In 2008, Alibaba founder Jack Ma famously declared, “if the banks don’t change, we will change the banks.” His words sparked an entrepreneurial renaissance in China’s fintech industry. ‘Fintech’ (金融科技), a portmanteau of financial technology, refers to the application of new technologies to “improve and automate the delivery of financial services.” Since Ma’s pronouncement, mainland China has produced eight fintech ‘unicorns,& ...

Chinese electric automaker NIO will use NVIDIA DRIVE for advanced automated driving technology in its future fleets, marking the genesis of truly intelligent and personalized NIO vehicles.   During a global reveal event, the EV maker took the wraps off its latest ET7 sedan, which starts shipping in 2022 and features a new NVIDIA-powered supercomputer, called Adam, that uses NVIDIA DRIVE Orin to deploy advanced automated driving technology.    ...

Should the EU – China Investment agreement be ratified, European companies should receive preferential market access in a number of these sectors in China and Chinese companies will be permitted to push forward on their green energy and NEV investment strategies into the EU. The Key elements of the agreement are layed out below.   The cumulative EU foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from the EU to China over the last 20 years have reached more than €1 ...

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Africa was supposed to be China’s new stomping grounds. Instead, the novel coronavirus has spawned a growing backlash that threatens to unwind the ties Beijing has carefully cultivated over decades.   The trigger for the burgeoning diplomatic crisis: Anger over the treatment of African citizens living in China and frustration at Beijing’s position on granting debt relief to fight against the outbreak.   China has spent untold ...

The 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), known as the "China Tianyan", has officially begun the search for extraterrestrial civilizations, looking for signals from intelligent life deep in the universe, the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said today.     The search for and monitoring of radio pulsars is a core scientific objective of FAST. And the search for extraterrestrial civilizations is one of the scientific g ...

Decades of rapid economic growth have dramatically expanded China’s energy needs. China is now the world’s largest consumer of energy, the largest producer and consumer of coal, and the largest emitter of carbon dioxide. However strong growth of renewable power is currently the key driver of China’s energy transition.     Projections for 2050 2% to 14% Increase in primary energy between 2018 and 2050 -44% to -94% Decline in coal consumption betw ...

The UAE has set its sights on boosting trade and investment ties with the world's second largest economy – China. While the economic powerhouse of Asia has been a strong market for UAE oil exports, the relationship between the two countries has deepened over the past few years as they find synergies and areas of co-operation in a wide range of sectors that go beyond hydrocarbons. China and the UAE launched a US$ 10 billion fund in late 2015, which focuses on sectors of strategic imp ...

Despite a precipitous plunge in March, the price of copper has risen 7.6% since the start of 2020 and looks set to maintain momentum in the coming months and beyond as China's economic recovery gathers steam. Copper prices plummeted from a high of US$6,270 per tonne in mid-January to a low of US$4,617.50/t in late March after the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 to be a pandemic but has since recovered to levels last seen in 2018. China's appetite for  ...

Chinese electric vehicle startup and Tesla challenger Xpeng Motors has exported its first batch of vehicles to Europe, expanding its global presence. It's the first time the automaker is selling its electric vehicles outside of its home country.     Xpeng loaded 100 of its G3i fully electric SUVs on a cargo ship which will be shipped to Norway, which has the highest EV adoption rate. Roughly 75% of all new vehicles sold in Norway are plug-in hybrids of fully-electric ...

Aldi has become the latest overseas supermarket operator to open stores in China, the 8th was recently opened in Shanghai,  but the German company faces a battle to win over customers in a fragmented market in which foreign operators have traditionally struggled: Tesco and Spain’s Dia abandoned operations in the country and Germany’s Metro is selling its China unit. Walmart and Carrefour have struggled to gain more than a single-digit market share.      ...

Even before Covid-19, mobile payment platforms were experiencing a boom in the U.S. and China. Apple Pay (U.S.) and Alipay (China) have radically changed the way people transact, offering secure, contactless payment options through mobile phones. Though both platforms are growing, Alipay is outperforming its U.S. peer: As of late 2019, Bain & Company found that only 9% of American consumers had adopted Apple Pay while 81% of Chinese consumers used Alipay. Given the size difference between ...

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China has released its European Business in China – Position Paper 2020/2021 (Position Paper). This annual publication delivers to the Chinese Government over 800 detailed recommendations for improving the business environment, spread across 34 industry sectors and horizontal issues. The Position Paper details how persistent issues, such as limited market access and a complex regulatory environment, prevent European businesses from contributing  ...

The country is making the transition from net importer of ideas to net innovator, and as it does, it is finding that good patent laws matter. Whilst addressing the recent Global Trade in Services Summit, President Xi Jinping stated ‘China will work with all countries in enhancing the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and actively promote the development of the digital economy and sharing economy’. At the end of 2019 the general offices of the Communist Party of Chin ...

Studying and understanding how ancient China viewed consumerism and the pursuit of wealth through the lens of Confucian thought and traditions, and how they impacted modern Chinese society, helps develop a deeper understanding of modern China.     In 2017 at the 19th National Congress meeting for the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jing Pin recognized the influences of his vision for China, saying: the party has been guided by Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng X ...

Myanmar’s pushback against China, which is trying to widen its influence through the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), among other issues has been influenced by Pakistan’s experience in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port project. Myanmar’s all-powerful generals have drawn lessons from these experiences and highlighted reservations against the Chinese investment.     The CPEC model, which has led to Pak ...

Given the capital and time-intensive process of establishing a physical office in China, online channels are a popular option for international retailers and especially SME’s to reach Chinese     consumers. E-commerce platforms such as Tmall are a popular entry point for international consumer brands to test market demand, develop brand penetration and outsource operations, including online payment and customer delivery. Listing on a Chinese e-commerce platform offer ...

Sankeshu Paint will serve as the official exclusive paint supplier of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Established in 2003 Sankeshu is part of the Three Trees Group.     Chairman and President of Three Trees Hong Jie, says his company's mission of “making homes healthier and cities more beautiful” connects with Beijing 2022’s concept of “delivering a green Olympic Winter Games”. Sankeshu becomes the seventh official  ...

China’s economy returned to growth in the second quarter after a deep slump at the start of the year, but unexpected weakness in domestic consumption underscored the need for more policy support to bolster the recovery after the shock of the coronavirus crisis.     Asian share markets and the Chinese yuan fell, partly reflecting the broad challenges facing the world's second-largest economy as it grapples with the double-whammy of the pandemic and ...