Archives 2017

Li: Make way for new growth drivers

Technical workers assemble engines at a plant in Yiwu, Zhejiang province.

Companies should consider outside investment, mergers, premier says

Premier Li Keqiang promised more incentives to boost high-end manufacturing in China during a visit to Huaxiang Group, a private steel-casting company in Linfen, Shanxi province?part of a two-day visit to the area on Monday and Tuesday.

The company’s moves to retain top-level professional engineers have brought success, turning it into a major supplier for a number of overseas automobile companies. Huaxiang provides an annual salary of 3 million yuan ($456,000) to some of its top craftsmen, four times that of the company’s CEO.

Li spoke warmly about the approach as he talked with some of the craftsmen from whom young workers have learned, noting that providing better incentives to lure talent in high-end manufacturing is also a key strategy for the country as it seeks to shift from old economic drivers to new ones.

“We should pass on the spirit of craftsmanship from one generation to another, so that the idea of Made in China will be competitive not only in terms of prices but also in quality,” Li said.

Also on Tuesday, Li visited Linfen Iron and Steel Co to learn about the region’s efforts in cutting outdated capacity. The company, which is affiliated with Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp, stopped most of its outdated operations in 2016, and 10,000 workers have been relocated with new jobs. Among them, more than 2,500 have started their own businesses.

“These workers may be seen as a burden for a company with outdated capacity, but their talent may be in demand when they find new and more suitable jobs,” Li said, calling on companies to focus on developing high-end products.

Companies that rely on traditional models should be open to private investment, mergers and reorganization, Li said, adding that China is determined to phase out outdated and excess industrial capacity as a key part of its structural reform, especially as coal prices have been rising again in recent months. The idea is to truly make room for new economic growth drivers, he said.

Li also visited the Shigejie Coal Mine, which ceased production of low-quality coal in 2016, and poverty-stricken Chengzhuang village in the Taihang Mountains to learn about local poverty alleviation and medical services.

Ctrip reports strong financial results in Q2

China’s biggest online travel agency, Ctrip.com International Ltd (Ctrip), announced that its net revenue surged 45 percent year-on-year to 6.4 billion yuan ($946 million) in the second quarter (Q2) ended June 30.

The company gained a gross margin of 82 percent in Q2, compared to 72 percent for the same period last year and 80 percent for the previous quarter, according to its unaudited financial results.

Net income attributable to Ctrip’s shareholders for Q2 was 327 million yuan, compared to net loss of 521 million yuan for the same period last year and net income of 82 million yuan for Q1, the company reported.

“Ctrip maintained healthy revenue growth and achieved continual improvement in operating efficiency,” Ctrip CEO Sun Jie said. “We are confident that Ctrip will generate long-term value for shareholders in the years to come.”

The company expected its net revenue for the next quarter to grow by approximately 35-40 percent year-on-year.

Strengthening its position in lower-tier cities has been Ctrip’s focus of action. The company said both its new customer acquisitions and user engagement in lower-tier cities improved significantly in Q2.

Ctrip and Qunar, a domestic rival acquired by Ctrip last year, had opened over 400 offline retail stores by the end of the quarter, with approximately 200 more in the pipeline, the company reported.

Liang Jianzhang, chairman of Ctrip, said the company will continue to expand into lower-tier cities and invest in international markets.

The company said both its accommodation reservation business and transportation ticketing business delivered healthy growth in Q2.

China Guodian merges with Shenhua Group to create new energy giant

China’s State Council has approved a merger between China’s major power generator China Guodian Corporation and coal producer Shenhua Group, an official statement said Monday.

The two companies will be restructured to form a new energy investment company, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said on its website.

The move came with little surprise, as the listed arms of the firms had suspended trading of their stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange since early June, a move widely considered to signal a merger.

Following the announcement Monday, the listed arm of Shenhua Group on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange surged more than 4 percent before falling back slightly.

