Tough year for the chemical industry, Zeekr bags a huge investment, Corruption at the state tobacco monopoly

A tough year for the chemical industry: China’s giant Wanhua Chemical Group has reported a large drop in profit: Revenue for 2022 was 165.56 billion yuan ($24.29 billion), an increase of 13.76% year-on-year, and net profit dropped by 34.12% to 16.23 billion yuan ($2.38 billion). The company attributed the profit drop to the sharp increase in the prices of raw materials and energy last year, but the industry is expecting a rebound in 2023 with the lifting of COVID zero.

Geely EV brand Zeekr bags a huge investment: Earlier today, auto manufacturer Geely announced that its high-end electric vehicle (EV) brand Zeekr 极氪, which is not yet publicly listed, has entered into a share purchase agreement with five investors — one of which is battery giant CATL — for 139 million preferred shares for a total investment of $750 million. Zeekr delivered 71,900 units in 2022 and plans to deliver 650,000 in 2025. According to Geely, Zeekr is now valued at $13 billion, which exceeds the valuation of competitor XPeng at just over $8 billion.

Corruption at the state tobacco monopoly: On Friday, Yú Jìnxiáng 俞进祥, deputy director of the Anhui Tobacco Monopoly Administration (the government tobacco industry regulator and official manufacturer of tobacco products), was arrested for corruption. Yu is the fifth tobacco official to be arrested since January 6, when the same fate befell Hé Zéhuá 何泽华, the former deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration. Earlier today, the same organization announced the arrest of 188 people for selling 723,800 illegal flavored e-cigarettes.