Trade Surplus Hits $99B 💰 Red Attracts Facebook Investor 🎉 LV Tops China Luxury 👑

2024-07-14 | subscribe | homepage

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

Key takeaways this week

• $99 Billion Surplus: China sets a record monthly trade surplus in June.
• $17 Billion Valuation: Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) receives major international VC backing.
• 33.8% Market Share: BYD leads China’s EV market in the first half of 2024.

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🚀 Headlines

Dairy Queen opens first burger restaurant in Shanghai (link)

American ice cream giant International Dairy Queen opened its first restaurant in China in Jing'an District on Wednesday. It plans to open 180 DQ Blizzard & Burgers restaurants in China by 2034. The restaurant on Wujiang Road is the only DQ location in Asia serving hot food and treats. The menu features burgers, chicken, fries, onion rings, beverages, and a full treat menu that includes the iconic DQ Blizzard Treat. The menu also includes a Shanghai-style burger, which should revive the childhood memories of many Shanghainese.

Automakers' share of China NEV market in 1st half of 2024 – BYD tops with 33.8%, Tesla 3rd with 6.8% (link)

In the January-June period, BYD's retail sales of NEVs in China were up 20.3% year-on-year to 1,388,458 units, ranking No. 1 with a 33.8% share. Geely's NEV retail sales for the period were 306,309 units, up 118.2% year-on-year, to take second place with a 7.5% share. Tesla was third with a 6.8% share of retail sales in China at 278,317 units, down 5.4% year-on-year. Changan's retail sales were 264,469 units, up 94.9% year-on-year, and ranked fourth with a 6.4% share. In the passenger car market, which includes traditional fuel vehicles, BYD topped the retail rankings with a 15.9% share in June, Faw-Volkswagen was second with 7.5%, and Geely third with 7.4%. Tesla managed 9th place with a 3.4% market share.

Chinese social media sensation Xiaohongshu (Red) wins major foreign VC backing (link)

Xiaohongshu, translated as Little Red Book and also known as China’s Instagram and the country's fastest-growing social media platform, has gained the backing of Facebook investor, venture capital firm, DST Global in a rare recent example of Western investors putting money into China's tech sector. Investors that already held stakes in the company, including Hongshan (previously Sequoia China), Hillhouse, Boyu, and Citic Capital, also participated in the new round of funding. The stake sale of existing shares to current and new investors valued the company at USD 17 billion. In 2023, Xioahongshu reached 312 million monthly users, USD 3.7 billion in revenue with 500 million in profit.