Month: April 2024

Beijing Auto Show: Nio unveils luxury car, 2024 ET 7, as China’s EV price war heats up

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Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio on Thursday launched a new edition of its upscale smart car, Nio 2024 ET 7, hoping to lure high-end consumers amid an escalating price war among some of the country’s top players. The Shanghai-based carmaker’s updated executive car features more powerful smart-driving capabilities, an enhanced digital cockpit, an extra-long driving range and more comfortable passenger seats, according to founder and CEO William Li Bin. “Through our technological innovations, the ET 7 executive car has elevated the driving and seating experience to the next level,”…

Goldman Sachs names new Japan chief after abrupt exit of former president

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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. Goldman Sachs has named Hidehiro Imatsu as the new president of its Japan operations, after a five-month effort to fill one of the most powerful positions in Tokyo’s financial industry. The appointment of Imatsu, a Goldman Sachs veteran currently based in Hong Kong, follows the abrupt departure in November of Masanori Mochida, the near 70-year old banker who had led the group for more than 20 years. By naming Imatsu…

How TikTok’s Chinese owner tightened its grip on the app

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TikTok’s Beijing-based owner ByteDance tightened its grip over its US operations over the past two years, according to company insiders, even as momentum to ban the short-video app grew in Washington. The US government passed legislation this week aimed at forcing TikTok to divest from its parent or face a countrywide ban, but prising the viral video app from its $268bn parent company would present a formidable challenge. More than two dozen current and former employees told the Financial Times that TikTok has only become more deeply interwoven with ByteDance…

Dodgy data: what not to trust

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The era of big data has given way to the era of dubious data.   Whether it’s wobbly US and UK job figures, wrong assumptions on energy prices by the ECB — which led to errors in inflation forecasts — or revised corporate reports, unreliability is rearing its head.  That gives pause to governments, policymakers and investors. “It seems we can be certain only about the data’s uncertainty, making the credibility of the national statistics a subject for debate in and of itself,” fulminated Lord George Bridges of Headley. “For how…

China warns Blinken US must choose between ‘co-operation or confrontation’

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China has warned the US that Washington and Beijing must choose between “confrontation or co-operation” as secretary of state Antony Blinken began an official visit during which he is expected to deliver an ultimatum over the war in Ukraine. Blinken met the powerful Shanghai Communist party boss Chen Jining on Thursday, ahead of talks with China’s central leadership including foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing over the next two days.…

China’s Xi Jinping urges troops to ‘focus on the battlefield’ during trip to military medical school

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Chinese President Xi Jinping visited an army medical university and called on students and military personnel to “focus on the battlefield” as Beijing steps up its war readiness. Xi visited Army Medical University in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing on Tuesday to examine the university’s academic work in battlefield medicine and inspected its battlefield emergency medical equipment, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Thursday. General He Weidong, the second-ranked vice-chairman of China’s powerful Central Military Commission, accompanied Xi during his visit to the university, which was…

US trade report keeps China on priority watch list as Blinken visit begins

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The 93-page report, of which the China section comprises 10 pages, said the USTR has been taking actions to address “unfair and harmful Chinese acts, policies, and practices”. The priority watch list remained unchanged from last year, with Argentina, Chile, India, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela also continuing to appear. In addition, 20 other countries were placed on the USTR’s “watch list”, reducing the number by two from last year, after it removed the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan. China has been either listed on the priority watch list or identified as…

How TikTok’s Chinese owners took firmer control ahead of US ban

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TikTok’s Beijing-based owner has increasingly taken a grip over its operations, according to company insiders who said there was a growing culture clash between its Chinese leaders and US staff. The US government passed legislation this week aimed at forcing TikTok to divest from China’s ByteDance or face a countrywide ban, but prising the viral video app from its $268bn parent company would present a formidable challenge. More than two dozen current and former employees told the Financial Times that TikTok remained interwoven with ByteDance. These people added that ByteDance…

China’s Nuctech raided in EU over foreign subsidies concerns

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BRUSSELS —  Chinese security equipment company Nuctech’s Dutch and Polish offices were raided by EU competition regulators, the company said on Wednesday, as the European Commission cracks down on companies receiving unfair state subsidies which put EU peers at a disadvantage. The European Commission has launched four investigations against Chinese companies since its foreign subsidies regulation introduced in July 2023 allowed the executive to assess whether subsidies allowed companies to submit overly advantageous offers in procurement tenders to edge out EU rivals. “Nuctech offices in the Netherlands and Poland are…

China preps for clampdown on financial crimes with new version of anti-money-laundering law

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China’s lawmakers are revamping the country’s law on money laundering to bolster a crackdown on illegal activities like cross-border gambling and underground banks, a measure that will also align its practices with global standards as it faces stricter international scrutiny. A draft revision of the law is now under review at the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislative body when the full congress is not in session. “It’s necessary to root our anti-money-laundering law in the actual needs of our country and…