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☆ Tesla to recall 1.1 million cars in China over potential safety risks, Chinese regulator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Tesla will recall more than 1.1 million cars in China due to potential safety risks, the country’s top market regulator said on Friday. The models to be recalled include imported Model S, Model X, Model 3 and China-made Model 3 and Model 6. An aerial view of Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory on March 29, 2021. The company plans to make adjustments or add notification features to the recalled vehicles to reduce the risk, it added. In March, Tesla recalled more than 2,600 imported Model S cars in China, according to the SAMR.

☆ China's deflation worries deepen as consumer prices rise only 0.1% in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The producer price index, which measures factory-gate prices, declined by 3.6%, marking the biggest contraction in three years. The weak property sector recovery likely has exerted “persistent” downward pressure on the factory-gate prices, they added. A slump in the property sector affects demand for key raw materials such as steel and cement, which are key parts of the producer price index. Producer deflation will likely deteriorate, with the PPI expected to drop further by 3.9% on falling global commodity prices. Deflation is bad for the economy because, in such an environment, consumers and companies may put off spending in anticipation of prices falling further, which would only exacerbate economic problems.

☆ China names head of NFRA as financial industry faces greater scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has appointed the head of its powerful new financial watchdog, which was created as part of sweeping reforms aimed at reining in the $60 trillion industry. Currently, several provincial leaders had previous careers in the financial industry, including Wu Qing, vice mayor of Shanghai and formerly the chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. China’s sprawling financial industry is coming under closer scrutiny as Xi and his key allies have asserted greater direct control over financial policy. For years, Xi has said the financial industry should better serve the real economy, including making money available to businesses that need it. To further consolidate control, according to analysts, the top anti-graft body has carried out a sweeping anti-corruption campaign in the financial industry, which has ensnared more than a dozen senior executives from state-owned financial institutions.

☆ LinkedIn layoffs: Company to cut 716 jobs, exit China app InCareer amid 'challenging' economic climate
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —LinkedIn, the world’s largest social media platform for professionals, is cutting 716 positions and shutting down its jobs app in mainland China, the California-based company announced. Ng Han Guan/APAs part of the move, LinkedIn will phase out InCareer, its app for mainland China, by August 9. LinkedIn is the last major Western social media app still operating in mainland China. Maimai was launched in 2013 and dubbed the Chinese version of LinkedIn. “We’re also facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.”

☆ Australia’s exports to China hit record high as relations thaw
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Australia’s exports to China hit a record high in March, as Chinese buyers snapped up Australian commodities from coal to iron ore amid a thaw in bilateral relations. Shipments of iron ore lump and iron ore fines to China also jumped 28% and 22.5%, respectively, to $380 million and $973 million. Earlier this year, Beijing removed all remaining curbs on Australian coal imports, ending an unofficial ban. For iron ore, it remained the largest supplier for China even when relations soured. Iron ore, for example, is a vital component of its steel industry.

☆ China's May Day holiday spending exceeds pre-pandemic levels for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Holiday spending during China’s Golden Week has surged past pre-pandemic levels for the first time in three years, in a sign the country’s travelers have fully emerged from the depths of Covid-related restrictions and are eager to live large to make up for lost time. Alipay, the country’s biggest digital payment app, reported a 200% increase in online holiday spending from a year earlier. “The fact that domestic tourism spending is now back to 2019 levels suggests that the reopening boost to consumer spending has largely run its course,” said Capital Economics analysts in a Thursday report. “The swift recovery in in-person services has been the major driver of China’s post-Covid recovery this year,” they said. However, “the lackluster property recovery, a global slowdown and rising geopolitical conflict remain major challenges for China’s recovery to be sustained.”

☆ Tesla raises car prices globally, with the biggest increase in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Model Y and Model 3 now starts at 263,900 yuan ($38,179) and 231,900 yuan ($33,550) respectively. Tesla (TSLA) has also hiked the prices of the Model 3 and Model Y by about $222 in Canada and $269 in Japan, respectively. Late last month, Tesla raised the prices of its higher-end vehicles: Model S and Model X by $2,500 in the United States. The recent round of price adjustments reversed a series of significant price cuts by Tesla that were aimed at boosting demand. But analysts said the recent price increases had the same purpose of stoking consumer demand.

☆ One in 5 young people in Chinese cities are out of work. Beijing wants them to work in the fields
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Guangdong, the manufacturing powerhouse that abuts Hong Kong, said last month it will help college graduates and young entrepreneurs to find work in villages. Guangdong’s plan, which was widely panned on social media, coincided with the rate of urban unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds surging to 19.6%, the second highest level on record. Kong Yiji, a famous literary figure from the early 20th century, has been one of the hottest memes on China’s social media since February. A tourist shop named 'Kong Yiji' in China's Zhejiang province. Other popular buzzwords have included “lying flat” and “letting it rot.”Authorities, uneasy about dissatisfaction expressed through memes, have banned the hashtag of Kong Yiji.

