CX Daily: China’s Railway Investment Falls for a Third Straight Year
Travelers from Hong Kong will no longer have to go through quarantine upon arrival on the Chinese mainland
Railway /
China’s railway investment falls for a third straight year
China’s investment in its state railway operations dropped 5.1% in 2022, the third consecutive year of decline, as the country wraps up building the major lines of the world’s largest high-speed railway network.
Fixed-asset investment declined to 710.9 billion yuan ($103.4 billion) last year from 802.9 billion yuan in 2019, according to a Wednesday statement from China State Railway Group Co. Ltd.
Covid-19 /
China to end quarantine for travelers from Hong Kong to the mainland
Starting Sunday, travelers from Hong Kong will no longer have to go through quarantine upon arrival on the Chinese mainland, the central government said Thursday.
People arriving from Hong Kong will be allowed into the mainland as long as they appear healthy and have a negative PCR test result from the past 48 hours, according to a statement from the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
PMI /
China services activity shrinks for fourth straight month, Caixin PMI shows
Services activity in China shrank for the fourth straight month in December, though not as sharply as the previous month, as widespread Covid-19 outbreaks continued to drag on demand and operations, a Caixin-sponsored survey showed Thursday.
The Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index, which gives an independent snapshot of operating conditions in services industries such as retail and travel, rose to 48 in December from 46.7 the previous month. Readings below 50 signal contraction.
The Caixin China General Composite PMI, which covers both the manufacturing and services sectors, stood at 48.3, the fourth consecutive month below 50.
Academic fraud /
China punishes dozens for academic fraud at medical universities
China’s Ministry of Science and Technology disclosed a string of cases of academic fraud at medical and higher education institutions, many of which involved plagiarism or the buying and selling of research data, with nearly 40 medical researchers punished.
The disclosure comes amid a tougher crackdown on scientific misconduct after a number of academic integrity scandals dented the country’s international reputation and undermined its efforts to rise as a science superpower.
Quick hit /
China’s central bank pledges targeted, prudent monetary policy
BUSINESS & TECH
A worker wheels packages on Dec. 20 at a parcel sorting center in Taiyuan, North China’s Shanxi province. Photo: VCG
Logistics /
China logistics slammed by Covid spike
China’s logistics business shrank for the third consecutive month in December as a swell in Covid-19 cases lashed the workforce in the sector and wreaked havoc on industrial production.
The prosperity index for the logistics industry hit 46% last month, falling from 46.4% in November and 48.8% in October, making it the second-lowest level in 2022, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said Wednesday. The reading marked a steep 6% decrease year-on-year.
Property /
Debt-strapped Sunac divests Shenzhen ski resort stake
Troubled developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd. is offloading its stake in a sprawling ski resort project in Shenzhen to raise funds for debt repayment in a further effort to ease its liquidity crunch.
Hong Kong-traded Sunac said Tuesday in a filing that it would sell its entire 51% stake in the stalled Shenzhen ski resort to state-backed partner Zhuhai Huafa Properties Co. Ltd. for 3.58 billion yuan ($518 million). All proceeds will be used for debt payments, and Sunac will retain the right to buy back the stake, according to the filing.
IT /
Unigroup seeks full control of IT joint venture with Hewlett Packard
Tsinghua Unigroup Co. Ltd. is taking full control of its information technology equipment unit New H3C Technologies Co. Ltd., ending a six-year joint venture with U.S. partner Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
Tsinghua Unisplendour, the Shenzhen-traded unit of Unigroup, said Tuesday in a filing that it plans to acquire the 49% of H3C that it doesn’t already own from HPE.
Quick hits /
BYD says it can’t judge how many cars it will sell this year
Macao’s annual casino revenue plunges to 18-year low amid ‘zero Covid’
Taiwan shipping giant Evergreen gives up to 52 months’ pay as year-end bonuses
Long Read /
With jobs at home scarce, young Chinese are heading to Africa
GALLERY
Philippines’ Marcos visits China
