North Korea dominated the headlines this week, with the meeting in Beijing raising all sorts of questions about the relationships and possibilities. It’s hard to draw any conclusions beyond saying the meetings probably short-circuited the prospects of a two-way conversation between Washington and Pyongyang, with China apparently having re-inserted itself into the process. Will Trump […]
Category: Business Practice
China’s big 4 state banks all saw increased profits in 2017, meeting market expectations that a strong economy and the deleveraging drive would help turn around two years of sluggish earnings. Yesterday Bank of China, the country’s fourth-largest lender by assets, posted net profit figures of RMB172.4 billion ($27.4 billion), a welcome 4.8% increase for […]
As part of its global initiative for a greener supply chain, Walmart is helping its Chinese contractors cut up to 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the next decade, Reuters reports. Yesterday the US supermarket giant launched a China-specific programme to measure and restrict emissions of around 100 of its major suppliers in the […]
China’s State Council has announced a massive round of VAT cuts to be introduced by the end of next month, according to Caixin Global, poised to give businesses annual savings of up to RMB 400 billion ($65.53 billion). This is the first cut to VAT since the tax was imposed in 1994. Manufacturing firms will […]
Former chairman of Anbang Insurance Group Wu Xiaohui has pleaded guilty to charges of economic crimes including fraud and embezzlement, Reuters reports, asking the court for leniency. Wu, whose company was seized by the Chinese government last month amid concerns surrounding the nature of its recent expansion, said he understood and regretted his crimes. In […]