CX Daily: How China’s Personal Credit Reporting Rules Upended an Industry

Credit /

In Depth: How China’s personal credit reporting rules upended an industry

China’s fintech platforms and big data providers are racing to feed troves of consumer data into the country’s two licensed personal credit reporting companies to meet new rules designed to better protect personal information from abuse.

The People’s Bank of China’s credit reporting system, set up in 2006, primarily pools data from banks and other traditional lenders on corporations and individuals. Outside this system, any personal information legally collected for the purpose of assessing creditworthiness in financial activities must now go through these two companies, which will ensure compliance with rules about how the data is collected, compiled, stored, processed and used, according to central bank rules that went into effect Jan. 1, 2022.

Containers /

Empty containers pile up at global ports as trade slows

Empty containers are piling up at major global ports as slowing economies weigh on global shipping demand.

In the week of Feb. 5–11, the CAx (Container Availability Index) rose to 0.64, according to container monitoring platform Container xChange. It was the 11th consecutive week the index was above 0.6. CAx values above 0.5 mean that more containers entered a port than left it.

Soccer /

China’s top soccer official targeted in graft probe

China’s most senior soccer official has been placed under investigation by the country’s anti-graft watchdog, the latest in a string of top Chinese Football Association (CFA) officials being probed as authorities deepen their crackdown on corruption within the sport.

CFA President Chen Xuyuan is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” a common euphemism for corruption, according to a one-line statement published Tuesday by an inspection team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

FINANCE & ECONOMY

Visas /

China to lift South Korean visa freeze

The Chinese embassy in Seoul said it will resume issuing short-term visas to South Korean nationals starting Saturday, ending most of the remaining retaliatory measures Beijing took against Covid-related curbs on travelers from China.

Visas will be issued to South Koreans seeking to enter China for visits, business, transit and general private affairs, the embassy said Wednesday in a statement.

Quick hits /

Fidelity, abrdn see China Congress giving stocks their mojo back

Shanghai must bolster foreign confidence after ‘zero Covid’

BUSINESS & TECH

A wind farm on Nov. 10 in the city of Yichang, Hubei province. Photo: VCG

Energy /

China’s renewable energy capacity overtakes coal for first time

China's renewable energy generation capacity edged out coal power capacity for the first time last year, with new solar driving the electricity sector’s efforts to reach ambitious national carbon emissions goals even as the removal of subsidies continued to drag the growth of wind turbine construction.

Renewable energy, a category which in China also includes nuclear and hydropower, accounted for 47.3% of China's total installed generation capacity by the end of 2022, with coal accounting for just 43.8% of generation capacity, said Wang Dapeng, deputy director of the New and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration at a press conference Monday.

Chips /

China’s No. 2 chipmaker posts record quarterly revenue but sees slowing growth

Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. reported a 10th consecutive quarter of record revenue and solid profit growth in its latest reporting period, sparking a 4% jump for shares of the world’s sixth-largest contract chipmaker Wednesday.

Hong Kong-traded Hua Hong’s revenue rose 19.3% year-on-year in last year’s fourth quarter to $630.1 million, while its profit rose by a similar 19.2% to $159.1 million, according to its earnings report released Tuesday. While the revenue set a quarterly record, it also marked the slowest growth rate in more than two years.

Earnings /

Online grocer Dingdong posts first-ever quarterly profit after slashing costs

U.S.-traded Chinese online grocer Dingdong (Cayman) Ltd. reported net profit attributable to shareholders of 47.8 million yuan ($6.9 million) in the fourth quarter of 2022, its first time in the black after the firm doubled down on cost controls.

Quarterly revenue grew 13.1% year-on-year to 6.2 billion yuan, according to the financial report published Monday.

Quick hits /

China’s video game industry posts first drop in five years

Chinese steelmakers’ profits fall 72% amid property sector weakness

Analysis: What will drive Pfizer’s growth after Covid?

Long Read /

How China’s individually owned businesses were dealt a ‘knockout’ blow

GALLERY

Iran’s president comes to China

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