Alibaba flatlines, Research and development tops 3 trillion yuan, VW Anhui’s sodium battery test vehicle

Alibaba reported revenue of 247.76 billion yuan ($35.91 billion) for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, an increase of 2% year-on-year. Given that the Singles Day (November 11) and Couples Day (December 12) shopping festivals as well as the New Year holiday are all in the year’s last quarter, Alibaba’s results are seen as a barometer of China’s online economy. Alibaba’s China retail revenue (mainly Tmall and Taobao) was 165.76 billion yuan ($24.03 billion), a decrease of 1%, while its international revenue was 19.46 billion yuan ($2.82 billion), an increase of 18%. Alibaba reported net profit of 46.81 billion yuan ($6.63 billion), an increase of 138%, but this was mainly based on income from investment.

Research and development expenditure in China surpassed 3 trillion yuan ($447.90 billion) in 2022, according to Wáng Zhìgāng 王志刚, Minister of Science and Technology. China’s global Innovation Index ranking rose from 34th in 2012 to 11th in 2022, and its research and development intensity (research and development as a percentage of GDP) increased from 1.91% to 2.55% over the same period. (In 2019, U.S. research and development intensity exceeded 3% for the first time, while that of South Korea was 4.6%). Research and development personnel in China increased from 3.25 million person-years in 2012 to more than 6 million in 2022, the highest in the world, and the number of high-tech enterprises increased from 39,000 in 2012 to 400,000 in 2022.

A VW joint venture (JV) brand revealed a sodium-ion battery test vehicle at yesterday’s National Sodium Battery Symposium in Jiangsu Province. Sehol 思皓 is a brand produced by VW Anhui, VW’s joint venture with Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC) 江淮汽车集团, VW Anhui is VW’s third JV in China, focused on electric vehicles (EVs). The Sehol test vehicle has a cruising range of 156 miles and is equipped with a 25 kWh battery that has an energy density of 140 Watt-hour per kilogram (Wh/kg), which is comparable to the energy density of lithium-ion batteries. The Sehol model could represent the beginning of the industrialization of sodium batteries in EVs.