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Brief Consumer Transport & Logistics

Ofo could be on the verge of bankruptcy

The founder of one of China’s bike-sharing behemoths Ofo has informed shareholders that the startup is facing “immense” cash flow problems and is considering insolvency, the Financial Times reports.  “I’ve thought countless times… of even dissolving the company and applying for bankruptcy,” founder Dai Wei wrote in a letter to employees this week. “For the […]

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Brief Consumer Tech, Media & Telecom

Meituan plays down reports of job cuts

Chinese online services platform Meituan Dianping, which offers users everything from food delivery to spa vouchers, said that recent reports of large-scale job losses were untrue and that staff changes were just part of “normal operational restructuring.” The Tencent-backed tech firm was allegedly slashing jobs from its content operations and R&D departments, Caixin says. Meituan […]

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Brief Consumer Economics & Trade

Chinese growth cools on softer demand, infrastructure spending

China’s total exports grew by 5.4% year-on-year to $227.4 billion, down from 15.5% in October and falling short of market expectations of 10%, official figures show. Imports grew by just 3% y/y to $182.7 billion, plunging from 20.8% growth in October and well under the market forecast of 14.5%. This yielded an overall trade surplus […]

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Business Practice Commodities Consumer Economics & Trade Investment Law & Regulation Politics & Society This Week in China

The Week of Huawei

The big story all week was the detention by the Canadian authorities in Vancouver of the CFO of Huawei at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, which wants her extradited to the United States to face charges relating to alleged infractions of U.S. sanctions and related financial transactions. Ms Meng is not just your […]

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Brief Consumer Investment

Luckin Coffee hits $2.2 billion valuation after latest funding round

Fast-growing Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee is now valued at $2.2 billion after raising $200 million in its most recent campaign, the Financial Times reports, as the company pursues its goal of chipping away at Starbucks’ market dominance. “We will continue to increase capital investment in product research and development, technological innovation and business development, […]