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☆ China to inspect ships in Taiwan Strait, Taiwan says won't cooperate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, April 6 (Reuters) - China's Fujian maritime safety administration launched a three-day special joint patrol and inspection operation in the central and northern parts of the Taiwan Strait that includes moves to board ships, it said on its WeChat account. Taiwan's Transport Ministry's Maritime and Ports Bureau said in a statement late Wednesday said it has lodged a strong protest with China about the move. Areas covered by the operation include the Pingtan Taiwan direct container route, the "small three links" passenger route, the Taiwan Strait vessel customary route, the densely navigable areas of commercial and fishing vessels, and areas with frequent illegal sand mining activities. The "small three links" passenger route refers to boat routes between Taiwan's Kinmen and Matsu islands which sit opposite China and Chinese cities. The fleet, a joint special operation with East China Sea Rescue Bureau and the East China Sea Navigation Support Center, will continue to carry out cruise inspections in the central and northern parts of the Taiwan Strait over the next two days.

☆ Here's the 15-page pitch deck a startup helping Wall Street monitor employees' use of messengers like WhatsApp and Signal used to raise $22 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

LeapXpert used this 15-page pitch deck to raise a $22 million Series A+ round. This startup is helping companies ensure the messaging channels employees use to communicate professionally are safe and in compliance with regulation. On Wednesday, the startup announced a $22 million Series A+ round led by Rockefeller Asset Management's Technology Ventures Group. He wants to grow the startup's global reach, add more supported messaging channels, and increase its team. Read the 15-page pitch deck LeapXpert used to raise a $22 million Series A+ round.

☆ Republicans are starting to split over exactly how — and whether — to ban TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Bryan Metzger | Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Republicans generally support banning TikTok, but they're beginning to disagree on how. Sen. Rand Paul has also come out against a TikTok ban, blocking a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley. But even among Republicans who favor a TikTok ban, there are growing concerns about the RESTRICT Act — arguably the most prominent proposal put forward to deal with the issue. "So, I think we should ban TikTok. "It's worse than banning TikTok, because it can be applied to lots of other companies," said Paul.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Ford, Tesla, Netflix, Charles Schwab, Costco & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley reiterates Ford as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating on Ford. Evercore ISI upgrades Walmart to outperform from in line Evercore said the "traffic turn [is] building" for Walmart. Morgan Stanley downgrades Charles Schwab to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said it has "less confidence" in the stock. Evercore ISI reiterates Meta as outperform Evercore said it's bullish on Meta's messaging monetization opportunity. Piper Sandler reiterates Tesla as overweight Piper said it's bullish heading into the automaker's delivery numbers this weekend.

☆ China refiner ZPC enters strategic fuel marketing deal with Sinopec
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - Privately controlled Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC), operator of China's largest refinery, said on Thursday it has reached a strategic agreement with state refining giant Sinopec (600028.SS) on the domestic marketing of its fuel. Under a deal reached earlier this week, Sinopec will handle more than 60% of ZPC's domestic refined products sales, worth about 55 billion yuan ($8.0 billion) a year, the company said in a statement posted on its WeChat account. "With the growing new refining capacity at home, the mismatch between refined fuel supply and demand will become more and more prominent," ZPC said in the statement. ZPC, controlled by private chemical group Rongsheng Petrochemical Co Ltd (002493.SZ), operates an 800,000 barrels-per-day refinery in the eastern port of Zhoushan. Earlier this week, Rongsheng Petrochemical agreed to sell a 10% stake in itself to Middle Eastern energy giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) for $3.6 billion.

☆ Jack Ma returned to China to visit a private school he founded, 2 years after he first vanished from public view amid Beijing's tech crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

On Monday, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma visited a private school he founded in Hangzhou, China. Ma first vanished from public view after angering authorities in 2020 amid Beijing's tech crackdown. The private school caters to students from kindergarten to high school. Ma returned to China amid signals that Beijing may be taking a friendlier stance toward private enterprises after more than two years of a widespread tech crackdown. His visit follows a top Chinese central banker's comments in January that Beijing's tech crackdown was coming to a close.

