China Direct

Honda drives record 2019 China Auto growth

 

CBI member, Honda has reported that the company experienced record sales in China in 2019.

Honda, with its two joint venture partners, China-GAC and Dongfeng Motors, sold 1.55 million cars into the country last year, and has announced that it will expand its product line up in China in response.

The company has said that it has made good progress in the development of two electric sport hybrid vehicles for the China market, the Honda VE-1 and the Honda X-NV - both of which will both displayed at the Beijing Motor Show in April - and also has plans to launch a plug-in hybrid system named Sport Hybrid e+ this year. The company is also accelerating the development of its core connectivity system for smart cars, Honda Connect, to provide better intelligence services for Chinese customers.

Honda hopes to increase production in China to 1.37 million, and has announced subsequent plans to double its production capacity in Guangzhou by adding an extra 240,000 units, increasing capacity to 720,000.

Mizuno Yasuhide, COO regional operations, Honda China said: “Honda has always strived to expand the joy of mobility and daily lives for our customers by realising a fun and technological world with our innovative products and services. […] Especially in recent years, we’ve provided products and services of value to our customers with high quality and speed, by collaborating with outstanding resources in China, and leveraging the strengths of Honda.”

CBBC Great British Brands Festival in China 2015

 

The China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) Great British Brands Festival series of events focuses exclusively on selling U.K. products in China.

It provides an important opportunity for companies to showcase and sell their products to Chinese consumers in eight cities.

Following its success in Beijing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou in 2014, the festival is expanding across China, with eight events provisionally planned for 2015 in Chongqing (April), Changchun (May), Beijing (June), Changsha (July), Urumqi (August), Shenzhen (September), Chengdu (October), and Guangzhou (November).

There will also be opportunities to take part in associated events in Hangzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai, Wuhan, and other cities as part of CBBC’s retail-focused China Consumer programme.

Please read more here.

GKN driving growth in NE China

 

[Image courtesy of www.gkn.com]

CBI member GKN Driveline has continued to expand its manufacturing footprint in China, highlighted by the recent opening of its seventh production facility in the country.

The new 13,900 square metre plant in Changchun will have the capacity to build one million sideshafts per year, and a new 10,000 square metre expansion of the plant will increase its capacity to four million sideshafts within the next five years.

Forecasting vehicle production in China to reach 15 million units by 2014, GKN Driveline continues to regard China as a key growth market. The company's production capacity for constant velocity joint (CVJ) systems and all-wheel-drive (AWD) systems in China is expected to grow by 50% in the next three years.

GKN is also investing RMB 94 million to expand its research and development centre in Shanghai, which will lead to the development of prototyping facilities, as well as a materials and metrology capability, to allow products to be developed for the Chinese market.

Marc Vuarchex, Managing Director of GKN Driveline Asia Pacific, said, "China is a key market for our overall growth strategy. With our CVJ and AWD systems production along with our industry-leading electric-vehicle technology and plans to produce new, low-cost systems for China's small-car market, we will increase our number of employees by over 30% in China over the next four years."

Please click here to read the full press release by GKN.

Opportunities for UK businesses in China Regional Cities Report

 

The China-Britain Business Council and the Centre for International Business at CBI member The University of Leeds have prepared an updated research report on 'Opportunities for UK Businesses in China's Regional Cities' on behalf of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

The original report, published in September 2008, focused on the market expansion and development of China's regional cities and the relevance of this to British businesses.

However, the last three years have seen major changes to the international economic landscape, with the global financial crisis and UK recession having a deep impact on British businesses and their internationalisation prospects.

The new report presents the findings of research conducted this year.

Please click here to access the latest version of the 'Opportunities for UK Businesses in China's Regional Cities' report.

 

BMW's China sales - driving record results in 2011 Q2

 

 
[Image courtesy of www.bmwgroup.com]

CBI member company BMW saw strong asian sales growth in the second quarter of 2011 with a total of 122,034 units (+61.2%) being sold in the PRC, accounting for 14.5% of its total sales volume.

