10/26
2024 Sat.
On October 25, 2024, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), met with Blackstone Group Chairman and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman, the central bank said.The two sides exchanged views on global economic and financial situations as well as China's macroeconomic policies.
10/23
2024 Wed.
China's foreign exchange market recorded a turnover of 30.27 trillion U.S. dollars in the first three quarters of 2024, marking a 10.1 percent year-on-year increase, according to official data released on Tuesday. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange noted that trading activity in the market was active during this period.
10/16
2024 Wed.
Goldman Sachs raised its economic growth forecasts for China for 2024 and 2025 on Sunday, citing the country's recent pro-growth initiatives. It now projects China's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 4.9% in 2024, up from its previous estimate of 4.7%. For 2025, Goldman Sachs expects China's economy to expand by 4.7%, an increase from the earlier forecast of 4.3%. "The latest round of China stimulus clearly indicates that policymakers have made a turn on cyclical policy management and increased their focus on the economy," Goldman Sachs' chief China economist Hui Shan said.
01/03
2024 Wed.
Thailand and China will permanently waive visa requirements for each other's citizens from March, according to Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin . After the announcement, searches related to Thailand increased by over 90 percent. Flight searches from Shanghai to Bangkok, Beijing to Bangkok saw a surge of over 40 percent. Data from Travelgo.com shows that during the New Year holiday, Thailand was Chinese tourists’ top overseas destination. Nearly 40,000 travelers flew to Thailand during the New Year holiday. There were over 5,000 flights between China and Thailand over the holiday Last year, Thailand faced bad publicity related to scams, fraud, and kidnapping, becoming a momentarily "dangerous country," significantly impacting the tourism industry but these safety concerns are fading. Malaysia also has a visa-free policy for Chinese citizens entering the country for 30 days.
Dutch photolithography leader ASML faced a sudden setback as export licenses for two models of Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines approved in 2023 were revoked, the company said on January 2. Despite the setback, most pending orders from Chinese customers who pre-paid for DUV lithography machines have been fulfilled. ASML has been consistently supplying lithography machines, including the NXT:2000i and advanced DUV models, to Chinese customers throughout 2023. However, the company is still unable to sell the more advanced Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines designed for producing 7-nanometer and below chips to Chinese clients.
01/02
2024 Tue.
Chinese search engine giant Baidu has terminated its acquisition of Joyy Inc., the parent company of live-streaming platform YY Live, leading to discussions regarding the next steps for both companies. In November 2020, Baidu set out to acquire Joyy Inc.'s domestic video business for US$3.6 billion (25.67 billion yuan). The decision to terminate the acquisition comes after Joyy Inc. faced scrutiny from Muddy Waters Research, a prominent short-selling institution, alleging that 90 percent of YY Live's reported live streaming revenue was inaccurately represented. The process encountered delays, with reports surfacing of competition between Baidu Live and YY Live. Amid Baidu's streamlining efforts and substantial layoffs, the acquisition has been officially terminated. With both sides having invested so much, the termination raises questions about the future strategies and directions for both Baidu and Joyy Inc.
In 2023, Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports witnessed a surge in air traffic, with 700,000 flights (Pudong: 430,000, Hongqiao: 270,000), marking a 114 percent YoY increase, Shanghai Airport Authority said on Tuesday. Passenger numbers soared to 96.75 million (Pudong: 54.25 million, Hongqiao: 42.5 million), up 235 percent. Cargo and mail throughput rose by 15 percent to 3.8 million tons. A total of 101 airlines operated flights to 278 destinations in 47 countries. Domestic routes reached 175, while international routes achieved 73 percent recovery, with key global destinations returning to 2019 flight frequencies.
12/29
2023 Fri.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.comis to raise the salaries of frontline employees, including procurement and sales staff, who will see salaries almost double from the beginning of the year. In early 2024, the entire retail workforce is set to receive a raise of no less than 20 percent. The last big salary increase at JD.com was two years ago. JD’s procurement and sales personnel are crucial to retail success. Responsibilities involve dealing with suppliers and listing products on the platform. At the beginning of this year, chairman Richard LIUQiangdong made procurement and sales personnel the actual executors of the low-price strategy. JD.com’s workforce exceeds 590,000 people, 400,000-plus of whom are logistics and delivery personnel.
WANG Jun, president of Changan Automobile, is to serve concurrently as chairman of Deepal, a Changan EV subsidiary. In December, Deepal CEO DENG Chenghao, became VP of Changan while retaining his position at Deepal. Another Changan brand, Avatr, also underwent personnel changes. ZHU Huarong, chairman of Changan has assumed the same role at Avatr. WANG Xiaofei, of Deepal, will assist Zhu in his new role. Changan is one of the progressive new energy vehicle companies in China, currently, with three new energy sub-brands: Avatr, Deepal and Nevo. Deepal focuses on extended-range electric vehicles, targeting the mass market, while Avatr focuses on the high-end pure electric market. Launched in August this year, Nevo concentrates on digital intelligence. Changan sold 50,000 EVs in November, a year-on-year increase of 52.7 percent but a month-on-month decrease of 11.9 percent. This year, Changan has sold over 400,000 vehicles.
12/26
2023 Tue.
Jiyue, the electric vehicle marque jointly launched by automaker Geely and search engine giant Baidu, released a picture of its second model Jiyue 07 on its official Weibo account on Tuesday. The Jiyue 07 will be the company's first Sedan and will have its debut next year.
