Welcome to the 65th installment of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, a weekly podcast that brings you the most important business stories of the week from Chinaโs 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 find out that Chinese stocks fell to four-year lows last week, following a sharp decline in the U.S.
- We hear that two years after becoming one of the worldโs 10 most valuable public companies, social networking giant Tencent has passed a less flattering milestone by crashing outย of the same elite club.
- We learn that Alibaba founder Jack Ma ้ฉฌไบ, who plans to become a teacher after retiring next year, has reclaimed the title of richest man in China, with a fortune of $39 billion, according to the latest Hurun Rich List.
- We discuss a new report that finds out that the value of Chinese outbound mergers and acquisitions slumped in the first half of the year, as countries that included the U.S., Germany, and Australia imposed restrictions on deals, and China tightened controls on overseas spending.
- We note that the U.S. Treasury Department has found that China isnโt manipulating the yuan, as the Trump administration prepares to issue a closely watched report on foreign currencies, sources told Bloomberg.
- We dive into an outlook report published by the OECD and the UN, which predicts that Chinaโs dinner tables will be getting meatier over the next decade, which will have a significant impact on the international agriculture trade.
- We report that Hong Kong is planning a total ban on electronic cigarettes. If passed, the ban would place the city alongside over a dozen countries that have outlawed e-cigarettes, which typically allow users to inhale nicotine and flavorings heated by battery-powered elements without the burning that traditional cigarettes require.
- We analyze the news that veteran regulator Yao Gang ๅงๅ, a former vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for taking bribes and insider trading.
In addition, we talk with Fran Wang, economics reporter for Caixin Global, about an interview with Yi Gang ๆ็บฒ, the head of Peopleโs Bank of China, Chinaโs central bank. We also chat with Doug Young, managing editor at Caixin Global, about a company called Brilliance Auto and its partnership with BMW.
Weโd love to hear your feedback on this product. Please send any comments and suggestions to sinica@thechinaproject.com.
