Weekly Business Roundup #2

What happened this week

Monday, April 15:

• Shares of Laekna [HKG: 2105] soared by 61% following the announcement that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its drug LAE102 for the clinical treatment of adult patients with obesity or metabolic diseases.

Tuesday, April 16:

• China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year and increased by 1.6 percent from the previous quarter, surpassing market expectations. This indicates that the economy is recovering. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China's GDP reached CNY 29.63 trillion (approximately USD 4.17 trillion) for the three months ending March 31.

• At the Baidu Create 2024 AI Developer Conference today, CEO Robin Li announced that 27% of the daily added codes at Baidu [NASDAQ: BIDU] are generated by Comate, an AI tool based on the company's large language model, Ernie Bot.

• Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that China's surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2% in the first quarter, a decrease from 5.5% a year earlier. The unemployment rate for March was also 5.2%, which represents a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from February and from the same period last year.

• According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China's retail sales of consumer goods increased by 4.7% to more than CNY 12 trillion (approximately USD 1.66 trillion) in the first quarter compared to a year earlier. Online retail sales surged by 12.4% to CNY 3.3 trillion (about USD 456 billion) during the same period.

Wednesday, April 17:

• Alibaba [NASDAQ: BABA] Group's supermarket chain, Freshippo, will resume accepting new membership subscriptions on April 24 after a four-month pause. Initially launched in 2019 with a fee of CNY 218, the membership cost was increased to CNY 258 in 2022, and by the end of that year, Freshippo had accumulated three million paid subscribers, generating CNY 588 million in annual revenue. Members benefit from a 12 percent discount on certain products on specific days. Additionally, Freshippo is lowering the minimum amount for free online delivery from CNY 99 to CNY 49 in 26 cities to standardize the threshold nationwide. This resumption follows organizational changes, including price reductions on over 5,000 products in physical stores and a leadership shift, with Yan Xiaolei taking over as CEO last month. The membership halt was part of a strategy to transform into a model offering lower prices without the necessity of a membership.

Friday, April 19:

• JD [NASDAQ: JD] is leveraging China's growing trend of integrating content and commerce by making significant investments in new sectors. The use of a highly realistic avatar of founder Richard Liu for his unusual public appearance underscores the company's pressing need to adapt and compete with rivals who have long been developing popular influencers. It was a success:
  
  In just 40 minutes, 100,000 orders were placed, attracting 20 million views and generating a total transaction value of 50 million yuan.

• China's food delivery giant Meituan has named Senior Vice President Wang Puzhong as the CEO of its newly established core local commerce division, introducing a dual-CEO structure for the first time. This core division combines Meituan’s in-store and in-home service groups with the main platform’s fundamental research and development sector, as detailed in an internal memo from Meituan CEO Wang Xing on Thursday. This update signifies the company's fourth organizational reshuffle in under three months and formally names the consolidated unit, which was first announced in February.

Saturday, April 20:

• Starting May 31, China will implement stringent regulations for its rapidly growing short video drama market, which is forecasted to reach CNY 100 billion by 2027. Due to their escalating popularity, these short dramas, often lasting just a few minutes per episode across roughly 100 episodes, will now require producers to register with local radio and television authorities. Oversight will vary based on production costs: the National Radio and Television Administration will oversee productions costing over CNY 1 million, provincial authorities will handle those between CNY 300,000 and CNY 1 million, and costs under CNY 300,000 will be managed by individual platforms. Additionally, producers must obtain the appropriate licenses for broadcasting. These measures aim to standardize the industry, enhance content quality, and allow for regulatory intervention if necessary.