WeChat Adds Feature That Challenges Rival Baidu
A new feature on WeChat's messaging app allows users to search certain internet information without leaving the platform. This addition to the nearly ubiquitous China chat app might divert considerable web traffic from China's biggest search engine site Baidu.
Tencent's already multipurpose mobile messaging app, WeChat, said Thursday it added a new function under its "search" option. Users can directly search and find resources on the app while chatting. With the new feature, resources from websites and brand information and parcel-delivery tracking numbers and more can be searched within the app.
Baidu's rival company, Sogou, has reportedly collaborated on this new feature. Tencent Holdings owns 36.5% of Sogou.
This new feature can also direct online traffic to other in-house businesses so as to build up an ecosystem, Liang Zefeng, the director in charge of this project, told online news portal Sina. Currently, China question-and-answer website Zhihu and microblogging platform Weibo, are already searchable through the new feature.
Few U.S. Firms Willing To Move Productions From China
Under tightened U.S.-China relations nearly 70% of responding U.S. companies don't plan to move their production facilities out of China, according to an annual business report published by American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai in association with PwC.
About 14% of the U.S. companies that have production operations in China said it planned to shift part of their China production to locations other than the U.S. Only 4% planned to move manufacturing back to the U.S.
The survey was taken between June 16 and July 16 and was based on 346 U.S. company's responses. A total of 78.2% of these companies reported profits in China in 2019.
New investment is slowing, though, with 28.6% of the companies planning to raise investment scale in China - a drop of 47.2% year on year. Meanwhile, 44% of the companies believe China treats domestic and foreign companies equally - up from 39.5% last year.
The coronavirus outbreak at the start of the year set back China's economy but, led by certain industries, the pace of recovery has been swift. U.S. businesses still see China's consumer market as a huge opportunity, said Ker Gibbs, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.
Singapore Sovereign Fund Loaded In China
Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings reported it has more assets in China now than at home, Chinese Economic Network reported.
According to the company's annual report, as of March 31, Temasek investments in China accounted for 29% of its total holdings - a rise from 26% compared with one year earlier. Meanwhile, Singapore-based assets accounted for 24% - a slight fall from the 26% last year.
But the report shows the net value of its portfolio fell for the first time since 2016 as COVID-19 hit world markets. Its value fell to 306 billion Singapore dollars ($223.73 billion) for the fiscal year - around 2.2% lower than the previous year's 313 billion Singapore dollars.
Its one-year shareholder return was minus 2.28%, while returns were 5% over a 10-year period and 6% over 20 years.
The financial-services sector accounted for the greatest share of investments, at 23% of the total holdings, while telecommunications, media and technology followed with 21%. Its investment in Alibaba Group Holdings, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Meituan Dianping have climbed over the year, according to the report.
German OLED Maker Shines on China Investment
German science and technology company Merck KGaA plans to further explore the China market by spending $25.9 million to make flexible OLED materials in Shanghai, Yicai Global reported.
OLED, or organic light-emitting diode display, is made by placing an organic emissive layer - which is a thin film of organic compound between two conductive layers. It emits light in response to an electric current. It can be used to make foldable, transparent and flexible screens.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization with an increase in remote work so many companies have increased their investments in laptop computers and external displays, Michael Heckmeier, head of display solutions at the Darmstadt-based firm, told Yicai Global.
More than half of the company's investment will go to expand the scale of the company's OLED lab, while the remainder will be used for building a plant that is expected to finish construction within two years.
The company owns plants in Suzhou and Shanghai. In 2018, it was the first company to establish an OLED lab where customers can specify their own OLED applications, China Chemical Industry News reported.
