Monday, November 25

Tag: China

Volvo Cars and Its Chinese Owner Plan to Merge
Automobile

Volvo Cars and Its Chinese Owner Plan to Merge

Sweden's Volvo Cars and its Chinese owner Geely said they are considering merging into a single group to better share technology and financial resources while preserving their separate brands. The merged firm "would have the scale, knowledge and resources to be a leader in the ongoing transformation of the automotive industry," they said in a statement. "The combination would preserve the distinct identity of each of the brands Volvo, Geely, Lynk & Co, and Polestar," they added. Geely bought Volvo in 2010 from Ford which hadn't been able to turn around the Swedish automaker. But under the Chinese firm Volvo has rebounded and smashed its sales records. Volvo sold more than 705,000 vehicles in 2019, besting the record it set in 2018 by 10 percent, and the automaker expects co...
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 ...
India Finds Solution For Chinese Coronavirus
INDIA

India Finds Solution For Chinese Coronavirus

Indian AYUSH ministry issued a health advisory and recommended that homeopathic and unani medicines could be effective in the prevention of novel coronavirus (nCoV) infections. The advisory was issued following a meeting on Tuesday of the scientific advisory board of the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) under the Ministry of AYUSH to discuss ways and means for the prevention of the nCoV infection through homeopathy, the ministry said in a statement. It has recommended that homeopathic medicine Arsenicum album 30 could be taken empty stomach daily for three days as a prophylactic medicine against the infection. The dose should be repeated after one month by following the same schedule in case the nCoV infection prevails in the community, the advisory said, adding ...
Huawei Exec Arrested in Canada, Can Extradite to US
USA

Huawei Exec Arrested in Canada, Can Extradite to US

Montreal, Jan 12, 2020: Canada Department of Justice said a Huawei executive arrested in Vancouver could be extradited to the United States, because her offense is a crime in both countries, according to documents released Friday. Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was originally detained on a US warrant in late 2018, faces an extradition hearing in Vancouver that begins on January 20. The United States accuses Meng of lying to banks about violating Iran sanctions. However Meng''s lawyers maintain that she cannot be turned over to the United States, because in order for that to happen, her offense would have to meet a "double criminality" standard -- meaning it is a crime in both countries. Violating US sanctions against Iran, they say, is not a crime in Canada. ...
Delivery of Tesla Made-in-China Model 3 set for December 30
Automobile

Delivery of Tesla Made-in-China Model 3 set for December 30

Tesla China told Pixr8 News that they are aiming to begin deliveries of the all-electric Model 3 sedan from December 30th. That’s far earlier than the company’s own estimates, and immensely earlier than what Tesla’s skeptics have suggested.  Monday’s event will deliver Tesla's 15 Model 3 car to local customers that are comprised of Tesla China employees. The first delivery date of the Made-in-China Model 3 marks the 357th day since Tesla and its construction partner started working on the Gigafactory 3 complex, which was then just a plot of land. The speed upon which Gigafactory 3’s Phase 1 zone was completed marks a new record for global automakers currently operating in China.  The Made-in-China Model 3 is Tesla’s key to the local Chinese auto industry, which also corres...
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 ...
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 product...
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. "A...
TikTok owner ByteDance Revenue Jumps over $7 billion in First Quarter
BUSINESS

TikTok owner ByteDance Revenue Jumps over $7 billion in First Quarter

ByteDance, which was loss-making in the first-half, also posted a profit in June and was confident of making a profit in the second half of the year, one of the people said, declining to be identified as the company has not made a public announcement. Robust growth has led the Beijing-based startup to revise its revenue target for 2019 to 120 billion yuan from an earlier goal set late last year of 100 billion yuan, a second person said. Earnings figures for last year were not immediately available. According to online tech news outlet The Information, ByteDance revenue for the whole of 2018 was $7.2 billion. ByteDance declined to comment. The seven-year-old startup, which separate sources have said was valued at $78 billion late last year, also owns Chinese news aggregato...
Apple Produce Future Mac Pro in US, Shift base from China
USA

Apple Produce Future Mac Pro in US, Shift base from China

Apple would keep making its Mac Pro in the United States, after obtaining tariff exemptions for some components in the high-end computers. The California tech giant said it would keep production of the Mac Pro a computer costing some $6,000 in Austin, Texas, following reports it was considering moving the manufacturing from China. Apple said the decision came after the company obtained "a federal product exclusion" from tariffs "for certain necessary components" for the computers. The news comes despite comments from President Donald Trump in July that he would oppose waiving tariffs on components for Apple's devices, commenting in a tweet, "Make them in the USA, no Tariffs." Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement, "the company is proud to be building the new Mac P...
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 r...
About 200 US companies seeking to move manufacturing base from China to India: Report
INDIA

About 200 US companies seeking to move manufacturing base from China to India: Report

Washington: About 200 American companies are seeking to move their manufacturing base from China to India post the general elections, a top US-based advocacy group has said, observing that there is a fantastic opportunity with firms looking at alternatives to the Communist giant. The US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum's (USISPF) President Mukesh Aghi said that the companies are talking to them about how to set up an alternative to China by investing in India. Aghi said that USISPF’s recommendation to the new government would be to accelerate the reforms and bring transparency in the decision-making process. “I think that's critical. We would advise to bring more transparency in the process and to make it more consultative because in the last 12 to 18 mont...