Hello from Shunyi again where July is turning out to be a humid month. In this weeks issue we look at food, in particular a Japanese comeback, DIDI hits some unsealed roads, TESLA, China’s carbon trading scheme.
Japanese Food Chain Coming Back
About this time last year, maybe a month or so earlier, the Japanese food chain Watami closed all 7 restaurants in China and retreated in the face of Covid. To day with Japan struggling under the weight of virus restrictions China is again looking as a good investment.
Watami, one of Japan’s biggest restaurant operators, will open a fried chicken shop in association with Chinese partners. The chain plans to expand further into China via franchisees while considering adding grilled beef restaurants later. The full story is here: Japan eatery chain Watami returns to China for taste of recovery courtesy of Nikkei Asia. (periodically blocked in China)
DIDID drives into some rough roads.
OK, ignoring the weak pun above, this week DIDI is faced with class action suits in the US for failing to display a warning from the Chinese regulator to delay its share offering. More here: Didi Accused of Failing to Disclose Warning to Delay IPO in Class Action Suit a Caixin Global premium article.
TESLA
Sticking with motoring, sort of, TESLA has had a rough couple of months in China, facing not only a hostile customer going berserk in media a stunt at the Shanghai auto show. A double whammy as a video of the incident went viral and TESLA’s safety was news headlines and a trending topic. Previous to that, run ins with the state consumer protection office over its customer service support and attitude, a regulatory probe into the safety of its autopilot system and later concerns the AI function may be collecting sensitive data and exporting off shore topped off a less than stellar month.
Enough to start many foreign firms griping about an unfair playing field and sales nosediving.
Yet TESLA handled it in its stride, agreeing with some points, disputing others backed up with data and building a China based data centre. How did several months of negative news impact TESLA’s sales? Did Chinese consumers flock to their home grown brands in a show of “National Pride?”
Seems not. For the month of June, TESLA not only retained its top spot, but saw growth in 2 of its Chinese assembled models. You can read the full story here: Hot Sales of Made-in-China Models Proves Tesla’s Popularity With Chinese Drivers courtesy of Caixin Global. And the top selling EV in China? Still the humble Hongguang Mini (head image) a GM Chinese JV.
China’s New Carbon Market
Although not really within the realm of our specialities as, currently, it focuses mostly on a niche sector. China’s biggest polluters. But, if you are in business or considering entering the China market, an awareness of this is probably not such a bad idea. Although, we are sure that as canny businesses people, you are already all over it~ This link from Caixin Premium is a good starting point: Caixin Explains: How China’s New Carbon Market Will Work.
Thanks for reading our China news, marketing, tech and social media article – we hope it was useful, relative, informative, valuable.
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