Chinese passenger car sales fall 80 per cent in February March 4, 2020 Sales of passenger cars in China fell 80 per cent in February due to the coronavirus impact, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). The industry body did not give an exact sales figure, but earlier this month had reported that for the first 16 days of February only 4,909 units were sold, down [...]
Hong Kong retail sales plummet as coronavirus continues to dent economy March 2, 2020 Hong Kong’s retail sales fell 21.4 per cent in January on a year-on-year basis, as fears over the spread of the coronavirus kept tourists away from the city’s shopping centres. Sales dropped to $4.9bn according to government data, the 12th consecutive month of decline. The coronavirus outbreak has compounded an already challenging environment for the [...]
Chinese passenger car sales fall 92 per cent in February February 21, 2020 Chinese sales of passenger cars collapsed 92 per cent on an annual basis in the first 16 days of February as the coronavirus outbreak halted business output across the country. According to China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), only 4,909 vehicles were sold in the period, down from 59,930 in the same period a year earlier. [...]
Markets must wake up to the risks of the coronavirus February 3, 2020 It is still too early to be certain on the relative infectiousness or mortality rate of the new coronavirus. Nevertheless, there have been close to 10,000 confirmed cases, and 40m people in China are currently facing travel restrictions. The virus has now spread to 23 territories, including the UK, where two cases were confirmed last [...]
Year of the Rat: How China’s coronavirus outbreak is spreading tremors through world markets January 28, 2020 Saturday marked the beginning of the Year of the Rat. This animal — representing the first of the 12 signs of the zodiac — is associated with wealth and prosperity in China. In other cultures, the rat is more often associated with plague and disease. It is unfortunate, then, that the dominant Chinese story this [...]
Social media lessons from TikTok, Tencent and Weibo December 2, 2019 The average consumer would be forgiven for not knowing their Tencent from their Sina Weibo. In fact, it’s unlikely that they have heard of either platform. Yet these are two of the biggest social media companies in the world, bringing in billions in revenue each year. From transferring money, playing games, and even booking doctors [...]
Ignore the parades, China has no claim to any kind of greatness October 3, 2019 Seventy years ago this week, Chairman Mao Zedong inaugurated the People’s Republic of China after his decisive victory in the Chinese Civil War over the rival Kuomintang. With the defeated Chiang Kai-shek having fled to Taiwan, the new dictator set in motion his vision of what China should look like and aspire to. Much of [...]
India: Enormous advantage for UK investors June 6, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. There are lots of reasons to invest in India now. Our international columnist runs through them here. Rodney Hobson is an experienced financial writer and commentator who has held senior editorial positions on publications and websites in the UK and Asia, including Business News Editor on The Times and Editor of Shares [...]
China’s giant Belt and Road infrastructure push ‘could pump $7 trillion into global GDP’ by 2040 May 27, 2019 China’s monumental state-backed infrastructure investment scheme could inject $7.1 trillion (£5.6 trillion) a year into the global economy – or an extra 4.2 per cent of global expected GDP – by 2040, according to economists. The controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which sprawls across Asia, Africa and Europe, has sparked concerns the superpower is [...]
Huawei lashes out at US as President Donald Trump declares tech emergency May 16, 2019 Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has said it is willing to work with the Trump administration after it was slapped with a ban on buying components from US firms without special approvals. Read more: Huawei snaps up top Sky News journalist as senior spin doctor US President Donald Trump yesterday also signed an executive order which [...]