BEIJING, September 15  (TMTPOST)— Tesla may change the traditional way to focus on promoting vehicles in downtown due to effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. Source: Visual China  Tesla is working on new ways to sell electric vehicles (EVs) in China, including shutting down some of its showrooms in big cities like Beijing, as traffic there reduced notably amid the Covid restrictions and lockdowns, Reuters cited people familiar with the matter Thursday. Tesla also wants to focus more on retail stores in suburban areas, where cost less than leading cities and are more convenient for customers to visit when they need services such as repair, the sources revealed. The retail strategy change doesn’t mean Tesla is holding back in its second largest market next to the United States. While T

TMTPost -- Shares of Zhejiang Zeekr Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup under Volvo’s owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, jumped around 34.6% to US$28.26 on Friday, a shockingly robust debut in U.S. market despite reported upcoming elevated tariffs on Chinese EVs. Credit：Zeekr Zeekr sold 21 million American depositary shares (ADSs) at $21.00 piece, 3.5 million shares more than its planned offering size. With an offer price at the top of a marketed range of $18.00 to $21.00, Zeekr raised $441 million, creating the biggest U.S. initial public offering (IPO) by a China-based company since Didi Global Inc.’s listing in June 2021. Base on the close of Friday, Zeekr commanded a market value of nearly $6.9 billion, still 47% lower than its post-money valuatio

BEIJING, September 8  (TMTPOST)— Tencent’s largest shareholder seems to accelerate its trimming stakes in the Chinese tech giant. Source: Visual China Prosus NV, a Dutch technology investment company, sold 1,115,000 ordinary shares of Tencent, bringing its total ownership in the WeChat owner down to 27.99%, according to a statement Thursday. The sales came after US$7.6 billion worth of Tencent stakes entered in the Central Clearing And Settlement System (CCASS) of Hong Kong, spurring speculation about further offloading from South African internet and multimedia company Naspers, the major shareholder holding Tencent via its unit Prosus. The recent stake cut was made to fund buyback, and as part of ongoing implementation of the repurchase program, Prosus said it has taken the administr

BEIJING, March 11  (TMTPOST)— New vehicles, especially in the green sector, resume their robust growth in sales during the past month in China, thanks to stimulus measures from the government and promotions from the auto players. Source: Visual China There were 1.976 million new vehicles sold and 2.032 million units made in February in China, increasing 13.5% and 11.9% from a year earlier, respectively, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released on Friday showed. The sales and output climbed 19.8% and 27.5% from the previous month, respectively, signaling a strong recovery from the start of the year. In January, produced vehicles fell 34.3% year-over-year (YoY) to 1.594 million, representing a 33.1% month-over-month (MoM) decline, and vehicles sold dro

BEIJING, December 29 (TMTPost)— JD.com announced a massive increase in wages for its core retail business despite gross margin weighed by ongoing low-pricing strategy. Credit：Visual China All the staff at JD Retails, a segment contributed abour 86% of overall revenue for the third quarter of this year, will get their pay with an average bump of no less than 20% from the start of 2024, according to a statement late Wednesday. It also said and all the frontliners including those responsible for procurement and sales of products across all categories will have an almost 100% increase in their fixed compensation for a year, effective on January 1, 2024. JD Retail workers will get raise from salaries and their performance-based compensation will have an increase without cap,  China Securit

BEIJING, December 28 (TMTPost)— China’s leading smartphone maker Xiaomi Corporation presented its most ambitous initiative in the automotive industry, completing its strategic vision of “Human x Car x Home” smart ecosystem. Credit：Xiaomi Xiaomi unveiled its first production electric vehicle (EV) model SU 7 at an event on Thursday, 1,003 days after the Chinese firm announced its EV-making plan. “Xiaomi’s goal is to make a dream car comparable to (those from) Porsche and Tesla,” founder and CEO Lei Jun said during his more than two-hour presentation. Lei explained SU stands for Speed Ultra in a post on the social media platform X earlier this week. While Lei said SU7 isn’t built to chase any specific competitor, the executive suggested the smart sedan will compete with th

