1. China’s future in AI and humanoid robots. The country will establish a humanoid robot innovation system by 2025. The goal is for China to become the global leader in this tech by 2027. (Yahoo! Finance)
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2. Shanghai now accepts overseas bank cards at key venues. Over 36,000 sales machines citywide will now accept swift payments from overseas bank cards and other digital wallets. Overseas visitors can now also register an e-CNY wallet with a foreign number. (City News Service)
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3. Smartphone sales in China. Apple has reported its lowest Greater China revenue since mid-2022. However, Cook also reported record Q3 iPhone quarterly sales in China despite Huawei competition. So, what’s up? Canalys reports a 3% YoY drop in China’s overall smartphone sales in Q3 due to the uneven economic recovery. (Reuters)
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4. China’s internet giants recovering. China’s major internet companies saw “steady profit growth in the first three quarters of 2023”, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Profits are up 18.2% YoY, reaching 95.93 billion yuan, while revenues rose 3.4% YoY totalling 1.03 trillion yuan — all that on a very low baseline from 2022. (Xinhua)
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5. Moutai price increase. The company’s most popular bottle price has now increased from 969 yuan to around 1,169 yuan per bottle. With this move, Maotai aims to tap into consumers’ “buy up, don’t buy down” mentality and broaden its sales channels. Moutai’s stock price has jumped 5.63% since the announcement. (Sixth Tone)
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6. China’s male leaders suggest women should stay at home? At the National Women’s Congress, Beijing emphasised “fostering a new type of marriage and childbearing culture”. Responding to a demographic crisis, the country’s leadership encourages women to “marry, have children, and focus on domestic roles”. We are going backwards. (The New York Times)
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7. Blackpink’s Lisa under fire in China? Her Weibo account has been blocked, possibly due to her Paris cabaret show. The account reportedly violated Weibo’s community agreement. Chinese actresses, Angelababy and Zhang Jiani, also saw their accounts restricted as reports of them attending the show came out. (BBC)
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