CX Daily: China’s Tightening of Online Insurance Sales Starts to Bite
Deutsche Bank joins its global peers with link to the Beijing Stock Exchange. BYD raises the price of its electric vehicles again
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Insurance /
In Depth: China’s tightening of online insurance sales starts to bite
China’s efforts to rein in the burgeoning online personal insurance sector are starting to take a toll on many smaller and weaker players including money-losing Anxin Property & Casualty Insurance Co. Ltd.
Months into the implementation of supplementary rules by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), many companies have either suspended or terminated sales of all or some of their online insurance products to comply, according to company notices released in December. They include Beijing-based insurers Dingcheng Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Kunlun Health Insurance Co. Ltd., and Livit Life Insurance Co. Ltd., as well as Hangzhou-based Sinatay Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and Chongqing-based China Three Gorges Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
Trafficking /
Chinese regions offer rewards for tip-offs on trafficked women and children
At least 16 parts of China have started offering rewards that can reach up to 20,000 yuan ($3,151) in some areas for tips about trafficking of women and children following a string of cases, including the high-profile case of a mother of eight who was kept shackled in a shed.
The move reflects the renewed focus of the government on the long-standing issue that has left tens of thousands of women’s safety at risk in the wake of reignited calls for harsher penalties for traffickers. Those calls prompted the Ministry of Public Security in early March to launch a special campaign targeting the trafficking.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
Stocks /
Deutsche Bank joins global peers with link to Beijing Stock Exchange
Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd. joined the list of foreign banks that can provide custody services to qualified foreign institutional investors trading stocks listed on the newly launched Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), according to a Thursday press release by the bank.
The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG.
Previously, HSBC Bank (China) Co. Ltd. and Citibank (China) Co. Ltd. have provided such services.
Three Chinese companies plan to sell shares in Switzerland
Financial holding /
China’s first two financial holding companies win approval
China’s central bank gave two state-owned firms the nod to become the country’s first two financial holding companies, 18 months after it released rules designed to tighten up oversight of nonfinancial conglomerates with multiple financial units.
Beijing Financial Holdings Group Ltd., and China Citic Financial Holdings Co. Ltd., a company being set up by Citic Corp. Ltd., have recently been granted approval to become financial holding companies, according to a Thursday statement issued by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).
Quick hits /
Hong Kong raises benchmark interest rate after Fed tightens
BUSINESS & TECH
Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial Co. Ltd. took control of HNA Aviation Group as part of HNA’s restructuring.
Airlines /
HNA Aviation chairman Bao Qifa taken away by police
HNA Aviation Group Chairman Bao Qifa was taken away by Chinese police, several people close to the unit of HNA Group confirmed with Caixin.
HNA Aviation Group said Wednesday that Bao was removed as the head of a safety administration commission and was replaced by President Wang Yingming.
HNA Chairman Chen Feng and CEO Tan Xiangdong were taken away by police last September in a probe of suspected criminal offenses.
Covid /
Five Chinese drugmakers sign up to export generic Paxlovid
Five Chinese drugmakers signed agreements with a United Nations-backed organization to produce low-cost generic versions of Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid Covid-19 pill for export, the organization announced Thursday.
The companies are Shanghai Desano Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Apeloa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Zhejiang Jiuzhou Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.. They are among 35 global drugmakers lined up by the U.N.-backed group to supply generic Paxlovid for poorer countries.
Batteries /
Shanghai's Envision to supply Mercedes-Benz's EV batteries
Shanghai-based green tech giant Envision Group has been selected to supply battery modules to Mercedes-Benz’s new vehicles, in a move the German automaker said is part of its electrification strategy to stay ahead in the competitive electric vehicle industry.
Under an agreement announced Wednesday, Envision AESC, the battery-making subsidiary of Envision Group, will power the new-generation all-electric EQS and EQE SUVs that Mercedes-Benz makes in the U.S. state of Alabama.
Electric cars /
As lithium surges, BYD raises EV prices for second straight month
China’s best-selling electric-car company, BYD Co. Ltd., raised the price of its vehicles for the second consecutive month, citing soaring raw material costs.
The Shenzhen-listed company will hike the price of all 18 of its electric vehicle models by 3,000 yuan ($472) to 6,000 yuan starting Wednesday, according to a social media announcement from the company published minutes before midnight Tuesday.
Coal /
After battling power shortages, China restarts mothballed coal plants
Two mothballed coal power plants in China’s northwest will start pumping out electricity again in the latest sign that policymakers still see the polluting fossil fuel as key to energy security.
It comes after a storm of coal-power-related issues drove widespread power outages and rationing around the country in September and October last year, denting production in some sectors.
Quick hits /
Tencent to trim workforce for online content and cloud business
Alibaba hunts for new SCMP chief as CEO moves to NFT spinoff
GALLERY
Earthquake jolts Japan