The Sunday Mail
Manyika Kangai
China’s Xi meets with Russia’s Putin
Chinese President Xi Jinping met President Vladimir Putin of Russia for three hours of formal talks at the Kremlin on Tuesday during the second day of his three-day visit to Russia.
The leaders signed two agreements, one affirming their partnership and the other setting out plans for economic cooperation.
The two leaders issued a joint statement regarding bilateral economic cooperation through 2030, outlining plans to deepen ties in trade, investment, supply chain, mega projects, energy, and hi-tech areas.
Putin told reporters that the countries had agreed on building a second gas pipeline from Russia to China.
President Xi said China and Russia are each other’s largest neighbours and therefore maintaining the healthy and stable development of China-Russia ties is in the interests of their people.
Ukraine and Taiwan were also discussed with President Xi stating that China would continue to push for peace and dialogue.
He urged Moscow and Kyiv to resume peace talks while Putin said Russia supports Beijing’s “one China” principle.
China announces RRR cut
China’s central bank announced that it will cut the Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) for financial institutions by 0,25 percent from March 27 to keep liquidity reasonable.
The cut will not apply to financial institutions that have already implemented a 5 percent RRR.
After the reduction, the weighted average RRR for financial institutions will reach around 7,6 percent.
The RRR cut is expected to release long-term liquidity into the financial system and help banks lower capital costs and better manage their assets and liabilities.
Tencent releases financial results
Chinese internet giant Tencent has reported year-on-year increases in its revenue and net profit during the fourth quarter of 2022, despite drops in its annual earnings.
Tencent raked in 145 billion yuan (about US$ 21 billion) in revenue in the quarter ending on December 31, up 0,5 percent year-on-year.
Its net profit rose by 19 percent year-on-year to 29.7 billion yuan (about US$4,3) in the fourth quarter.
The Shenzhen-based company’s total revenues and net profit last year were about 554.6 billion yuan (about US$80.35 billion) and 115.6 billion yuan (about US$16.74 billion) respectively.
Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent, sounded a note of optimism, saying the firm raised business efficiency, sharpened its focus on core activities, and developed new services and revenue lines including Video Accounts and international games in 2022.
China’s renewable energy capacity expands
China’s installed renewable energy capacity saw robust growth in the first two months of the year, according to data from the National Energy Administration.
By the end of February, the installed capacity of wind power rose 11 percent year-on-year to approximately 370 million kilowatts, while that of solar power stood at about 410 million kilowatts, marking a robust yearly increase of 30, 8 percent.
China’s total installed power generation capacity came in at about 2,6 billion kilowatts by the end of February, rising 8,5 percent year-on-year.
In the first two months, the total investment of China’s major power companies in solar energy nearly tripled from a year ago to 28,3 billion yuan (about US$4.12 billion).
Beijing greenlights unmanned self-driving vehicles
Beijing greenlighted the commercial operation of autonomous driving services without in-car safety supervisors for the first time.
The first batch of two fully-driverless ride-hailing platforms, which were operated respectively by Chinese tech giant Baidu and autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai, received approval after a three-month pilot program on public roads.
Previously, safety supervisors were required to stay in the driver’s seats, passenger seats or second-row seats when the vehicles underwent road tests and commercial operation.
The permit allows Baidu and Pony.ai to provide fully driverless rides without a safety supervisor aboard in a 60-square-kilometer area of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.
Residents can now summon a driverless car without a safety supervisor inside to travel to various destinations, such as subway stations, key commercial areas, public parks and residential communities, through mobile applications.
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity – Sun Tzu
Manyika Kangai has over 15 years of experience facilitating and advising on China-Africa trade and investment deals.
