Business News
Latest business news and updates
Total: 471
A City That’s Not Rushing to Celebrate a Trillion: What Xuzhou’s Calm on GDP Says About China’s Urban Policy Shift
Xuzhou has refrained from an emphatic announcement that its GDP surpassed one trillion yuan, publishing only a 5.8% real growth figure and urging officials not to be preoccupied with the milestone. The move reflects a broader policy tilt in China away from headline GDP targets toward higher-quality, more balanced urban development, though political incentives to tout such thresholds remain strong.
China’s Long Workweek Stalls After Nine Years — But Overwork, Low Wages and Underemployment Linger
Average weekly working hours for enterprise employees in China fell in 2025 after nine years of increases, a shift driven by limits to hours, growing anti‑overtime sentiment and better enforcement. Yet entrenched overwork among many and rising underemployment among others, combined with low hourly wages and higher employer social insurance costs, point to persistent structural problems that simple declines in hours will not solve.
Yonghui’s Painful Reinvention: Heavy Losses as China’s Supermarket Trims for a New Retail Era
Yonghui Superstores reported a large projected net loss for 2025 as it shuts and refits hundreds of outlets while pivoting from expansion to ‘quality growth’. One-off writedowns, closure costs and investments have driven five consecutive years of losses, while early signs from remodelled stores are promising but not yet material enough to offset the short-term pain.
PBoC Signals More Easing but with Targeted Tools as Beijing Recasts Monetary Framework
PBoC governor Pan Gongsheng said Beijing will pursue a ‘moderately loose’ monetary policy in 2026 with room for further reserve‑requirement and interest‑rate cuts, while accelerating a shift toward targeted structural tools and a market‑oriented monetary framework. The bank plans to expand re‑lending and risk‑sharing facilities for private firms, tech and small businesses, strengthen macroprudential oversight, and deepen international financial integration.
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.