Hong Kong’s closing kindergartens, BYD bucks the trend, record high BRI trade

Business briefs from the Chinese media โ€” Thursday February 2

Hong Kongโ€™s kindergartens are closing due to the low birth rate, COVID, and emigration: According to the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, nearly 80% of kindergartens in the city had reduced enrollment in 2022, and many have closed due to lack of enrollment. A survey of 230 kindergartens found that half-day and full-time enrollments for 2023 have dropped by nearly a quarter.

BYD beat market trends and sold 151,300 electric vehicles in January, a year-on-year increase of 58.60%, while other brands experienced larger than expected sales decreases last month, as we reported yesterday. This is all the more remarkable because 304,000 EVs were sold in China last month, a month-on-month decrease of 43%, but BYD still managed a large sales increase. BYD sold a total of 10,409 units abroad last month, a decline of 8.07% from December.

Chinaโ€™s trade with Belt and Road countries is at a record high: Amid ongoing geopolitical tension with western countries, the Ministry of Commerce reported today that Chinaโ€™s total volume of trade with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries in 2022 reached 13.8 trillion yuan ($2.04 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 19.4%. Chinese investment in BRI countries last year amounted to 89.15 billion yuan ($13.21 billion), an increase of 17.2%.

China news, weekly.

Sign up for The China Project’s weekly newsletter, our free roundup of the most important China stories.