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Macao restaurants, retailers business performance better than expected

The proportions of restaurants and retailers reporting a year-on-year growth of revenue were higher than those in August, and they were optimistic about the business prospects in October, the Macao Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) statistics department said on Sunday.

Latest report by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business performance of the interviewed restaurants or similar establishments and retailers in September 2017 was better than expected with improved business conditions.

Among the interviewed restaurants or similar establishments, 45 percent registered a year-on-year rise of revenue in September, up by 12 percentage points from August.

For retail trade, the proportion of interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year sales increase in September 2017 went up by 10 percentage points from August to 51 percent. On the other hand, 24 percent of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales decrease, down by 17 percentage points over August.

The DSEC report also said that benefited from the long holidays for National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival in October 2017, the interviewed restaurants or similar establishments expected a slight improvement in their business, with 27 percent anticipating a year-on-year rise in receipts in October, up by 6 percentage points from September.

Retailers were more optimistic about their business prospects in October, with 33 percent predicting a year-on-year sales increase, up by 8 percentage points from September.

Baidu may divest global assets, shift focus to AI

Internet giant Baidu Inc is considering spinning off its international division, as it focuses more on prioritizing artificial intelligence as a growth driver, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Following the closure of its mobile healthcare segment and the sale of its takeout delivery unit earlier this year, analysts said the Beijing-based company is aiming to reposition itself as a leader in artificial intelligence.

“Baidu wants to spin off those businesses that have less relevance to its AI strategy. As for the international unit, the company’s executives have been in negotiations about detailed issues, such as the price and shareholding structure,” said the person on condition of anonymity.

“When it is divested from Baidu, the international unit is very likely to be renamed,” the source added.

He said many issues need to be discussed, so the results may still be pending by the end of this year.

Baidu’s international unit has seven offices around the globe. Its products include the mobile ad platform DU Ad Platform, as well as several other mobile applications such as DU Speed Booster and Battery Saver. These international apps have more than 2 billion users in 200 countries and regions worldwide.

“The idea behind this spinning off is to gear up efforts to develop AI, since Baidu lost its luster in the age of mobile internet,” said Wang Huie, a senior analyst at Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys.

Baidu did not confirm this information on Thursday.

The tech giant has been consolidating its core resources on AI-enabled business, in order to keep pace with its faster-growing rivals.

On Thursday, it announced it would roll out driverless buses next year. In addition, it has expanded its business into voice-assisted products and video-streaming entertainment.

Analysts spoke highly of Baidu’s strategy to refocus on AI.

“It’s a wise move. Baidu would stay ahead of the curve in the AI era, because it boasts massive data acquired from its search engine and rich funds.” said Wang, adding that Baidu might axe unprofitable non-core segments in the future.

But she was skeptical about Baidu’s plan to realize the mass production of driverless vehicles by next year.

Li Zhi, an analyst with Prestige Securities, said Baidu’s concentration on AI would help to shore up its profit margins.

The search engine company’s profit in the third quarter more than doubled, compared to a year earlier. In the same period, its total revenue rose to 23.49 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) from 18.25 billion yuan.

Shanghai’s AI sector set to flourish

Shanghai’s artificial intelligence industry revenue will hit 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) by 2020, and likely become the city’s new growth engine, top government officials said yesterday.

It will be a big market because AI is set to integrate with many sectors, including finance, transport, agriculture, healthcare and medical and automotive industries.

Shanghai plans to incubate AI “unicorns,” which are private firms with market value of over US$1 billion each, Chen Mingbo, chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, said.

The city will build six industrial zones focusing on AI applications, establish a government-backed fund and open up data from government and telecommunications carriers. By 2020, Shanghai will be home to 10 global AI giants, according to a new government AI blueprint released yesterday.

“Shanghai doesn’t have BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) now but I am confident we will own world-class AI unicorns in the future,” Chen said during a city government-held conference.

