Day: March 24, 2024

China’s answer to Instagram makes first profit

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Chinese social media sensation Xiaohongshu has seen its growing popularity lead to profits for the first time, as the Instagram-like platform brings in revenues from advertising and a nascent ecommerce business.  The Shanghai-based video and photo-sharing app raked in $500mn in net profit last year on revenues of $3.7bn, according to four people briefed on the figures, which are not public. By contrast, it made a $200mn loss…

China’s Instagram-like app Xiaohongshu makes first profit

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Chinese social media sensation Xiaohongshu has seen its growing popularity lead to profits for the first time, as the Instagram-like platform brings in revenues from advertising and a nascent ecommerce business.  The Shanghai-based video and photo-sharing app raked in $500mn in net profit last year on revenues of $3.7bn, according to four people briefed on the figures, which are not public. By contrast, it made a $200mn loss…

Ferrari doubles Taiwan sales as chip entrepreneurs fuel demand

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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. Sales of Ferraris in Taiwan have doubled in the past four years, bolstered by the growing wealth of the country’s chip entrepreneurs and a return of capital as global supply chains diversify away from China. Ferrari’s chief executive Benedetto Vigna said demand in Taiwan was growing faster than in China or Hong Kong because of a sharp rise in supercar sales to the country’s increasingly wealthy citizens. “China is growing…

Security law brings Hong Kong’s future as business hub into question

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The city should not be discounted as an international financial hub, says Kevin Tsui, chief economist at the research firm Orientis. He adds that Hong Kong should make use of its advantages – a simple, low-rate tax system, and the fact that it’s the only Chinese city with no foreign exchange controls. The Hong Kong dollar is also pegged to the US dollar, providing financial stability. BBC

Canadian Miners Needs Capital – But Only China Is Stepping Up

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After more than a decade of aggressive expansion, China now stands tall as the world’s largest mining producer and financier by some margin. It is the leading miner of aluminum, coal, gold, magnesium, tin, zinc, manganese, tungsten, phosphate, nitrogen, potash, and other critical minerals. Canada, which used to be a leading force in the mining sector despite its small demographic size and investment pool, is now at the bottom end of the global top 10 producers. Still, China is looking to capitalize on the extent of Canada’s mining network nationally…

Details of millions of UK voters accessed by Chinese state, ministers will say

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The personal details of millions of voters are believed to have been accessed in an attack by China on Britain’s democratic process, ministers will say. MPs and peers are thought to be among 43 people who the government looks set to confirm have been targeted by cyber-attacks backed by the Chinese state. The UK could impose sanctions on individuals believed to be involved in these acts of state-backed interference, one of which was a separate attack on the Electoral Commission in which Beijing accessed the personal details of about 40…

UK Deputy PM to Address Lawmakers on Chinese Cybersecurity Threat

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LONDON —  British deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is set to address the country’s lawmakers about the cybersecurity threat posed by China on Monday as worries about possible interference grow before an election expected later this year. Dowden is expected to make a statement Monday, a government official said, declining to confirm whether the deputy PM will also announce reprisals including sanctions. FILE – British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden speaks during an interview with Reuters, in Seoul, South Korea, March 19, 2024. There has been growing anxiety about China’s…

UK MPs to be given warnings on threat of Chinese cyber attacks

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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. Britain’s democracy is under threat from Chinese cyber attacks, MPs will be told on Monday, after the hacking of voter details and the targeting of a number of China hawks in parliament. Oliver Dowden, deputy prime minister, will brief MPs on the cyberthreat from China and is expected to announce reprisals against those believed to be involved, according to government insiders. Dowden will point the finger at Beijing over the…

IMF Chief Urges China to Boost Growth With ‘Pro-market Reforms’ 

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beijing —  The head of the International Monetary Fund called Sunday for China to implement “a comprehensive package of pro-market reforms” to boost a sluggish economy beset by a housing market crisis, low domestic demand and persistently high youth unemployment. Chinese policymakers have so far resisted calls to juice the economy through massive government stimulus, instead stressing the need to pivot toward “high-quality” growth. Speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the “transition from high rates to high quality of growth…

China Blocks Using Intel, AMD Chips in Government Computers, Report Says

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China has introduced guidelines to phase out the use of U.S. microprocessors from Intel and AMD in government personal computers and servers, the Financial Times reported Sunday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Government agencies above the township level have been told to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. China’s industry ministry in late December issued a statement with three separate lists of…