Chinese Company Behind American 'Anti-Aging' Pills Sees Share Price Soar
As online shopping and purchasing of imported products become a thing for Chinese consumers, an expensive health supplement branded "Doctor's Best NMN," with a price tag of RMB1,600 (US$228.78) per bottle, has become all the rage over the past few weeks while the share price of Xiamen-based Kingdomway Group, which acquired the American supplement brand Doctor's Best in 2016, has skyrocketed.
As of Thursday, the Kingdomway share price on the Shenzhen exchange was up to RMB53 per share, with a market valuation of upwards of RMB35 billion. This came even after the Shenzhen Stock Exchange had earlier sent a letter to the company requiring it to provide more specific information about the unproven product.
Kingdomway stock has now hit the surge limit five times over seven trading days.
The Doctor's Best NMN product is advertised as an anti-aging supplement containing Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which apparently affects body metabolism. Low levels of NAD can result in health problems, but there is no conclusive evidence that, taken as a health supplement, it stops aging, as claimed.
On July 8, during the first day it was offered for sale on Tmall, Kingdomway sold a small batch of Doctor's Best NMN, and as of July 19, 3,605 pre-sales orders had been made, with revenrue from the purchases reaching RMB5.4040 million (US$770,000).
Kingdomway, in response to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's demand to provide more information about the product, said that its board of directors guaranteed there was no falsified information regarding the product and claimed it is verified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
But the U.S. FDA is not obligated to check dietary supplements like Doctor's Best NMN offered to consumers, so any claim of FDA verification ensures neither its safety nor its efficacy.
As of 2019, Kingdomway Group's revenue in nutrition and health products reached RMB3.109 billion (US$445 million), accounting for 97.41% of its business, while overseas sales amounted RMB2.496 billion (US$357 million). It has a subsidiary company Kingdomway Nutrition Inc., responsible for sales and marketing to the North America market.
State Council Seeks Answers On Nuclear Scientists In Group Meltdown
China's State Council has begun an investigation into the walkout of more than 90 nuclear safety scientists who resigned from a Hefei-based institute administered by the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) last Wednesday.
The deputy premier of the State Council, Liu He, mandated on Wednesday the formation of an official investigation team, consisting of officials from the State Council's general office, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the CAS, to look into the unusual group resignation and thoroughly investigate the situation.
The Institute claimed the resignations were completely "voluntary" and part of "normal staff turnover," but public sources speculated that institutional bureaucracy, employee poaching and inadequate financial support for qualified scientific talents drove the scientists out the door.
The Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology (INEST), a scientists' hub located in Heifei, capital of Anhui province, is officially under the administration of Heifei Institutes of Physical Science of CAS. It employs nearly 600 scientists, with 80% holding PhD degrees, according to the institute's official website.
However, at its peak INEST had only 500 members and, as of last year, there were only 200 researchers. After the group resignation, there are now only around 100 remaining, Global Times reported. Most of the employees graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China and have average salaries of RMB10,000 (US$1,430) per month.
Established in September 2011, shortly after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, INEST is devoted to the design and R&D of advanced nuclear energy and safety technologies.
Third Agricultural Survey Under Conduction
The Third Agricultural Census, a massive collection of information on crops, land use and livestock resources, is being conducted across China, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The census covers as many as 510,000 kinds of long-preserved crop resources, 560 types of livestock and 230,000 agricultural microorganisms.
Preparation for the First Agricultural Census in China began in 1983, in response to a request for technical assistance by the Chinese government to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The First Agricultural Census conducted in China in 1997 was perhaps the world's largest and most complex statistical survey ever undertaken, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
So far, the comprehensive survey has found that 95% of crop resources are indigenous to China and up to 70% of livestock genes remain from domestic breeds.
Applying bio-technological means such as distant hybridization, genetic engineering and genomics has led to a 10% increase in crop production in China.
6.6 Magnitude Quake Hits Tibet
A powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit Nima County in Tibet on Thursday morning, followed by a 4.3 magnitude earthquake in the same region within two and a half hours, according to China Seismological Station.
The epicenter of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep at north latitude 33.19 degrees and east longitude 86.81 degrees, while the 4.3 magnitude earthquake was 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) deep at north latitude 33.24 degrees and east longitude 86.91 degrees.
The two quakes were in an uninhabited area known as the Plateau of Tibet, 160 kilometers away from Nima county and 560 kilometers from the city of Lhasa. No deaths, injuries or building collapses were reported.
In the past five years, there have been 57 quakes above magnitude 3 within 200 kilometers of the 4.3 magnitude quake epicenter, according to China Seismological Station.
Beijing Increases Rental Subsidy
Low-income Beijing families can now receive a maximum monthly subsidy of RMB3,500 (US$500), a revised policy to come into effect starting from August, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing.
The applicants have to be locally registered Beijing residents and must meet several conditions to qualify for the rent subsidy. Recipients include those who rent residential property in Beijing, do not own property and whose per capita monthly income is less than RMB4,200 (US$600) and whose total family assets are less than RMB570,000 (US$81,453).
The new policy increased the threshold of per capita monthly income from RMB2,400 (US$343) to RMB4,200 (US$600).
Since 2001, Beijing has provided up to RMB2 billion (US$286 million) of rental subsidies to more than 60,000 families. The minimum rental subsidy for a single or two-person household is RMB1,000 per month (US$143); while the minimum rental subsidy for a three-person family or larger is RMB1,200 (US$171) per month.
