Briefly

New-gen maglev train completes tests

Chinese manufacturer CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co Ltd said on Thursday that tests have been completed for its next generation commercial maglev train. The train, with a designed speed of 200 kilometers per hour, has achieved multiple tech breakthroughs such as unmanned driving and noncontact power supply, said Zhang Wenyue, deputy head of CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive's maglev research institute. It is expected to be applied to intercity and urban lines that are 50 km to 200 km long, he said. Equipped with autonomous driving and 5G millimeter-wave communication, the train is operated by a ground control system. Real-time data are gathered for troubleshooting to ensure its safety. Compared with the previous generations of commercial maglev trains, the new model shows significantly improved traction efficiency, hill-climbing ability, and acceleration performance, according to the company.

Ping An Bank 2021 profit up 26% to $5.7b

Net profit of Ping An Bank, a Shenzhen-listed lender controlled by Ping An Insurance, surged 25.6 percent year-on-year to 36.3 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) in 2021, the bank disclosed in its annual report filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Revenue grew over 10 percent to nearly 169.4 billion yuan. Non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.02 percent, down by 0.16 percentage point. Total assets were worth over 4.92 trillion yuan, up over 10 percent.

Yuan strengthens against greenback

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 73 pips to 6.3105 against the US dollar on Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day. The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.

Xinhua