Please read here for the BMW Group Press Release and here for further media coverage.

Manpower's China Employment Outlook Survey 2011 Q1 - Key Facts

 

  
[Image courtesy of www.manpower.com.cn]

CBI member company Manpower has very kindly shared with China Direct its 2011 quarterly China Employment Outlook Survey.

This useful survey is essential reading for employers and employees active in China. It analyses 16 regional cities and provides helpful sectoral comparisons in addition to an assessment of global employment trends.

Please download below:

Download 2011Q1 MEOS_EN

China Direct will also provide Manpower's Q2 Survey results later this week.

For more information please contact Manpower on 00 86 21 58782618 or [email protected]     

Stop Press: China's 2010 Census - making sense of the results

 

Today saw the release of population statistics collated during Nov 2010's China census.

Headlines:

Population (2010): 1.34 billion

Population (1953): 594 million

Urban: 49.7% (+13.7% 2000 Census)

Aged 60+: 13.3% (+3%)

Aged <14: 16.6% (-6.29% )

Av size of household: 3.1 (-0.34%)

To read the NBS Press Release please click here.

Please refer to China Direct's original article on the 2010 Census on 04 November 2010.

Kindly select 'archives' from the menu above and month/year to access.

China's new cities - economic powerhouses of the future?

 

 
[Image courtesy of McKinsey & Company]

Leading management consulting firm and CBI member McKinsey & Company has issued a report titled, "Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities," which projects a shift in the centre of gravity of the urban world to emerging markets in the south and the east.

According to McKinsey, 600 urban centres account for roughly 60% of global GDP today.

In 2007, half of global GDP came from 380 cities in developed regions.

However, McKinsey forecasts that one-third of these developed market cities will fall out of the top 600 ranking by 2025, with 136 new cities from developing markets entering the top 600.

China will account for the overwhelming majority of these new economic centres, contributing 100 cities.

Click here to access the full McKinsey report and here to read additional media coverage.

China Direct would like to thank Ben Cooper, Policy Analyst, CBI Beijing, for this contribution

China's 2010 Census - making sense of the numbers?

 

 

 

[Image courtesy of www.boston.com]

China's first census since 2000 is now underway and will last until 10 November.

An army of 6 million volunteers will crisscross the country seeking to count the world's most populous country at an alleged cost of US$100 million.

The phenomenal growth of the Internet over the past decade will make this latest head counting exercise particularly taxing.

Many of the country's estimated 420 million netizens have already started discussing the census via a bewildering array of micro-blogs, websites, live chatrooms, bulletin boards and Tencent's QQ, the world's largest networking platform.

Not all of the feedback has been positive. Indeed, according to various media reports more than 30% of respondents have had negative views of the 2010 Census.

Many younger generation netizens have raised concerns about the sharing of personal information with the census takers. This in turn has prompted the authorities to water down some of the questioning, particularly regarding the submission of personal residency ID (Hukou) data. 

The census will, however, serve an important purpose, namely confirming whether or not China's total population has been under-reported by a staggering 200 million as was widely believed in 2000.

The census's statistical information and data will also help China's policy makers and city planners tackle the huge challenge of designing the Chinese Megacities of the future.

These are expected to accommodate more than 250 million inhabitants by 2030.

Whether conducting a national census or designing megacities of the future China continues to face a unique set of challenges that few if any other countries have experienced.

For more on China's Census please download the following report.

 Download Ch Census Nov 2010  

 

 

China's maturing real estate market - but for how long?

 

 

[Image courtesy of www.businessinsider.com]

China Direct would like to share with you the latest insights into the domestic real estate market.

Our thanks to CBI member Jones Lang Lasalle for kindly providing this overview highlighting the current state and future trends of this rapidly evolving market.

Download JLL - Ch Real Estate Mkt Sept 2010