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Tag: China

  • JD.com promises to add ‘1000 stores a day’

    JD.com promises to add ‘1000 stores a day’

    As 50,000 people apply each day to be franchisees, JD.com promises to open more than 1000 stores a day this year.

    It started the journey last month, with founder/CEO Liu Qiangdong saying almost every store will be a franchise, according to local media reports.

    The ambitious aim is a part of a plan the e-commerce announced 12 months ago, when Liu said it would open a million convenience stores in the next five years, half of them in rural areas. JD.com’s convenience stores are run by independent investors, and the company offers loans for potential franchisees.

    “We receive 50,000 applications every day,” says Liu. “The applicants are mostly migrant workers who have returned to their villages or small towns. Jingdong Finance can provide them with loans to open stores. They can earn more than RMB8000 [US$1275] a month.”

    The first batch of shops, 1111 of them, opened their doors on the same day in November.

    Liu’s latest announcement comes a month after JD.com signed an agreement with convenience store group FamilyMart. This enables JD users to have food delivered to their homes from FamilyMart’s core locations in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu within 30 minutes at any time.

    Smart carts

    And in January, JD.com launched offline fresh-food supermarket 7Fresh, a 4000sqm store in Beijing that features “smart carts” that guide customers to the items they seek to buy.

    JD’s first high-profile deal in the emerging O2O retail sector was its investment of RMB4.3 billion for a 10 per cent stake in Shanghai-listed supermarket chain Yonghui Superstores three years ago.

    Meanwhile, JD.com is partnering with mainland retail conglomerate China Resources Vanguard in a deal to take Vanguard’s shops in Hangzhou and Nanjing to its O2O platform. Customers will be able to buy from Vanguard’s offline stores via JD Daojia, and the partnership will later extend to the brand’s 2000 retail stores in more than 30 major cities in China.

    China Resources Vanguard, formerly China Vanguard Super Department, has more than 3000 retail stores in 200-plus cities and has revenues of RMB103.6 billion last year.

    JD Daojia is a one-hour delivery service that partners with 100,000 local merchants and provides on-demand groceries, fresh produce, snacks, flowers and pharmacy needs in more than 30 cities. It has more than 50 million registered users and 20 million monthly active clients.

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  • Online boost for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery

    Online boost for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery

    Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group’s fourth quarter saw e-commerce business soar in Mainland China.

    Retail sales value grew at the rate of 38 per cent year-on-year accompanied by a volume boost of 34 per cent.

    During the three months to the end of March, the percentage of retail sales value settled by Alipay, China UnionPay, WeChat Pay or RMB in the Hong Kong and Macau market – a proxy for sales contribution from mainland tourists – improved to 51 per cent from 44 per cent for the same period last year.

    Both the value of retail sales and same-store sales continued to improve in both the Mainland China and Hong Kong/Macau markets. Hong Kong/Macau had relatively stronger growth during the quarter thanks to improved consumer sentiment and a revival of visitor numbers from the mainland.

    In Mainland China, same-store sales of gem-set jewellery declined while retail sales value stayed positive. The same-store average selling price improved to HK$7100 (US$905) from $6500 a year earlier.

    In Hong Kong/Macau, both volume and average selling price at same-store level increased during the quarter. There was double-digit growth in same-store volume while the average selling price improved to H$13,000 from $12,400.

    An increase in volume drove same-store sales performance of gold products in both markets. The average selling price improved with an increased gold price (up an average 9 per cent) and higher-value purchases.

    The same-store average selling price was $4400, up from $3900, in China while the figure for Hong Kong/Macau rose to $7900 from $7000.

    Chow Tai Fook ended the quarter with 20 more points of sale. This included 17 outlets opening in China, one in Hong Kong/Macau, one in Taiwan and two in Korea. One point of sale closed in the US, taking to total of outlets to 2585.

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  • China edges ahead in 5G race

    China edges ahead in 5G race

    China has edged slightly ahead of both South Korea and the US in the race to deploy 5G, according to a new report by Analysys Mason.

    China leads the world in 5G readiness, followed by South Korea, the US and Japan in that order, according to the report, which was commissioned by US-based trade organization for the wireless industry CTIA .