Open data, high-end talent and eco-systems covering finance and information infrastructure are Shanghai’s unique advantages, Chen added.

So far, Shanghai has opened up 17,000 categories of government data containing 260,000 projects, covering e-government and telecom data — more than other Chinese cities have released.

Shanghai firms have invested heavily in intelligent connection, robotics, smart devices and industrial-use sensors based on advanced smart manufacture and chip industries.

Meanwhile, Shanghai is drafting plans to attract overseas AI giants to set up facilities in the city as AI is a “globalization industry,” Chen added.

Labor boom prompts call for additional vocational training

A technician of CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd, a high-speed train manufacturer, gives instructions to students at a vocational school in Shandong Province.

The labor market needs more vocational education to lift the number of skilled workers in China, experts said at a recent seminar.

According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the working population in China will face a sharp drop to 700 million by 2050 from 911 million in 2015.

Such a drop is sparking the demand for vocational education and creating a profound market. At the seminar held by JP Morgan, experts addressed on the importance of vocational education.

“The speed of industrial upgrading is going beyond expectation,” said Hao Jianbin, director of the Entrepreneurship and Employment Research Center at the Ali Research Institute. “It raised the salary for low-end labor and pushed the manufacturing factories (that) required less skills moving abroad.”

He said it is not very likely the quantity of labor can increase in the short run. Hence the market needs to see more investment in human resources to train more skilled workers to make up for the shortfall.

According to Qianzhan Industry Research Institute’s report, the market for vocational education in 2015 was 453.5 billion yuan ($68.3 billion), and the number is expected to double by 2020, creating a trillion-yuan market.

To promote people’s employability in the fierce job market, some vocational education has already seen a growing volume of students. Emerald Group, an education institution focusing on inter-net technology and digital entertainment, is one example.

“We have seen a rising demand for internet engineers in the domestic job market every year since it is a very prospective occupation,” said Chen Shengdong, chief executive officer of the group. “More and more graduates come here to enhance their competitive edge in the labor market.”

Chen said the institution will constantly change their course syllabi according to what is hot in the labor market, thereby serving the companies that are upgrading but struggling to find suitable employees.

From January to August this year, net profit of the group has reached 50.25 million yuan. The group is expected to bring in an annual 90 million yuan in net profit and predicts a stable 30 percent growth rate during the next two years.

Education in the high-end financial sector is also booming. Earlier this year, PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC, started its You Plus Special Training Program in Shanghai’s Lujiazui Financial City.

According to PwC’s report, more than 80 percent of senior executives in Chinese corporations said it is hard to find talent with practical problem-solving skills.

The full-time PwC program lasts for 12 months and can cost up to 300,000 yuan.

Cai Xiaoying, general manager of You Plus, said such training will help solve the imbalance between the supply and demand in human resources for Chinese corporations.

China’s online retail sales near $1t mark in 2017

China’s 2017 online retail sales is approaching $1 trillion that will buttress the country’s position as the largest e-commerce market in the world, S&P Global Ratings said on Monday.

The rating agency said the estimation is based on record online spending during the country’s Singles Day shopping carnival last Saturday. Driven by that, China’s online retail industry’s annual growth will be 20-25 percent in next 12-24 months.

According to Syntun, a Beijing-based e-commerce data provider, the online sales totaled 254 billion yuan ($38.26 billion) at this year’s event.

The huge number of transactions last Saturday indicated that Chinese online retailers still have enough space to grow, financial news portal stcn.com said quoting Shalynn Teo, an analyst at S&P.

More product categories will go online, and the increasing mobile penetration will promote the online sale momentum, Teo said.

In addition, purchasing online will become more popular in China’s third- and fourth- tier cities and rural areas, the analyst added.

China’s online retail sales surged 34 percent year-on-year to 5.54 trillion yuan in the first 10 months of this year, surpassing the 10.3 percent increase in overall sales of consumer goods, official data showed on Tuesday.

