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Top Jewelry Store Chow Tai Fook Sees Retail Value Drop 20 Percent, Closes 180 Stores in China

On July 24, Chow Tai Fook Jewlery Group Limited released its unaudited key operating data for the three months ending June 30, 2024. The data show that Chow Tai Fook’s overall retail value for the period April to June of this year decreased by 20.0 percent year-on-year, with retail value in the mainland Chinese market down by 18.6 percent and the in the Hong Kong and Macau markets down by 28.8 percent.

In the first quarter of its 2025 fiscal year (April to June 2024), Chow Tai Fook opened 85 new jewelry stores and closed 176 stores in the mainland Chinese market, resulting in a net decrease of 91 stores. It had a net decrease of 89 stores in the mainland market in the previous quarter. This means that in the first half of this year, Chow Tai Fook has closed a total of 180 jewelry stores in mainland China.

Another Chinese jewelry giant, Luk Fook Holdings, announced on July 19 that the group’s overall retail value in the first quarter of its 2025 fiscal year dropped by 18 percent year-on-year, and that overall retail revenue has decreased by 23 percent year-on-year. Luk Fook Jewelry’s net store count decreased by 108 stores in mainland China.

Source: Epoch Times, July 24, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/7/24/n14297931.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

CCTV: Singapore Diplomat – The Era of Western Domination of the World Is Coming to An End

Recently, many Chinese news websites published a video clip said to be an excerpt of a speech delivered by Kishore Mahbubani at Harvard University. Mahbubani was a Singaporean diplomat and geopolitical consultant once serving as Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In the video, Mr. Mahbubani said:

“I can tell you this, as someone who travels to 30 or 40 countries a year, when I come to the United States and I go to my hotel room in Charles Hotel and turn on the television, I feel that I’ve been cut off from the rest of the world. And literally, the insularity of the American discourse is actually frightening. This is true of the New York Times, this is true of the Washington Post, (and) this is true of the Wall Street Journal. There is an incestuous self-referential discourse among these newspaper journalists and so on so forth. And they reference each other’s perspectives and end up misunderstanding the world.

Because you know the one key point I emphasize is that the era of Western domination of world history was a 200-year aberration. It’s coming to an end. And as a result of it you’ve got to learn to understand non-Western perspectives in the world. And it’s actually quite frightening that in many ways I find American intellectuals behind intellectuals including in Serbia where I just was or Greece or Istanbul. They are much more aware of what’s happening in the world than most American intellectuals are. I don’t know how to solve that problem.”

Source: CCTV, July 20, 2024
https://news.cctv.com/2024/07/20/ARTIIP93CxffUaK0xnqkwwi7240720.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Facilitates Reconciliation of Fatah, Hamas, and Other Palestinian Factions in Beijing

At the invitation of China, senior representatives from 14 Palestinian factions held reconciliation talks in Beijing from July 21 to 23. They signed the “Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the closing ceremony. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that “The most significant consensus from the talks was achieving major reconciliation and unity among all 14 factions. The most core outcome was the reaffirmation that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”

Wang Yi met Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmud Alul on July 21 and July 23, respectively.

Commentaries pointed out that Beijing has once again intervened to save Hamas, allowing it to survive and to continue to play a significant role in the future Palestinian government, posing a long-term threat to Israel.

The U.S. State Department reiterated that the United States has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization and that it believes Hamas should not be involved in Gaza’s post-war governance.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz made a post on the X platform saying “Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in China for joint control of Gaza after the war. Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face. In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands.”

Sources:
1. Xinhua, July 24, 2024
http://www.news.cn/mrdx/2024-07/24/c_1310782573.htm
2. Aboluo, July 24, 2024
https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0724/2083006.html
3. X Platform, Yisrael Katz’s account @Israel_katz,
https://x.com/Israel_katz/status/1815670709378560503

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

China Bans Guatemalan Coffee and Macadamia Nuts in Retaliation for Pro-Taiwan Stance

In retaliation against Guatemala for the country’s pro-Taiwan stance, Beijing has banned the import of Guatemalan coffee and macadamia nuts. Last year, Guatemala exported $82 million worth of goods to mainland China, with the main products being coffee, nickel, iron, steel, and macadamia nuts.

After China’s ban, Guatemala has been seeking alternate destinations for its export. It has shipped 75 containers of coffee to Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea, with Japan receiving most of them. Guatemala currently has eight containers of macadamia nuts stranded at Chinese ports. These containers were already in transit when the ban was issued. Guatemalan exporters are looking for other countries to reship them to.

Source: Epoch Times, July 16, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/7/16/n14291776.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

China Tests Robotaxis in 20 Cities

Similar to the pilot test of General Motor’s Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo in San Francisco and Pheonix within the U.S., China now allowing domestic companies to test driverless taxis. Recently, China approved an initial 20 pilot cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, for self-driving tests. These cities have already allowed driverless taxi operators to test vehicles in suburban areas.