    The countries were ranked based on nations’ respective 5G spectrum and infrastructure policies as well as commercial plans by their respective wireless sectors.

    The report found that all three major Chinese operators have committed to specific 5G launch dates. The government has also committed to providing at least 100 MHz of mid-band spectrum and 2,000 MHz of high-band spectrum for each operator.

    In South Korea, the government is soon expected to free up a combined 1300 MHz of both mid-band 3.5-GHz and high-band 28-GHz spectrum, with an additional 2 GHz of high-band spectrum capable of being utilized for 5G.

    While all major US wireless providers are trialing 5G technologies and a number have committed to small-scale fixed wireless 5G launches by the end of the year, the country has yet to announce plan to allocate mid-band spectrum exclusively for mobile by the end of 2020.

    “The United States will not get a second chance to win the global 5G race,” CTIA president and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker said.

    “Today’s research highlights the importance of policymaker action in 2018 to reform local zoning rules and unlock access to mid-band spectrum as part of a broader spectrum pipeline plan. I’m optimistic we will leapfrog China because key leaders in the Administration, on Capitol Hill, and at the FCC are focused on the reforms needed to win the race.”

    In Japan, wireless providers are investing in 5G testing and regulators have committed to releasing mid- and high-band spectrum by early 2019.

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  • Welden handbags flies high in China

    Welden handbags flies high in China

    Sandy Friesen’s small and young handmade handbag company Welden generated nearly US$300,000 in gross merchandise volume during a two-day live-streaming event in China.

    On Alibaba’s C2C marketplace Taobao, the campaign was the New York brand’s first foray into China. It became an instant hit, attracting 808,000 views and 4.06 million likes on the first day.

    By the end of the two days, Welden had sold nearly 1000 bags priced from $195 to $595, with a combined 1.7 million livestream views.

    Friesen says the success of Welden’s China debut far surpassed her expectations. The Welden co-founder says China had not been on her company’s radar until only few months before the campaign.

    “We were a US brand that had been trying to expand to Canada. We’ve been really just going with what we know. It’s truly amazing this has happened so quickly.”

    Friesen started Welden in 2015, its designs being easily recognisable by their signature hexagon weave.

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  • Huawei completes 5G NSA core network test

    Huawei completes 5G NSA core network test

    Huawei said it has become the first vendor to pass China’s 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) core network test, which constitutes an important part of the country’s 5G R&D trials for operators that hope to deploy 5G commercial networks early and quickly.

    The test, which covers key core network technologies and service processes, was part of the third phase trial organized by the IMT-2020 Promotion Group and conducted at the Beijing lab of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

    The test is based on the commercial 5G core network solution released by Huawei at the Mobile World Congress 2018. Technologies tested include: gateway selection in control and user plane separation (CUPS) architecture, 5G ultra-high bandwidth, dual-connection to LTE and new radio (NR), independent billing for 5G NR, and terminal access management.

    The key service processes include: terminal registration, service requests, mobility management, and session management.

    China’s three major carriers – China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom – as well as the network technology workgroup of the CAICT were involved in the network test, Huawei said.

    As of year-end 2017, Huawei had built 15 pre-commercial 5G core sites around the globe.

  • La Chapelle group buys Naf Naf

    La Chapelle group buys Naf Naf

    A Chinese investment group led by Shanghai La Chapelle Fashion has paid €52 million (US$64 million) to acquire French fashion chain Naf Naf, part of the Vivarte group.

    European clothing retailer Vivarte has owned Naf Naf since buying it from Parisian brothers Patrick Patrick and Gérard Pariente, who founded the brand in 1973, for €200 million.

    It is the first foreign investment for La Chapelle, China’s largest cheap women’s apparel retailer, which has 9448 stores, 37,544 employees and a €1.2 billion turnover in China itself.

    Vivarte says La Chapelle will open 500 Naf Naf stores in China over the next five years and another 30 in Europe. Naf Naf now has 474 points of sale and 1200 employees.

    The Naf Naf sale is part of a major restructuring program for Vivarte. The French retail group needs to clear a €600 million debt and already sold shoe chains Andre and Pataugas and women’s clothing brand Kookai. It is also ready to sell Besson (shoes) and Chevignon (men’s fashion).

