CX Daily: China Overhauls Company Law
TOP STORIES
Law?/
China’s top lawmakers have passed sweeping changes to the country’s Company Law that will significantly shorten the time investors have to pay registered capital contributions, while increasing the liability of company management for unpaid commitments and harmful practices by shareholders.
Some have hailed the new rules as a positive move that will better protect the rights of investors and creditors. However, the changes have also sparked concerns among legal experts that they could dampen entrepreneurial fervor and lead to mass of business closures.
Foreign companies?/
Foreign companies are tempering their business expansion in China as they navigate uncertainties stemming from the country’s slowing economy and tensions with the United States. Still, the majority retain a positive outlook on China’s long-term economic prospects, a survey found .
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in South China Tuesday published results of a survey showing that 40% of companies studied said they are not planning to expand in China over the next three years, a rise of 9% from a year ago and the highest on record.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
Bonds?/
Yu Lei, an investment manager who made a fortune in a now-banned fundraising practice only to end up being detained by authorities and betrayed by his business partners, killed himself earlier this month at his home in Shanghai, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin .
Yu, who would have turned 40 this year if he hadn’t already, had amassed more than 1 billion yuan ($138.9 billion) in personal wealth over just a handful of years from 2019, the sources said. He accomplished this feat chiefly by helping state-backed firms issue bonds through what’s known as “structured issuance ,” a practice that has been banned by regulators. ?
Mortgage?/
Mortgage rates in China have come down to the lowest level since 2008 after lenders slashed their five-year loan prime rate (LPR) by 25 basic points earlier this month, the first cut since last June.
The average borrowing rate for first-time home buyers came down to 3.59% this month, while the average for second home buyers was 4.16%, both a decline of 25 basis points from a year ago, according to think tank Beike Research Institute’s study of 100 cities. ?
Quick hits?/
BUSINESS & TECH
Huawei?/
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has launched a new version of its artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) Pangu for commercial use in the telecom sector, the latest effort by the Chinese tech giant to promote the emerging technology as it seeks to expand its revenue base.
The Telecom Foundation Model — which Huawei unveiled at the MWC Barcelona mobile tech expo on Monday local time — provides technologies that “support service innovation, improve operations efficiency, revolutionize network productivity” and assist mobile operators in reaching business targets in the 5.5G network era, the company said in a press release. ?
AD?/
An international team led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a blood test that can detect Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at early stages, which the team said has an accuracy rate of more than 96% and 87%, respectively.
The blood test is the HKUST’s latest advancement in identifying Alzheimer’s, allowing patients to get treated before symptoms appear. It’s somewhat better than the blood test the university developed in 2021, which it said can also be used to spot the early signs of the disease with an accuracy rate of over 96%. ?
Medical?/
Chinese manufacturers of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests are pivoting to new markets such as Southeast Asia for growth, as a period of pandemic-driven sales comes to an end.
Daan Gene Co. Ltd., a major Guangdong-based manufacturer of Covid test kits, has projected an up to 98.2% drop in net income for 2023, according to a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange late last month. Sales in the third quarter slumped 88.5% year-on-year to 306 million yuan ($42.5 million) while losses stood at 50.2 million yuan in the same period, a separate filing shows. ?
Quick hits?/
Daily Tech Roundup?/
Long Read?/
GALLERY
Located at the Beijing Media Center, the center will facilitate the work of journalists covering the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, commonly known as ‘Two Sessions,’ which begin on March 4 in Beijing. The center will also host press conferences and interviews with news media.