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WeChat global push slows

The globalization of WeChat, a messaging application owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd, may face a bump in the road after the Chinese Internet giant decided to reduce promotional activities for the app in overseas markets.

Pony Ma, founder and chief executive officer of the Shenzhen-based Tencent, said on March 18 that the company will stop overseas commercial promotions through hard advertisements as the app's user growth has been plateauing in overseas markets.

Telecom debuts cross-border money transfer

Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Airtel that operates in 17 countries across Africa, announced on March 16 the launch of a cross-border money transfer service between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Rwanda.

The subsidiary said the low-cost service will facilitate increased remittances and regional trades.

"This offering will raise the level of convenience in cross-border payments across the three countries with the Airtel Money agency network and a highly competitive fee structure," said Airtel Africa CEO Christian de Faria.

Chinese investment in Namibia grows

Namibia is home to more than 40 Chinese companies that are making about $4.6 billion a year, Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Xin Shunkang said.

Xin said all the companies employ more than 6,000 Namibians.

He said currently the value of Chinese companies' investments in Namibia is about $3 billion.

China and Namibia signed the Reciprocal Investment and Protection Agreement in August 2005, while a Foreign Investment Act is yet to be brought before the Namibian parliament.

Xin said the embassy encourages Chinese companies to increase their investment, deepen cooperation with local companies, and employ more local people.

Tightened supervision on cosmetics industry

China's drug watchdog is soliciting public opinion on tighter supervision rules for the production of cosmetics.

According to the temporary rules on production and inspection released by the China Food and Drug Administration on March 17, cosmetics manufacturers must establish a mechanism to ensure their products are traceable from warehouse to sales.

The CFDA will also require manufacturers to monitor and report adverse reactions related to their products and set up a product recall system.

The rules mandate that manufacturers deal with adverse reaction cases that may be linked to their products after investigation and assessment. The recall process should also be documented, the CFDA said.

Chinese tourists spent $163b overseas in 2014

Chinese outbound tourism rose 19.5 percent to 109 million departures last year, according to a recent report by the China National Tourism Administration, a dramatic rise from 10 million departures in 2000. Chinese tourists spent almost $163 billion on overseas shopping sprees last year.

China has been the world's largest outbound travel market since 2012, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

About 174 million Chinese tourists are expected to spend $264 billion by 2019, predicts Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Major shipbuilder posts hefty profits in 2014

Net profit for China State Shipbuilding Corp rose 11.8 percent from the previous year to 44.19 million yuan ($7.21 million) in 2014 due to rebounding market demand, the company said on March 14.

The shipbuilder attributed last year's performance to recovering demand and because it finished more orders of ships, drilling platforms and diesel engines. The shipbuilder built 48 ships and repaired 360 in 2014. Revenue last year reached 28.32 billion yuan, up 27.6 percent from a year ago, it said.

Finance Ministry: Fiscal income growth slows

Fiscal revenue growth decelerated at a quicker-than-expected pace during the first two months of this year, adding to China's economic woes.

Fiscal revenue rose 3.2 percent to 2.57 trillion yuan ($407.94 billion) in the first two months of the year, according to data by the Ministry of Finance on March 16. Income at the central government level dropped 1.7 percent.

Excluding the rise in income items, actual fiscal revenue rose just 1.7 percent.

JD launches door-to-door delivery app

JD Inc, China's largest online direct sales company, launched an app on March 16 to offer delivery services for nearby businesses, a move to tap into the country's rapidly growing online-to-offline business.

The app, named Paidaojia, allows users to make online orders from nearby merchants and receive door-to-door delivery service from JD. As long as users make orders from stores within a 3-kilometer radius, JD guarantees delivery within two hours.

JD CEO Liu Qiangdong said Paidaojia aims to become a local service platform.

Rare earth production quotas set for 2015

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on March 17 announced the first batch of rare earth production quotas for 2015. Of the total, the production quota for rare earth minerals and smelting and separation products for 2015 stood at 52,500 metric tons and 50,050 tons, respectively. China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-tech Co Ltd, the largest rare earth producer, took the lion's share in the total production quotas, with quotas for minerals production and smelting and separation products amounting to 29,750 tons and 25,960 tons respectively, up 4,750 tons and 4,690 tons, or about 20 percent from the preceding year.

Li Ning to team with Xiaomi

Li Ning Co, which makes athletic shoes and sporting goods, is teaming up with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi to produce a new generation of "smart" running shoes this year in an effort to revive its waning fortunes.

Li Ning, backed by private equity powerhouse TPG Capital and Singapore wealth fund GIC, warned in January that it expects to post its third consecutive full-year loss as it grapples with restructuring, bloated inventories and slowing demand following the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Li Ning's efforts to recapture its glory days by appealing to a younger generation have been evident in its product designs and high-profile marketing campaigns. In 2013, it signed a multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with NBA basketball superstar Dwayne Wade.

China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/20/2015 page18)