    CEO Patrick Puy wants to turn Vivarte’s attention to five core brands: Caroll, Cosmoparis, La Halle, Minelli and San Marina. The money from the Naf Naf sale will go toward its most important asset, La Halle, which generates €1 billion in turnover (on overall €1.8 billion group turnover), but faces competition from H&M, Primark and e-commerce outlets.

  • Second flagship store for Lego Group China

    Second flagship store for Lego Group China

    Lego Group China has started building a flagship store at People’s Square, Shanghai.

    “Opening our second flagship store in China reconfirms our long-term commitment to the country,” says Lego China GM Jacob Kragh.

    Covering 585sqm over two floors inside Shanghai ShiMao Festival City, the store will feature the first Lego personalisation experience of its type in China, allowing guests of all ages to be creative and innovative with Lego bricks.

    Lego brand retail senior VP Claus Flyger Pejstrup says the aim is to give families an opportunity for quality time together above and beyond shopping.

    The new store, which follows the introduction of flagships at Shanghai Disneyland and Leicester Square in London is expected to create about 45 jobs. Recruitment start this month.

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  • AirAsia opens Cebu-Shenzhen route on May 9

    AirAsia opens Cebu-Shenzhen route on May 9

    Budget carrier Philippines AirAsia is enhancing its route with the introduction of a new one from Cebu to Shenzhen, China.

    Starting on May 9, AirAsia will fly daily directly between Cebu and Shenzhen, making that city its first Chinese destination out of the Queen City of the South.

    “The addition of our first China route from the Cebu hub enables us to further strengthen our network outside Metro Manila and open up new and exciting places to visit this summer,” Philippines AirAsia CEO Dexter Comendador said last Sunday.

    Shenzhen is located in the Pearl River Delta metropolitan area and is one of the major economic hubs of China.

    Known as “China’s Silicon Valley,” Shenzhen is home to some of the top start-up and tech businesses in the world, including the headquarters of popular global companies such as Huawei, BYD and ZTE.

    “Cebuano travelers would be delighted to experience Shenzhen’s modern metropolis and marvel at how the southern city that links Hong Kong to mainland China built the world’s largest electric bus fleet, massive malls, contemporary buildings and amusement parks,” Comendador said.

    AirAsia is strengthening its operations outside Metro Manila due to capacity constraints in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

    It has a fleet of 17 planes as of end-December. For 2018 it is expected to take delivery of five more jets, bringing its fleet to 22 planes by end-2018.

  • Columbia Sportswear China under bid

    Columbia Sportswear China under bid

    Columbia Sportswear Company is moving to take over Columbia Sportswear China JV partner Swire Resources.

    The US brand holds a 60 per cent shareholding, and the acquisition is subject to conditions, including regulatory approval in China. The transaction is expected to be completed in January.
    Columbia president/CEO Tim Boyle says Swire Resources has been an exceptional partner “and we look forward to continuing our strong relationship in Hong Kong and Macau”.

    He says Columbia was pleased with the performance of the JV, formed in 2014. “We have positioned the Columbia brand for long-term sustained growth in the crucial Chinese market. The acquisition is consistent with our strategy to accelerate investment as a brand-led, consumer-first business in the areas of highest growth potential for our brands”.

    While the JV had an initial term of 20 years, there was a provision for the purchase or sale of the minority interest after the fifth year. Its sales in China last year totalled about US$168 million, generating low-teens operating margin.

    Future plans include continued investments in building the Columbia brand in China, as well as expansion of direct and dealer-run retail locations. “We also intend to maintain the management team, staff, dealers and distribution networks that have helped the Columbia brand flourish in China,” says Boyle.

    Jason Zhu will continue as GM of Columbia Sportswear Commercial (Shanghai) Company.

    At the end of last year, the JV ran 86 retail stores in China, and was selling through brand-specific e-commerce sites in China across multiple platforms. It has distribution relationships with about 50 wholesale dealers running about 750 retail locations.

    Swire Resources will continue as exclusive independent distributor of Columbia Sportswear in Hong Kong and Macau.

    Founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1938, Columbia is selling its brands in about 90 countries.

