Tag: Corporations

Volkswagen and BASF Are Reconsidering Ties to Xinjiang, China

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Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China and another German industrial giant is starting to sell its stakes there following new international scrutiny of forced labor by predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. Volkswagen said last week that it was in discussions with one of its main joint venture partners in China, the state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, in the wake of allegations of human rights violations at their joint venture in Xinjiang. The companies are examining “the future direction of the…

China’s Xi Jinping Draws Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Other U.S. CEOs to Gala in San Francisco

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The streets outside the San Francisco hotel where the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, addressed a crowd of American business executives Wednesday night were chaotic, echoing with police sirens and the chants of protesters. A woman had strapped herself to a pole 25 feet in the air in front of the hotel, yelling “Free Tibet!” as a cold rain fell. But inside the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency, the atmosphere was warm and friendly. More than 300 executives and officials listened attentively as Mr. Xi — the leader of a country…

China Evergrande Suspends Trading as New Trouble Roils Property Market

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Just a few weeks ago, China Evergrande, the world’s most debt-saddled property developer, was writing its final chapter and working to resolve financial disputes with its creditors. Then a stream of bad news came and the pages were torn up. Staff at the company’s wealth management arm have been detained by the authorities. Two former top executives are reportedly being held and its billionaire chairman is under police surveillance. Investors have fled, selling off their shares and sending the company’s already depressed stock down more than 40 percent over the…

Burner Laptops and Smaller Profits: Firms Portray Their China Challenges

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American companies doing business in China are less optimistic about the future than at any other time in more than two decades. Restrictions on economic data, like the extent of youth unemployment, is making investment decisions harder. Few of the many foreign executives who left China during the pandemic are returning. These are some of the takeaways from reports released Tuesday by organizations representing close to 2,000 European and American firms. The papers by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China…

In China, the Police Came for the Consultants. Now the C.E.O.s Are Alarmed.

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The China Development Forum, a high-profile, government-hosted conference with a who’s who of international executives in attendance, was a moment for Beijing to renew its efforts to win over foreign businesses. Businesses from outside China “are not foreigners, but family,” said Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister. State media reported that the chief executives of Apple, Pfizer and Procter & Gamble were at the forum, held in late March. Many of the dozens of business leaders there were on their first trip to China since the country had closed its markets…

Business groups are divided as China seeks self-reliance.

Chin@Strategy

China’s push for self-sufficiency in a wide range of industries is dividing foreign companies, with some welcoming it as another chance to invest there while others worry that it will cause risks to the country’s trading partners and its own economy. Two influential groups of foreign businesses in China issued very different reports on Thursday. They revealed a striking divide on whether international companies support China’s push to replace imports with a self-reliant emphasis on domestic production. China has been heavily subsidizing its manufacturers of semiconductors, commercial aircraft, electric cars…

Li Guangman’s Essay Ignites Guessing Over Xi’s Plans for China

Chin@Strategy

After Mr. Xi took power, many of them embraced him as their great hope, and his recent emphasis on “common prosperity” — a phrase dating to the Mao era that suggests reducing inequality — has raised their expectations. China’s Tightening Grip Xi’s Warning: A century after the Communist Party’s founding, China’s leader says foreign powers would “crack their heads and spill blood” if they tried to stop its rise. Behind the Takeover of Hong Kong: One year ago, the city’s freedoms were curtailed with breathtaking speed. But the clampdown was years…