[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s car sales increased during the six months ended in December, as customers returned to showrooms amid a tentative recovery in consumer sentiment in the first major economy to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown.Sales of passenger vehicles – cars, sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) and minivans, excluding commercial trucks and buses – rose 8 per cent to 11.75 million units in the six-month period, compared with the interim a year earlier. Annual sales volume fell for the third straight year…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Beijing’s encouragement has fired up China’s new energy vehicle sector, pitting start-up electric vehicle (EV) makers against its more established conventional carmakers.But while US carmaker Tesla has reported rising sales and three New York-listed Chinese EV companies have seen their stocks skyrocket recently, industry observers say the established players will overtake these carmakers on their own turf.“Conventional carmakers still have an upper hand over the upstart EV makers in terms of…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s residential property market rose for the 33rd straight month in November, prompting the government to continue its drumbeat of market-cooling measures to stave off the kind of risk that led to the 2008 subprime lending crisis in the United States.November’s average home price across 70 cities rose 4 per cent from a year ago, even if the growth pace was the slowest in six months, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics. The average price rose 4.3 per cent in October from a…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Beijing plans to expand two pilot programmes that allow residents to buy overseas equities under quotas amid investors’ increasing demand for global asset allocation.A free-trade zone in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, and the megapolis of Chongqing will begin trial runs of the qualified domestic limited partner (QDLP) and qualified domestic investment enterprise (QDIE) schemes soon, according to a Sunday notice by state news agency Xinhua, citing unidentified officials with the State…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Alibaba Group Holding, which operates the biggest e-commerce platform, said the latest Singles’ Day shopping gala has produced “satisfactory” results, pointing to a resilient economy amid a rebound in consumption, chairman and chief executive Daniel Zhang Yong said.Purchases by mainland consumers during the extended Singles’ Day festival – an 11-day event from November 1 to 11 – reached 498.2 billion yuan (US$75.8 billion), breaking last year’s one-day record by 26 per cent. Last year, the one…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s commercial property deals are expected to double in value over the next decade, buoyed by an increase in capital coming from insurers, the emergence of more investment funds and the creation of real estate investment trusts (Reits), according to CBRE.The global property services firm forecasts in a research report that the transaction value of commercial properties – which includes office and retail spaces – could top 650 billion yuan (US$98.3 billion) in 2030, more than twice the…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s planners are maintaining their bullish target to spur home-grown brands in the world’s biggest electric vehicle market as they repackaged a controversial industrial plan under a new guise, seizing the opportunity to keep factories churning while competitors lay idle amid the coronavirus pandemic.Green vehicles – comprising pure electric cars, petroleum-electric hybrids and vehicles that run on fuel cells – will make up one in five automobiles on China’s roads by 2025, according to a…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Shanghai’s efforts to build itself into an international financial hub suffered a blow when Beijing granted greater autonomy to its high-tech rival, Shenzhen, aimed at boosting its role as a model for the country’s development, according to analysts.With the southern city neighbouring Hong Kong now able make its own laws on market liberalisations, Shanghai, formerly a front runner in making economic and financial reforms, finds itself under mounting pressure to maintain its status as mainland…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Huachen Automotive Group Holding, the state-owned parent of BMW‘s main Chinese joint-venture partner, has defaulted on a bond payment, heightening fears about the debt-ridden carmaker’s fate.The company was not able to repay a 1 billion yuan (US$149.1 million) corporate bond paying 5.3 per cent in annual coupon, which it sold via a private placement three years ago. The group is “working hard to raise money and discussing with investors to iron out the issue,” according to a Shanghai Stock…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s passenger car sales grew for a third straight month in September, and industry insiders said they foresaw a sustained increase in sales during the remainder of the year after the country successfully contained its Covid-19 outbreak.Deliveries of passenger cars, which include sedans, sport-utility vehicles, minivans and multipurpose vehicles, rose 7.4 per cent year on year to 1.94 million units last month, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Deliveries of passenger vehicles…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Manufacturers and assemblers of electric cars in China, the world’s largest vehicle market since 2009, are sharpening their pitches and raising their game as they pour billions of dollars into research, sales and marketing to catch up with the industry leader Tesla in their home turf.Long driving range on a single charge is essential in a nation with the world’s third-biggest land mass, as are sophisticated electronic gadgetry, unique applications, bells and whistles, according to the range of…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Geely Automobile Holdings, China’s largest private carmaker and owner of Volvo Cars, has obtained regulatory approval for a secondary listing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-like exchange for start-ups, as it redefines itself as a technology company with its line-up of 10 electric cars by 2025.The Hangzhou-based carmaker aims to raise as much as 20 billion yuan (US$2.94 billion) on the Star Market to finance its development of new technologies and models, according to an announcement by the Shanghai Stock…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Xpeng Motors, armed with cash from its US$1.7 billion New York stock sale last month, said it’s developing a flying car to sharpen its research into mobility, electrification and digitalisation.The Kiwigogo can carry two passengers and levitate at between 5 metres and up to 25 metres (82 feet), according to the specifications of a prototype displayed at the 2020 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, which begins today in the Chinese capital. The drone-like vehicle, installed with eight…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s private sector, the provider of more than 80 per cent of the nation’s urban jobs, has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, as companies struggle with balancing their profitability with a social obligation to maintain jobs, according to a survey by the biggest industry guild.The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) said its survey of the country’s 500 largest privately owned companies showed 96 per cent of them being walloped by the deadly coronavirus,…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Chinese population is continuing its headlong plunge into the stock market, a second monthly surge that sustains the momentum behind one of the world’s best-performing major benchmarks this year.July’s new A-share trading accounts more than doubled from last year to 2.43 million, according to data by the China Securities Depository and Clearing (CSDC). That raised the total to 170.2 million accounts as of July 31, making it the world’s eighth largest cluster of people, more than the…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s defunct peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders still owe depositors 800 billion yuan (US$115 billion) four years after a crackdown to clean up the sector, but the mainland’s top regulator said he will do his best to help victims recover their funds in a segment where only a few operators remain.“We’ll assist public security authorities to track down the money even if there is only a glimmer of hope,” Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), told state…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Keppel Capital, the asset management arm of Singapore’s conglomerate Keppel Group, has agreed to invest 1.5 billion yuan (US$213.8 million) to build a data centre in Huizhou, boosting the city’s ambition to create the IT backbone for southern China’s Greater Bay Area.The data centre, located in Tonghu Smart City, an industrial complex developed by Country Garden Holdings, will have gross floor area (GFA) of 45,000 square metres (486,700 square feet) when construction is completed in 2022,…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]As far as first birthdays go, few would compare with the progress China’s version of Nasdaq has made in its first 12 months.Ordered into existence by Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2018, and launched less than eight months later, the technology stock-heavy Star Market has become Asia’s largest such market by value – as of Tuesday, it was capitalised at 2.62 trillion yuan (US$375.9 billion).More than 130 companies have raised 205 billion yuan in capital over the past year, 34 per cent…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s easing of domestic travel restrictions is expected to provide a boost to the mainland’s nearly 6 trillion yuan (US$857 billion) market and save thousands of tourism companies teetering on the brink of collapse after struggling for nearly six months due to the coronavirus pandemic.The Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s move on Tuesday night to allow travel agencies to operate group tours across provincial borders also provided a boost to the shares of mainland travel companies.The…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Angus Gu, a jeweller, was one of hundreds of retailers to set up a market stall outside Shanghai’s Bund Finance Centre (BFC) at the weekend in a bid to reach shoppers beyond his loyal customer base.The inaugural BFC Weekend Market, showcasing mainly local goods at knockdown prices, was part of a huge push by the city’s authorities to stave off recession by boosting