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Chinese investment lowest in US since 2009 But Coronavirus is not the reason
CHINA

Chinese investment lowest in US since 2009 But Coronavirus is not the reason

China's direct investment in the United States fell last year to its lowest level since the Great Recession, even before the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of global commerce. The decline in Beijing's investment in the United States reflected tensions between the world's two biggest economies and Chinese government restrictions on overseas investment. A report out Monday from the National Committee on US-China Relations and the Rhodium Group consultancy found that China's direct investment in the US dropped from USD 5.4 billion in 2018 to USD 5 billion last year, the lowest level since the recession year of 2009. Direct investment includes mergers, acquisitions and investments in things like offices and factories but not financial investments like purchases of stocks and bon...
Former Vice President of Baidu’s Suspected of Corruption
CHINA

Former Vice President of Baidu’s Suspected of Corruption

A former executive at China's internet search giant Baidu is being investigated for corruption, the company said. Ex-Baidu vice president Wei Fang is under suspicion of corruption following internal investigations, and his case has been handed over to public authorities, said the firm's professional ethics committee in a statement to AFP. Baidu vowed it would "resolutely crack down on all violations of law and discipline", but did not give further details of Wei's alleged wrongdoing. The case comes just weeks after it was revealed that a top executive at Starbucks competitor Luckin Coffee might have faked 2.2 billion yuan (USD 310 million) worth of sales last year, causing the shares of the NASDAQ-listed firm to plummet over 70 per cent. The former chief operating officer and ...
China’s Manufacturing Rebounds as Virus Controls Ease
CHINA

China’s Manufacturing Rebounds as Virus Controls Ease

China's manufacturing rebounded in March as authorities relaxed anti-disease controls and allowed factories to reopen, an official survey showed Tuesday, but an industry group warned the economy has yet to fully recover. The ruling Communist Party is trying to revive the world's second-largest economy after declaring victory over the coronavirus even as the United States and other governments shut down businesses. The purchasing managers' index issued by the Chinese statistics bureau and the official China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing rose to 52 from February's record low of 35.7 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity increasing. The federation and private sector economists cautioned the economy still faces challenges as manufacturers rebuild sup...
How Internet Saved Chinese People from food Shortages amid virus fears
CHINA

How Internet Saved Chinese People from food Shortages amid virus fears

Wang Feng, house-bound by China's virus outbreak, counts on the parka-clad delivery drivers of e-commerce giant JD.com to keep her kitchen stocked. Demand for online food vendors has surged since China's government told the public to stay home as part of the most sweeping anti-disease controls ever imposed. On Tuesday, Wang's phone buzzed with a text message that a delivery had arrived. The retiree bundled up against the winter cold, put on a face mask and emerged from her apartment complex to collect walnut milk and other goods from shelves on the sidewalk an anti-virus measure to limit contact with drivers who normally go door to door. They work really hard, and it's dangerous, said Wang. Without their services, we would not be able to survive at all." JD.com Inc. and rivals in...
Ikea to close half its Chinese Stores over Virus Outbreak
CHINA

Ikea to close half its Chinese Stores over Virus Outbreak

Swedish furniture giant Ikea had temporarily closed half of its 30 stores in mainland China until further notice amid concerns over the deadly new corona virus. "In response to the Chinese government's call for strict and effective disease control, Ikea Retail China will temporarily close around half of the stores in mainland China until further notice, effective from January 29," the company said in a statement. Ikea had last week closed its store in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak originated in late 2019. Chinese authorities said Wednesday that the number of confirmed deaths from the virus has risen to 132 nationwide, with the confirmed total of infections now nearly 6,000 worldwide. Ikea said it was working with authorities in the cities and regions where it operates and...
Chinese city turns into Ghost Town after Samsung shifts operation to India, Vietnam
CHINA

Chinese city turns into Ghost Town after Samsung shifts operation to India, Vietnam

Huizhou city on the north of China's flourishing Pearl River Delta has turned into a ghost town after Samsung closed its three-decade old factory and shifted operations to India and Vietnam in October, in the first visible fallout of the ongoing trade war between China and the US. The bustling city turned a "ghost town" after Samsung closed its last smartphone factory in China, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. Samsung relocated production to Vietnam and India in large part as a response to the trade war between the world's two largest economies, it said, adding that the industry insiders consider that it reflected China's changing position in the global supply chain. Last year Samsung inaugurated its world's largest mobile factory in Noida, near...
Alibaba Single Day sales hit $10 billion in Less than 30 minutes
CHINA