BEIJING, August 9 (TiPost)— Tesla’s Chinese rival Li Auto Inc. recorded robust growth in sales and highest-ever earnings in the second quarter despite the stiff competition. Credit：Visual China Li Auto’s revenue surged 228.1% year-over-year to RMB28.65 billion (US$3.95 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, beating the analysts’ estimated RMB27.21 billion. The revenue increased 52.5% from the previous quarter. The electric vehicle (EV) company posted net income of RMB2.31 billion in the June quarter, the best quarterly earnings since it founded in 2015. That  suggested the company maintained profitability for the third consecutive quarter, also highlighted a successful turnaround compared with the net loss of RMB641 million a year earlier. Vehicle sales in the second quarter jumped 22

BEIJING, November 28  (TMTPOST)— Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo posted much-better-than expected results in the past quarter, highlighting its overwhelming rapid growth as the Covid-19 restrictions boost online sales.   Source: Visual China During the quarter ended September 30, Pinduoduo’s total revenue increased 65% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB35.504 billion (US$4.99 billion), beating the analysts’ projection of RMB30.937 billion. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders in the quarter was RMB10.589 million (US$1,488.5 million) with a YoY increase of 546%, well above the estimates of RMB5.636 billion. Adjusted earnings per American depositary share (ADS) rose from the same quarter of last year’s RMB 2.18 to RMB8.62, compared with the market expected RMB4.75.   T

BEIJING, February 22 (TMTPOST)—Chinese internet giant Tencent is adjusting its strategy on metaverse. Source: Visual China Tencent will introduce Oculus Quest 2, a popular virtual reality (VR) headset developed by Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc., in China, and their partnership will be similar with that between Tencent and Nintendo, which allows Tencent to release Switch console and develop offline sales channels in China, Chinese tech news media outlet 36Kr learned from insiders in the industry on Monday. Tencent has started talking with Meta months ago about introducing Quest 2 in China, and publishing Chinese version of existing videogames for the device, the Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter later that day. The talks are said to still at early stage and coul

BEIJING, January 4  (TMTPOST)— Chinese shares listed in the United States saw their best ever performance in the first two trading days of a year, driven by a positive signal from Alibaba’s unit Ant Group, a fintech giant whose IPO was forced to suspend two years ago. Source: Visual China The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index, which tracks 65 China-exposed U.S.-listed firms, settled around 8.6% higher on Wednesday to the highest since August, 2022. With the biggest daily rally since late November, the index notched nearly 13% of gains in the first two trading days of 2023, the best ever performance for the beginning of a year according data that Bloomberg compiled back to 2001. A number of Chinese shares outperformed outstandingly Wednesday. The American depositary receipts (ADRs) of A

Credit: CFP BEIJING, January 10 (TMTPOST) –The news of BYD selling more battery electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023 than Tesla has sparked widespread attention, raising questions about whether these two automotive giants will engage in another competitive arena—energy storage. Tesla, known for its aggressive pursuits in various technological domains, has embarked on the construction of a mega energy storage facility in Shanghai, officially commencing the project on December 22, 2023. The facility, scheduled to be Tesla’s first overseas energy storage battery super factory, is situated in the Lingang New Area, adjacent to Tesla’s electric vehicle super factory in Shanghai. According to Tesla China’s announcements, the Shanghai Energy Storage Super Factory is

BEIJING, December 14 (TMTPOST)— Paxlovid, the oral antiviral pill for treatment of Covid-19 developed by Pfizer, is going to be more available in the mainland China as the government is pushing exit of zero-Covid policy and shifting more focuses on reopening and economic boost. Source: Visual China China Meheco Group Co., Ltd, a distributor of pharmaceutical and health care products, has signed an agreement with Pfizer to import and distribute Paxlovid on the mainland, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stocks Exchange on Wednesday. Effect on the same day, the agreement is said to terminate on November 30, 2023 and China Meheco didn’t disclose any further details of terms. China Meheco showed cautions on outlook of Paxlovid in the market. Uncertainties about the final use and sales of

