CCCC’s massive new contracts, Alibaba gets into AI chatbots, BTR’s battery billions

Construction firm blacklisted by the U.S. signed massive new contracts in 2022: China Communications Construction (CCCC) 中国交建 today reported that it signed contracts worth 1.54 trillion yuan ($227.10 billion) in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 21.64%. In the fourth quarter alone, the firm signed contracts worth 510.09 billion yuan ($75.11 billion), an increase of 95.29%.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted five CCCC dredging subsidiaries for militarizing contested islands and reefs in the South China Sea. A company partly owned by CCCC recently signed a deal with the government of Angola that could eventually give Chinese-owned mines in the DRC a railway link to the Atlantic.

Alibaba is getting into AI chatbots too: The Alibaba Academy for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum, and Outlook (DAMO) in Hangzhou has applied for a trademark for “human-computer dialogue and language model training method, system and electronic equipment.” The DAMO Academy has also had its registered capital increased from 10 million yuan to 300 million yuan ($1.47 million to $44.17 million).

Lithium battery components manufacturer BTR 贝特瑞 took in 25.67 billion yuan ($3.78 billion) of revenue in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 144.76%. Net profit was 2.31 billion yuan ($341.33 million), an increase of 60.86%. BTR’s largest client is CATL, the world’s largest lithium battery manufacturer.