CX Daily: Race Is On to Become China’s SpaceX
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Space?/
On July 12, the?Zhuque-2 (ZQ-2)?rocket?lifted off from ?the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China’s Gansu province, successfully entering its designated orbit.
LandSpace Technology became the world’s?first private company ?to launch a methane-liquid oxygen carrier rocket,?marking a major breakthrough for China’s new low-cost liquid-propellant rockets.
The launch, the second try after a failure seven months ago, is crucial for the eight-year-old startup. Zhang Changwu, chairman and CEO of LandSpace, faced mounting funding and business development pressure before the ZQ-2 success.?
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Torrential rains?/
Torrential rains hitting China’s north?left at least 20 people dead? in Beijing and neighboring Hebei province. President Xi Jinping demanded "all-out” search and rescue efforts to minimize causalities.
In the Chinese capital alone, the official death toll from the city’s heaviest rainfall in years rose to 11,?with 13 still missing as of Tuesday, according to state media reports.
China-France?/
France and China?will welcome a French bank ?to set up a wholly owned securities unit in China, and the two countries agreed to establish a working group to communicate on regulating the cosmetics industry.
The two measures were unveiled at the China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue held Saturday in Beijing,?co-hosted by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
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PMI?/
Activity in China’s manufacturing sector?shrank ?in July following sluggish expansion in the previous two months as output and new orders weakened, adding to evidence the country’s?economic recovery is faltering , a Caixin-sponsored survey showed Tuesday.
The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which gives an independent snapshot of the sector,?dropped to 49.2?from 50.5 in June ,?the second consecutive monthly decline and the first contraction in three months.?Readings below 50 signal contraction.
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Missile force?/
China?unveiled new leadership ?for the missile force in charge of the country’s nuclear arsenal in a recent military shakeup.
Wang Houbin, the Navy’s former deputy commander, was named the head of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, replacing Li Yuchao.?Meanwhile, Xu Xisheng, the political commissar of Southern Theater Command, became the new political commissar of the rocket force, replacing Xu Zhongbo.
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Quick hit?/
Property?/
Housing sales in China?continued to contract ?in July, adding more pressure on policymakers who are trying to restore confidence in the faltering property sector,?which drives around 14% of the country’s GDP when taking into account related industries.
Last month, new property sales by China’s 100 biggest property developers totaled 350.4 billion yuan ($49 billion),?down 33.1% year-on-year and 33.5% month-on-month,?according to data provided Monday by consultancy China Real Estate Information Corp. Total sales in the first seven months of this year dropped 4.7% from a year earlier to 3.4 trillion yuan.
Autos?/
All four directors representing?Renault Group?left the board? of its China joint venture (JV) with?Jiangling Motors Group Co. Ltd.,?according to public business records, reflecting the French carmaker’s intention to divest from the company which is struggling with a liquidity crisis and sluggish sales.
After the boardroom shakeup at?Jiangling Group Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd. (JMEV),?Liu Guowei, who was assigned by Renault to deal with its China businesses, handed the role of the JV’s general manager over to Shan Fengwu, who used to serve as the firm’s party chief and deputy general manager.
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Quick hits?/
Tech Insider?/
Long Read?/
Floodwaters left part of the capital’s Mentougou district covered in debris, with tree branches and river silt blocking roads. As of late Tuesday, 11 people were confirmed to have died in the flooding caused by torrential rains, with another 13 still missing in the city, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Around 127,000 residents have been relocated due to the disaster. China’s capital has maintained its highest flood warning across parts of its outlying areas