CX Daily: How Trump’s Return Might Be a Boon for TikTok
TOP STORY
China-U.S.?/
Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election could be a boon for TikTok, potentially offering the Chinese-owned short-video app a reprieve from the impending federal ban that would cost it one of its biggest markets.
President Joe Biden signed a bill into law this April that gave a choice to ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese parent company of TikTok — sell the app by January next year or face a ban from the country’s app stores. The reason given for the bill was concern that Beijing could access U.S. users’ information and use TikTok to influence citizens — although TikTok denied both claims.
BUSINESS & TECH
AI?/
Going global may be the answer for many Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app developers looking to get off the ground, as the potential to tap lucrative foreign customers is a sure way to attract investors, industry insiders said. However, gaining a foothold overseas can be a difficult and costly endeavor.
“Going global as early and quickly as possible” has become a priority for AI investors, said Chen Yu, a partner at Shanghai-based venture capital firm Yunqi Partners, explaining that overseas markets can be a major source of revenue as foreign users are “more willing to pay for AI apps” than their Chinese counterparts.
Aircrafts?/
China’s state-owned aircraft manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. (Comac) on Tuesday announced more than 100 aircraft orders at the opening of the biennial Zhuhai International Air Show.
The new orders, which include an additional 60 C919s for the HNA Group, push cumulative orders of China’s first domestically developed large commercial jet past 1,200. ?
BRIEFING
A rundown of the news making headlines in and around China:
Evergrande liquidation: China Evergrande Group’s liquidation hearing has been delayed by a Hong Kong court to likely no sooner than Feb. 20, it said in a Tuesday exchange filing. The court will give anyone holding a position in one of Evergrande’s bonds, notes or similar instruments a chance to be heard at the hearing, which was originally scheduled for Thursday. Evergrande, one of the world’s most indebted developers, was ordered in January to liquidate, after the firm failed to reach an agreement with creditors. The property giant carried about 2.39 trillion yuan ($331 billion) of liabilities as of June 2023.
Sovereign fund: Zhang Qingsong, a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, has been appointed chief of the Communist Party committee at China Investment Corp., the world’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund by assets. Zhang spent most of his more than 30-year career at Chinese state-owned commercial banks and led policy lender the Export-Import Bank of China.
EV sales: Chinese electric-vehicle maker Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. Ltd. anticipates that total sales for this year will surpass its original annual target of 250,000 vehicles. The company sold 210,000 vehicles from January to October, with last month’s sales hitting a record high of 38,000. This strong performance was driven in part by Leapmotor’s lower prices, as the carmaker develops and manufactures most of its own car parts, reducing reliance on suppliers and cutting costs. ?
Long Read?/