Alibaba Single Day sales hit $10 billion in Less than 30 minutes

E-commerce giant Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit USD 10 billion in less than 30 minutes of the event going live. The Alibaba Group's various shopping platforms' total gross merchandise value (GMV) exceeded USD 10 billion in only 29 minutes and 45 seconds, while it took just 1 minute and 8 seconds to achieve a total GMV of USD 1 billion, after the Chinese e-commerce behemoth kicked off it's 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. Within the first two hours, the total GMV exceeded 120.7 billion renminbi (USD 17.24 billion), surpassing the total GMV of 2016 11.11. Some of the top countries selling to China by GMV included Japan, United States, South Korea, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom and France. According to Alibaba, the number of orders created at the peak of the 2019 11.11 Glob...
Tesla gets Approval to Start Manufacturing in China
CHINA

Tesla gets Approval to Start Manufacturing in China

SHANGHAI, 17th Oct 2019- China’s industry ministry said that the Tesla Inc was added to a government list of approved automotive manufacturers, as it granted the electric-vehicle maker a certificate it needs to start production in the country. The list was published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This means “the green light is fully given to Tesla for production in China,” said Yale Zhang, head of the Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight. Tesla can start production any time, he said Tesla did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. The $2 billion factory it is building in the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai is its first car manufacturing site overseas. Reuters reported earlier this month that Tesla plans to start produc...
Google Under Pressure From China Remove Apps supporting Hongkong Protesters
CHINA

Google Under Pressure From China Remove Apps supporting Hongkong Protesters

Google removed a mobile game that let people play as a Hong Kong protester, saying it violated a policy against cashing in on conflicts. The move came after Apple removed an app criticized by China for allowing protesters in Hong Kong to track police. Finding out, Beijing steps up pressure on foreign companies deemed to be providing support to the pro-democracy movement. Google said its decision to yank "The Revolution of Our Times" game from its Play Store did not result from any takedown requests by police or any other party outside the California-based company. "We have a longstanding policy prohibiting developers from capitalizing on sensitive events such as attempting to make money from serious ongoing conflicts or tragedies through a game," Google said in response. "...
How Tencent App Creates Panic Amongst Chinese Users
CHINA

How Tencent App Creates Panic Amongst Chinese Users

Chinese internet company Tencent has been forced to apologise after its video team reported that a typhoon had wiped out the entire population of a province in east China that is home to nearly 100 million people. Typhoon Lekima hit the Chinese provinces of Zhejiang, Shandong and Anhui over the weekend, forcing more than two million residents to flee. China's official news agency Xinhua said at least 49 people were killed with dozens still missing. But Tencent Video sent a news alert to its subscribers on Monday saying the typhoon had "killed nearly everyone" in the eastern province of Shandong and seven people were missing. The alert cited the provincial emergency management department as the news source. Shandong is one of China's most populous provinces, with 99 million ...
Alibaba lets US small, medium businesses to sell on Platform
CHINA, USA

Alibaba lets US small, medium businesses to sell on Platform

Chinese eCommerce platform Alibaba will allow small and medium sized US businesses to sell on Alibaba.com. Until Tuesday, US business was only able to buy merchandise on the platform. Alibaba has 10 million active business buyers in more than 190 countries and looking to up its growth in the USA, which has been held in check by Amazon and threatened by trade tensions between the US and China. Alibaba said its one-third of the order volume is coming from US businesses. Sellers will have to pay an annual registration fee of about USD 2,000, but it won't charge a commission for each sale, unlike Amazon. In March, Alibaba.com and Office Depot announced a co-branded online store to expand the reach of both companies with small and medium sized businesses. It said at the time it...
Huawei cut output by $30 billion in 2019-20
CHINA

Huawei cut output by $30 billion in 2019-20

Huawei founder indicates that trouble maker company would slash its production over the next two years as it grapples with a US push to isolate the company internationally. "In the coming two years, the company will cut production by $30 billion," Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei said to Pixr8 News. Huawei earned just over $100 billion in revenue in 2018. But Ren, who compared Huawei to damaged aircraft, added that he expected the company to get back on its previous trajectory by 2021. "In 2021, we will regain our vitality and (continue to) provide services to human society," he said. Huawei has emerged as a key bone of contention in the wider China-US trade war that has seen tit-for-tat tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods. ...