China Financial News

China has unveiled plans to use blockchain technology for the verification of real-name identities of its vast population of 1.4 billion people. 

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Also read- HUL share price underperform Nifty Sensex in 1year . Should you Buy Sell or Hold More than 70% of the company’s revenues (73%) are from contracted customers while less than 3% is on order-to-order basis. Agrawal does not expect any impact on margins and says the margins have stayed in 26-28% range and will continue to remain so.

Investors in Chinese stocks next year will be seeking out businesses with global reach or other insulation from an economic downturn, after three straight years of China underperforming world markets. Companies in defensive sectors such as health, medical innovation and exporters in the electric vehicles supply chain and advanced manufacturing, as well as multinationals such as e-commerce firm PDD Holdings, will top the list. That's despite sell-side analysts turning bullish on China's broader market for next year, with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs forecasting Chinese equities to outperform the S&P 500. «Since economic recovery is slower than expected, we lowered exposures which are sensitive to macro cycles,» said Wang Qing, chairman at Shanghai Chongyang Investment Management. Chongyang is instead buying defensive high-dividend stocks, medical innovators with global competitiveness, and advanced manufacturing backed by Beijing, Wang said, declining to list any investments by name. This follows China's blue chip CSI300 index sinking to five-year lows and losing 12% over 2023 against a 15% gain for global stocks as the Chinese economy struggled with a property crunch and a slow recovery from COVID-19. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fared even worse, sliding more than 18% to trade on a forward price-to-earnings ratio below six, against 21 for the S&P 500. Performance over the last 10 months crushed the optimism that infused the beginning of the year, with four straight months of foreign outflows in the second half of the year totalling a net 138 billion yuan ($19 billion) withdrawn from Chinese equities via the Stock Connect scheme. «Investors (have) struggled to think what the next growth driver for China will be,»

Global trade will decline in 2023 by about 5% from last year’s record as high borrowing costs weigh on economies, US-China tensions redirect supply chains and more policies restricting cross-border commerce emerge, a UN agency said. The value of goods and services trade will reach $30.7 trillion compared with $32.2 trillion in 2022, according to the Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. A $2 trillion, or 8%, slump in merchandise trade is the main reason.

Local democracy in Hong Kong has been under scrutiny since 1997, when Britain returned this erstwhile colony to China on the latter’s pledge of letting freely elected leaders govern it. In this context, a voter turnout of just 27.5% in Hong Kong’s district elections, down from 71% in 2019, signals a backslide.

inflation report later in the day that will set the tone for the week filled with central bank meetings. The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates on Wednesday, with the spotlight squarely on comments from Chair Jerome Powell during his press conference as well as the central bank's dot plot and summary economic projections.

The United Nations is targeting fewer people and seeks less money in its 2024 global humanitarian appeal as it faces a severe funding crisis

New York Democrats say the state will spend $1 billion to expand research into chip technology in an effort to turn upstate New York into a global center of semiconductor research and manufacturing

Morgan Stanley said steel shares may continue to underperform in 2024, as in 2023, citing weak global macro-outlook, higher domestic supply, and unattractive valuations. The brokerage said these stocks have lagged the market in 2023 despite a strong demand environment on slower-than-expected demand recovery in China.

The U.S. government is currently in talks with NVIDIA (NVDA) regarding the conditions under which it can sell AI chips to China. The administration has made it clear that Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is not allowed to export its most sophisticated semiconductors to Chinese companies.

US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB). The oil prices are expected to get some support from the demand from the United States, which has sought up to 3 million barrels of crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in March 2024.

Huawei Technologies Co.’s Mate 60 Pro smartphone shows “significant progress” in China’s domestic design and engineering of radio-frequency chips, according to the latest findings from research firm TechInsights. The Shenzhen-based company’s handsets include RF switches from Maxscend Microelectronics Co. and power-amplification modules from Beijing OnMicro Electronics Co., components most commonly provided by US suppliers Skyworks Solutions Inc. and Qorvo Inc., respectively. The architecture “is tailored for the Chinese industry” and suggests there was design collaboration between Huawei and its suppliers, TechInsights said in a post on Monday.

China's industry ministry announced Monday that over 90% of the country’s existing new energy vehicle (NEV) models will maintain eligibility for tax incentives on purchases, thanks to updated technical criteria.

China's Huawei will start building its mobile phone network equipment factory in France next year, a source familiar with the matter said, pressing ahead with its first plant in Europe even as some European governments curb the use of the firm's 5G gear. The company outlined plans for the factory with an initial investment of 200 million euros ($215.28 million) in 2020, but the roll-out was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the source said on Monday. They declined to be identified because they are not authorised to comment on this matter.

International Monetary Fund's No. 2 official on Monday warned that fragmentation in the global economy and clear shifts in underlying bilateral trade could trigger a «new Cold War» given the Ukraine war and tensions between the United States and China. First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath told the International Economic Association in Medellin, Colombia, that losses could reach 2.5% to 7% of global gross domestic product if the world economy fragmented into two blocs.

Vivo Mobile India, which is facing a probe for repeatedly reporting losses in its local operations allegedly to avoid paying tax while remitting huge amounts to its Chinese parent, posted a loss for fiscal 2022 after recording a profit in the previous year. The smartphone company reported a net loss of Rs 123 crore for FY22, as per its recent filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), compared with a net profit of Rs 552.5 crore in FY21, even as sales rose 9% to 26,971.11 crore. It did not give any reason for swinging back to a loss in FY22. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a chargesheet last week against the company alleging that it had remitted Rs 1 lakh crore outside India between 2014 and 2021 by showing losses to avoid paying income tax, ET among others had reported. An email sent to Vivo seeking comment remained unanswered till Monday press time. ET reviewed Vivo’s last six annual filings available with the RoC, which showed that the company reported net losses in FY17, FY18, FY19, FY20, and FY22, with FY21 being the only exception. “The company will continue its focus to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, enhance value addition to its customer base and maximise capacity utilisation with least cost to achieve higher revenue and improve profitability,” Vivo said in the latest RoC filings made on November 25. Vivo in the filings said its auditors had not made adverse observations or reservations about the company.

China climate envoy Xie Zhenhua heads to bilateral meeting earlier today | Credit: UNFCCC

By Harry Robertson and Rae Wee

(Reuters) — Fast fashion firm Shein has held talks with the London Stock Exchange about the possibility of a public listing in the United Kingdom, Sky News reported on Monday, citing sources.