsically safe certifiers, including CCTEG Changzhou Research Institute and China Coal. Meanwhile, the Group signed a framework procurement agreement with Hangzhou Jiaoyang Communications Technology Ltd. for intrinsically safe 5G private network base stations. Optimisation of Digital Intelligence-driven Operation Business Structure and Continued Growth in the Non-Telecommunications Industry Leveraging over 30 years of practical experience in business support and data governance in the telecommunications sector, along with an extensive network of industry experts, the Group has expanded its offerings to major industries with large end-user bases, such as finance, automobile and consumer sectors. It provides data operation services based on 'data aggregation + scenario insights + AI empowerment', continuously creating and enhancing value for clients. This approach has further strengthened the Group's leading position in the results-based charging commerce models. In the non-telecommunications industry, the Group achieved an overall year-on-year order growth of 18.2% in 2025H1. Among them, orders in the finance sector increased significantly by 48.3% year-on-year, orders in the automobile sector increased by 5.3% year-on-year, and orders in the consumer sector increased by 4.4% year-on-year. In the telecommunications sector, the Group leveraged a 'scenario + AI Agent' strategy to enhance operational efficiency of clients and drive business revenue growth. Firstly, through joint innovation with operators, the Group supported clients in implementing value-based operations at scale, securing projects such as an intelligent marketing service assistant agent for operators' household customers, an AI solution advisor for government and enterprise clients, and a frontline AI sales assistant. Secondly, the Group actively integrated the rights resources and technical capabilities of leading internet enterprises, and united with operator customers to develop operational innovations in areas such as households and business enterprise customers, and help customers to generate revenue by obtaining projects such as AI intelligent marketing, AI intelligent recommendation, and the introduction of rights to cooperative operations with a carrier. In 2025H1, revenue from digital intelligence-driven operation business reached approximately RMB408 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of 8.8%, primarily driven by increased cost control efforts by operators. However, the business structure continued to improve, with revenue from results-based and commission-based charging models accounting for 33.4%, up by 6.7 percentage points year-on-year. The Group will accelerate order conversion and revenue realisation in 2025H2 to ensure the achievement of full-year targets. I CT Support Business Proactively Responds to Industry Transformation and Accelerates Expansion in New Customers and Projects The Group has clearly positioned itself as a software service provider, acknowledging the structural adjustments occurring in the traditional operator industry while basing itself on its operator's base of business, stabilising the ICT support business in the telecommunications sector, and laying a solid foundation for the Group's overall business enhancement and transformation. In 2025H1, the Group's ICT support business maintained a leading market share, with revenue reaching approximately RMB2,118 million. However, due to factors such as reduced overall investment by operators, revenue declined by 14.7% year-on-year. To offset the downward pressure in the BSS business, the Group implemented a series of measures, including AI empowerment, expansion into new services for existing customers, expansion of new clients, and joint market development in the government and enterprise sector. Meanwhile, the Group continued to restructure its organisational model from an 'olive-shaped' to a 'pyramid-shaped' structure to reduce delivery costs. The Group also leveraged AI large models and other new tools to empower internal operations to achieve cost reductions and enhance operational efficiency in order to significantly narrow the decline in full-year revenue of the ICT support business. In 2025H1, the Group accelerated the application of AI in the BSS and OSS businesses, and 48 new projects were signed, including the R&D project of an operator's intelligent platform and the project of technological innovation platform, etc. The deployment of AI tool platform exceeded 10 provinces, and more than 10 metahuman projects have been implemented, including product sales and assisted acceptance. In addition, the Group has been steadily sourcing new customers and projects, the first phase of the HKT project has been successfully launched. In terms of joint market development in the government and enterprise sectors, the Group focused on data governance, trusted data space, public services, low altitude economy and other areas, and collaborated with operators to open up the market and break the ceiling of traditional business. Several projects have been successfully delivered, including data governance of an energy central enterprise, digital network of a province's energy bureau, a province's construction supervision and public service platform, a city's health service platform, a province's Forestry and Grassland Bureau's digital forestry platform, and a city's intelligent tourism service platform, among others. Strengthening the Technological Leadership of Products such as Cloud Network and Digital Intelligence In 2025H1, AsiaInfo Technologies continued to focus on the three major product systems of 'Cloud Network', 'Digital Intelligence' and 'IT', comprehensively promoting the evolution and innovation of the product system towards AI Native, and continuously strengthening its technological leadership to provide strong support for the Group's three growth engines. In 2025H1, the Group's R&D investment amounted to approximately RMB415 million, with continued efforts to strengthen technological leadership in cloud and digital-intelligent products. Future Prospects Dr. TIAN Suning, Chairman and Executive Director of AsiaInfo Technologies, said, 'We expect the results for 2025H2 to improve significantly compared to 2025H1, and we are determined to achieve our full-year targets by optimising the rhythm of signing contracts. In this regard, the Group will adhere to a steady and progressive development strategy. On one hand, we will continue to consolidate the foundation of our core telecommunications business to promote a steady recovery of our fundamental operations in ICT support business. On the other hand, we will continue to focus on cultivating three core growth engines, including AI large model application and delivery, 5G private network and application, and digital intelligence-driven operation. We will also accelerate our pace of signing contracts, to maintain a stable and healthy annual performance. Meanwhile, we will accelerate the commercialisation of AI large model application and delivery, 5G private network and application business orders, to achieve high performance growth for the year. Combining digital intelligence-driven operation business with AI and intelligent agent technology, we will continue to promote the innovative results-based charging commerce models, and optimise the business structure.' [1] Excluding the impact of one-off severance compensation due to personnel restructuring optimisation. [2] Revenue includes revenue from the ICT support business, the AI large model application and delivery business, the 5G private network and application business and the digital intelligence-driven operation business.