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  • Ediya Coffee drops plan to launch an IPO for China

    Ediya Coffee drops plan to launch an IPO for China

    South Korea’s Ediya Coffee has dropped its plan to go public this year, opting instead to re-enter China through Beijing.

    “In terms of growth and profit margin, we are fully ready for an IPO, but we decided we must tend to our franchisees first,” says CEO Moon Chang-ki.

    In a move that would have led to Korea’s first coffee stock, Ediya Coffee in December appointed Mirae Asset Daewoo as its underwriter for an IPO this year. Ediya had decided to list to help it challenge Starbucks Coffee on Ediya’s home territory.

    Meanwhile, labour costs have shot up in South Korea after the hourly minimum wage was pushed up by 16.4 per cent to KRW7530 (US$7) from January.

    “The subsidy to help franchisees sustain staff increased by 4.5 billion won,” says Moon, partly admitting the spike in labour cost had disrupted the IPO schedule. Instead, the coffee chain will renew its overseas campaign, starting with a shop in Beijing next year. It had pulled out of China in 2008 after three years.

    Moon acquired Ediya Coffee from its founder in 2004. Twelve years later it became the first homegrown coffee brand to run 2000 stores. It is expected to open its 2500th store this month. The company generated KRW700 billion in sales last year and as about 10,000 employees.

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  • China hosts 50% of smart cities in Asia

    China hosts 50% of smart cities in Asia

    Smart city projects in China are expected to generate $320 billion for the nation’s economy by 2025, according to Frost & Sullivan.

    China is expected to account for 50% of the smart cities in Asia, the research firm said in a new report. The global smart city market is expected to grow to over $2 trillion by 2025.

    Asia-Pacific is also expected to be the fastest growing region in the smart energy – or distributed energy generation – space over this time.

    Smart energy will be one of a number of key technologies that will be the technological cornerstones of smart cities in the future, with others including AI, robotics, advanced driver assistance systems and personalized healthcare.

    AI will play a key role in smart cities in areas such as smart parking, smart mobility, smart energy grids, adaptive signal control and waste management, Frost & Sullivan said. Major corporations such as Google, IBM and Microsoft remain the primary drivers of AI adoption.

    Smart city projects will meanwhile take on a more urgent imperative due to the projection that by 2050, over 80% of the population in developed countries and 60% in the developing world will live in cities.

    Another key enabling technology for smart cities is the internet of things (IoT).

    “Currently most smart city models provide solutions in silos and are not interconnected. The future is moving toward integrated solutions that connect all verticals within a single platform. IoT is already paving the way to allow for such solutions,” Frost & Sullivan visionary innovation senior research analyst Vijay Narayanan said.

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  • Nokia to build new OTN for China Mobile

    Nokia to build new OTN for China Mobile

    Nokia announced that it will be providing China Mobile with an optical transport network that will enable the operator to become 5G-ready.

    China Mobile is currently building a new optical transport network that will support improved data center interconnection, consumer broadband services and 4G backhaul. Looking ahead, the new optical backbone will be a key part of the next-generation mobile services, namely 5G.

    “We are very pleased to work closely with China Mobile to provide the optical technology for its most advanced networks today and in the future. We’ll continue to fulfill our mission by making people’s life easier as we create the technologies that connect the world,” said Yu Xiaohan, head of the China Mobile customer team at Nokia Shanghai Bell, in a press release.

    Nokia described its solution as a dynamic, programmable optical network that can support virtualization and cloud technologies associated with 5G.

    According to Kyle Hollasch, head of marketing for Nokia’s optical business, China is the fastest growing region in the optical market.

    “As the only non-Chinese vendor with significant market share in China, Nokia is thrilled to be part of this strategic build-out for China Mobile,” Hollasch said in a statement.

    Nokia’s aspirations in China are well known. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri highlighted the race to 5G, saying it’s a battle between the US and China in terms of who gets there first. Both China and the US will move fast and they will be well ahead of pretty much every other part of the world, he said.

    Nokia and China Mobile used the MWC event to announce that they had signed an agreement under which the companies are jointly investigating how China Mobile can extend its service offerings for vertical markets using 5G. Their research is focused on how industries can benefit from the growth of smart cities, smart transportation and intelligent video analytics.