As the world’s largest coal supplier, Shenhua Group had total assets of over a trillion yuan (150.7 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of April this year. It ranked 276th among the global Fortune 500 in 2017.

In the first half of 2017, China Shenhua Energy Company, the listed arm of the group, reported revenue of 120.5 billion yuan, an increase of 53.1 percent year on year.

With total assets of more than 800 billion yuan, China Guodian Corporation is one of the country’s largest power generators with installed capacity of over 143 GW. It ranked 397th among the global Fortune 500 in 2017.

The merger between the two power giants was in line with the country’s aim to cut overcapacity in the coal and power sectors through restructuring state-owned enterprises (SOEs), analysts said.

SASAC has been actively restructuring SOEs this year in a bid to improve their efficiency, with the number of central SOEs falling to 98 after Monday’s announced merger, down sharply from 196 in 2003.

Xiamen sees surge in fitness equipment exports to Russia

Eastern China’s port city Xiamen, the country’s largest exporter of fitness equipment, witnessed surge in trade to Russia in the first seven months.

Data from Xiamen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau showed the city exported $5.35 million worth of fitness equipment to Russia in the first seven months of the year, up 45.7 percent year-on-year.

The city’s fitness equipment exports to Brazil rose 32.1 percent year-on-year. Exports to South Africa increased 4.6 percent while exports to India picked up 3.4 percent.

In total, Xiamen’s fitness equipment exports to these countries reached $17.5 million, up 15.9 percent from the same period last year.

The trade and economic relations among the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are getting increasingly closer as the leaders are expected to meet in Xiamen on Sept 3-5 for the group’s 9th summit.

Xiamen is the country’s largest fitness equipment and message apparatus producer and exporter. Globally it accounts for 60 percent of the treadmill output. Its exports of message devices represent more than 70 percent of the country’s total.

There are more than 90 enterprises engaged in fitness equipment and related industries, with more than 10,000 employees.

Of these companies, 60 are exporting companies and 10 boast output value of more than 100 million yuan.

Big retail should be enhanced by social media opportunities

Social media is set to become a major gateway to shopping rather than a mere communication portal, as the younger generation of buyers are inclined to make purchases while watching livestreaming shows, according to a latest survey.

Around 70 percent of those aged between 19 and 22 in China said they would place an order online via social networking sites, global consultancy Accenture revealed in research based on 10,000 consumers in 13 countries including China.

Calling them “Generation Z”, Accenture found that 31 percent cited social media as a popular source for product inspiration, while 58 percent have increased their use of social media for purchase decision-making in the past year.

One-third of the respondents in China claimed they prefer video and livestreaming sites as avenues for bargain hunting. This contrasts with just 12 percent among those between 23 to 28 years old and 8 percent among those in their 30s.

“Social media has emerged as a real disrupter in targeting true digital natives,” said Koh Yew Hong, managing director and retail lead for Accenture Asia Pacific. “Internet celebrities are gaining traction because they grasp what customers want.”

This is reflective in the daily operations of e-tailor sites such as Taobao and Mogujie, both of which introduce online hosts or influencers for product endorsement that are broadcast live in a bid to improve traffic and boost sales.

Social media magnet Tencent Holdings Ltd is also empowering e-commerce players through a Mini Program function that incentivizes users to share their beloved goodies with online contacts.

Meanwhile, Generation Z are seeking a sophisticated shopping experience. Over 40 percent said they would search information directly from the brands’ indigenous websites rather than third-party platforms, a percentage significantly higher than the millennials who are mostly 30 and older.

It also came as a surprise that young consumers are equally embracing in-store shopping. Compared with virtual shopping, 31 percent reported they prefer brick-and-mortar stores but heavily rely on digital means, such as chat tools and social media reviews, to facilitate the purchase.

Koh said physical stores are projected to enjoy remarkable renaissance as long as they are digital-ready. “It’s because Generation Z values the shopping experience over the utilities of merchandise per se. Omni-channel sales are therefore critical to harness that trend.”