In next 12-24 months, the intense competition will put pressures on the Chinese online retailers, Teo warned, adding that the pricing power in addition to rising marketing and delivery expenses will lead the industry’s margins to slip.

“But higher growth and improving operating leverage will ease the risks,” Teo said.

Over 1,000 new products to debut at China hi-tech fair

More than 1,000 new products will be released at the China Hi-tech Fair 2017 next week in the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, authorities said Wednesday.

Scheduled for Nov. 16 to 21, the fair is themed “Innovation-driven development and supply quality upgrade,” said Gao Yuyue, deputy secretary-general of Shenzhen city government, at a press conference.

More than 50 roadshows have been arranged for the fair to introduce new products, including an Intel robot 3D sorting system and a flexible rechargeable battery developed by the Chinese Academy of Science Institute of Advanced Technology.

The fair will have 12 exhibition zones, covering a total area of 120,000 square meters, said Gao, also deputy secretary-general of the fair’s organizing committee

He said hi-tech products in environmental protection, biological sciences, new energy, new material, military and civil integration, and sensor technology would feature in the zones.

Around 100 technical meetings have also been scheduled on topics such as artificial intelligence, energy saving, aeronautics and astronautics, the Internet of Things, new material and smart cities.

The fair will be attended by more than 3,000 registered exhibitors from over 30 countries, including 27 Belt and Road countries.

The annual China Hi-tech Fair was inaugurated in 1999, and is the largest and the most influential state-level international fair in science and technology in China.

The Chinese ministries of commerce, science and technology, industry and information technology, agriculture, and the National Development and Reform Commission are among the co-organizers.

China’s Internet of Things output reaches 930 bln yuan in 2016

China’s industrial output in the Internet of Things exceeded 930 billion yuan (140 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology official said Thursday.

The value was almost six-times the level in 2009, when the sector saw 170 billion yuan of output, said Zhu Wan, deputy head of informatization and software service at the ministry, at the opening of a China Internet of Things conference in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province.

“Industrial chains have been formed in chips, sensors, terminal devices, application software, system integration and communication networks, with over 100 million machine-to-machine terminals set up via the mobile communication network,” Zhu said.

In June, the ministry announced faster development of the Internet of Things infrastructure, and innovation in Internet of Things pilot zones. The zones aim to promote the Internet of Things in public safety, health care, urban management and well-being services.

“Accomplishment has been primarily achieved at the pilot zones, such as Fuzhou economic and technical development zone, with the Internet of Things integrated in fields of retail, transport, environmental protection, medical care and power grids,” she said.

Zhu said the ministry would help companies that were influential and industry leaders, as well as encourage the creation of small and medium-sized Internet of Things startups.

China’s cloud computing market projected to reach 686.6 bln yuan by 2020

China’s cloud computing industry will grow by at least 30 percent year on year on average in the coming five years, the latest industry report showed.

By 2020, the aggregate market size of the country’s cloud computing industry is expected to hit 686.6 billion yuan (about 103.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Report of Prospects and Investment Strategy Planning on China Cloud Computing Industry (2017-2022) published by Forward Intelligence Co., Ltd., a special market research institute.

The country’s cloud computing industry has experienced robust growth since 2010 and its market size reached 178.2 billion yuan in 2016, up 18.8 percent year on year, said the report.

The growth was propelled mainly by public departments, who serve both as the customer and the government, as well as by telecom operators, the service provider.

Cloud-based infrastructure or infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) is playing a key role in the industrial development, while factors include the adoption of platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) are also growing fast, according to the report.

The central government attaches great importance to using emerging information technology, including cloud computing and the Internet of Things, to shore up the digital economy, as information consumption, mobile payments and e-commerce grow rapidly in the country.

The cloud computing market is expanding fast worldwide. Last month, American market research firm Gartner’s latest worldwide public cloud services revenue forecast showed the cloud computing market would reach 411 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, driven by robust growth of services including IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, according to media reports.

