07/02/2026

BIZ & FINANCE SATURDAY | FEB 7, 2026

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China flexes muscle at S’pore air show, US isolated

TOKYO: Toyota CEO Koji Sato will step down after just three years at the helm of the world’s largest automaker, the company said yesterday, to be replaced by chief financial officer Kenta Kon. The reshuffle, which will see Sato take on the role of vice-chairman and chief industry officer, comes as the automaker has faced increasing scrutiny over a planned buyout of forklift subsidiary Toyota Industries, a deal that minority investors have criticised as lacking transparency and being greatly underpriced. The management change was not widely expected. Toyota made the announcement together with the release of its third-quarter earnings, where it boosted its outlook for full-year profit by almost 12%, helped by a weaker yen and cost-cutting efforts. In their new roles Kon will focus on internal company management while Sato will focus on the broader industry – changes intended to accelerate decision-making at a time when Chinese rivals are disrupting the auto business with alarming speed. James Hong, head of mobility research at Macquarie, said that while product has always been the top priority for Toyota, the change likely reflected the automaker’s awareness of the many more decisions to be made around the non-automotive businesses. “Kon, I think he basically has more experience dealing with the financial issues of the company than Sato san, who basically came from the product development side,“ he said, noting that Kon was seen as the “mastermind” behind the buyout. Kon told a press conference he was surprised when he was first approached about the job in the middle of last month. At present, Kon is also in charge of finances at mobility technology subsidiary, Woven by Toyota, a background that is likely to prove helpful as Toyota tries to close the software gap with Chinese rivals. Sato took over the top job from Akio Toyoda, the founder’s grandson, in April 2023, at a time when Toyota was under fierce pressure over its laggard approach to battery EVs. The automaker’s contrarian bet on gasoline-electric hybrids has proved prescient, and helped underpin years of record sales, including last year when Toyota retained its crown as the world’s top seller. During Sato’s tenure, Toyota’s shares advanced 111%, including dividends, outperforming a rough doubling in the benchmark Nikkei over the same period. Yet Toyota also lost some market share during that time to more nimble Chinese rivals such as BYD in regions like Southeast Asia. It has also been dogged by criticism over governance, most recently around the Toyota Industries buyout. – Reuters Toyota CEO to step down after just 3 years, finance chief to take over

Chinese state media reported the team had used mid-air refuelling to fly directly to Singapore for the high profile deployment. “That’s a bit of a message to say: Our power projection is growing,” said Tim Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Aerospace magazine. “It’s one of the key enablers a modern air force should have. Previously people said this is one of their weaknesses.” Inside the sweltering air show’s air conditioned halls, Chinese state companies occupied a prime spot with brightly lit displays dominated by a 1:2 scale model of AVIC’s J-35A stealth multirole fighter. Little is known about the latest addition to Chinese air power, which was first seen domestically in 2024. No technical data was displayed, but observers of the global arms

ahead of reality,“ said Joshua Chu, co chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association. “Those who bet too big, borrowed too much or assumed prices only go up are now finding out the hard way what real market volatility and risk management look like.” To be sure, cryptocurrencies have struggled for months since a record crash last October sent bitcoin tumbling from a peak. That has resulted in investor sentiment cooling off on digital assets. Analysts from Deutsche Bank said in a note that US spot bitcoin ETFs witnessed outflows of more than US$3 billion in January, following outflows of about US$2 billion and US$7 billion in December and November, respectively. – Reuters marketplace said the message to Asia’s buyers was evident. “That’s obviously positioned to say: if you can’t afford an F-35 or are banned from buying an F-35 we’ve got an alternative,“ Robinson said. Southeast Asian defence officials crowded Chinese military and aerospace booths, underscoring Beijing’s growing pull as it aggressively markets hardware across the region. The show of strength landed at a politically sensitive moment, with Southeast Asian governments increasingly uneasy about US security commitments amid a more isolationist Washington under Trump, analysts and Western officials said. “We see the same delegations as before but the conversation has changed,“ said a senior official at a Western arms company. Industry-watchers are cautious about any sudden switch of arms trade but agree the backdrop reflects the new power politics and the diversification of supply chains. “The Chinese arms companies may think that, if other countries have lost confidence in buying American, there’s an opportunity for China,“ said China defence specialist Bradley Perrett. “But most of the US’ customers, if they want to look elsewhere, will look at European, South Korean and Japanese equipment.” Asia’s arms spending is growing apace as countries respond to a sustained build-up from an increasingly assertive China. China’s efforts to penetrate the airliner market, grabbing share from Airbus and Boeing, are proceeding slowly due in part to the lengthy process of winning European certification. But state-owned planemaker COMAC again flew the C919 narrowbody jet and advertised the future C929 wide-body in model form at the show. That is now progressing through detailed design as a Chinese project after initially exploring a joint development with Russia. – Reuters

o Beijing draws regional attention with military displays as Washington’s credibility comes into question

SINGAPORE: China this week’s Singapore Airshow to flex its military and aviation muscle, drawing heavy attention from regional delegations as Beijing sharpens its bid for influence in Southeast Asia. The US military has demonstrated its power this year through the precision extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and a major naval buildup around Iran. Yet President Donald Trump has been vocal in his criticism of some of US allies and imposed tariffs on them, creating an used

opening for China. While China’s fighter jets and commercial airliners remain far from achieving mass-market international adoption, their makers appeared more assertive and confident and enjoyed greater visibility this year at Asia’s largest air show. The PLA Air Force’s aerobatic team made a headline-grabbing show debut of its Chengdu J-10C fighter jets, an aircraft whose export variant, the J-10CE, surged to prominence in 2025 when customer Pakistan used it to shoot down an Indian Air Force French Rafale.

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force Bayi Aerobatic Team perform during an aerial flying display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre. – REUTERSPIX

Bitcoin rebounds after brushing US$60,000 level

SINGAPORE: Bitcoin bounced from a 16-month low yesterday after testing the key US$60,000 (RM236,580) level, as a global rout in technology stocks that washed out risky bets across asset classes showed tentative signs of easing. The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 3.3% to US$65,198.20, clawing back its losses after having slid 5% to hit a low of US$60,008.52 earlier in the session. Still, bitcoin remains pinned near its weakest level since October 2024, a month before Donald Trump won the US presidential election, having signalled his intention to support crypto on the campaign trail. “Bitcoin’s been going down since October (2025), maybe you could ask if it was the canary in the coalmine, or a coincidence,“ said Chris Weston,

Sentiment on crypto had been affected by the latest selling in precious metals and stocks. Gold and silver, for instance, have become more volatile as a result of leveraged buying and speculative flows. But some of those moves retraced yesterday as selling pressure abated. Bitcoin’s fortunes have been tied to the broader tech sector for some time. The price tended to rise, particularly on the back of investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence. “Bitcoin drifting back towards US$60,000 is not crypto dying, it is the bill coming due for Treasuries and funds that treated bitcoin as a one way asset without real risk controls, just as we have seen sharp corrections in self-proclaimed safe haven assets like gold and silver when leverage and narrative ran

head of research at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne. “A lot of these big crowded positions are being unwound very, very quickly.” Ether was last up nearly 4% at US$1,919.37, having similarly slid close to a 10-month low of US$1,751.94 earlier in the session. The global crypto market has lost some US$2 trillion in value since hitting a peak of US$4.379 trillion in early October, CoinGecko data showed, with more than US$1 trillion wiped out over the past month alone. Bitcoin was on track to shed 15% for the week, taking its losses for the year so far to 26%. Meanwhile, ether was headed for a weekly decline of 16%, with losses of nearly 36% so far this year.