Unilever selects a board member as its new CEO British consumer giant has appointed Hein Schumacher, who is also chairman of a Dutch dairy cooperative, as CEO. Schumacher, who began his career at Unilever, was nominated with the support of Nelson Peltz’s Trian, who sought to shake up the conglomerate.
China gets a New Year’s boost
Chinese stock markets officially entered the bull market on the first day of trading after a week-long hiatus for the Lunar New Year, as investors were comforted by signs of the country’s economy recovering after three years of no social restrictions in Beijing.
It seems that Chinese consumers are spending again. Official data showed that spending on travel and entertainment, including theater tickets and hotel reservations, rose from previous years, according to Bloomberg. Outbound air travel has also more than quadrupled year-on-year, suggesting that profligate Chinese tourists will again flock abroad.
All this makes Western companies optimistic about the economic recovery.
Will China finally let consumers drive its economy? Over the weekend, Li Keqiang, China’s prime minister, said the government plans to make consumer spending the main driver of the Chinese economy. But Michael Pettis, a professor of finance at Peking University, said it was unclear whether the government was willing to reduce the state’s role in the economy: “Beijing wants to enhance the role of consumption without absorbing any of the costs of such an economy.” Structural modification”, but that is unlikely to be the case. It is an option to gossip.
Meanwhile, tensions with the West continue to grow. Among the most recent signs:
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Japan and the Netherlands last week agreed to US demands to limit the export of advanced chip-making equipment to China. Noah Barkin, an expert on European-China relations at consulting firm Rhodium Group, told DealBook that the move shows a more international alignment with Washington’s approach to China: “It’s one of the other economic challenges that Beijing has to overcome, in addition to the real estate crisis and the rising price,” he said. Family debt and demographic decline.
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A four-star US Air Force general warned in an internal memo that America could be at war with China by 2025, according to NBC News. (A Pentagon official told NBC News, “These comments do not represent the department’s view of China.”)
Inside an FBI agent’s alleged coup
The arrest of Charles McGonigal, a former senior FBI official accused of aiding the Russian oligarch, sent shock waves through the national security community.
Mr McGonigal may have been turned by aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska — as reported by And From Inside for work that violated US sanctions. Prosecutors have described the case as the story of an American detective who was corrupted by someone who investigated him. (A representative for Mr. Deripaska denied to The Times that the billionaire had hired Mr. McGonigal; an attorney for Mr. McGonigal declined to comment.)