☆ China may have to bail out one of its poorest provinces
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Hong Kong CNN —One of China’s poorest and most indebted provinces has admitted defeat in trying to sort out its finances and is appealing to Beijing for help to avert default. Guizhou, located in a mountainous region of southwest China, has hired a top state-owned distressed debt fund, China Cinda Asset Management, to resolve its “urgent” problems. China’s local governments are struggling with trillions of dollars of debt, after three years of strict pandemic controls and a real estate crash drained their coffers. The Pingtang Bridge links two cities in southwest China's Guizhou province. In China, most local government liabilities are composed of “hidden debt” issued by their financing arms.

☆ China has an inflation problem. It’s way too low
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

That’s raising the specter of a tailspin of falling prices and wages from which the economy may struggle to recover. “Our core view is that China’s economy is deflationary,” wrote Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at ANZ Research, last week, soon after China released its first-quarter GDP growth figures. Instead of spending money, people are hoarding cash at a record rate. “Even with a conservative estimate, 500 billion yuan in consumption vouchers will drive one trillion yuan in overall consumption, ” Li said in a video posted on his Weibo social media account on Tuesday. In return, the government could receive at least 300 billion yuan through taxes generated by the increase in spending, he said“So it only takes 200 billion yuan in spending for the central government to drive one trillion yuan in consumption,” he said.

☆ China makes major push in its ambitious digital yuan project
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Like cryptocurrency, the digital yuan incorporates some elements of blockchain technology: Every transaction is recorded and traceable in a digital ledger. Since last October, Changshu has been paying the transit subsidies for some government employees in digital yuan. It has also asked privately-owned apps to actively promote the digital yuan. Alipay began trialing digital yuan payments in 2021, and Tencent (TCEHY) announced last year that it would also start supporting the digital yuan in its WeChat Pay wallet. After all, industry leaders Alipay and WeChat Pay already have hundreds of millions of users who are familiar with their services.

☆ US bank run victims were bailed out in 3 days. In China, many have been waiting a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Selina Wang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN is not revealing the identities of the bank victims in order to protect their safety. Bank victims protest in Henan in July 2022. Experts say small banks in other parts of China could face the same crisis, as the world’s second largest economy faces a longer term structural slowdown. Some Chinese bank victims even say they’re living in fear of violent reprisals. CNN interviews bank victims in China.

☆ Chinese electric car makers suffer as Elon Musk doubles down on Tesla price war
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Shares in Tesla’s Chinese rivals fell on Thursday, after CEO Elon Musk signaled that the company will continue cutting prices to boost demand for electric cars in an increasingly competitive market. XPeng plunged 8% in Hong Kong, while Nio (NIO) sank 5.6%. BYD (BYDDF), the world’s largest seller of plug-in hybrid EVs and battery EVs, also dropped 1% in Hong Kong. A number of car manufacturers in China followed suit by cutting prices or offering discounts, including Xpeng, Leapmotor, BYD and Huawei’s EV unit. According to the most recent statistics from the CPCA, Tesla’s sales of its China-made vehicles surged 35% in March to more than 88,000 units.

☆ Premarket stocks: Apple is giving banks a run for their money
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Apple’s savings account is managed through Apple products and users must have Apple’s credit card, simply called Apple Card, to qualify for one. “It’s very much a loyalty play because it’s a multi-level process: To get the Apple credit card you need the phone, and to get the savings account you need the credit card. The Apple savings account through Goldman is also insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. And Apple’s savings account is hardly the best out there, either. UFB Direct offers a savings account with more than a 5% annual percentage yield.

☆ China resorts to extraordinary measures to soothe entrepreneurs amid deep retreat of private business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Hong Kong CNN —After years of regulatory crackdowns and draconian Covid curbs, private entrepreneurs in China are low on enthusiasm. If anything, the private sector seems to be retreating even more so far this year. State-led investment surged 10.5%, while private investment increased a mere 0.8%. In 2022, state investment rose 10.1%, while private investment ticked up 0.9%. “We always regard private enterprises and private entrepreneurs as people on our own side,” Xi said.

☆ Tesla Shanghai: Social media protests over 'unfair' bonus cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Workers at Tesla’s electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Shanghai are reportedly using social media to protest against what they call unfair cuts in performance-related pay and to ask CEO Elon Musk to intervene. Social media posts published over the weekend by people who say they work at the factory — the company’s main export hub — expressed anger over recently announced cuts in their monthly bonus pay. They said they were given news of the “significant” and “malicious” cuts after a fatal accident occurred at the Tesla (TSLA) facility in February. Just six months later, in November, the Shanghai factory set a fresh monthly delivery record of more than 100,000 vehicles. In 2022, Tesla delivered 1.31 million vehicles globally, more than half of which were from Shanghai, according to the company’s financial results.

☆ China GDP: Economy shakes off Covid legacy to grow 4.5% in Q1
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But private investment barely budged and youth unemployment surged to the second highest level on record, indicating the country’s private sector employers are still wary about longer term prospects. Retail sales jumped 10.6% in March from a year earlier, the highest level of growth since June 2021. The country’s GDP will grow 5.2% this year and 5.1% in 2024, it predicted. If adjustments are made to account for the impact of delayed economic activity, GDP growth in the first quarter could have been just 2.6%, he said. For example, private investment was extremely weak.

