Business News
Latest business news and updates
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Yu Minhong Hires Philanthropy Veteran Chen Xingjia as New Oriental Advisor as Company Pledges Annual Donation
Yu Minhong has named Chen Xingjia a senior consultant to New Oriental and its livestreaming and cultural arms, offering RMB 1.5 million a year and committing at least RMB 1 million annually to Chen’s Henghui Philanthropy Foundation. The move follows scrutiny of Chen’s previously disclosed foundation salary and signals a strategic effort by New Oriental to shore up social legitimacy while raising questions about governance and transparency in corporate–charity ties.
Yu Minhong Hires High‑Profile Philanthropist Chen Xingjia as New Oriental Adviser — A PR Reboot With Risk
New Oriental founder Yu Minhong appointed former county official and charity founder Chen Xingjia as the education group's chief adviser with a reported annual salary of 1.5 million yuan, while committing at least 1 million yuan a year to Chen’s Henghui Foundation. The move aims to bolster New Oriental’s social credentials but risks renewed scrutiny given recent controversy over Chen’s foundation pay and questions about charity governance in China.
China’s Households Save More, Borrow Less: Big Provincial Deposits Rise Masks Weak Consumption
Provincial 2025 banking data show household deposits climbing rapidly across several provinces while household short-term loans shrink, signalling greater risk aversion and subdued consumption. Corporate lending, by contrast, expanded robustly, driven by policy support and firms’ financing needs, leaving regulators with the task of converting high savings into stronger domestic demand.
Two Troubled Chinese Automakers Double Down on Huawei, Pledging R&D After a Combined ¥60bn Loss
BAIC BluePark and Anhui Jianghuai expect a combined net loss of at least ¥60 billion for 2025 but are responding by committing over ¥113 billion to joint projects with Huawei’s automotive software and solutions. The strategy mirrors the profitable Huawei partnership seen at Seres, but risks include dependence on a shared platform and dilution of differentiation as more OEMs adopt Huawei’s stack.
China Holds Fire on LPR for Eighth Month as Markets Brace for Possible Q2 Rate Cut
China left its LPR unchanged for an eighth straight month on January 20, with the one‑year rate at 3.00% and the five‑year+ at 3.50%. Forecasters warn that worsening export pressures from higher U.S. tariffs could prompt Beijing to follow early targeted easing with a broader policy rate cut in Q2, which would likely push mortgage and corporate lending rates lower.
China’s Chaotic Winter: A La Niña ‘State’ and What It Means for 2026’s Economy
China’s weather in late 2025 and early 2026 has behaved like a roller coaster as a La Niña state overlays a record-warm world, producing sharp regional swings in temperature and precipitation. The episode is likely to produce uneven but economically meaningful disruptions to agriculture, energy markets and supply chains, serving as a stress test of China’s improved adaptation and emergency management capabilities.
China Tops 140 Trillion Yuan in 2025 — Growth Hits 5% but Reveals K‑Shaped Fault Lines
China met its 2025 growth target, recording 5% GDP growth and crossing 140 trillion yuan, while per‑capita GDP rose to about $13,953. The expansion was sharply uneven: high‑tech and equipment manufacturing led the gains even as investment fell and consumer momentum softened, producing a K‑shaped recovery and renewed calls for targeted fiscal and redistributional measures.
De Beers’ Price Retreat Signals a New Era for Diamonds — and a Test for Producer Power
De Beers has trimmed diamond prices again as demand weakens, lab-grown stones proliferate and competition intensifies. The cuts, coupled with swelling inventories and producer countries’ interest in buying stakes in the company, signal a structural shift in an industry long governed by supply control and strong branding.
A Phantom RMB120bn Order: How a Cathode-Materials Supplier Briefly Hijacked China’s Battery Narrative
Rongbai Technology announced a headline RMB120 billion, six‑year supply intention to CATL that the buyer later described as non‑binding and not internally approved. Regulators have opened a formal probe after the company admitted the figure was an estimate and its current capacity falls far short of the volumes implied by the announcement. The incident highlights governance gaps at smaller suppliers and reputational risk for industry leaders amid rapid expansion and cooling prices in China’s LFP market.
A Founder’s Fight with Public Perception: Why Xi Bei’s 102 Store Closures Are More Than an Influencer Feud
Xi Bei will close 102 stores and lay off about 4,000 workers as it faces over RMB 600 million in projected losses, a crisis compounded by a public feud between founder Jia Guolong and influencer Luo Yonghao. The dispute highlights how consumer perceptions, amplified online, can inflict severe damage on dining chains already facing a broad consumption downturn and dimming IPO prospects.
China’s Trade Map Shifts Inland: Anhui Joins the Trillion‑RMB Club, Driving a New Industrial Geography
Anhui became the first central Chinese province to surpass 1 trillion RMB in annual trade in 2025, joining eight coastal provinces already in that bracket and reflecting a broader geographic rebalancing of China’s export base. The province’s surge is powered by large‑scale manufacturing — notably automobiles, batteries and photovoltaics — industrial revenue growth, and deeper market diversification into ASEAN and Belt‑and‑Road countries.
Ren Zeping Accepts Dan Bin’s Olive Branch — A Public Truce Among China’s Market Influencers
Prominent economist Ren Zeping has publicly accepted an apology from private-equity boss Dan Bin, ending a high-profile social-media feud over the strength and nature of China’s post‑September 2024 stock-market rally. The truce calms a bout of acrimony between two influential market voices but does not erase the substantive disagreements about the rally’s durability.