The Sun
6 minutes ago
- The Sun
South Korea-US summit faces unresolved trade deal disputes
SEOUL: As South Korea and the United States prepare for a summit of their leaders, topics left unresolved by a recent trade deal provide scope for more disputes between the key allies and trade partners, six former negotiators and experts said. President Donald Trump may use the summit with counterpart Lee Jae Myung to seek more concessions on defence costs and corporate investments, left out of the deal, while non-tariff barriers and currency could prove thorny issues, experts said. No official summit date has been disclosed, though Trump last week gave a timeframe of two weeks. The absence of a written agreement underpinning last week's talks could open the way for disputes, with some differences already emerging in the two sides' accounts of the deal. Key among these was Sunday's denial by a South Korean presidential adviser of U.S. claims that it would take 90% of the profit from project investments of $350 billion by South Korea, which also agreed to open up its domestic rice market. 'Even a binding deal like the FTA has been efficiently scrapped,' warned Choi Seok-young, a former chief negotiator for the Korea-U.S. free trade deal, signed in 2007. 'And this is just promise.' Last week's pact was scaled down from South Korea's previous plans for a package deal on trade, security and investment envisioned in the run-up to the summit between Trump and the newly-elected Lee. But Japan struck a deal with the United States sooner than expected, spurring South Korea into a scramble for a trade-focused pact, leaving issues of security and investment for the coming summit, presidential adviser Kim Yong-beom said. Uncertainty clouds plans for $350 billion in funds Trump has said South Korea would invest in the United States in projects 'owned and controlled by the United States' and selected by him, though he gave few details of the plan's structure or timing. The allies face challenges in ironing out details of the fund at upcoming working-level talks, South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol told reporters on Friday. 'People say the devil is in the details,' he added. In a social media post, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave an assurance of '90% of the profits going to the American people', while White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said part would go to the U.S. government to help repay debt. But Kim, the presidential adviser, said the two sides did not discuss profit distribution during talks, and South Korea expected the profit to be 'reinvested' in the United States. 'POLITICAL RHETORIC' The idea of the United States potentially taking most of the profit is 'hard to understand in a civilised country', he added, while dismissing as 'political rhetoric' Washington's claim that it would make all decisions about the fund. South Korea had added a safety mechanism to reduce financing risk, including U.S. commitments to buy products from the projects, under an 'offtake' clause and invest in commercially feasible projects, he said. Seoul officials have said $150 billion would go to the shipbuilding industry, with the rest earmarked for areas such as chips, batteries, critical minerals, biotechnology, nuclear power and other strategic industries. The specifics of the structure have not been determined, said Kim, adding that loans and guarantees make up a majority of the funds, with equity investments accounting for a small part. Leavitt said South Korea would provide 'historic market access to American goods like autos and rice,' echoing earlier comments by Trump. But South Korea said repeatedly there had been no agreement on the agriculture market, including beef and rice, despite strong pressure from Washington. Trump expressed keen interest in Korea's quarantine process for fruits and vegetables, Seoul said, improvements to which will figure in planned technical talks on non-tariff barriers that will also cover vehicle safety rules, but gave no details. Other non-tariff barriers such as regulation of Big Tech could be hurdles. 'We cannot be relieved because we do not know when we will face pressure from tariffs or non-tariff measures again,' Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said last week on returning from Washington. Defence costs are expected to emerge as a key issue during the upcoming summit, with Trump having long said South Korea needed to pay more for the U.S. troop presence there. In addition to the $350 billion, Trump said South Korea agreed to invest a large sum of money in the United States, to be announced during the summit, which he said on July 30 would be held within two weeks. The allies are holding working level-talks on currency policy, put on the agenda at April's opening round of trade talks. - Reuters
Malay Mail
6 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
India vows to defend interests after Trump threatens tariff hike over Russian oil
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 — President Donald Trump threatened yesterday to hike US tariffs on goods from India over its purchases of Russian oil—a key source of revenue for Moscow's war on Ukraine. New Delhi quickly pushed back, saying the move was unjustified and vowing to protect its interests. Trump's heightened pressure on India comes after he signaled fresh sanctions on Moscow if it did not make progress by Friday towards a peace deal with Kyiv, more than three years since Russia's invasion. Moscow is anticipating talks this week with the US leader's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin. Yesterday, Trump said in a post to his Truth Social platform that India was 'buying massive amounts of Russian Oil' and selling it for 'big profits.' 'They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,' Trump added. 'Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.' He did not provide details on what tariff level he had in mind. Even before the threat, an existing 10 per cent US tariff on Indian products is expected to rise to 25 per cent this week. 'The targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable,' India Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, after Trump's announcement. 'Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.' India has become a major buyer of Russian oil, providing a much-needed export market for Moscow after it was cut off from traditional buyers in Europe because of the war. That has drastically reshaped energy ties, with India saving itself billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow's coffers. But India argued it 'began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict.' The world's most populous country is not an export powerhouse, but the United States is its largest trading partner. — AFP