China’s internet giants including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc have ramped up efforts to deploy offline channels as pure-play e-commerce growth starts to stagnate. Alibaba has completed a series of buyouts including retail chain Intime Retail Group Co, while JD backed Yonghui Superstores and announced plans to open 1 million namesake convenience stores in five years.

Shares end up on pension fund investment in market

Shanghai shares closed higher yesterday as market sentiment rose on news that pension funds have started to flow into the stock market and also on progress in the on-going mixed-ownership reform in state-owned enterprises.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.56 percent to 3,286.91 points.

Investor sentiment soared on news that eight provinces and cities have invested the first tranche of 172.15 billion yuan ($25.8 billion) of pension funds in the stock market, Securities Daily said yesterday.

Joyoung, China’s biggest maker of soybean-milk machines, and Yantai Zhenghai Magnetic Material both soared 10 percent. The two companies’ interim results showed China’s pension fund was their major shareholders in the second quarter.

“The pension funds which flow into the A-share market are going to stabilize the market,”said Li Chao, chief analyst at Huatai Securities.

Investors were also buoyed by progress in mixed-ownership reform in state-owned enterprises.

China Unicom, the country’s second-biggest telecom firm, surged by the daily limit of 10 percent to 8.22 yuan ($1.23) after saying yesterday it planned to draw investors such as Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings and Baidu under its reform.

Regulator OKs China Unicom’s non-public offering of shares

China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Sunday night it approved the non-public offering of shares in China Unicom’s mixed-ownership reform plan and would handle it as a special case, according to a report by China Securities Journal.

China Unicom can formulate its own non-public offering of shares plan in accordance with the old rules of the refinancing system that were not revised until Feb 17 this year, CSRC said.

On the same day earlier, China Unicom disclosed its mixed-ownership reform plan, announcing it will transfer old stocks, grant employee incentive shares as well as sell shares to strategic investors.

The company will issue 9 billion private shares to strategic investors to raise no more than 62 billion yuan ($9.29 billion), transfer 1.9 billion old shares priced at 13 billion yuan to the structural reform fund and grant no more than 848 million restricted stocks to core employees to raise 3 billion yuan.

The total consideration of the above transaction will not exceed 78 billion yuan, according to the report.

Shares of China Unicom rose by 10 percent, the daily trading limit, to 8.22 yuan per share right after trading resumed Monday morning after months of suspension.

On August 16, China Unicom once published two filings of mixed-ownership reform on the website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and withdrew them that night.

Analysts said it was because the company’s non-public offering of shares plan, the pricing of the new shares and investors’ shareholdings might have contradicted February’s newly-revised regulations, according to reports by China Securities Journal and caixin.com.

The revised rules require the number of shares issued shall not exceed 20 percent of the total equity base before the issue. However, in China Unicom’s plan, the proportion reaches 42.63 percent, China Securities Journal reported.

CSRC said on its announcement Sunday it has recognized that China Unicom’s mixed-ownership reform is significant for laying a foundation for and deepening the reform of State-owned enterprises.

The company’s strategic investors include domestic tech titan Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Baidu Inc and JD.com Inc and Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd.

Madcap monikers! Odd company names to be banned in China

“Beijing Afraid of Wife Technology” and “What You Looking at Technology” are just two examples of the kind of company name that will soon be a thing of the past.

After launching a campaign to eliminate public signs with poor English translations, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) is targeting firms attempting to register names that are excessively long or strange.

The Legal Daily paper cited names of existing firms that would not be allowed under the new rules, including “Shanghai Wife Biggest Electronic Commerce” and “Hangzhou No Trouble Looking for Trouble Internet Technology”.

The newspaper also gave the example of a condom company called “There is a Group of Young People with Dreams, Who Believe They Can Create Wonders of Life Under Uncle Niu’s Leadership Internet Technology”.

The restrictions were introduced by the SAIC this month, while also banning company names deemed offensive or racist or having religious or political connotations.

