CX Daily: Exclusive: Billionaire Founder of China Renaissance Goes Missing

Rural /

In Depth: China’s rural Covid wave exposes flaws in plan to prevent hospital overcrowding

Across China’s vast countryside, where the health care system has fewer resources, an earlier-than-expected surge in Covid infections stretched local health care staff to the limit last month.

“The peak lasted for more than 10 days,” recalled Mo Haikun, a village doctor in South China’s Guangdong province, on Jan. 15. “You didn’t even have time to sleep.”

Xi /

Xi says China must boost consumer spending, foreign investment this year

President Xi Jinping said China must prioritize restoring and expanding consumer spending this year while working harder to attract and leverage foreign investment to boost expectations and restore market confidence.

Xi stressed the importance of consumption in bolstering the economy at a key annual meeting to set the economic policy agenda for 2023, saying the government needs to “fully unleash the consumption potential” of domestic residents, according to the latest issue of the Communist Party’s flagship magazine Qiushi, which was published Thursday.

China-U.S. /

China to take action against U.S. entities after balloon-related blacklisting

China vowed to take countermeasures against U.S. entities that have “undermined China’s sovereignty and security,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after Washington blacklisted six Chinese aerospace entities last week following the recent balloon incident.

The U.S. “used the incident as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions on Chinese companies and institutions,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Wednesday during a daily briefing, adding that China strongly opposes the action and will take countermeasures in accordance with the law.

Chinese students injured in shooting at Michigan State University

FINANCE & ECONOMY

Bao Fan

Investment banking /

Exclusive: Prominent investment banker Bao Fan goes missing

Bao Fan, the billionaire founder and chairman of private investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd., has been out of contact with the company for days, Caixin learned from several sources.

Bao hasn’t shown up at the office and hasn’t appeared in public in recent days, and a Hong Kong market participant said he couldn’t get in touch with Bao for two days, several people close to Bao told Caixin.

Bao didn’t respond to calls from Caixin or WeChat messages Thursday. China Renaissance is known for backing initial public offerings for some of China’s most prominent enterprises, including that of e-commerce giant JD.com.

Homes /

Chinese provinces plan to ask developers not to sell homes until they are built

A number of Chinese provinces said they will start trial plans to require developers to list only finished homes for sale. An ongoing industrywide liquidity crisis highlighted the problems of the presale model, such as the widespread stalled construction that triggered mortgage boycotts last year.

Provincial housing departments in Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Sichuan will start or encourage eligible cities to start such pilot programs this year, according to work plans announced between Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.

Banking /

Chinese banks report slower profit growth for 2022

Chinese lenders reported slower net profit growth in 2022, reflecting a high base of comparison in 2021 and declining net interest margins, among other factors.

The aggregate net profit of China's commercial banks grew 5.4% in 2022, compared with 12.6% in 2021, according to a report Wednesday by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Crimes /

Chinese public prosecutors’ indictments for financial crimes jump nearly 30%

Chinese prosecutors indicted more than 185,000 people for financial crimes over the past five years, a 28.2% increase compared with the previous half-decade, according to the country’s top prosecutor’s office — the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

From 2018 to 2022, prosecutorial agencies cracked down on a number of financial crimes, including high-profile crimes involving conglomerates Tomorrow Holding Co. Ltd. and Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd., Deputy Procurator-General Sun Qian said Wednesday at a media conference.

Quick hits /

China spares existing offshore brokerage accounts from crackdown

China’s $2 trillion LGFV bond market flashes warning sign

BUSINESS & TECH

Dubbed China’s answer to TripAdvisor, Mafengwo was founded in 2006 as a travel tips and experience-sharing community platform.

Travel /

Travel site Mafengwo secures new funding from state investors

Chinese travel site Mafengwo completed a new round of fundraising from a group of state-affiliated investors as the sector rebounds from three years of pandemic disruption.

Beijing Mafengwo Network Technology Co. Ltd., the operator of the site, said Wednesday it secured the funding from three investment funds backed by local governments in southwest China’s Guizhou province.

Flights /

Flights diverted from Shijiazhuang Airport over ‘airspace’ concerns

Eight flights scheduled to arrive at Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport in northern China's Hebei province were diverted to other airports or made a U-turn to where they took off Thursday, Variflight data showed.

Shijiazhuang airport staff told Caixin that the flight course changes occurred “because the airspace was occupied by other users” but did not specify who the users were. The staff said takeoff and landing have since returned to normal at the airport as of Thursday afternoon.

Earnings /

Major duck snack chains predict profit plunge

China’s three major duck snack chains estimated a year-on-year drop of between 70% and 90% in their 2022 profits, which the companies attributed to strict Covid-19 control measures that hindered business operations and restricted customer traffic.

Zhou Hei Ya International Holdings Co. Ltd., known for producing marinated food made from duck meat and gizzards, expects to post a net profit of at least 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) in 2022, representing a year-on-year drop of 94.2%, according to a Monday exchange filing.

Quick hits /

Developer Evergrande vows to fix internal controls in wake of $2 billion deposit debacle

Game developer NetEase teases chatbot-generated dialogue for mobile release

Buffett’s quick $3.7 billion sale of TSMC stock spooks investors

Long Read /

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

GALLERY

Quake rescue enters 10th day

Recommended newsletter for you /

Caixin Must-Read Newsletter brings you the best of our coverage and stories you can’t miss. You can opt-in now and get hand-picked news coverage delivered to your inbox each week for free.