The project is expected to cost 83.7 billion yuan ($12.2 billion), partner Panjin Xicheng Industrial Group said in a statement on WeChat on Sunday. Construction at the complex will start in the second quarter after the project secures the required administrative approvals, Aramco said. Before the pandemic, Aramco signed two other initial agreements for refinery-petrochemical investments in China. The other is with Shandong Energy that includes a potential crude supply agreement and chemical products offtake deal, as well as exploring collaboration on an integrated refining and petrochemical complex in China. Earlier in March, Saudi Aramco also broke ground on a $7 billion project to produce petrochemicals from crude oil at its South Korean affiliate S-Oil Corp's (010950.KS) refining complex in the port city of Ulsan.

☆ Alibaba founder Jack Ma back in China after months abroad in sign Beijing may be warming to tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been seen in public in China after the first time in several months. The billionaire's reapprance may suggest Beijing is softening its stance toward the technology sector after an 18-month crackdown. Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been spotted in China after spending months abroad in a potential sign that Beijing is warming to technology giants again after a roughly 18-month crackdown on the sector. Ma has been traveling outside of China over the past few months and has been spotted in Spain, Japan and Thailand. "In so doing, the government intends to signal its warmth towards private sector and investors—if even Jack Ma is perceived as having been pardoned, everyone else should feel safe and welcome," Sun said.

Hong Kong/Beijing CNN —Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Alibaba (BABA) and once one of China’s most prominent entrepreneurs, has made a rare public appearance in the country. Ma visited the city of Hangzhou and was seen meeting with students and teachers at the Alibaba-funded Yungu School. That intervention by regulators followed a speech from Ma in which he criticized China’s banks and financial regulators. In a statement to CNN about the trip, the Jack Ma Foundation said the Alibaba founder “travels very often in China and overseas.”“Mr. He paid a visit to Hangzhou Yungu School today and had a chat with teachers there on education,” a spokesperson said.

☆ Alibaba founder Jack Ma returns to China, ending year-long sojourn abroad -SCMP
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - Alibaba (9988.HK) founder Jack Ma has returned to China, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Monday, ending a more than year-long sojourn overseas that was viewed by industry as reflecting the sober mood of China's private businesses. Ma, one of China's best known entrepreneurs, left mainland China in late 2021 and has been seen in photographs in Japan, Australia and Thailand in the months since. Once one of the country's most outspoken businessmen, he retreated from the public limelight in late 2020 after criticising China's regulatory system that was later blamed for triggering a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown by Beijing. Alibaba shares in Hong Kong rose more than 4% after the SCMP report was published. It added that he returned to China after a brief stop in Hong Kong.

☆ China's Baidu reveals more capabilities of AI-powered chatbot Ernie
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - Chinese search engine Baidu (9888.HK) on Monday shared pre-recorded videos of its AI-powered chatbot Ernie summarising financial statements and producing powerpoint presentations, among other industry-focused capabilities. According to images shared by a Baidu spokesperson in a media-facing group on WeChat, China's most widely used messaging service, the Chinese chatbot has a wider range of skills than previously displayed when it was launched almost two weeks ago. Back then the ChatGPT-like product was shown to be competent at generating images with text prompts, composing poetry and producing audio in Chinese dialects. The videos shared on Monday show the chatbot, powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), producing travel itineraries and virtual, human-like livestreamers that can advertise products using scripts tailored to the user's needs. These videos were from a closed-door meeting hosted by Baidu's AI Cloud division for the first batch of companies that are testing an industry-focused version of the chatbot.

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security worries about TikTok, alleging China's government had access to the short video app's user data. "The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party," McCarthy said on Twitter. In Thursday's hearing, the TikTok CEO was asked if of the app, has spied on Americans at Beijing's request. Republican Representative Neal Dunn then referenced the company's disclosure in December that some China-based employees at ByteDance improperly accessed TikTok user data of two journalists and were no longer employed by the company. McCarthy, a Republican, said in a tweet on Sunday, "It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true — China has access to TikTok user data."

