Commerce

In this factsheet, we describe China’s city tier classification system and present the corresponding average disposable income levels for a comprehensive range of Chinese cities. A breakdown of the average urban versus rural income level is also provided for each city where available. ​ We base our city classifications on Yicai (Chinese name: 第一财经), a […]

One of China’s oldest and largest education organizations that originally started by offering preparation classes for the TOEFL and GRE exams, but has since expanded to include a wide range of courses for both K-12 subjects as well as career exams for working professionals. New Oriental offers both online and offline classes, although the online […]

In this article, we introduce NIO (Chinese: 蔚来)(HKEX: 9866)(NYSE: NIO)(SGX: NIO), a Chinese start-up founded in 2014 which designs and jointly manufactures “smart” electric vehicles targeting the mid-high range of China’s automobile market. This article is part of our China auto industry series, which includes: Click here to subscribe and stay tuned for future updates! […]

In this article, we introduce Meituan (Chinese: 美团)(HKEX: 3690), one of China’s largest food delivery platforms (along with Alibaba‘s Ele.me, Chinese: 饿了么) that also has a hotel booking platform and a variety of other businesses including community e-commerce (社区团购), on-demand deliveries, ride-sharing, bike-sharing, power-bank-sharing, and micro-lending. The company describes itself as a “tech-driven retail company” […]

Youku is a long-video streaming platform that has both in-house developed shows and third-party developed online films and dramas. The platform also has user-uploaded videos, although the majority of the content on Youku are professionally-developed.

In a registration-based (as opposed to regulator/approval-based) IPO system, companies are able to go public given that they fulfill the necessary disclosure requirements. This is the system in place in many countries and regions including the US, the UK, the European Union, Hong Kong and Singapore. China is trialling the use of the registration-based system […]

Lingqiantong is a feature embedded in the WeChat platform that allows users to earn interest on money deposited in their WeChat accounts or from linked debit cards by investing this money in money market funds, similarly to Ant’s Yu’ebao product.

P-chips refer to shares of non-Chinese incorporated companies established and originated in mainland China that are controlled by mainland Chinese companies or individuals. P-chips are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

In Part 1 of our Hengda (Evergrande) series, we introduced the Hengda (China Evergrande) conglomerate, while in Parts 2 to 4 we explored each of Hengda’s publicly listed subsidiaries (Evergrande Property Services in Part 2, Evergrande Auto and Healthcare Segment in Part 3, and the now divested HengTen Networks in Part 4). Subsequently in Part […]

A program for qualified foreign institutional investors and individual investors to invest in the stocks listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange via a trading infrastructure set up in Hong Kong. Mainland Chinese investors can also purchase Hong Kong stocks on this platform.

This is a continuation from Part 5 of the Ant series, where we explored China’s investment markets and analyzed the factors that contributed to Ant’s success in the industry. In Part 6 here, we take a look at current and future macroeconomic trends affecting the mutual fund and money market fund (MMF) markets, and discuss […]

Haidilao is a Chinese hot pot chain founded in 1994 that has particularly gained traction in the 2010s due to its selling point of superior customer service and generally more consistent and higher quality meat products. For example, each Haidilao store has a waiting area for peak times that is equipped with a variety of […]

In Parts 1 and 2 of our Alibaba series, we introduced the history and key business segments that constitute the Alibaba Group ecosystem, while in Part 3, we presented a financial overview of the Group. In this final installment of the series, we explore the key strategies and overarching growth drivers that management has planned […]

In the Chinese context, trust companies are special purpose entities that set up “trusts” to raise funding for specific projects with a limited timespan (e.g. real estate development projects, infrastructure development projects by local governments, CapEx for companies, company mergers and restructurings). The minimum required investment amount to invest in a trust is usually high, […]