Business News
Latest business news and updates
Total: 3095
China Buys Fewer Clothes per Person Than Mexico — What That Reveals About Consumption and Growth
Chinese consumers buy surprisingly few garments per year — about 21 — a rate lower than Mexico’s despite China’s status as the world’s second-largest apparel market by revenue. The gap reflects income and consumption patterns, high shares of spending on necessities, regional differences, and an emerging consumer preference for value and durability over volume.
China’s Podcast Moment: Celebrities, Platforms and the High‑stakes Rush into Video Talk Shows
A wave of Chinese celebrities and influencers are launching video podcasts as platforms such as Bilibili and Xiaohongshu weaponise creator funds and tools to win high‑value audiences. The format boosts engagement and brand opportunities but faces hurdles: high production costs, uneven on‑camera talent, and a concentration of success among established personalities.
Honor, Baseus and Nubia Join AliExpress Push as 50+ Chinese Brands Race to Grow Overseas
More than fifty Chinese consumer-tech brands, led by Honor, Baseus and Nubia, have joined AliExpress’s “Super Brand Going Overseas” programme to accelerate international sales. The move bolsters Alibaba’s cross-border marketplace while reflecting a wider trend of Chinese firms using platform partnerships to globalise amid domestic slowdown and intensifying competition.
Apple Hands Design Oversight to Hardware Chief, Lifting John Ternus into Cook’s Succession Spotlight
Apple has broadened John Ternus’s remit to include design oversight, enhancing his standing as a frontrunner to succeed Tim Cook. The move underscores Apple’s emphasis on product design while exposing potential succession trade-offs around chip leadership and governance timing.
Apple Consolidates Design Under Hardware Chief, Quietly Signalling a Cook Successor
Apple has added design oversight to the responsibilities of John Ternus, consolidating hardware engineering and design under a single executive. The move strengthens Ternus’s standing as a potential successor to Tim Cook and signals Apple’s desire for tighter integration of engineering and product aesthetics as it develops new hardware and AI-driven devices.
PBOC to Inject Rmb900bn via One‑Year MLF; A Measured Push to Keep Liquidity Ample
The People’s Bank of China will inject Rmb900 billion into the banking system via a one‑year MLF on 23 January, using rate bidding and multi‑price allotment. The move is a targeted liquidity operation intended to keep funding conditions ample and signal pragmatic, market‑oriented policy management amid a modest easing backdrop.
Xiaomi Launches HK$2.5bn Automated Buyback and Will Cancel Repurchased Shares — A Vote of Confidence with Strategic Consequences
Xiaomi has set up an automated share repurchase programme worth up to HK$2.5 billion and will cancel the shares it buys back, a move management says signals confidence and protects shareholder value. The plan further trims the public float and strengthens per-share metrics, while prompting questions about the trade-off between buybacks and investment.
From Chips to Fields: China’s Week in Markets, AI Supply Chains and Tech Control
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang confirmed that Nvidia has overtaken Apple as TSMC’s largest customer, signalling a permanent shift of chip demand toward AI infrastructure. Domestically, China reported record grain output and continued construction of high‑standard farmland while expanding duty‑free shopping and tightening controls around software that accesses WeChat data. The mix of industrial reorientation, food-security measures and stricter digital governance will shape supply chains, markets and developer ecosystems.
China’s ‘High‑End’ Furniture Star Faces Cash Crunch as Staff Are Forced to Sell Stock to Recover Wages
Meike Home Furnishings, a listed leader in China’s high‑end furniture market (600337.SH), has been accused of withholding months of employee wages and directing staff to sell company products to offset pay arrears. The revelations come as Meike posts continued losses, suspends two Tianjin subsidiaries, and pursues a controversial acquisition of a high‑speed cable maker as part of a strategic pivot into tech.
Musk’s Surprise Davos Appearance and a Winter-Driven Energy Shock Roil Markets
A severe US winter storm has sent natural gas futures sharply higher, complicating an otherwise positive session for US equity futures. Elon Musk’s unexpected Davos appearance adds a volatility vector for technology and AI-focused stocks, while chip supply constraints and corporate moves in semiconductors, crypto custody and fusion power frame a broader market narrative.
China’s January Car Retail Slumps Month-on-Month but EVs Now Nearly Half the Market
January retail sales of China’s narrow passenger-car market are estimated at about 1.8 million units, down 20.4% from December but roughly flat year-on-year. NEVs made up around 800,000 of those sales, reaching a 44.4% retail penetration and underscoring the swift structural shift toward electrified vehicles.
Speculative Frenzy Sends Fenglong Shares to 17-Day 'Limit-Up' Streak as Company Flags Market Risk
Fenglong's stock reached 90.48 yuan on January 22, marking a 17-day streak of daily limit-up moves despite the company denying any planned asset injection or restructuring involving robotics firm Ubtech. The issuer warned the share price had detached from fundamentals and flagged high trading risk, saying it might seek a trading suspension for investigation if abnormal rises continue.