Cloud computing, also called on-demand computing, is the delivery of on-demand computing resources over the internet.

China expects favorable trade environment in 2018

China’s foreign trade environment will remain favorable in 2018, although the trade protectionism risks still keep growing, the commerce ministry said on Monday.

The Chinese government is implementing policies to cool the property sector and deal with debt risks in the economy. China’s stronger than expected trade performance this year has provided support for the economy.

“Looking forward to 2018, China’s foreign trade conditions are generally favorable as the global economy steadily recovers, and China’s economy grows smoothly,” the ministry said.

“But there are still many external risks and uncertainties with economic and non-economic factors intertwined. As trade protectionism continues to grow, domestic costs also continue to rise. As a result, pressure on business has increased, and the development of China’s foreign trade continues to face many difficulties and challenges.”

After several years of contraction, China’s foreign trade has recovered this year, even though the government has not set a specific target for international trade growth in past two years.

Growth in foreign trade may slow down, but will remain at a high level in the fourth quarter, a ministry report said.

Economists expect China’s exports have risen 7.2 percent on-year in October, slower than 8.1 percent the previous month.

Economists are positive about the Chinese export outlook due to the improvement in the global economy. Capital Economist Evans-Pritchard, still feels that China’s imports may face “a sharper slowdown,” because of that the support to the economy from a loose fiscal policy reverses. And local governments are forced to rein in spending in the final months of the year to meet budget targets.

With a GDP growth of 6.9 percent in the first half, China’s economy is also on firmer footing this year, contributing to brisk import growth.

The IMF raised its forecast for China growth for the fourth time this year in its latest report. The IMF predicts that China’s economy will grow 6.8 percent this year, and 6.5 percent next year, both 0.1 percentage point higher than its previous forecasts.

Sodexo Group strengthens integrated support services for mainland corporates

Sodexo Group, a French services giant specializing in traditional segments such as catering and engineering, is expanding in the Chinese mainland market, its largest target in Asia, by enhancing its integrated corporate services in 50 Chinese cities.

Such services include asset lifecycle management, workplace setting improvement, facility and equipment maintenance.

As China opened up its services sector to strengthen industry, Sodexo started developing its business in more mid-western cities. Its on-site offerings now include business support services, lifestyle services and scientific services.

Optimal use of human resources; design, installation and maintenance of aesthetically appealing entrance areas, inner courtyards, terraces and floral decoration; upkeep of sophisticated buildings … all these functions are now performed by Sodexo for its clients.

“We will cater to diverse segments as our clients are increasing,” said Bruno Vaquette, CEO of Sodexo China. “For example, we’re introducing wellness services in China as part of our ‘Mindful’ project.”

The services, including staff training courses, have already become popular in some metropolises, thanks to agreements with corporate icons such as JD.com Inc and St Luke’s Hospital in Shanghai.

The Sept 1 agreement with JD was for upgrading Sodexo’s supply management.

Sodexo’s wellness services include entertainment sessions and enjoyable short breaks during off-work periods, which are designed to raise awareness of fitness among employees of its corporate clients.

“Chinese companies have recognized the significance of employees’ fitness to their business, and are investing more to improve the quality of their life. Their leaders know that employees’ happiness is key to the company’s success,” Vaquette said.

“We will respond to industry trends and needs via innovation and more services.”

With 425,000 employees worldwide, Sodexo takes the 19th rank among the world’s largest employers and figures in the Global 500 list. Its China unit company employs 12,000 staff.

“Our Chinese on-site employees are all local people, and are supported by thousands of in-house experts, which helps in delivering services in time as per clients’ demands,” said Vaquette.

Paul Junck, managing director of the Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, said, “Opening up the services market is mutually beneficial for foreign investors and Chinese domestic players. Companies’ development is stimulated by competition between players, and industry standards rise thanks to such development.”