Business News
Latest business news and updates
Total: 2060
Once China’s Milk‑Tea Champion, Xiangpiaopiao Sees Profits Halved as Business Model Wobbles
Xiangpiaopiao, once the leading listed milk‑tea brand in China, reported a 2025 net profit decline of roughly 50–60% and an 11% drop in revenue, driven by weak sales of seasonal brewed products. The company is pursuing diversification—opening fresh tea shops and planning a factory in Thailand—but these moves carry execution risk and will likely require sustained investment before improving results.
China’s Economic Stewards Deliver a Reassuring, Targeted Playbook: Fiscal Push, Market Reform and a Firm RMB
At a high-profile economic press session, China’s top economic managers signalled a cautious but constructive approach: targeted fiscal-financial support, equity-market reform, steady financial opening and a firm stance on the currency. The package prioritises market confidence and structural adjustments over broad stimulus, leaving impact contingent on implementation and private-sector response.
Kao Pulls KATE’s Online Flagships from China as It Repositions Upmarket
Kao’s KATE will close its Tmall and Douyin flagship stores on 1 April 2026 as part of an online channel optimisation tied to the group’s wider premiumisation strategy. The move reflects mounting pressure on foreign mass-market cosmetics in China from local rivals and costly platform dynamics, even as Kao retains other China operations and aims to prioritise higher-margin brands.
Bitcoin Falls Below $70,000 as Crypto Markets Slip; Ether Slides Over 4% Too
Bitcoin slipped below $70,000 on March 6, falling about 4.04% in 24 hours, while Ether declined roughly 4.13% to $2,050.94. The move underscores persistent volatility in crypto markets and raises questions about leverage, liquidity and short‑term spillovers into broader financial markets.
China Signals Policy Easing as Markets Rally and Tech Firms Double Down on AI and Robotics
Beijing has signalled a more accommodative monetary stance for 2026 while markets rallied and major tech firms ramped hiring and automation pilots. Policymakers are combining demand stimulus with an aggressive push into AI and industrial robotics, even as operational risks in globalised supply chains persist.
China’s Economic Chiefs Signal Targeted Growth Push: Big Fiscal Envelope, Faster Credit and Market Reforms
China’s top economic officials announced a coordinated set of fiscal, monetary and market measures to stabilise growth, strengthen domestic demand and accelerate strategic sectors such as AI. The plan combines record fiscal spending and transfers, a fiscal–financial coordination tool to mobilise private capital, targeted infrastructure and service-sector investment, and capital-market reforms to improve equity financing and investor protections.
Beijing to Build ‘Cross‑Cycle’ Market‑Stabilisation Toolkit During 2026–30 Five‑Year Plan
China’s securities regulator said it will build a more institutionalised, ‘Chinese‑characteristics’ market‑stabilisation mechanism during the 2026–30 Five‑Year Plan, expanding cross‑cycle counter‑cyclical tools to shore up market resilience. The move combines promises of a stronger backstop with tighter issuance oversight, underscoring a regulatory environment where state intervention and market reform proceed in tandem.
Beijing’s Quiet Pivot: A Range-Based GDP Target and a Shift from Growth to Quality
China’s 2026 Government Work Report sets a GDP target range of 4.5–5.0 percent and signals a strategic shift from quantity to quality of growth. The plan pairs greater central fiscal leverage with targeted credit tools, expanded social spending and a push to cultivate a new generation of strategic industries.
KOSPI’s Collapse: Why a Korean Stock Rout Could Become a Global Market Time‑Bomb
A sudden, leverage‑fuelled collapse in South Korea’s KOSPI — driven by falls in AI‑hardware and memory stocks — has amplified risks well beyond Seoul because of Korea’s central role in global semiconductor supply chains and the prevalence of leveraged domestic investors. The rout was triggered by margin calls and an energy shock as Asian LNG prices spiked amid Middle East tensions, creating a pathway for spillovers to US tech stocks and broader markets.
Beijing Bets on More Than ¥6 Trillion of GDP Growth to Shore Up Jobs and Stability
NDRC chief Zheng Zhaijie told an NPC press briefing that China expects this year’s incremental GDP to exceed ¥6 trillion, a figure Beijing says will underpin jobs, livelihoods and risk control. The projection highlights a policy emphasis on generating a specific quantum of new economic activity through targeted fiscal and credit measures rather than on a single headline growth rate.
Hormuz Shock Sends Investors Fleeing: Morgan Stanley Downgrades India as Energy Risk Rattles Asia
Morgan Stanley downgraded India to a neutral rating, warning that disruptions to flows through the Strait of Hormuz could sharply curtail oil and LNG supplies to Asia. The bank’s move reflects growing investor risk‑aversion and early capital outflows from emerging Asian markets amid fears of higher energy prices and downgraded earnings expectations.
Uni‑President China Holds the Line at RMB 31.7bn as Beverages Slow and Instant Noodles Chase Growth
Uni‑President China posted 2025 revenue of RMB 31.714 billion and net profit of RMB 2.05 billion, marking modest growth while revealing slowing momentum in its core beverage and instant‑noodle businesses. The company kept a 100% dividend payout, but investors remain wary as competition, market shrinkage in noodles and beverage homogenisation pressure future growth.