Starting in March, Apollo Go, one of China’s largest autonomous taxi companies under Baidu, began offering 24-hour driverless car services in some areas of Wuhan City, Hubei Province. It has more than 500 autonomous taxis in operation, which will increase to 1,000 by the end of the year. In fact, this test started in 2022.

Baidu CEO Robin Li told investors in May that over 70 percent of Apollo Go’s driverless taxi rides in April were fully autonomous. According to netizen’s posting, Baidu has human drivers in a service center. Using high-bandwidth, low-latency 5G networks, these “remote safety drivers” observe the 360-degree conditions around the cars from a screen array and can manually drive the unmanned vehicles using controllers such as steering wheels, gear sticks, and pedals. China allows the ratio of remote safety drivers to vehicles to be 1:3.

Sources:
1. VOA, July 11, 2024
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-s-robotaxi-push-sparks-concerns-about-job-security-for-drivers–20240711/7693880.html
2. Guancha.cn, July 13, 2024
https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2024_07_13_741368.shtml

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Luxury Brands See Sales Plummet in China

As China’s economy remains sluggish and consumer spending weakens, more consumers are cautious about spending on luxury goods.

  • Swiss brand Richemont Group: In the three months up to June, the sales of its watch brands dropped by 27 percent in the Greater China Region.
  • Swiss brand Swatch Group: In the first half of this year, sales in China, without counting its entry-level brands Omega, Blancpain, and Breguet, plummeted by 30 percent.
  • American brand Marc Jacobs: Offer discounts of more than 50 percent on handbags, clothing, and footwear on Alibaba’s high-end e-commerce platform Tmall Luxury Pavilion.
  • Italian brand Bottega Veneta: Provide a 24-month interest-free loan service for purchasing handbags on Tmall.
  • Italian brand Versace: Provide discounts sometimes exceeds 50 percent in China.
  • British brand Burberry: Its sales in mainland China is down by 21 percent; also it provides discounts sometimes exceeds 50 percent in China.
  • French luxury brand Kering: Issued a profit warning, stating that demand for its high-fashion luxury brand Gucci was declining in China.

Source:
1. Epoch Times, July 16, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/7/16/n14292022.htm
2. Epoch Times, July 17, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/7/16/n14292139.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Develops Solar-Powered Micro-Drone

Solar power is a key technology for continuous drone flight. The technology to power large drones exists, but powering micro-drones via solar panels has been a challenge. Xinhua reported that a research team from Beihang University (Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) has successfully developed a solar-powered micro-drone weighing only 4.21 grams, capable of sustained flight under natural sunlight. The team created a new electrostatic drive scheme and developed a micro electrostatic motor with low rotational speed, low heat generation, and high efficiency. They also built an ultra-lightweight high-voltage power converter weighing only 1.13 grams, which boosts the voltage generated by solar cells from around 4.5 volts to 9000 volts, creating an electrostatic system.

Source: Xinhua, July 18, 2024
https://app.xinhuanet.com/news/article.html?articleId=d1b63946dc0ec93f9132f654cf97be27

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Chinese Electric Vehicles (EVs) Gain Market Share in the Middle East

Xinhua reported that Chinese EVs are popular in Middle Eastern countries since those countries are focused on developing the green transportation.

According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China exported 1.2 million new energy vehicles in 2023, an increase of 77.6 percent from 2022. China’s new energy vehicles now account for over 60 percent of the global market. To the Middle East market, China exported 578,100 automobiles in the first ten months of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 32.61 percent; among them, over 110,000 are new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 66.44 percent.

China’s Yutong Bus provided Qatar with 1,002 electric buses for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. These were later integrated into Qatar’s public transportation system. Among the electric buses serving the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, more than half were from Chinese manufacturers such as Yutong, BYD, and King Long. In October 2022, Hongqi electric cars successfully “joined” the Dubai police force, becoming the first electric vehicles in the Dubai police fleet. The Hongqi E-HS9 has now become a favorite among local sheikhs, royal family members, and government officials.

Geely vehicles are sold in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain. BYD has entered the markets of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and Israel, establishing a leading position for its electric vehicle brand in the Middle East. Other Chinese electric vehicle companies such as Great Wall Motors, BAIC, Changan, XPeng, and Skyworth are also expanding into the Middle East market.

In 2023, Chinese EVs accounted for about 61 percent of the EV market in Israel. This share increased to 68.31 percent in the first half of 2024. In countries such as Jordan and Egypt, sales of Chinese brand EVs are also continuously growing.

Source: Xinhua, July 18, 2024
https://app.xinhuanet.com/news/article.html?articleId=9c0096426aa5ed72eba9f6629fae2619

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend