Welcome to China Business News, NEO’s weekly roundup of top business developments as reported by news outlets in China and the region.
This week’s highlights:
- Foreign investors betting on a rapid recovery of the Chinese economy after the lifting of pandemic restriction bought a total of 91.2 billion yuan ($17.7 billion) of Chinese stocks in the first three weeks of 2023, exceeding the total amount purchased during all of last year. Data shows that the biggest amount of stocks bought belonged to battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, followed by Ping An Insurance Group and Guizhou Maotai. A fund manager at Switzerland-based Ying Feng Asset Management said the amount of blue chip stocks bought by foreign investors shows confidence in China’s economic recovery this year. First Shanghai Securities’ chief strategist said foreign funds prefer to invest in China’s large-cap companies because of their relative stability and attractive valuations. (The United Morning Post)
- Earlier this week, the Judicial Base Court of Macau announced its verdict in the trial of gambling magnate Alvin Chau. Prior to his arrest in November last year, Chau was the chairman and beneficial owner of Sun City Group, a leading gaming intermediary in Macau, with business interests in VIP lounge operations and management, resorts, hotel management, real estate, film and entertainment, and other sectors. The court found Chau guilty of creating and leading a criminal syndicate and substantial fraud, among other charges, and sentenced him to a total of 18 years in prison. (Caixin)
- Shanghai successfully developed and launched six iron ore EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) in the international steel industry for the first time. Twenty EPDs on steel products from Shougang, Shagang, Baosteel, Jiujiang Steel, Wantai Special Steel, Zhanjiang Steel, Chongsteel, Esteel and Baosteel were also released locally, indicating that Chinese steel companies are taking active steps to promote green and low-carbon steel. The EPD is a voluntary declaration of the life-cycle environmental impacts of a product or service, drawn up in accordance with an international standard. The development of the EPD was sponsored by the China Iron and Steel Association and put into practice by the online e-commerce steel portal, Ouye Yunshang. (Сhina News)