Tech Insider: Huawei’s ASEAN Talent Drive, Tencent Music’s Drop

Welcome to Caixin’s Tech Insider, your twice-weekly wrap on the movers, shakers and deal-makers in China’s tech scene.

Huawei pledges $50 million for Asia-Pacific tech talent

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. will spend $50 million over the next five years to cultivate half a million ICT professionals as young as 15 in the Asia-Pacific, it said, as the region continues its digital transformation.

The initiative will start with a program designed for Southeast Asia, where Huawei will select people aged between 15 and 30 to attend digital skills training starting in early 2022. The training program will extend the Huawei ASEAN Academy, which is already operating in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Tesla books staggering growth in exports of Shanghai-built cars

Tesla China exported 40,666 electric vehicles assembled at its Shanghai plant in October, more than 10 times the number the previous month, according to statistics provided on Monday by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The figures come as the U.S. automaker seeks more partnerships with makers of battery ingredients. Earlier this month, China’s Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. won a three-year deal to provide the Elon Musk-headed company with its battery grade lithium hydroxide products from next year.

Tencent music’s profit drops on regulatory rap

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) reported a dramatic fall in profit in the third quarter even as revenue grew, after the firm was slapped with a government order forcing it to give up its exclusive music licensing rights.

New York-listed TME reported 740 million yuan ($115 million) in net profit attributable to equity holders in the three months through September, compared with 1.1 billion yuan in the same period of last year, according to its earnings report released on Monday.

Revenue rose 3% year-on-year to 7.81 billion yuan, about 63% of which came from sales of its social entertainment services, including music-focused livestreams and online karaoke, which generated revenue of 4.92 billion yuan, down 6.4% year-on-year. Another major revenue source is online music services, which generated revenues of 2.89 billion, up 24.3% year-on-year.

Paid users of the company’s online music services and social entertainment services jumped 37.7% and 4.8% to 71.2 million and 10 million respectively.

Airbus plans Tianjin plant upgrade

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said (link in Chinese) it has signed a deal with its Chinese partners to upgrade its A320 final assembly line in Tianjin to produce the A321 model in order to meet surging demand.

The Tianjin facility — Airbus’ first final assembly line for the A320 narrow-body jets outside Europe — will start retooling in July. Last week, state-backed tabloid the Global Times said Airbus was expected to deliver the first A321 aircraft from Tianjin in the fourth quarter of 2022, citing Michel Tran Van, chief operating officer of Airbus China.

Airbus has four final assembly lines for its A320 jets in Toulouse, Hamburg, Tianjin and the city of Mobile in Alabama. Only the Hamburg and Mobile plants are capable of producing the A321.

Geely announces new smart electric truck

Farizon Auto, the commercial vehicle unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd., announced a new smart electric semi-truck on Monday that should roll off the assembly-line in early 2024, according to a company statement.

The semi-truck, named the Homstruck, will come with three power options including range extender, methanol hybrid and pure electric, and features some intelligent driving functions like “vehicle-to-everything” technology, which enables a car to interact with road infrastructure like traffic lights.

This Caixin Tech Insider was compiled by Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and edited by Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com). Send us your tips and feedback.

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