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  • China exports surge 13% 📦 Hisense targets #1 in US TVs 📺 China-Indonesia $10B deals 🤝

China exports surge 13% 📦 Hisense targets #1 in US TVs 📺 China-Indonesia $10B deals 🤝

China Insights Weekly for November 11, 2024. Unpacking China’s Economic and Technological Advances.

November 11, 2024

Image credit: Xpeng

2024-10-11 | subscribe | homepage

Welcome back to this week’s edition of the China Insights Weekly Newsletter!

From export surges to new R&D investments and ambitious plans in the AI and EV markets, here’s a quick look at this week’s key updates:

  • $1.4 Trillion Debt Relief: China tackles local debt with a massive five-year plan.

  • Pfizer’s $1B Bet on China: New R&D center and major drug initiatives.

  • XPeng’s “Iron” Robot: A new humanoid for factory and personal use.

  • 12.7% Export Surge: China’s biggest export jump in 19 months.

Dive deeper into these stories and more by clicking the headlines below. We value your feedback—let us know your thoughts or suggestions on LinkedIn, X or Facebook.

🚀 Headlines

China's October exports surged 12.7% year-on-year to USD 309.06 billion, the fastest growth in 19 months. This marked the highest jump since a 14.8% rise in March 2023. In contrast, imports fell by 2.3%. Exports to the US increased 8.1%, while imports from the US rose 6.6%. Exports to the EU and ASEAN grew 12.7% and 15.8% respectively, but imports from these regions dropped over 6%. Exports to Russia jumped nearly 27%, yet imports from Russia fell 2.8%. Despite trade tensions and tariffs, China's reliance on exports remains strong, with expectations of continued growth before potential trade wars escalate. For the first ten months of 2024, sales advanced by 5.1% to USD 2.93 trillion, boosted by integrated circuits (19.6%), cars (18.6%), household appliances (14.5%), unwrought aluminum and aluminum materials (13.5%), LCD flat panel display modules (9.1%), plastic products (5.8%), textiles (4.1%) and agriculture products (2.8%).

In October 2024, China's new energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales hit a record high of 1.196 million units, a 56.7% increase YoY and a 6.4% increase from September. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 56.3% of these sales at 673,000 units, while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) accounted for 33.9% and 9.8% respectively. Overall China's passenger cars, including sedans, SUVs, and MPVs, retailed 2.26 million units in October, up 11.3% year-on-year and 7.2% from September. China's NEV penetration rate was 52.9% in October, exceeding the 50 percent mark for the fourth consecutive month and up 15% from 37.9% a year ago but down 0.4 percentage points from 53.3 percent in September, the second consecutive sequential decline.

In the first three quarters of 2024, global EV battery usage rose 23.4% to 599.0 GWh. China’s CATL led with a 36.7% market share, an increase from 35.8% during the same period last year but a slight dip from August’s 37.1, while BYD was second with 16.4%, up 0.6% from last year and flat from August. CATL's battery installations reached 219.6 GWh, up 26.5% YoY, and BYD's installations grew 28.0% to 98.5 GWh. BYD's NEV sales, with a record 419,426 units in September and 2,747,875 units from January to September, played a key role in its market share. South Korea’s LG Energy Solution followed with a 12.1% share, down from 14.3% a year ago. China's CALB was fourth with a 4.9% share, South Korea's SK On was fifth with a 4.8% share, and Japan's Panasonic was sixth with a 4.3% share.

New York-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has announced plans to invest USD 1 billion in China over the next five years, as part of a program to boost drug R&D in the country. The company will launch the Pfizer China 2030 Strategy. It has set a goal to bring 60 innovative drugs and new indications to Chinese patients in the 10 years from 2021 to 2030. The strategy is composed of three pillars: accelerating the launch of new drugs; boosting diagnostic capabilities and treatment standards; and encouraging further development of the biotechnology industry in the country. The plan also involves Pfizer building a new R&D center in Beijing.

TotalEnergies has signed a 15-year Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Sinopec for the annual delivery of 2 million tonnes of LNG starting from 2028. China reclaimed its position as the world’s largest LNG importer from Japan in 2023 when its imports increased 12.4% to 72.1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Due to a rapid uptick in long-term contracts that begin delivery in 2024, Chinese companies are likely to ramp up LNG trading activity with buyers in other regions. In the medium term, a growing surplus of contracted LNG volumes to emerge, as new contracts beginning delivery outpace LNG demand growth. Under lower gas demand scenarios, China could face a natural gas surplus of 80 bcm (58.8 mtpa) by 2030. As surplus contract volumes increase, Chinese companies will likely become increasingly active traders, putting them in more direct competition with large portfolio players. Chinese LNG players are investing heavily in LNG infrastructure in emerging Asian markets to cultivate demand.