Outside China, other countries have also made moves to regulate “inappropriate” company names.

According to China National Radio (CNR), companies in Russia can use only Russian words when registering businesses. Untranslated foreign words are banned by the administration.

Although the UK has few rules governing what name a company may trade under, firms are forbidden from using any words related to royalty, such as king, queen or prince.

Government-related words like Government, British and Britain are also taboo for local companies to use in their names, said CNR.

Lenovo drives big data take up in car making industry

He Zhiqiang, president of Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group, and Sun Zhongchun, general manager of Haima Car Co Ltd, at a news conference in Zhengzhou, Henan province, Aug 16, 2017.

China’s biggest personal computer giant Lenovo and domestic auto maker Haima will join forces to promote the use of big data and artificial intelligence technology in the auto manufacturing industry.

Under the deal announced on Wednesday, Lenovo will examine Haima’s sales data to come up with solutions to help the car maker target potential customers. In the future, the two companies will collaborate in areas like new car design and development, and smart manufacturing.

The move comes as the hardware veteran is gearing up its expansion in big data to go with its traditional strengths in manufacturing.

In 2016, the company’s big data arm began offering services to other companies, before that it was an internal operation. By utilizing its own big data analysis platform, Lenovo has provided solutions to clients from various industries including metallurgy, medicine and tobacco.

Relying on its experience in manufacturing and its big data technologies, Lenovo is making efforts to drive China’s manufacturing enterprises to transform and upgrade, He Zhiqiang, president of Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group, said at the strategy cooperation signing ceremony held in Zhengzhou, China’s Central Henan province.

JD Finance spinoff paves way for listing

JD Finance promotes its online financing products to consumers in Nanjing.

JD Finance, the finance unit of China’s second biggest e-commerce player JD.com Inc, has been deconsolidated from JD as a result of the reorganization as of June 30, 2017, which is expected to pave the way for the former’s eventual listing.

Accordingly, JD Finance’s historical financial results for periods prior to July 1 are reflected in JD’s consolidated financial statements as discontinued operations, according to the company’s second quarter financial results.

Analysts said JD Finance’s spinoff is seen as a preparatory move towards it listing on a domestic stock exchange, as well as obtaining more financial licenses.

Yu Baicheng, an expert at wangdaizhijia.com, a web portal that tracks the internet finance industry, said the move will let JD Finance develop its businesses more independently.

“The spinoff will allow JD Finance to move more aggressively, as it could carry out more financial business easily, as well as help JD focus on its core e-commerce business,” said Li Zichuan, an analyst at Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys.

“We don’t rule out the possibility that JD Finance will seek an initial public offering on a domestic stock exchange in the next few years,” Li added.

JD Finance has sought privatization and a split from JD at the beginning of last year. In January 2016, JD Finance raised 6.65 billion yuan ($992 million) from investors such as Sequoia Capital China, China Harvest Investments and China Taiping Insurance.

Its business scope now covers supply chain finance, consumer finance, wealth management, crowd funding, insurance and security. The company is applying for financial service licenses as the country’s middle class surges in size.

In November 2016, JD announced it would reorganize JD Finance, to make it a wholly Chinese-owned entity to facilitate its development in certain licensed financial service businesses and take advantage of the liquidity provided by the Chinese capital market.

In March, JD agreed to sell its 68.6 percent stake in its finance unit, JD Finance, for 14.3 billion yuan in cash by the middle of this year, and post-deal, JD will hold neither legal ownership nor effective control of JD Finance.

The spinoff of JD’s financial arm is similar to that of Ant Financial Services Group, the financial affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding. It was split off from Alibaba and obtained business independence in 2014, making it a powerful financial player.

JD also announced that its net revenue reached 93.2 billion yuan in the second quarter, an increase of 43.6 percent year-on-year. Its gross merchandise volume in the second quarter increased 46 percent to 234.8 billion yuan, from 160.4 billion yuan in the same period last year.