IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Bank pumps more money into market

China's central bank on May 24 pumped more money into the market to ease liquidity ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday on May 30. The People's Bank of China conducted 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion; 5.15 billion euros; ￡4.46 billion) of seven-day reverse repos, priced to yield 2.45 percent, unchanged from the May 23 injection of 80 billion yuan, according to a PBOC statement. The bank also conducted 50 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos, priced at 2.6 percent. The move followed a net injection of 180 billion yuan into the financial system on May 22 and 23. The money market will see 140 billion yuan of reverse repos mature this week.

LeEco cutting 70% of staff in the US

TV and smartphone group LeEco says it will cut over 300 jobs at its US business, amounting to almost three-quarters of its local workforce, as the cash-strapped conglomerate streamlines global operations in response to a shortage of cash. The cuts are aimed at increasing its focus on its domestic market, and core TV sets and online content business. That was after founder Jia Yueting said last year expansion had been too quick and costly. LeEco stretched its business from video streaming to TV sets, smartphones, sports and even electric vehicles in a little over a decade, employing 14,000 people globally as of late last year. "The breadth of our business model is capital intensive," LeEco said in a statement. It said that made it difficult in the past few months to support all its businesses. "As a result, the capital we do have will have to be highly focused, resulting in a significant restructuring and streamlining of our business, operations and workforce," the group added.

Baidu to supply partners with AI

Baidu Inc announced it would provide its partners with artificial intelligence resources and technology, to build a smarter and stronger alliance for shared growth. The group says it will share its media resources, online data accumulation and analytical technology, advanced marketing techniques and large pool of advertisers with its partners. The shared resources will include online portals, smartphone makers and app developers, Senior Vice-President Xiang Hailong told the annual summit of the Baidu Union, an alliance framework of Baidu and its partners. CEO and Chairman Robin Li says the internet is just a "starter" while AI will be the "main course". Li adds that the era of enhanced communications between people and things has arrived, citing examples of voice controlled smart home appliances and autonomous driving vehicles. Li says tit is time to shift from "thinking mobile" to "thinking AI", with more focus on technology and user experience.

Namibia selected for global QQ project

The southern African nation of Namibia was selected as one of the countries for the first phase of the global QQ project, launched by leading Chinese internet firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. Tencent announced on May 22 the launch of the QQ X Project. The QQ social media application is a global player, being the third biggest social media application after Facebook and WhatsApp messenger. Namibian Ambassador to China, Elia Kaiyamo, said at the launch that Namibia was excited to have been selected for the project which would be a win-win partnership with Tencent. "This project will make an important contribution to the knowledge and education of youth throughout the world," he said.

VW, JAC join forces to make electric cars

A joint venture between Volkswagen China and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co to make electric cars has been approved by the Chinese authorities. JAC said on May 22 that the venture, with a total investment of 5 billion yuan ($726 million; 645.2 million; ￡558.6 million), will have the capacity to manufacture 100,000 electric cars annually. According to the approval, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, models to be produced by the venture will be made and sold under a new brand and logo. The products will be sold in the domestic and international markets. JAC VW will use a production base owned by JAC in Hefei, capital of Anhui province.

FAW-VWto recall 577,590 vehicles

FAW-Volkswagen will recall 577,590 vehicles to address a potential malfunction of the exterior lights caused by a faulty fuse, China's quality watchdog has announced. The recall, effective from May 17, will include more than 410,000 Golf A6 vehicles produced between September 2009 and May 2014, and over 160,000 Sagitar models manufactured between July 2010 and March 2012. Some exterior lights could stop working due to a fuse problem under humid conditions, rising or fluctuating temperatures, or when the vehicle is shaking. FAW-VW will replace the fuse for free to eliminate risks. FAW-VW is a joint venture formed in 1991 by Chinese automaker FAW Group and Germany-based Volkswagen Group.

BMW plant operational

BMW Brilliance Automotive has put into operation a new assembly plant in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province. The plant in Dadong district, involving a total investment of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.11 billion; 986 million euros; ￡854 million), boosts BBA's total annual capacity to 450,000 units a year. The city of Shenyang currently has two whole vehicle assembly plants, an engine plant and a R&D center, making it one of the largest global smart production bases of the BMW group. The new assembly plant builds upon the German industrial 4.0 concept and has incorporated sophisticated technologies such as VR, augmented manufacturing, laser scanning and bug data analysis in the whole production process. China has become the largest single market for BMW automotive vehicles. Production by BBA in Shenyang exceeded 300,000 units last year, about one-eighth of BMW's global production.

Firm to upgrade Black Sea port

China Harbor Engineering Co has signed a deal with the Ukrainian government to upgrade the Black Sea port of Yuzhny in Ukraine's southern Odessa region. Under the deal, the Chinese company will carry out dredging work at the Yuzhny port to increase the depth of its approach channel from 16 meters to 19 meters. Additionally, CHEC will create a 16-meter-deep operational area near the three berths of the port. The dredging project is expected to improve the maritime access to the port, boosting its cargo handling capabilities.

Google announces Android milestone

Google Inc said on May 17 its Android operating system had reached a milestone by powering 2 billion monthly active devices around the world. Dave Burke, Google's vice-president of engineering, says that Android has the largest reach of any computing platform of its kind. Designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices, Android was first unveiled in 2007. It is estimated that it is now the operating system for more than 80 percent of the world's smartphones. With its latest version released in August 2016, Android has been claimed by Google officials to be "across all screens". Its reach includes watches, cars, television sets, internet of things products and additionally it provides many of the chrome books sold to junior schools in the United States.

( China Daily Africa Weekly 05/26/2017 page24)