Goodbye, cheap flights in China?

“Air travel in China is about to get more expensive,” says CNN, as the Civil Aviation Administration has lifted price caps on airline tickets on domestic routes.

• The new rules take effect immediately, and state that for any route served by at least five carriers, “state-run airlines can now hike prices by as much as 10% a year.”
• Chinese airline shares prices surged “amid expectations that the move will boost profits, with the Lunar New Year national holiday approaching in February,” according to Reuters.
• Beijing to Shanghai and more than 300 other routes are covered by the new rules.

• Healthcare and pharma
  Chinese biopharma developer moves to U.S. / Caixin
  KBP BioSciences, a “clinical-stage biotechnology company,” will build its new headquarters in the Philadelphia area after a recent $76 million fundraising round that included contributions from “the venture capital firm under the government-backed State Development & Investment Corp. and a venture fund under Ping An Insurance.”
• Expensive booze
  Returnees increase flow of whisky to China / FT (paywall)
  “Imports near level seen before corruption clampdown as drinkers return from overseas.”
• Self-driving and electric vehicles
  Scooter firm Niu rides China’s electric vehicle wave / CNBC
  “Chinese firm Niu used a combination of big data and Internet of Things to create a smart e-scooter.”
  A $45,000 SUV you can unlock with a face scan shows China’s car ambitions / Bloomberg
  Huawei goes into unmanned driving with BYD’s monorail / TechNode
• Yuan internationalization
  Central bank relaxes controls on yuan’s cross-border use / Caixin (paywall)
  “Overseas salaries can now be paid in China’s national currency and foreign companies can use the yuan to participate in the domestic carbon-trading market… The measures are effective immediately.”