The Sunday Mail
Manyika Kangai
China’s golden week
The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period, which will last from September 29 to October 6 this year — commonly known as the Golden Week — is a peak travel and tourism season in China. China is expected to see an average of 1,58 million daily inbound and outbound passenger trips during the holiday, a roughly three-fold increase year-on-year, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA) forecast released on Wednesday. More than 21 million people are expected to take flights in the space of eight days, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Airfares have more than doubled on some popular routes. Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Seoul and Bangkok are among the most popular destinations.
China appoints new party chief of finance
Lan Foan has been appointed party chief of China’s Finance Ministry. Lan (61) has taken over the position from Liu Kun, according to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry. He is also poised to succeed Liu as Finance Minister. Liu has held both positions since 2018 and will turn 67 later this year, well beyond the normal retirement age of 65 for civil servants of ministerial rank. Before the appointment, Lan was party chief of Shanxi province and previously served in finance departments at local and central levels. Party appointments are typically followed by government appointments.
China Evergrande shares trading halted
China Evergrande Group halted the trading of its shares, along with two of its subsidiaries. Shares of China Evergrande Group, Evergrande Property Services and China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group were suspended on Thursday, according to the company’s statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which did not give a reason. The three companies had a combined market capitalisation of HK$16,7 billion (about US$2,1 billion) on Wednesday, a decline of nearly 80 percent before they resumed trading recently. Last week, Evergrande scrapped six creditor meetings and disclosed its inability to meet regulatory requirements to issue new bonds, a key part of its restructuring proposal to settle US$20 billion of defaulted debt and claims. A winding-up petition in Hong Kong will be heard on October 30.
Alibaba, Tencent collaboration
China’s two biggest internet companies have tightened their collaboration, allowing users who click on advertisements on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat to be directed to Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao and Tmall e-commerce platforms. The two tech giants announced on Monday that “high-quality” advertisements placed on WeChat Channels, a short-video sharing platform, through Alimama Uni Desk, an Alibaba-affiliated digital marketing platform, can be connected to shops and live-streaming rooms on Taobao and Tmall. WeChat Moments, a blogging feature, and mini programmes on the social media app already support advertisements linking to Alibaba online shopping sites. Tencent Video, a streaming platform, has allowed direct links to Taobao since 2021.
China’s fastest cross-sea high-speed railway opens
China’s fastest cross-sea high-speed railway started operating on Thursday, with trains running at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour along the west coast of the Taiwan Strait. A Fuxing bullet train G9801 departed from Fuzhou, the capital of east China’s Fujian Province, at 9.15 am, marking the opening of the 277 km Fuzhou-Xiamen-Zhangzhou high-speed railway. The railway features a breathtaking sea view with 19,9 km of tracks built over the sea. It traverses three coastal bays — Quanzhou Bay, Meizhou Bay and Anhai Bay — via bridges that engineers said were extraordinarily hard to build. This is China’s first cross-sea high-speed railway with a designed speed reaching 350 km/h, according to the China State Railway Group, the country’s railway operator.
*Manyika Kangai has over 17 years of experience facilitating and advising on China-Africa trade and investment deals. He is dedicated to helping African businesses and governments realise the full potential of the vast opportunities China presents. Feedback: +27743487997/ www.muvambi-sa.co.za