consumption after Covid-19 lockdown.The government aims to reignite the faltering economy by fostering what it terms innovative…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The coronavirus pandemic has set back China’s consumption upgrade as people become increasingly price conscious amid falling household income due to the economic slowdown, with spending on fast-moving consumer goods likely to fall for the first time ever this year, according to a joint study by global consultancy Bain & Co and market research firm Kantar Worldpanel.The study found that expectations of “revenge spending” will not be enough to overcome the 6.7 per cent slump – the biggest decline…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s street vendor economy is getting some mixed signals from municipal governments after an apparent endorsement from the State Council, causing confusion about the role of small businesses in the midst of a slump.Since Premier Li Keqiang called for a loosening of controls on small vendors on the streets of Yantai in Shandong province, the message has been interpreted as a nod for mobile stalls to alleviate an unemployment crisis and provide an income avenue for millions of workers…

Workers labour at an assembly line for Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Company in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei Province in March 2020. While many migrant workers across China remain trapped by travel bans due to the coronavirus, some industrial production has returned to action, including in the crucial auto manufacturing industry. Photo: Xinhua

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Walt Disney Company has reopened its biggest Asia resort after a four-month shutdown, as Shanghai’s health authorities eased restrictions on public gatherings after getting the coronavirus outbreak in the megacity of 24 million people under control.The first batch of 200 visitors became the “envy of the whole world” when they entered the park as soon as the gates opened at 9.30am on Monday, according to one person there. Entry to the park was staggered and guests were allowed entry based on…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Tesla raised the starting price of its bestselling electric car in China, reversing its price cuts in the past few months after the Chinese government kicked off a three-year plan to scale back subsidies on new-energy vehicles.A Tesla Standard Range Model 3 sedan, assembled at the carmaker’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, will now carry a sticker price of 303,550 yuan (US$42,874), compared with 299,050 yuan a week ago. The Long Range Model 3 will be priced 1.5 per cent higher at 344,550 yuan when…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Yiwu International Trade Market has always been renowned as a window into the vitality of Chinese manufacturing, crammed with stalls showcasing everything from flashlights to machine parts.But today, as the coronavirus pandemic rips through the global economy, it offers a strikingly different picture – the dismal effect Covid-19 is having on the nation’s exports.The usually bustling wholesale market, home to some 70,000 vendors supplying 1,700 different types of manufactured goods, is a…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]More than half of Chinese companies are facing a liquidity crisis as businesses saw declining sales after the coronavirus outbreak, underscoring the desperation for China’s central bank to extend a lifeline to the business community.Some 55 per cent of 480 corporate bosses in a Hurun Report survey said they were grappling with a cash crunch, while two thirds of them expected to report a drop in annual sales this year, according to the Hurun China Entrepreneurs Action Against Coronavirus 2020…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Shanghai, China’s financial and commercial capital, has continued to attract investment commitments from foreign companies this year, showing the Covid-19 epidemic has not diminished its growth potential and appeal as a gateway into the world’s second largest economy.Investors have pledged US$10.3 billion of funds for projects this year through March 9, keeping in pace with the level in the same period last year, according to Xue Feng, president of the Shanghai Foreign Investment Development…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The mayor of China’s commercial hub has instructed Shanghai’s bureaucrats to undertake a change in their work culture, as he cites Tesla’s US$2 billion Gigafactory in the city as proof that an investor-friendly attitude helps attract foreign investments.

Officials in the local authority should behave like attendants at a retail store, rather than bureaucrats with power to approve projects, said Ying Yong, at the conclusion of the Shanghai legislative meeting.

“By improving the business…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Shanghai is aiming for 6 per cent growth this year, its mayor told the local legislature on Wednesday. The city, mainland China’s business hub, will tap foreign investment and bolster exports in 2020 following the signing of a phase one deal between Beijing and Washington.“We will allow high-end industries to play a leading role in driving the local economy, as we make efforts to sustain growth,” Ying Yong told the Shanghai People’s Congress, adding that the municipality would promote…