CX Daily: Deadly Pig Disease has Cost China More than $140 Billion

Swine /

Deadly pig disease has cost China more than $140 billion: Researcher

The widespread outbreak of African swine fever that has prompted China to slaughter millions of pigs has caused 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) of direct losses, a researcher estimates.

Li Defa, who heads the College of Animal Science and Technology at China Agricultural University, made the remarks at a swine industry forum Tuesday. The upstream and downstream of the pork industry chain — such as pig feed and the catering industry — are not included in the calculation, he said.

China’s pork industry has been ravaged by the deadly pig virus since at least August 2018, when the first case was reported in Northeast China’s Liaoning province. It has since spread to all provincial level regions in the country, wiping out about a third of hog herds and sending pork prices to record highs.

FINANCE & ECONOMICS

Alibaba said it completed a 33% equity purchase of Ant Financial Tuesday. Photo: Bloomberg

M&A /

Alibaba closes deal to acquire a third of Ant Financial

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. completed the acquisition of a third of Ant Financial Services Group, closing a long-gestating deal and paving the way for an IPO of the online financial services behemoth.

Alibaba received a newly issued 33% equity interest in Ant Financial, the e-commerce giant said in a statement Tuesday. Following the deal, Ant Financial will terminate a previous agreement under which it pays 37.5% of pre-tax profits to Alibaba, according to the statement. The deal formally links the two tech giants and hints that a long-expected IPO of Ant Financial may be nearing, analysts said.

Credit /

China’s troubled consumer lending industry has huge growth potential, think tank says

China’s consumer finance industry could grow rapidly over the next five years thanks to the large proportion of people who lack access to consumer credit, a government-backed think tank said in a new report.

About 37.5% of adults in China still did not have access to consumer borrowing in 2017, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Institution for Finance & Development. In comparison, fewer than 20% of adults in some developed countries lack access to consumer loans.

Quick hits /

China-U.S. trade dispute an ‘ongoing challenge’: Ex-World Bank chief

In depth: What China’s naturalized athletes reveal about its immigration policy

BUSINESS & TECH

Beijing Daxing International Airport. Photo: IC Photo

Aviation /

Beijing’s giant new airport officially opens

Beijing’s highly anticipated Daxing International Airport officially opened Wednesday, ahead of Oct. 1, marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

President Xi Jinping visited the Chinese capital’s second major international airport to announce the official opening. In the afternoon, aircraft operated by seven Chinese airlines took off from the airport with select groups of passengers to mark the occasion. Tickets for flights to and from the airport will go on sale to the public starting Monday.

Capital /

Now even China's unicorns are having trouble raising cash

A trio of technology innovators have postponed or pulled back on fundraising this year after venture capital pools dried up — the latest sign the country’s remarkable tech startup boom is beginning to peter out.

SoftBank Group Corp.-backed Full Truck Alliance nixed plans to raise as much as $1 billion and is now focusing on its bottom line. SenseTime Group Ltd., the world’s highest-valued AI startup, says it’s now on a “non-deal roadshow” with no funding targets, months after it’s said to have held talks to raise roughly $2 billion. And Royole Corp., first in the world to sell a flexible portable device, still needs anchor investors for a private round it began contemplating months ago, sources said.

Hardware /

Alibaba debuts self-developed 'AI chip' to boost cloud computing capabilities

Alibaba has formally unveiled the Hanguang 800, the company’s first self-developed "AI chip" at a Tuesday industry event in Hangzhou, but reportedly has no immediate plans to sell the chip as a standalone commercial product.

The Hanguang 800 specializes in machine-learning tasks and will improve Alibaba’s cloud computing services, the company said in a statement. The chip is currently being used in the company’s internal business operations, including advertising, product search, automatic translation, personalized recommendations and customer services, the company added.

Electric cars /

China’s Tesla wannabe Nio tumbles on widening losses

New York-listed shares of Chinese Tesla wannabe Nio Inc. tumbled as much as 26% Tuesday morning after the electric carmaker reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss, reflecting slowing sales, overspending and major recalls.

Nio Tuesday reported a 3.3 billion yuan ($462 million) net loss for the second quarter, 25% wider than the previous quarter and nearly double the loss for the same period last year. Vehicle sales fell nearly 8% to 1.41 billion yuan from 1.54 billion yuan the previous quarter. A Bloomberg survey of analysts estimated an average loss of 2.6 billion yuan for Nio’s second quarter. The company canceled an earnings call scheduled for Tuesday.

Quick hits /

Collapse of Thomas Cook is a reality check for China's Fosun

Xiaomi goes toe-to-toe with Huawei with release of 5G-ready handsets

China releases new standards for online accommodation-booking services

Superbug ‘hotspots’ in Chinese farm belt may threaten public health: Study

Pinduoduo to borrow as much as $1 billion in convertible debt

CICC ties up with Tencent in $70 million fintech venture

Dr Reddy’s is first Indian drugmaker accepted by China pilot program

Pressured from abroad, Huawei looks home for support

Gaming giant CMGE eyes high-valuation Hong Kong IPO

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