☆ U.S. House speaker McCarthy says lawmakers to move forward with TikTok bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), joined by fellow Republican lawmakers, holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on March 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security worries about TikTok, alleging China's government had access to the short video app's user data. "The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party," McCarthy said on Twitter. McCarthy, a Republican, said in a tweet on Sunday, "It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true — China has access to TikTok user data." Former U.S. President Donald Trump lost a series of court rulings in 2020 when he sought to ban TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, a unit of Tencent.

☆ McCarthy expects US House will pass legislation to address TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy thinks lawmakers will pass bipartisan legislation to address national security worries about Chinese-owned short video app TikTok, he said on Friday, and called the testimony of the company's CEO "very concerning." There are growing calls to ban TikTok or to pass bipartisan legislation to give the Biden administration legal authority to seek a ban. Former U.S. President Donald Trump lost a series of court rulings in 2020 when he sought to ban TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, a unit of Tencent (0700.HK). At Thursday's House hearing, Representative Neal Dunn asked Chew if ByteDance has spied on Americans at Beijing's request. "There are real national security concerns with respect to TikTok," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday, citing privacy and consumer protection issues.

☆ Tencent's online ad revenue grows for the first time in more than a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Overall revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 came in at 144.95 billion yuan ($21.07 billion), higher than the 143.89 billion yuan estimated by FactSet. Average monthly users of WeChat in China and overseas rose by 3.5% from a year ago 1.31 billion accounts in the fourth quarter. Ad spendingIn-feed ads for video accounts generated more than 1 billion yuan in revenue in the fourth quarter, Tencent said. Revenue sourcesThe largest revenue segment, which includes the giant gaming business, fell by 2% to 70.4 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, in line with FactSet estimates for 70.2 billion yuan. Tencent's second-largest revenue source, financial technology and business services revenue fell by 1% to 47.2 billion yuan, below FactSet estimates for 49.49 billion yuan.

☆ Crypto is banned in China, but Binance employees and support volunteers tell people how to bypass the ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

The messages CNBC reviewed come from accounts identified as Binance employees or Binance-trained volunteers known as "Angels." Whatever the method, Binance's Chinese users take on a significant risk: In China, crypto exchanges have been outlawed since 2017, while crypto itself was outlawed in 2021. But Chinese customers have continued to seek ways to trade on Binance, which include using instructions provided by employees and volunteers. "'Binance does not offer a 'Binance Chinese Android app," a spokesperson said. In addition, hours after Binance responded to CNBC, messages apeared on Twitter suggesting that some customers' Binance debit cards had been frozen.

HONG KONG, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tencent (0700.HK) is sounding more like its normal self again. The combination of regulatory respite, a post-lockdown consumption bounce plus cost cuts have put the company in a sweet spot for 2023. Revenue in the three months to December inched up 0.5% from a year earlier, to $21 billion, reversing year-on-year declines from the previous two quarters. With 2022 firmly behind it, Tencent can put a spring back in its step. Shares of Tencent rose 4.7% to HK$364.00 during early morning trading on March 23.

☆ Tencent says it will keep cutting costs as annual revenue drops
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, March 22 (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) on Thursday vowed to keep cutting costs and work on increasing efficiencies as it reported a drop in annual revenue for the first time ever, with its founder saying the company would stay focused on its core business. Tencent posted revenue of 554.55 billion yuan ($81 billion) for 2022, down 1% from a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected 555.15 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv. Profit attributable to equity holders fell 16% to 188.24 billion yuan for the year versus a consensus estimate of 114.19 billion yuan. Reuters reported last month that Tencent was working on a ChatGPT-like chatbot named the "HunyuanAide" which will incorporate Tencent's Hunyuan AI model.

☆ Tencent's annual revenue drops for first time as China crackdown bites
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Analysts on an average had expected 555.15 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv. Its revenue for the fourth quarter ended December rose 1% from a year earlier to 144.95 billion yuan, versus a consensus estimate for about 144 billion yuan. Tencent's profit attributable to equity holders fell 16% to 188.24 billion yuan for the year, versus a consensus estimate of 114.19 billion yuan. Tencent's domestic gaming revenue fell 6% to 27.9 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, while international gaming revenue rose 5% to 13.9 billion yuan. Tencent's revenue from online ads rose 15% to 24.7 billion yuan as brands widened spending amid a recovery.