☆ Living standards are still falling in Japan. That’s a recipe for more stagnation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Adjusted for inflation, wages slipped 2.6% in February, compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government data released last week. That means it’ll be tough for Ueda to hike interest rates, especially as living standards aren’t rising either. The issue of stagnant wages could improve this year, as companies heed the call to raise salaries in response to inflation. Workers in Japan have been grappling with stagnant wages, leading to a government push for businesses to hike pay. But in Japan, it’s high enough to feel uncomfortable, given stagnant wage growth, according to Angrick.

☆ China is waging a war on its financial industry. Some high-profile bankers are ensnared
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Last Friday, authorities opened a similar probe into Liu Liange, former chairman of state-owned Bank of China, the country’s fourth largest lender. And in January, Wang Bin, who headed state-owned China Life Insurance from 2018 to early 2022, was charged by national prosecutors with taking bribes and hiding overseas savings. They include financial giants such as China Investment Corp, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, China Development Bank, which provides financing for key government projects, and Agricultural Bank of China, another large state-controlled lender. “The current financial crackdown is a new wave of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign against the financial sector for consolidation of his power,” said Chongyi Feng, an associate professor in China Studies at the University of Technology Sydney. But the deepening crackdown on the vast financial sector could rattle investors.

☆ Micron Technology: China probes US chip maker for cybersecurity risks as tech tension escalates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has launched a cybersecurity probe into Micron Technology, one of America’s largest memory chip makers, in apparent retaliation after US allies in Asia and Europe announced new restrictions on the sale of key technology to Beijing. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) will review products sold by Micron in the country, according to a statement by the watchdog late on Friday. Last month, the Netherlands also unveiled new restrictions on overseas sales of semiconductor technology, citing the need to protect national security. In October, the United States banned Chinese companies from buying advanced chips and chipmaking equipment without a license. “The Chinese government may restrict us from participating in the China market or may prevent us from competing effectively with Chinese companies,” it said last week.

☆ China Renaissance suspends trading, delays results after founder Bao Fan goes missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Bao Fan, 52, started the boutique investment bank in 2005 and has been unreachable since the middle of February, according to the company. Shares in China Renaissance have plunged since Bao went missing, at one point dropping as much as 50%. China Renaissance said in late February that it had learned Bao was “cooperating in an investigation” being carried out by certain authorities in the country. Chinese media have reported Bao might be assisting in an investigation related to a former executive at China Renaissance. In a filing on Sunday, China Renaissance said auditors couldn’t complete their work or sign off on their report because of Bao’s absence.

☆ China's non-manufacturing PMI jumps to decade high as economic recovery gets back on track
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —A key index measuring the strength of China’s massive services sector jumped to its highest level in more than a decade, as the country’s economic recovery gained traction. The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) soared to 58.2 in March from 56.3 in February, marking the best level since 2011, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). “The official PMIs suggest that China’s rapid reopening recovery remained robust this month,” Capital Economics analysts wrote on Friday. In a keynote speech, the newly minted premier told more than a thousand international business and political leaders that China’s economic growth was “strong,” with March’s performance even better than January and February’s. Top economic officials have also been trying to reassure both foreign business and the domestic private sector.

☆ Cash-strapped Chinese cities are cutting medical benefits for seniors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Censors removed hashtags for “Wuhan health insurance” from Weibo’s hot topics section after the demonstrations began in January. State media reported at the time that some other regions had already spent public money on mass testing. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesCovering the shortfallChina’s health insurance scheme is a key part of its limited social safety net. To protesters, however, it looked like local governments were dipping into their individual accounts to cover the shortfalls of the collective pool. “There has to be some resolution of the financial capacity of local governments to meet current, and prospective, age-related costs,” Magnus said.

☆ Boao Forum: Li Qiang says China 'confident and capable' of hitting 2023 growth targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The forum often promotes itself as “Asian Davos” and Li is tasked with reviving the world’s second largest economy at a time of sluggish growth. China, he said, will roll out new measures to boost domestic consumption and increase market access for foreign business while ensuring the stability of the financial sector. (Photo by AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) Stringer/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Boao Forum for Asia has been held annually since 2001, but was suspended in 2020 because of the pandemic. But the problems have been exacerbated by the Communist Party’s erratic and draconian zero-Covid policy, which ended late last year, and a sweeping crackdown on private business. To boost business confidence, China’s new economic leadership is trying to reassure both foreign business and the domestic private sector.

☆ Alibaba’s restructuring and Jack Ma’s homecoming are all part of China’s plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Ma is seen as a symbol of China’s tech industry and a barometer of the Chinese government’s support for private business. Alibaba’s restructuring is “part of [Beijing’s] strategy to shore up confidence in the private sector,” said Hong Hao, chief economist for Grow Investment Group. “[Alibaba’s restructuring plan] offers a way to limit monopoly power and platform sway,” Hong said. Unlocking valueInvestors and analysts have cheered Alibaba’s restructuring. Alibaba’s business will be split into six units: domestic e-commerce, international e-commerce, cloud computing, local services, logistics, and media and entertainment.

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