CX Daily: Chinese Firms Bending Over Backward to Offer Foldable Phones
Shanghai has no plan to seal off the entire city. Hong Kong’s richest man sells his London office tower. China and the U.S. hold high-level talks
Photo: VCG
Foldable phones /
In Depth: Chinese firms bending over backward to offer foldable phones
As Chinese suppliers begin to catch up in foldable phone technology, domestic smartphone brands are betting that the novel technology will set them apart in a highly competitive yet relatively stagnant handset market.
It comes even as high manufacturing costs, troubling failure rates and a lack of software remain significant hurdles.
With their bendable displays, foldable phones function like a regular handset when folded, but unfold to form a larger screen resembling a tablet.
Covid-19 /
Shanghai says no plan to seal off entire city of 25 million
Shanghai currently has no plan to seal off the entire city or shut down all social activities, the municipal government said Tuesday after imposing strict travel restrictions on its 25 million residents amid a growing Covid-19 outbreak.
Gu Honghui, Shanghai’s deputy secretary-general, said at a press conference (link in Chinese) that the recently ramped-up curbs were targeted and would be adjusted dynamically to minimize their impact on residents.
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FINANCE & ECONOMY
The selling of Chinese stocks continued Tuesday despite upbeat economic data. Photo: VCG
Stocks /
Chinese stocks get another drubbing as uncertainty overwhelms investors
Chinese stocks traded on the mainland and in Hong Kong continued to get hammered Tuesday in a sell-off that persisted as investors shrugged off upbeat economic data and focused on geopolitical turmoil, regulatory risks and a resurgence of Covid-19.
The Chinese mainland’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged 4.95%, the biggest drop since February 2020, while the Shenzhen Component Index fell 4.36%. Northbound trading — global investors’ trading of mainland stocks through the Stock Connect program linking Hong Kong and the mainland — recorded a net outflow of around 16 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) following a six-day streak of net selling.
“The Chinese A-share market hasn’t bottomed out yet,” Shanxi Securities Co. Ltd. analyst Ma Wenyu said in a note, citing weaker-than-expected credit data announced by the central bank last week as well as a pessimistic view of the country’s recent wave of Covid-19 cases.
Nickel /
Chinese nickel giant secures deal to avoid further margin calls
Chinese metal giant Tsingshan Holding Group Ltd., caught in a massive short squeeze amid an unprecedented rally in the price of nickel, reached a deal with banks to avoid further margin calls.
Tsingshan, one of the world’s biggest nickel and stainless steel producers, worked out a standstill arrangement with a consortium of hedge bank creditors that will allow the company to continue discussions with banks on a secured credit facility to cover its nickel margin calls and settlement requirements, the company said Monday in a statement.
China-U.S. /
China and U.S. hold ‘candid, in-depth, and constructive’ high-level meeting
After a meeting between China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Rome Monday, the two sides noted consensus on accumulating “enabling conditions” to bring bilateral relations back on track, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
With “candid, in-depth and constructive talks,” the officials noted the need to “enhance mutual understanding, manage differences, expand common ground and strengthen cooperation” to help China-U.S. relations “return to the right track of sound and steady development,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Quick hits /
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BUSINESS & TECH
Victor Li is the current chairman of CK Asset and Li Ka-shing’s eldest son. Photo: VCG
Li Ka-shing /
Hong Kong’s richest man sells $1.5 billion London office tower
A billion-pound central London office tower has become the latest British asset disposed of by Hong Kong’s richest man after a local subsidiary of Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset Holdings Ltd. sold the 5 Broadgate complex for a 45% return on investment.
A subsidiary of South Korea’s public pension fund paid CK Steel (UK) Ltd. 1.2 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) for the block, purchased for 1 billion pounds three and a half years ago, according to a Friday exchange filing. CK Asset’s calculation of the return included rental income and hedging profits.
The 13-story building, home to the U.K. headquarters of Swiss financial giant UBS Group AG, includes various commercial and office properties and parking spaces.
Iron ore /
Guinea suspends iron mine crucial to helping China cut reliance on Australia
The development of the world’s largest known untapped iron ore reserve in West Africa was halted again after the interim government of Guinea said Thursday there has been “no progress” with getting foreign investors in the project to work toward the country’s interest, which includes the construction of a railway.
Chinese investors are among the main forces pushing the Simandou project forward as it could bring down prices for China’s steel mills and may even further reshape the global supply chain. The project’s development has become more important to China as Beijing looks to cut imports of Australian iron ores amid geopolitical tensions with Canberra.
IBM /
IBM puts ex-Lenovo exec in China hot seat
U.S. tech giant IBM brought on board a former executive of debt-ridden chip conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup and top PC-maker Lenovo to help it navigate the lucrative Chinese market.
New York-headquartered IBM hired Chen Xudong as the new general manager of its Greater China operations, according to a statement (link in Chinese) released Monday. The new hire comes as Chen Liming, chairman of IBM Greater China Group, is about to retire.
Quick hits /
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Tech Insider /
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GALLERY
Covid testing in the snow in Northeast China