Nanchang Burger King Operator Gets Whopper Of Fine
The operating company behind six Burger King outlets in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, is facing payment of the highest fine possible by the local supervision bureau for reportedly using expired ingredients. "Illegal income" totaling 916,504 yuan ($132,803) was also confiscated from the restaurants in question, Beijing Business Today reported.
The Nanchang Market Supervision Bureau posted a Weibo announcement Tuesday saying that the six outlets all violated China's food safety laws by using expired ingredients for food production. The legal representative and managers of the operator company, Nanchang XinKai Catering Ltd., have been ordered to pay a total of 2.816 million yuan.
In response, Burger King's China unit said that it will not allow the operator to be franchised again under their brand in the future. Additionally, one restaurant of the six problematic outlets, located on Beijing East Road in Nanchang, has had its operations suspended and will be permanently closed.
A state TV investigative video broadcast on July 16 featured three Nanchang Burger King outlets where expired bread and chicken were relabeled and used. Both staff and outlet managers admitted responsibility. Burger King's China unit immediately followed with an apology and claimed it would investigate the matter thoroughly.
Overseas Gambling Hotspots Blacklisted
China will blacklist overseas destinations that attract Chinese tourists for the purpose of gambling and will impose travel restrictions on those cities, the state-run People's Daily reported.
The blacklist system is being implemented by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The ministry said that in recent years, there has been a continual increase of Chinese citizens traveling abroad, including to gambling destinations which, it indicated, could harm Chinese nationals' safety and property security.
In March, China's Ministry of Public Security held a meeting on "cross-border gambling" where Minister Zhao Kezhi called for an investigation into "major cases" of internationally-based online gambling operators catering to Chinese customers and called for the establishment of an internet gambling company blacklist.
It followed with shutting down 368 illegal online gaming platforms, detecting 257 cross-border gambling cases and arresting 11,500 suspects by June, Inside Asia Gaming reported.
This came even as Macao gambling casino operators expressed cautious optimism at recovery as China relaxes travel restrictions and Macao customs recently reopened to travelers from the Mainland.
Gambling is illegal under Chinese Law. Any form of involvement in gambling by Chinese citizens, including participating in online-gambling, gambling overseas, or opening casinos overseas to attract Chinese citizens, is considered illegal.
Footwear Brand Abandons Brick And Mortar
Hong Kong-based Daphne International Holdings, one of the leading footwear manufacturers that mainly operates in Greater China, Asia, Europe and North America, plans to fully abandon its brick and mortar retail shops in both Mainland and Taiwan markets, the company said in a recent announcement.
The announcement came in tandem with the release of Daphne International's first-half fiscal report, showing that revenues declined by 85% to HK$212 million ($27.35 million) and shareholders seeing HK$141 million in losses.
Daphne International said the total number of its brick and mortar retail locations had shrunk to 293 as of June 30, a significant drop from 2,208 in the middle of last year, as the company took a severe hit from the coronavirus pandemic.
The company gains in revenues peaked at HK$10.529 billion in 2012, with 6881 brick and mortar stores. But from the period from 2015 to 2019, it experienced consecutive losses, reaching an accumulative total of HK$4 billion, Beijing Business Today reported.
In the face of continual losses and decreasing stores, it adopted asset-light strategies, which the company hopes will retain the value of its operations and brand while operating with greatly reduced capital assets.
In April, Daphne International entered into an agreement with Suning's unmanned logistics supply chain to distribute its products online across the Mainland.
Wuhan to Revive Tourism Economy
To restore its bleak local tourism economy, Wuhan, the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak earlier this year, is rolling out subsidies and consumption incentives through the end of this year, Chutian Metropolis Daily reported.
Up to 80 million yuan ($11.6 million) worth of tourism vouchers will be distributed to local residents, offering deductions on leisure activities and establishments in local tourist spots.
Meanwhile, hotels that functioned as quarantine locations during the pandemic can receive subsidies of 20,000 yuan. Tourist guides with official certification will receive six months of subsidies, ranging from 600 yuan to 1,000 yuan per month.
The government said financial institutions should support local culture and tourism firms by not refusing or withdrawing loans, according to a statement by the local government on Tuesday.
The pandemic will heavily impact Hubei province's tourism, with estimated losses reaching 150 billion yuan, said a spokesman for the Culture and Tourism Ministry in April.
Wuhan Sante Cableway Group, the only listed tourism company in Hubei province, expects to lose between 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) and 120 million yuan in the first half. The company was able to secure 10 million yuan in interest-free loans and 100 million in subsidized loans, Yicai Global reported.
DiDi Chuxing Debuts In Tatarstan
Chinese online ride-hailing service provider Didi Chuxing announced Tuesday the launch of its operations in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia, as the company's first Eurasian market.
Tatarstan is home to the largest IT park in Russia. DiDi said it will provide local drivers with competitive and transparent service fee structures.
One of DiDi Chuxing's local competitors is Yandex.Taxi, the ride-hailing arm of Russian Internet giant Yandex. The company experienced a sharp drop in sales in the first half of this year as coronavirus restrictions kept people at home, Reuters reported.
According to forecasts by HSBC Bank, the Russian taxi market is the most profitable in the world. HSBC Bank analysts note that taxi services in Russia can afford to set lower prices compared with other countries thanks to their broad audience.
Didi had begun cooperation with taxi companies earlier this summer and recruited drivers in Kazan. Driver commissions were reportedly as high as 5% during the launch period.
The Beijing-headquartered Didi Chuxing claims to have over 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers. It merged local competitors like Kuaidi Dache in 2015 and bought the local branch of U.S.-based Uber in 2016.
The company will likely explore the purchase of the Russian division of the international express delivery company Dostavista, PledgeTimes reported.