ZURICH/BERLIN/LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Urs Kessler, who runs Jungfrau Railways, a train that takes tourists up the highest mountain in Switzerland, was excited for the return of Chinese tourists after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted late last year. Chinese outbound flight bookings to Europe during March and August are only 32% that of pre-pandemic levels, according to travel data firm ForwardKeys. OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTUREMany tourist operators and retailers hope the second half will bring a relaxation in visa policies, more flights and the long-expected influx of Chinese tourists. Harrods launched branded stickers, including its iconic teddy bear, on China's popular WeChat messaging platform this year to attract Chinese tourists. Kessler believes his Lang Lang campaign was still worth it.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed shares in China's Baidu (9888.HK), rebounded 15.7% on Friday as users told of their experiences with the Ernie bot, recouping losses from a day earlier prompted by the chatbot's launch, which failed to impress. One user described on the Weibo social media platform how Ernie had answered a question about the status of Hong Kong philosopher Zhang Jinqing accurately. Analysts also said the initial disappointment the market felt from the launch was tempered by the realisation that the Chinese search engine giant was still best placed to build China's strongest rival to ChatGPT. More than 75,000 corporate users have applied for a trial of an Ernie API developed by Baidu Cloud, the Chinese company said in a video published on its official WeChat account on Friday. Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Jason Xue; Additional reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Volkswagen joins China price war as new emissions rule looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Guangzhou Automobile Group, the Chinese partner of both Honda Motor Co Ltd and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), has also offered subsidies running from March 15 to March 31. Chinese passenger vehicle sales fell 20% in January-February, industry data showed, even as some manufacturers offered reduced prices to stimulate demand. Sales of new energy vehicles, which include all-battery and plug-in battery-petrol hybrid vehicles, grew faster than the overall market, accounting for over 30% in February. In the same month, Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ) outsold Volkswagen-branded cars for the second month in four. ($1 = 6.8923 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SAIC-Volkswagen offers $537 mln in subsidies through April 30
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Guangzhou Automobile Group, the Chinese partner of both Honda Motor Co Ltd and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), has also offered subsidies running from March 15 to March 31. Chinese passenger vehicle sales fell 20% in January-February, industry data showed, even as some manufacturers offered reduced prices to stimulate demand. Sales of new energy vehicles, which include all-battery and plug-in battery-petrol hybrid vehicles, grew faster than the overall market, accounting for over 30% in February. In the same month, Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ) outsold Volkswagen-branded cars for the second month in four. ($1 = 6.8923 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Zoey Zhang and Brenda Goh; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SVB collapse could add to China stock investors' anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SHANGHAI, March 12 (Reuters) - China stock investors, already disillusioned by Beijing's lower-than-expected economic growth target for the year, will be further disheartened by the shock collapse of U.S. lender SVB Financial Group, market participants said. The market mood could be damped further following Friday's sudden collapse of start-up focused lender SVB (SIVB.O), which stirred heated discussion over the weekend in China about its fallout. But many Chinese tech start-ups, especially those with dollar funding, have opened U.S. accounts at SVB. He is cautious about tech stocks that could be impacted by US-China frictions. Still, domestic A-shares will likely outperform offshore China stocks, which are more vulnerable to potential spillover from the SVB collapse, analysts say.

☆ Regulator visits ByteDance's Douyin to discuss revised pricing rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A man stands near a giant sign of Chinese company ByteDance's app TikTok, known locally as Douyin, during China Fashion Week, in Beijing, China March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, March 9 (Reuters) - Beijing's market regulator recently visited ByteDance's Douyin video hosting service to look into the company's livestreaming e-commerce business and discuss how to prevent over-charging, a statement, published on Thursday on the regulator's official WeChat account, said. "A good foundation has been laid for further deepening government-enterprise cooperation, working together to standardise the pricing behaviour of the live streaming industry," the market regulator said. Douyin said in a statement on the same day that it had revised rules governing price-gouging and the behaviour of e-commerce livestreamers promoting products on its platform. Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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