BEIJING, August 28 (TiPost)— Didi Global Inc., the world’s leading ride-hailing platform, found a new partner to pursue its electric vehicle (EV) dream. Credit：Visual China Xpeng Inc. announced on Monday a strategic partnership with Didi, becoming the first automotive manufacturing company with comprehensive support from the ecosystem of DiDi. Under the agreement, Xpeng will issue Class A ordinary shares, worth up to HK$5.84 billion (US$744 million), to acquire assets related to DiDi's Smart EV project. Didi will receive about 3.25% of Xpeng’s outstanding share capital upon completion of the issuance, thus become a strategic shareholder of Xpeng, with a lock-up period of 24 months after the initial closing. Xpeng said it plans to launch an all-new EV brand and an A-class Smart EV model as

BEIJING, November 30  (TMTPOST)— The American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Xpeng Inc., skyrocketed by around 46.9% on Wednesday, setting the highest close since October 5 and driving the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index, which tracks China-exposed firms listed in the United States, settled 9.6% higher with record monthly gain of more than 40% in November.Source: Visual ChinaEarlier Wednesday, Xpeng posted weaker-than-expected results both the top and bottom line. In the quarter ended September 30, its total revenues rose 19.2% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB6.82 billion (US$960 million), falling short of the analysts’ expectation of RMB7.26 billion, and the net loss expanded 49.7% YoY to RMB2.38billion, compared with the estimated loss of RMB2.09 billion. however, the non-GAAP basic and

BEIJING, January 6  (TMTPOST)— Tesla Inc. offered largest ever price cuts in China, highlighting pressure weighed on the electric vehicle (EV) superpower amid weakening demand. Source: Visual China The starting price of the SUV model Model Y was lowered from RMB288,900 to RMB259,900 (US$37,875), down about 10%, while the most affordable model Model 3 started at RMB229,900, 13% lower than previous, Tesla China’s website showed on Friday. Following a range of the starting price of Model Y and Model 3 sold in China were down to new low and about 43% and 30% cheaper than those on sale in U.S.  This is Tesla’s second promotion through direct cuts in more than two months. In October, 2022, Tesla slashed prices for all the versions of Model 3 and Model Y, and price of the Model Y Long R

BEIJING, December 27 (TMTPOST)— The U.S.-listed shares of NIO Inc. sank about 8.2% lower to US$10.06, the lowest close since November 22, as the Tesla’s Chinese rival significantly lowered its delivery guidance for the current quarter. Source: Visual China NIO now expects to deliver 38,500 to 39,500 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2022, down around 10% to 18% from its outlook of 43,000 to 48,000 vehicles released in November, according to a statement on Tuesday. The electric vehicle (EV) maker blamed the adjustment for challenges in deliveries and productions, together with supply chain constraints, caused by the outbreak of the Covid-19 variant in major Chinese cities this month. “While our teams have strived to maintain continuous operations on all fronts, we were not able to reach our

BEIJING, August 9 (TiPost)—  TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin is facing more challenges in expansion of the local services when the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. Credit：Visual China The gross merchandise value (GMV) of Douyin’s local life service division topped RMB100 billion in the first six months of this year, mainly driven by dining and other in-store services as well as travel and hotel-booking, though the GMV was still less than half of value of the same business under Chinese food delivery service giant Meituan, Chinese news media outlet LatePost learned. Douyin’s local life service experienced a significant slowdown after a boom amid the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. During the pandemic, brick-and-mortal stores struggled for survival, so they  had to resort to hig

BEIJING, February 17 (TMTPOST)— Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the No.1 electric vehicle (EV) battery maker across the globe, is joining in the price war initiated by Tesla, one of key EV player downstream, but the latest discounts may focus on the home-grown customers, excluding Tesla.   Source: Visual China CATL recently offered new discounts for many Chinese companies which are deemed as its strategic customers such as NIO, Li Auto, Huawei, and Zeekr, Chinese digital news outlet 36Kr learned from multiple sources in the industry on Friday. According to the report, key terms in the rebate program will work through a three-year deal, which requires the customers to commit about 80% their battery purchases to CATL and accordingly, CATL will settle some of power batte