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𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐢 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐪𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐧

Fully driverless taxis will take to the roads of Chongqing and Wuhan on Monday in a landmark moment for the future of mobility in mainland China.

Baidu, China’s biggest search engine and artificial intelligence firm, has been given the green light to launch the unmanned taxi services, giving it the upper hand in a fierce competition among smart electric vehicle (EV) start-ups to commercialise autonomous driving technology.

In a groundbreaking move in January, US regulators allowed self-driving company Cruise to offer paid, fully driverless rides in select streets in San Francisco.

Source: South China Morning Post
For the full article, please visit https://bit.ly/3dhGaiV

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐢, 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚, 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐌 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲:

The weeks-long Shanghai lockdown under China’s zero-Covid policy, which forced most of the city’s 26 million people indoors and brought manufacturing to a virtual standstill, has taken a heavy toll on China’s commercial and financial hub. At the same time, it has underscored the city’s crucial economic position not only in China but globally.

In 2021, Shanghai recorded a gross domestic product of 4.32 trillion yuan (US$637 billion), with a year-on-year growth of 8.1 per cent. With 1.7 per cent of the nation’s total population, Shanghai accounted for more than 3.8 per cent of GDP – the biggest proportion among all mainland cities.

The daily average value of shares traded on the Shanghai bourse this year stands at 385 billion yuan, which makes up 41 per cent of the combined average turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. The Shenzhen exchange, which hosts more companies in emerging industries, particularly on its ChiNext board, has in recent years diverted some trading interest from Shanghai. The Shanghai exchange is also striving to capitalise on the primacy of technology companies by setting up a Nasdaq-like Star Market in 2019 for tech listings. The board now has 418 companies.

Source: South China Morning Post
For the full article, please visit https://bit.ly/3sGlaHv

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝-𝟏𝟗 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧

China’s stocks will probably extend their declines – already the biggest in Asia – as investors have not fully priced in the economic damage from coronavirus lockdowns and are too optimistic about the outlook for earnings, according to Swiss private bank UBP.

The bank lowered its projection for second-quarter economic growth to 3.5 per cent from 4.5 per cent, slower than the 4.8 per cent expansion in the preceding three months and significantly trailing the annual goal of 5.5 per cent.

But full-year growth will slow to 4.7 per cent if the coronavirus lockdowns in China extend into the third quarter, it said.
“The worst months are still ahead of us,” said Casanova. “Investor sentiment will remain extremely fragile during this period.”

Source: South China Morning Post
For the full article, please visit https://bit.ly/3rKsq4F

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐋𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐬 𝐏𝐁𝐎𝐂 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬

Stocks in mainland China fell to near a one-week low after the economy grew last quarter at a pace below the national target amid Covid-19 lockdowns, while policy easing signals disappointed investors.

The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.5 per cent to 3,195.52 at the close of Monday trading. It has lost 12 per cent this year, the worst among major Asia-Pacific indices. Markets in Hong Kong are closed for a public holiday. Regional indices also weakened as rising commodity prices rekindled inflation concerns.

The local authorities published plans to restart production in the city in efforts to restore manufacturing capacity and repair broken supply chains. Businesses should plan for “closed-loop management,” they added.

Source: South China Morning Post
For the full article, please visit https://bit.ly/3jNGaaB

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐲 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

China’s new-energy vehicle (NEV) sector rebounded sharply in March as carmakers managed to get hold of enough components in the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak to ramp up production to meet surging demand.

But the turnaround may be short-lived, said analysts, as the Covid-19 pandemic in Shanghai and at some production bases disrupts the supply chain and production.

In February, NEV sales dropped 24.1 per cent from a month earlier to 317,000 units, owing to a shortfall of key components and the Lunar New Year holiday that deterred consumers from buying big-ticket items.

Source: South China Morning Post
For the full article, please visit https://bit.ly/3LTLaXk