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Nov 1, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- The pet industry is growing fast in China despite the slumping economy as more young people choose to live with dogs and cats rather than having children, creating business opportunities in the burgeoning market. Around 75 million urbanites had a dog or cat in 2023, up 30% from 2018, a white paper by a pet industry association shows. Nearly 60% of these pet owners were born in the 1990s or later.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- The price of China's top shelf baijiu liquor produced by Kweichow Moutai has dropped by more than 20% over the past several months, suggesting economic woes among the wealthy. A 500-milliliter bottle of Moutai's signature Feitian baijiu cost 2,320 yuan ($329) wholesale as of Wednesday, liquor pricing platform Jinri Jiujia shows, down from a quote of over 3,000 yuan in February.
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Sep 18, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
SHENYANG, China -- Commerce between North Korea and China fell more mildly in August than during July, a sign that transport links are reopening after severe floods in the border region. Bilateral trade dropped 7% on the year in August to $177 million, Chinese customs agency data released Wednesday shows. That compares with the 20% plunge in July, when shipments of goods were suspended after devastating rains wreaked havoc in northern North Korea.
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Sep 13, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- Embattled Chinese supermarket chain Yonghui Superstores is attempting to turn itself around by emulating the practices of a small grocer known for quality service and generous employee benefits. At a Yonghui supermarket in the city of Xi'an in early September, associates were busy checking the shelves to make sure that goods were displayed neatly, with the product names facing forward.
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Sep 4, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- Swedish furniture giant IKEA plans to tap demand among increasingly frugal Chinese shoppers for low-priced products, aiming to invest 270 million yuan ($37.9 million) yearly in development and sales as it releases over 500 new affordable items by August 2025. The announcement was made by the company's Chinese subsidiary at a product strategy presentation held to coincide with the start of its fiscal year in September.
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- Local authorities in China have doubled their revenue from fines compared with a decade ago, an effort to make up for lost income from other sources that could risk a public backlash. Income from fines totaled 368.7 billion yuan ($51.8 billion) in 2022, up from 161.3 billion yuan in 2013, government data shows. While the 2023 figure has yet to be released, it is likely to be in the neighborhood of 380 billion yuan, based on the share of nontax revenue from fines since 2018.
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- China's state-owned railway company has raised prices on major high-speed routes and introduced premium seats to chip away at the $859 billion in debt it has racked up amid its aggressive network expansion. This summer, China Railway reworked fares for four major high-speed routes. The complex new system first raises the base fare by about 20% and then sets different discount rates for each train.
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Jul 27, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- Kweichow Moutai, a Guizhou-based distiller of baijiu Chinese-style liquor is wrestling with falling demand for resale of its high-end product. The price of its flagship premium baijiu collapsed around the spring, causing investors to become concerned about the company's future and begin dumping its shares. As a result, Kweichow Moutai lost its crown as the most valuable company listed in mainland China by market value.
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Jul 23, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kohei Fujimura
DALIAN, China -- A close look at the economic policy blueprint released by the Chinese Communist Party this week reveals the premium the leaders have placed on steering the country toward growth. On Sunday, following the high-level meeting known as the third plenum, the party released the resolution on "Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization." The document is lengthy at roughly 22,000 characters.
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Jul 5, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada |Kohei Fujimura |Hideki Shinohara
NEW YORK/DALIAN, China/TOKYO -- From inflation-weary Americans to out-of-work Chinese, consumers are being served up lower prices by restaurants eager to bring them back. A McDonald's in New York City was recently bustling with customers buying limited-time $5 meals, which included a cheeseburger or chicken sandwich, small fries, chicken nuggets and a drink. If ordered separately, the items would total $8.96 before tax.
