Month: September 2023

In the latest bid by local-level authorities in China to retain foreign investors and lure more of them to the world’s second-largest economy, Beijing city intends to ease up on strict capital controls and establish a fast-track mechanism to review cross-border data flows. Foreign investment-related funds will be allowed to freely flow in or out, and without delay, if such transactions are “authentic and compliant [with Chinese regulations]”, according to a draft regulation released by the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the legitimately earned revenue of foreign, Hong…

Huawei Technologies founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei commented earlier this year that the Shenzhen-based telecoms giant would face tougher times under US sanctions, pledging to build alternative ecosystems based on the firm’s home-grown operating systems HarmonyOS and EulerOS by opening them up to partners. “Huawei will face tougher days under US sanctions and crackdowns, but Huawei will also be more prosperous,” Ren said in a July conversation with Liu Yadong, head of the Journalism School at Nankai University, and former editor-in-chief of the state newspaper Science and Technology Daily.…

China’s role in the global supply chain will become even more crucial in the coming years, as it garners a bigger market share in intermediate products required for manufacturing globally, according to Hong Kong’s top banker. Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions that have fuelled calls for companies to reduce their dependence on China, cutting China off from the value chain is unlikely because of the complexity and interconnectedness of the global supply chains of many industries, such as information technology and automobile, said Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of the Hong Kong…

Chinese scientists have synthesised the first full-length spider silk fibres from genetically modified silkworms, and they say the result is tougher than “most natural and synthetic fibres” – including Kevlar. They published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Matter on September 20. The research challenges the notion that toughness and strength are mutually exclusive properties in fibres, as the team’s spider silk has both “high tensile strength and extraordinary toughness”. The spider silk’s toughness surpasses that of Kevlar by sixfold, but it also has a higher tensile strength – or…

Venture firm GGV Capital said on Thursday that it would separate its American and Asian operations, joining several other US firms that have made similar moves as Washington looks to restrict investments in sensitive Chinese technologies. The split, expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year, would turn GGV into two “completely independent” partnerships with distinct branding, the company said in a statement. The US partnership, based in Silicon Valley, will be headed by managing partners Glenn Solomon and Hans Tung, among others. The Asian business, headquartered…