Month: January 2024

China’s big airlines set for fourth straight lossmaking year

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China’s three major airlines are on track to extend a lossmaking streak to a fourth year, as analysts warn that the country’s uncertain economic growth and fewer direct US flights are weighing on demand for international travel. The three carriers’ total combined estimated net losses of up to Rmb14.3bn ($2bn) are significantly less than the combined loss of Rmb108.7bn in 2022, according to their preliminary results. But the…

China’s manufacturing activity contracts for fourth month

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China’s manufacturing activity contracted in January for the fourth month in a row, reflecting sluggish momentum in the world’s second-largest economy at the start of the year despite policymakers’ efforts to boost confidence in the recovery. The country’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index released on Wednesday was 49.2 for the month, in line with a median forecast of analysts polled by Reuters and edging up from a reading of 49…

Chinese investors buy gold as property and stock markets fall

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Chinese investors and households have been buying gold as a refuge from local property and stock market mayhem, helping to support record prices for the haven asset. China was the principal bright spot globally for gold jewellery and investment flows in 2023, according to industry group the World Gold Council’s quarterly report, as local property, equity and currency markets disappointed following the country’s exit from Covid-19 lockdowns. Together with “blistering”…

Chinese EV battery maker CATL expects 2023 profit to jump as much as 48 per cent as it maintains huge advantage over rivals

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The company, based in Ningde in East China’s Fujian province, said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Tuesday evening that earnings for last year would reach 42.5 billion yuan (US$6 billion) to 45.5 billion yuan, up by between 38.3 per cent and 48.1 per cent. Its fourth-quarter profit, which is derived by comparing the full-year earnings estimate and its nine-month results published in October, would be 11.35 billion yuan to 14.35 billion yuan, an increase of 8.9 per cent to 37.6 per cent from the previous three…

The professor vs the PM: a political funding probe shakes Japan’s government

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. For two straight years Hiroshi Kamiwaki, a bandanna-wearing law professor and a veteran campaigner, spent his New Year’s Day digging through online filings to find evidence of undocumented money raised on behalf of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic party. Those efforts have finally paid off. An investigation by prosecutors, sparked by more than 20 criminal complaints filed by Kamiwaki, has exposed a slush-fund scandal that threatens to topple Prime Minister Fumio…

How China Censors Critics of the Economy

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China’s top intelligence agency issued an ominous warning last month about an emerging threat to the country’s national security: Chinese people who criticize the economy. In a series of posts on its official WeChat account, the Ministry of State Security implored citizens to grasp President Xi Jinping’s economic vision and not be swayed by those who sought to “denigrate China’s economy” through “false narratives.” To combat this risk, the ministry said, security agencies will focus on “strengthening economic propaganda and public opinion guidance.” China is intensifying its crackdown while struggling…

Hong Kong gets a second draconian national-security law

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HONG KONG has a constitutional duty to implement its own national-security law, as well as a practical need to do so. So said John Lee, the territory’s chief executive, on January 30th, as he unveiled new legislation aimed at thwarting subversive types. Mr Lee was half right. Hong Kong is indeed required to pass national-security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the mini-constitution enacted after Britain handed back the city to China in 1997. Its practical need is debatable. Hong Kongers, at least, seem to prefer living without…

Will Evergrande’s Liquidation Order be Enforced in China?

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Taipei, Taiwan —  The liquidation of debt-ridden China Evergrande Group, ordered by a Hong Kong court on Monday, is unlikely to be enforced elsewhere in China, analysts say. “I think it’s extremely unlikely,” David Goodman, director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney in Australia, told VOA in a phone interview on Tuesday. “It’s not only a question of enforcement, it’s a question of what the central government [in Beijing] wants to do. If it starts to get involved in this, it has to get involved in…

North Korea Says it Tested Long-Range Cruise Missiles to Sharpen Attack Capabilities

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SEOUL, South Korea —  North Korea said Wednesday it conducted a test-firing of long-range cruise missiles with an aim to sharpen its counterattack and strategic strike capabilities, in its latest display of weapons threatening South Korea and Japan. The report by North Korean state media came a day after South Korea’s military detected the North firing multiple cruise missiles into waters off its western coast, the third launch of such weapons this month. The event extended a provocative streak in weapons testing as North Korea continues to raise pressure on…

Universal Music Group threatens to pull song catalog from TikTok in furious open letter

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Universal Music Group’s agreement with TikTok is set to expire in the next 24 hours after the companies failed to agree on issues including artist compensation and AI, meaning some of the world’s most popular music – including Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and newly viral hit Murder on the Dancefloor – will be removed from TikTok’s library. In a blistering open letter titled “Why we must call Time Out on TikTok” published on Tuesday, UMG, the biggest music company in the world, accused TikTok of attempting to “bully” and “intimidate”…