China has announced a USD 1.4 trillion fiscal stimulus package over five years to address local government debt, with an immediate effect through 2026. The National People's Congress approved an additional 6 trillion yuan to raise debt limits, aiming for a yearly allocation of around 2 trillion yuan. The central government will issue 800 billion yuan annually in special bonds for five years, totaling 4 trillion yuan. According to the estimates, this could reduce "hidden debt" from 14.3 trillion yuan to 2.3 trillion yuan by 2028. The package is expected to alleviate local government pressures and support economic growth. Despite market anticipation for more direct fiscal support, the measures signal a significant policy shift, with total debt exceeding market expectations.

China’s EV maker XPENG unveils Iron robot with 60 joints to mimic human movements (link)

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng has unveiled its first humanoid robot, Iron, at its 2024 AI Day event. Standing at 5’8″ and weighing 154 pounds, Iron boasts over 60 joints and 200 degrees of freedom, enabling it to precisely mimic human movements. Powered by XPeng's advanced Turing AI chip, which features a 40-core CPU, Iron is designed for AI-intensive tasks and can process AI models with 30 billion parameters. Currently, Iron is operational on XPeng’s production lines, assisting in the assembly of the upcoming P7+ EV. The robot is also intended for use as a personal assistant in various settings, including retail, offices, and homes. XPeng aims to expand its global presence to 60 countries by next year, with ambitions that extend beyond EVs into AI, robotics, and autonomous technology.

XPENG AI Robot Iron

Chinese appliance manufacturer Hisense has set a goal to become the leading TV seller in the US within two years. To enhance its US brand presence, Hisense became the official partner of the FIFA Club World Cup starting in Miami in 2025. The company's latest TVs are equipped with an in-house AI chip for improved image rendering, with plans to expand AI applications for audio and voice-activated sports stats. In Q2, Hisense was the second-highest TV shipper in North America, just behind Samsung. The company also aims to be the top Chinese brand in white goods in North America within two years, generating half of its revenue from outside China, with North America accounting for 30% of its overseas sales.

The battle for #2 in the global TV market has been a three-way race between Chinese brands Hisense, TCL, and South Korean LG, but LG has fallen behind its two Chinese rivals in the last year. Hisense and TCL have been trading places for the last five quarters, and Q2'24 was TCL’s turn to take the #2 spot while Hisense came in at #3.

📸 China Snapshot

As the sun sets over the Yangtze River in Nanjing, attendees take in the incredible views at the Nanjing Cultural Tourism Festival that took place last weekend. The Yangtze, China’s longest river at over 6,300 kilometers, flows from the glaciers of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and winds through key cities like Chongqing and Wuhan before reaching Nanjing and eventually emptying into the East China Sea near Shanghai. For thousands of years, this river has been central to China’s economy and culture, supporting agriculture, industry, and trade across its basin and shaping the growth of cities along its path.

🎁 Bonus Stories

Chinese business schools achieved notable success in the 2024 Financial Times Global Executive MBA Rankings, with 17 programs featuring in the top 100. The Shanghai-based China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) Global EMBA secured the top position, while Fudan University-Washington University EMBA ranked third, an improvement from ninth in 2022. The Shanghai National Accounting Institute and Arizona State University's joint Financial EMBA program rose to seventh place. Shanghai-based Fudan's School of Management had four programs in the top 30, with its Fudan University-Washington University EMBA leading in current salary at an average of USD 627,737 per year. The joint program with BI Norwegian Business School reported a 126% salary increase, the highest among all programs. Fudan's independent EMBA program ranked first among Chinese programs, and its IMBA program in cooperation with Hong Kong University was the top global part-time MBA program, ranking 24th overall.

Indonesian and Chinese companies signed over USD 10 billion in business agreements during President Prabowo Subianto's state visit to Beijing, marking a significant step to strengthen ties between the two nations. The agreements focus on renewable energy, health, and food security. This visit, part of Prabowo's first overseas tour since his inauguration, also resulted in an agreement to elevate security to a fifth pillar of cooperation, alongside political, economic, maritime, and people-to-people exchanges. The two countries plan a first-ever joint meeting of their foreign and defense ministers. China is Indonesia's largest trading partner, contributing over USD 7 billion in investment. Prabowo's visit aims to balance economic benefits with China and defense ties with the US, highlighting his strategic approach to international relations.

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👥 About us

China Insights is brought to you by Tomas Kucera, China General Manager at Gemini Personnel in Shanghai, and Yereth Jansen, China CEO at Darling Advertising + Design in Shanghai.

Tomas and Yereth together have almost 30 years of experience working and living in China across different industries, and have a shared mission of bringing you objective insights about the world’s second largest economy.

We hope to see you again next week!

Warm regards, Tomas & Yereth

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