    The companies also are jointly testing use cases using Nokia 5G Future X network architecture as well as NB-IoT and MEC, and they’re expanding an existing Car2X trial ecosystem in Wuzhen to advance the use of automated vehicles, as well as technologies that improve vehicle safety.

    Nokia’s Nuage Networks was chosen by China Mobile (Suzhou) Software Technical Company, a subsidiary of China Mobile, as the SDN platform for China Mobile’s public and private enterprise cloud services offering. The platform is based on the Nuage Networks VSP and includes cloud implementations on virtual machines, Kubernetes (K8S) containers and OpenStack Ironic-based bare metal servers.

    Last year, China Unicom said it would use the Nokia Flexi Zone portfolio to densify its network where it isn’t possible to add a macro base station due to space or cost constraints.

  • REITs China has been moving forward, to seek further opportunity

    REITs China has been moving forward, to seek further opportunity

    Since the origination of REITs in the United States, in the 50 years of its development, REITs in the United States, Singapore, Japan has been running on a rather perfect system, with legal policies and tax system. REITs was able to help the countries in growth, sustainable decisions, and the industry coordination. China had the first REITs in 2005. Since then, REITs in China have been moving forward, to seek further opportunity.

    The new age of investment has come. PE is the most anticipated type of investment that most of the investors that are eyeing for. According to Asset Management Association of China, by the end of Februrary 2018, PE Fund pool have reached monthly growth of 250 billion Yuan, totaling 12 trillion Yuan. It has its competition to Public Placement.

    With the development of Real Estate Equity Fund and REITs, an increase in the amount of firms are interested to be a part of it. As the fundamental, Finfo Global along with CaishiV is going to host the 2nd Real Estate Equity Investment & REITs in Shanghai on May 17. The event have gathered worldwide trust firms, insurance company, law firms, securities, asset managements and banks. The event is excepting more than 300 managerial positioned attendees.

    At the event, Weida Kuang from China Remin University, National Development and Strategy Institution, City and Real Estate Institution with be introducing his ideas over the macro economy and the effect of the industry of real estates. Also, there are newly added topics such as low-cost rental housing, public rental housing, rental housing REITs, investment opportunities in second and third tier cities, offshore real estate PE Fund and its structuring,

  • Qoo10 visitors balloon by 70%

    Qoo10 visitors balloon by 70%

    Visitors to e-commerce site Qoo10 ballooned 70 per cent to hit an average of 14.4 million in last year’s fourth quarter, according to Malaysian online aggregator iPrice.

    Qoo10 has about 3 million registered members and offers products ranging from women’s fashion to groceries, and services that include credit card and insurance policy subscriptions. The site offers daily deals, limited-time sales and coupons.

    Discounts and savings of up to 70 per cent off are offered through promotional deals.

    Qoo10’s Live10 mobile app includes a GPS-enabled interactive game with daily discounts, coupons or Qpoints as prizes.

    Based in Singapore as a JV established between founder Ku Young Bae and eBay, Qoo10 launched online in 2010 and has expanded its marketplaces to Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Mainland China.

  • Online retail sales in China to hit US$1 trillion

    Online retail sales in China to hit US$1 trillion

    Online retail sales in China are rising faster than previously predicted, and likely to surpass US$1 trillion this year according to a new report from Forrester.

    In the broader Asia-Pacific market, one in every four dollars spent on retail will be spent online by 2022, with China and South Korea the principal drivers.

    Forrester says rapid growth in mobile shopping and burgeoning online sales of fashion and food are likely to result on US$1.1 trillion in spending in China this calendar year.

    China already accounts for 83 per cent of online shopping in the region, although a projected annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent in the number of individuals buying stuff online suggests the market is becoming mature in terms of participation. Future growth will be driven by Chinese consumers buying more goods online rather in store.

    By 2022, Forrester estimates 631 million Chinese will shop online, compared with 502 million now.

    Japan is Asia-Pacific’s second largest online market, likely to account for $97 billion in sales this year, followed by South Korea with $69 billion. Australia is next, with $31 billion, followed by India, the region’s fastest-growing market, but currently worth $27 billion. India is expected to overtake Australia next year.

    Finally, Forrester projects mobile devices will account for 80 per cent of online retail sales in the region by 2022.

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