China has made a $1.3 billion bet that a new port in Peru will boost access to South America’s agricultural bounty. Cashing in on the investment may be harder than expected, Bloomberg News reported. China’s President Xi Jinping and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte officially inaugurated Chancay port during a ceremony at Peru’s presidential palace in Lima on Thursday. The move epitomizes Beijing’s ambitions to strengthen commerce with South America as the world braces for more restrictive trade measures under US President-elect Donald Trump.

Thailand is working on a raft of fresh fiscal measures to sustain an economic recovery, foster new foreign investment and lower the near-record household debt, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s top aide said, Bloomberg News reported. The economic stimulus panel chaired by the premier is set to consider the second phase of a cash handout plan and other steps at a meeting next week, according to Paetongtarn’s Secretary-General Prommin Lertsuridej. Easier rules for long-term land leasing and credit restructuring led by government banks are also on the anvil, he said.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has held that applications before the adjudicating authority for the recovery of property when there is a prohibition are non-maintainable under Section 14 (1) (d), the Economic Times of India reported. Accordingly, no owner or lessor of a property, that is occupied by or is in possession of a Corporate Debtor can recover such property from them. The aforesaid provision is an express provision in the Code and there are no exceptions from the same.

Japan's wholesale inflation accelerated in October as renewed yen falls pushed up import costs for some goods, data showed on Wednesday, complicating the central bank's decision on how soon to raise interest rates, the Japan Times reported. The corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price that companies charge each other for goods and services, rose 3.4% in October from a year earlier, Bank of Japan data showed, above market forecasts for a 3.0% gain. It followed a 3.1% increase in September.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government is planning ¥30,000 ($192) cash handouts to help low-income households cope with higher prices as it fleshes out the details of an upcoming economic package, according to the latest draft of the plans seen by Bloomberg. In addition to the ¥30,000 handouts, the government plans to give low-income households an extra ¥20,000 per child, according to the updated proposals seen Thursday. The government also plans to reinstate subsidies for electricity and gas bills from January through March.

China is cutting taxes for homebuyers and developers, as the government tries to put a floor under falling prices and sustain an improvement in housing transactions, Bloomberg News reported. The nation lowered home purchase deed taxes to 1% for first- and second-house buyers of flats of 140 square meters and below, from a current level of as much as 3%, according to a joint statement on Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance, State Taxation Administration and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

South Korean police have arrested 215 people on suspicion of stealing 320 billion won ($228.4 million) in the biggest cryptocurrency investment scam in the country, Reuters reported. Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police said on Wednesday the arrests included the alleged mastermind of the organised crime group accused of selling 28 types of virtual tokens to about 15,000 people by promising high returns. Police said the group had issued six of the 28 tokens on overseas crypto exchanges and were managing a team of market makers to push up prices. Police described the tokens as "worthless".