Briefly

Coastal bulk freight index up in July

China's coastal bulk freight market saw an expansion in July as high temperatures in various parts of the country pushed up the demand for energy, industry data showed. On a monthly basis, the composite index for coastal bulk freight, which measures transportation costs in the coastal shipping market, rose 8.9 percent to 1,142.32, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. In the period, the sub-index for coal logged the most notable increase of 13.4 percent, followed by the sub-indexes for grain and metal ore, which climbed 7.4 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, the data showed.

China firm renovates Angola homes

The first group of a renovated housing complex in Angola, accommodating 896 households in eight buildings and contracted by China Railway No 4 Engineering Group Co Ltd, has been delivered to the owner. CREC4 representative Li Xiaogang delivered the keys to the buildings, located in the Pacification Community in the district of Zango under the municipality of Viana in Luanda province, to Hermenegildo Gaspar, president of the Angola Housing Development Fund. The whole renovated project covers 21 residential buildings whose work was awarded in six bids, with CREC4's Angola branch winning two of them.

ByteDance affiliates buy Amcare Medical

Two affiliates of Chinese tech behemoth ByteDance, owner of popular short video app TikTok, have acquired Beijing Amcare Medical Management Co Ltd, a high-end hospital group providing women and children with medical services. According to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, as of June 24, Xiaohe Health (Hong Kong) Ltd, a newly added shareholder of Amcare, held 69.5 percent of shares, while the existing shareholder Xiaohe Health Technology (Beijing) Ltd held the other 30.5 percent of the shares. These two companies are affiliated with the Beijing-based Byte-Dance, and the deal has been unconditionally approved by market regulators.

Yuan strengthens to 6.7405 against dollar

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 231 pips to 6.7405 against the US dollar on Friday, 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.

Shaanxi foreign trade up 6% in first half

Foreign trade of Northwest China's Shaanxi province rose by 6 percent year-on-year to over 236.2 billion yuan ($34.9 billion) in the first half of this year, authorities said. During the period, the province's exports exceeded 144.2 billion yuan, up 28.7 percent year-on-year, while its imports reached nearly 92 billion yuan, according to the Customs of Xi'an, the provincial capital. From January to June, the export of Shaanxi's mechanical and electrical products grew by 28.4 percent to over 129.6 billion yuan, accounting for 89.9 percent of the province's total export volume, Customs said.

BYD new energy vehicle sales up

China's leading new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD saw surging NEV sales growth in the first seven months of 2022 amid a market boom. In a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Shenzhen-based company said its sales of NEVs, including pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, surged 292 percent year-on-year to 803,880 units in the January-July period.

Xinhua - China Daily