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Nico Beckert

Nico Beckert Published: August 25th, 2021

DiDi postpones expansion to Europe

Ride-hailing services company DiDi Chuxing has put its European plans on hold for at least a year. This was reported by the British newspaper The Telegraph. The company originally had planned to offer its services in several European cities of Germany, France and the UK. The report cites new privacy regulations by Chinese authorities as […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 23rd, 2021

Great Wall Motors acquires Daimler plant in Brazil

Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors (GWM) has purchased a plant previously owned by Daimler in Iracemápolis, Brazil. The company will take over the land, plant, machinery and equipment from Daimler by the end of the year. GWM attributed this to the expansion of its presence in South America. “Brazil is one of the most important […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 18th, 2021

Battery recycling: an unearthed treasure?

Electromobility is on the advance, with more and more EV models coming onto the market. The trend is accelerated by the EU Commission’s plans to no longer permit combustion engines from 2035. The first automakers have announced an even earlier end date. The boom in EVs also means a boom in battery raw materials: According […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 16th, 2021

16.08.2021_Dessert

The Qixi festival 七夕 is linked to the romantic legend of the weaver girl (who is actually a fairy) and the poor shepherd boy who, after some entanglements, are only allowed to see each other once a year on 7/7 of the lunar calendar. It is therefore considered a festival of lovers. This wall in […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 13th, 2021

Beijing announces further regulations

China’s top-level authorities have adopted a “five-year blueprint” to strengthen regulatory control over key economic sectors. The Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council released a policy document on the regulation of multiple fields, including digital economy, IT companies operating in the financial sector, artificial intelligence, Big Data, cloud computing, and food and drugs, […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 13th, 2021

Personnel 13.08.2021

In autumn 2021, Roland Busch (56) will take over the chairmanship of the Asien-Pazifik-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft (APA) – (Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business). Busch holds the position of Chairman of the Managing Board of Siemens AG. He succeeds Joe Kaeser, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy AG. Each individual country in the […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 13th, 2021

Beijing restricts market access for health commodities

Recent changes to procurement guidelines in China will hit medical equipment manufacturers such as Siemens, GE Healthcare and Philips the hardest, according to new details. Beijing had instructed local authorities to rely on more locally produced goods when procuring MRI and X-ray equipment, as well as surgical endoscopes and PCR testing equipment. Of the 315 […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 12th, 2021

Electric vehicles: Evergrande records losses

China Evergrande Group has announced a net loss of $740 million for its e-car division. The figures are based on the first half of 2021 and are impacted by spending on research and development and equipment, according to business portal Caixin. So far, Evergrande has not sold a single electric car. Plans for production and […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 12th, 2021

Editorial 12.08.2021

The spectacular footage of the Ever Given accident in the Suez Canal is already one of the images of the year. Yet, according to the German economy, the Covid cases at Chinese ports have a much greater impact on global supply chains. Yesterday, another employee was hit. This time at China’s second-largest port, which immediately […]

Nico Beckert Published: August 12th, 2021

Personnel 12.08.2021

Zhang Yuzhuo has taken over as head of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). For just under a year and a half, he previously worked as chairman of Sinopec, China’s largest natural gas and oil company. The CAST association is intended to serve as a liaison between the Communist Party and the scientific […]