CX Daily: The Shake-Out of China’s Community Group-Buying Market
Chinese cities affected by the recent Covid-19 outbreak roll out policies to cushion its impact on local businesses
A resident picks up purchases delivered from a group buying website at a residential community in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei province, during the city’a Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020. Photo: VCG
Group-buying /
In Depth: The shake-out of China’s community group-buying market
China’s once crowded community group-buying market is getting quieter as it turned into a winners-take-all battleground amid cut-throat competition and intensifying regulatory scrutiny.
Community group-buying services have exploded in popularity in China since 2020 as millions of Chinese consumers shopped for groceries online during pandemic lockdowns. The business model allowed community groups to buy groceries and other daily essentials in bulk at cheaper prices than if members made individual purchases. Tech giants including Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., Pinduoduo Inc. and Meituan have all dived headfirst into the sector, waging price wars that prompted regulators’ anti-competition crackdowns.
Huawei /
Huawei’s 2021 net profit soars 76% even as revenue plummets
Embattled Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. reported a 76% surge in net profit for 2021 even as sales shrank for the first time in 19 years, reflecting the impacts of U.S. sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Huawei’s global revenues in 2021 totaled 636.8 billion yuan ($99.7 billion), down 28.6% from the previous year, according to its financial report released Monday.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
Tax bureau staff inspect work in a factory workshop in Changzhou, East China’s Jiangsu province, in June 2021. Photo: VCG
Economy /
China doles out support for businesses amid worst Covid outbreak since 2020
Chinese cities affected by the recent Covid-19 outbreak — the most serious one since early 2020 — have rolled out policies such as tax cuts and consumption vouchers to cushion its impact on local businesses.
On Tuesday, Shanghai announced a bundle of policies to prop up businesses. The measures include tax and fee cuts, rent cuts for small businesses renting state-owned property, and credit support. Also included are measures that specifically target restaurants, retail businesses, travel agencies and tourist sites, the transportation sector, and companies in the exhibition industry.
Tax relief /
China offers tax relief for workers with children under age 3
China expanded personal income deductions to include childcare expenses for children under the age of three, the government’s latest move to reduce the tax burden for households and encourage families to have more babies.
The deductible amount is 1,000 yuan ($157) per month for each family, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Finance’s website. The rule took effect retroactively Jan. 1, it said.
Quick hits /
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BUSINESS & TECH
Simandou in southwest Guinea is considered to be the world’s largest, highest-quality iron ore deposit.
Iron ore /
Guinea agrees to resume Simandou iron ore project with new infrastructure pack
International investors in the Simandou project including Chinese companies struck a deal with Guinea’s government to resume development of the world’s largest known untapped iron ore reserve after a nearly two-week suspension.
The western African country’s ruling junta gave a green light to investors in the Simandou project — including London-based mining giant Rio Tinto PLC, China’s state-backed aluminum giant Aluminum Corp. of China and China’s Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group Co. Ltd. — to restart operations after a framework agreement was reached to settle infrastructure disputes, local media reported.
Papers /
Hundreds of fake medical research papers published in recent months, authorities say
China has named and shamed more than 600 medical workers linked to some 520 faked papers since June 2021 as part of a crackdown on plagiarism and other misconduct in the medical community that has dented the country’s scholarly reputation.
The faked papers were revealed in a string of statements published from last June to March this year on the website of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Investigations into research at more than 240 medical and educational institutions found that the production of the papers involved illegal activities such as trading, ghostwriting and falsifying research processes and data, according to the statements.
Property /
No relief for China’s debt-ridden developers as housing sales stay weak
There was no let-up in the pressure on China’s real estate developers in March as sales in some large and midsize cities dropped by nearly half from a year before and more developers ran the risk of default.
Housing sales by floor space fell 49.1% year-on-year in March in 17 Chinese cities, a deeper contraction than a 23.4% drop the previous month, according to Monday data from property think tank China Index Academy. The cities tracked include larger, more developed first-tier cities as well as second- and third-tier cities.
Tech Insider /
EV firms lose more cash, another tech firm downsizes
GALLERY
Phased lockdown splits Shanghai