Changyu targets high-end market to drive growth

Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine, the leading winemaker manufacturer in China, has released its H1 2023 report. Revenue remained static at 2 billion yuan (US$270 million). Changyu is losing momentum. Despite a minuscule revenue increase, sales in the first half declined by 7.8 percent for wine and 1.4 percent for brandy, despite an 8.4 percent rise in sales expenses. As grape production is closely linked to climate the future is more uncertain than ever. After a few years of hype, domestic wine consumption has collapsed, leading to losses and even bankruptcies for many wine companies. Changyu has attempted to shift its focus to the high-end, but this is wine, and high-end wine is more than just a jazzy label.

Huawei Mate 60 excites suppliers

The promising sales of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro have injected new life into component suppliers. Huawei has a vast network of partnerships. In 2019, Huawei's phone sales peaked at a 17.5 percent global market share. the US government restrictions have led to a sharp decline in Huawei's shipments with market share slashed to 2 percent causing disruption along the supply chain. Experts hold an optimistic view of the Mate 60 series' sales. Lam from Counterpoint predicts that the Mate 60 Pro could sell more than 7 million units. Huawei's plans to launch new models in 2024 will result in substantial component procurement.

Evergrande shares suspended after its founder held by police

Hui Ka Yan, the founder and chairman of China Evergrande Group, has been subject to mandatory measures due to suspicion of illegal crimes, the debt-laden property developer said on Thursday. Trading in the shares of the company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been suspended. It will remain suspended until further notice. Hui, 64, founded Evergrande in 1996. Evergrande was once the largest residential developer in China and is now the most indebted one. By the end of June, Evergrande had the equivalent of more than US$327 billion (2.39 trillion yuan) in liabilities.

Cainiao, Alibaba's logistics arm, submits IPO application in HK

On September 26, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website revealed that Cainiao Network had submitted its application for listing, becoming the first business group under Alibaba's "1+6+N" initiative to enter the IPO process. Cainiao is known as the world's largest cross-border e-commerce logistics company. According to the prospectus, Cainiao's total revenue for the fiscal year 2023 reached 77.8 billion yuan (US$10.64 billion), with adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) exceeding 2.8 billion yuan. Its compound annual growth rate over the past three years has reached 21 percent.

YT Express makes 12,000 deliveries to Hangzhou Asian Games

YT Express, the official logistics provider of the Hangzhou Asian Games, has delivered approximately 12,000 pieces of luggage belonging to athletes to the athletes' village. A 72,000-square-meter logistics center dedicated to the Games has been constructed to handle the unusual packages. YE Feng, Vice President of YT Express, said they would use the Games to seek opportunities to expand their network and improve operations. These deliveries range from kimchi from Korea to furniture from Qatar to horses from all over. The horses themselves traveled separately, but all the gear, forage and veterinary supplies were handled by YT.

Tuhu Car makes debut on Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raises over HK$1 bln in IPO

Tuhu Car, a Tencent-backed automotive service platform, marked its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday, with shares priced at HK$28 (26.18 yuan, US$3.58)each, generating HK$ 1.08 billion in funds. This places Tuhu's market capitalization at over HK$24 billion, solidifying its position as the first independent Hong Kong-listed after-sales service provider in the automotive sector. Tuhu, originally focused on tire sales, now links car owners, parts suppliers, and service providers. As of June 30, it operates 161 self-owned stores, 4,968 franchised stores, and 20,013 cooperative outlets. In H1 2023, Tuhu reported a 19.3 percent year-on-year revenue surge, totaling 6.5 billion yuan. Notable cornerstone investors in Tuhu's IPO include Tencent, Jia Shi Duo, Lingpao Automobile, Guoxuan High-Tech, and Shanghai Zizhu High-Tech Zone.

Swire Coca-Cola invests US$279 mln in Suzhou to build new plant

Construction began on Wednesday in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, for a new plant of Swire Coca-Cola Ltd., a bottler of Coca-Cola with an investment of 2 billion yuan (US$279 million). This is by far the largest investment Swire Coca-Cola has made in China. The company said the plant will start production by the end of 2025 and will be able to produce 160 tons of beverages a year. Swire Coca-Cola is one of Coca-Cola Company's two major bottlers in the Chinese mainland. It operates 25 bottling plants and owns over 100 production lines. According to the company's official website, Swire Coca-Cola is currently able to produce about 20 brands in China, including well-known products like Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Minute Maid. It is also the fifth-largest bottler globally in terms of Coca-Cola Company's total sales volume.

Leadership transitions at Huawei's auto business unit

It's all changed at the top of Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Unit (IAS BU), with former CEO Richard Yu moving to the role of chairman. JIN Yuzhi, previously Huawei VP and head of optical business, will take the postof CEO. Established in 2019, IAS BU has grown rapidly, expanding its team to 2,500 members within a year. In April 2021, Yu took the helm as CEO. In October 2020, the HI (Huawei Inside) intelligent driving system saw the light of day, since cultivating partnerships with BAIC's Arcfox and Changan's Avatr. However, its sales performance has fallen short of expectations. Another system, Huawei Smart Selection, has since given rise to the AITO, a cooperative effort between Huawei and Seres, with two models on sale. Smart Selection is emerging as the principal focus of Huawei's automotive endeavors.

Tencent Education shifts toward education authorities

Tencent Education is to phase out lessons for the general and focus on businesses. Tencent Classroom will cease operations entirely. Founded in May 2019, Tencent Education initially integrated various education endeavors, including online schools, children's English and K12 English assessment tools. Many of these lines have already been closed. The new model may not be all it seems in the blurb. Tencent is obliged to try to shoehorn its large language model Hunyuan into the education sector. The "businesses" of which Tencent speaks appear to be mostly schools or school suppliers, and much of the new business will involve data through the Edu Link, platform. The core business will be digital infrastructure for educational authorities with an emphasis on tools rather than research, customer service or curriculum development. The company places a premium on data security, ensuring that sensitive information remains on private servers. There will also be an attempt to make an assault on higher education by providing solutions for research collaboration and smart campuses.

IEIT invests in Yun Silicon as global GPU shortage continues

Following the scarcity of GPUs and similar chips, IEIT, an IT designer, has experienced a notable downturn in its first-half performance, which has not stopped it from investing in startup Yun Silicon. Founded in 2021, Yun Silicon is led by LIUYongfeng, previously chair of the Open Data Center Committee (ODCC). The company makes DPU-related products, including a series for cloud computing and another for high-performance RDMA networks. In October 2021, Yun secured an angel investment of hundreds of millions of yuan and has since completed two funding rounds. Yun's shareholders include ByteDance and MTM Capital.