Chinese Uber rival Didi suspends UK launch amid data crackdown August 24, 2021 Ride hailing platform Didi has called off plans to launch in continental Europe including in UK cities. The firm is consulting with staff working on its Western Europe roll out on assigning roles and potential redundancies, according to reports from the BBC and The Telegraph. Plans to launch in London, Sheffield and Salford have been [...]
Chinese EV maker BYD’s shares rise despite chip-making unit’s IPO plan pausing August 23, 2021 Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD has been forced to suspend the proposed listing of its computer chip-making unit amid a regulatory probe into the law firm advising the company. BYD Semiconductor applied to list on Shenzen’s Nasdaq style market ChiNext in May and sought to raise at least $421m from the sale of shares. The [...]
China tightens scrutiny over accounting firms in fight against forgery August 23, 2021 China’s leadership has set new rules to strengthen supervision of accounting firms in a fight against financial forgery, vowing “zero tolerance” toward misconduct. China’ State Council said accounting firms have not fully played their role as “gatekeepers” of capital markets, which have often witnessed cases of financial forgery and inaccurate accounting information. The authorities will [...]
Markets stumble as China throws sand into the gears of recovery August 19, 2021 European stocks have come under further pressure today, in sharp contrast to last week. The falls appear to be being driven by several factors, so you can pick your poison to a certain extent, however the prospect of a Fed taper is unlikely to one of the main factors, given that US yields are lower, [...]
Alibaba shares sink to record low as China regulations on tech continues August 19, 2021 Alibaba Group shares sank by 5.4 per cent to a record low in Hong Kong on Thursday, following the latest round of regulations on Chinese tech giants by Beijing. The shares fell after China reportedly said it was looking at separate and new regulatory proposals including heightening oversight of the live streaming industry and ensuring the [...]
Weaker than expected retail sales drags Wall Street down August 17, 2021 US stocks edged down during the open today after official figures showed US retail sales were much weaker than expected in July. The blue-chip S&P 500 dropped 0.55 per cent to 4,455.46 points and the Dow Jones lost 0.83 per cent to fall to 35,328.87 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq extended the traditional benchmark’s losses to [...]
Beijing takes stakes in ByteDance and Weibo domestic entities August 17, 2021 The Chinese government has taken stakes in Chinese entities owned by tech companies ByteDance and Sina Weibo, tightening its grip on its technology sector. WangTouZhongWen (Beijing) Technology, co-owned by three Chinese state entities including an investment fund backed by China’s internet watchdog, has taken one per cent of stake in Beijing ByteDance Technology, according to [...]
Chinese tech shares drop after Beijing tightens rules on internet competition August 17, 2021 China has marked its latest crackdown on the technology sector as the authorities announced new rules today to tackle unfair internet competition and companies’ handling critical data. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published a set of draft regulations banning unfair competition and restricting the use of user data. Shares of Chinese tech companies [...]
Hong Kong IPOs run dry amid concerns over China’s regulatory scrutiny August 16, 2021 The global financial hub has seen only one initial public offering so far this month, as Hong Kong’s investors are spooked by China’s tightening scrutiny across sectors. International investors have long used Hong Kong as gateway to China, but they are increasingly concerned by Beijing’s policies, ranging from technology and education to food and health [...]
Chinese car sales fall for third month in a row August 11, 2021 Chinese car sales declined for a third straight month in July, new data today showed, as the global shortage of semiconductors weighed on the world’s biggest auto market. Figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed that sales fell 11.9 per cent to 1.86m, compared to the same month a year ago. The trade [...]