Welcome to the 85th installment of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, a weekly podcast that brings you the most important business stories of the week from China’s top source for business and financial news. Produced by Kaiser Kuo of our Sinica Podcast, it features a business news roundup, plus conversations with Caixin reporters and editors.
This week:
- We hear that China Unicom has become the first Chinese carrier to offer 5G wireless telecom services to the public in selected cities, putting China among the global frontrunners in rolling out the super-fast mobile technology.
- We discuss China’s securities regulators’ plan to ease profit requirements and speed up the review process for IPOs.
- We analyze a new report that says Chinese consumers are increasingly willing to pay for quality content online, including music and video.
- We note that profits have tumbled by three quarters at a pair of suppliers to China’s top two bike-sharing operators.
- We learn that the fast-growing but little-known chain Coffee Box 连咖啡 has received $31 million in new funding — jointly raised by its founders and local VC firms Qiming 启明 Venture Partners and Gaorong 高榕 Capital.
In addition, we talk with Fran Wang, economics reporter for Caixin Global, about the outbreak of swine fever in China. We also chat with Doug Young, managing editor of Caixin Global, about China-based private coffee chain Luckin Coffee, which has filed to raise $100 million in a U.S. IPO.
