Nvidia GTC 2024: What to expect from the AI giant’s big conference

To say Nvidia (NVDA) is on a hot streak would be an understatement. Shares of the AI darling are up a staggering 267% over the last 12 months and 79% year to date. Tech companies across the world covet its graphics cards like rare jewels and CEO Jensen Huang is as in-demand as some heads of state.

And on Monday, he’ll kick off Nvidia’s annual GTC conference with a two-hour keynote at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., outlining what’s ahead for the company in the year ahead. In prior years, Nvidia has used the show to debut some of its biggest products.

In 2022, it announced its Hopper graphics architecture and H100 graphics processing unit, which is now the go-to card for companies training and deploying AI models. This year, Nvidia is widely expected to debut Hopper and the H100’s successors, kicking off what could be a new rush on the company’s products.

The new architecture, codenamed Blackwell, and GPU, dubbed the B100, are anticipated to offer far better performance when it comes to running models like OpenAI’s GPT-3. Nvidia isn’t exactly hiding its plans for the B100. During the Supercomputer 2023 conference, the company showed off a slide outlining the GPU’s potential capabilities compared to the H100 and H200 cards.

In addition to the Blackwell architecture and B100 card, Nvidia will also likely give attendees and viewers a look at the latest advancements in its CUDA software.

BYD, Hyper, XPENG, Plus, Nuro, Waabi and WeRide Adopt DRIVE Thor; Features New Generative AI Capabilities of Blackwell Architecture.

Next-Gen AI Fleets Embrace Accelerated Compute
NVIDIA DRIVE Thor is poised to revolutionize the automotive landscape, ushering in an era where generative AI defines the driving experience. At GTC, several leading EV makers are revealing their next-gen AI vehicle fleets powered by DRIVE Thor:

BYD, the world’s largest electric vehicle maker, is expanding its ongoing collaboration with NVIDIA from the car to the cloud. In addition to building its next-generation EV fleets on DRIVE Thor, BYD plans to use NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure for cloud-based AI development and training technologies, along with the NVIDIA Isaac™ and NVIDIA Omniverse™ platforms to develop tools and applications for virtual factory planning and retail configurators.
Hyper, a premium luxury brand owned by GAC AION, announced it has selected DRIVE Thor for its next-generation EVs, which will begin production in 2025 with level 4 driving capabilities. Hyper is currently using NVIDIA DRIVE Orin to power its flagship model Hyper GT, which features advanced level 2+ driving capabilities.
XPENG has also announced it will use the NVIDIA DRIVE Thor platform as the AI brain of its next-generation EV fleets. The next-gen car computer will power the EV maker’s proprietary XNGP AI-assisted driving system, enabling autonomous driving and parking capabilities, driver and passenger monitoring and other functionalities.
These EV makers join Li Auto and ZEEKR, which have already announced they’re building their future vehicle roadmap on DRIVE Thor.

China's economy has been slowing for more than a decade
China's economy has been slowing for more than a decade, and it is slowing more and more widely, growing at an average of just over 4 percent over the past two years.

President Xi Jinping advocates self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology, placing national security as important as economic growth. At the same time, the massive stimulus measures previously introduced during the economic downturn are no longer being used to contain debt risks.

Li Daokui, a professor at Tsinghua University who advises the Chinese government on setting annual targets, said this year's growth targets were quite aggressive. He believes that projects such as the renovation of old towns, which were highlighted on Tuesday, are also crucial, but officials should focus on stimulating consumption.

Li Daokui told Bloomberg TV that he told the prime minister that China needs to adopt more aggressive policies to boost consumption. Li suggested that the government issue consumption vouchers worth RMB1 trillion on the next major festival.

Li Qiang reiterated that he will promote the trade-in program to promote the consumption of electric vehicles, electronics and other big-ticket goods. Goldman Sachs estimates that the program could contribute 0.6 percentage points to GDP growth this year.

Focus on the supply side
or lead to more deflation and international trade tensions
Officials have also been instructed to reorient economic growth and accelerate the development of new productive forces, a slogan coined by Xi Jinping in September that refers to cultivating a driving force for high-tech development. The vague wording has heightened fears that China's policies will focus on the supply side in the future, leading to more deflation and international trade tensions.

China has set a target of 1 for the full year of new urban jobs

China's 2024 economic blueprint lacks details Market participants are unreassured

In order to boost confidence in China's economy, Beijing has set a full-year economic growth target of around 5%. But in the view of some analysts, Premier Li Qiang's goal but no concrete plan will not solve the serious challenges facing the world.

Li Qiang announced on the opening day of the National People's Congress that China will maintain the same economic growth rate as last year, the second time in 10 years that Beijing has not lowered its economic targets, the last time in 2018 when the trade war between China and the United States broke out.

Caught in the longest deflationary cycle since the 1990s
Although Li Qiang told the delegates that achieving this year's expected goals would require concerted efforts from all sides, this was not reflected in his government work report. He did not adjust the fiscal deficit ratio, did not launch major measures to boost consumption, and did not give specific details on how to solve the housing crisis. China is in the midst of its longest deflationary cycle since the 1990s, and the government work report does not directly mention deflation.

"This is a target that is not supported by a concrete plan," said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis. "This shows that the authorities in Beijing do not recognize the gravity of the situation. What do you need to do to support consumption? Wages have been falling, it's deflation, what are you going to do about it? ”

China is hopeful that confidence in private enterprises and residents will pick up. According to Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday, Xi Jinping expressed support for the development and growth of the private economy and private enterprises when participating in the deliberations of the Jiangsu provincial delegation, boosting the confidence of the whole society in development.

(New York 6th) The Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese National Congress was held on the 5th, and Premier Li Qiang announced that China's GDP growth target for this year was 5%, the same as last year. That said, it also shows that China's economic growth miracle is over, and that China's leader, Xi Jinping, is leading the country to transition from high to low growth, but the transition is like walking a tightrope in the face of internal and external troubles, and China faces a high risk of long-term economic stagnation.

According to the report, Xi Jinping has made it clear that he is not interested in pursuing economic growth at all costs, that he does not care much about market perceptions, and that although economists and investors are clamoring for more measures to inject a boost into the economy, he believes that flooding is a wasteful act for short-term profits and long-term pain. His emphasis is on "high-quality development," a concept that economists believe includes a greater emphasis on national security, party authority, ideological purity, and political stability.

This can be seen from the Chinese government's sudden announcement on the 4th that it would cancel Premier Li Qiang's press conference after the end of the National People's Congress, and that the Third Plenum of the CPC Central Committee was not convened last fall.

Overseas observers had expected the Third Plenum, which focused on economic issues, to learn how China could address long-term challenges such as low investor confidence, deflationary pressures, demographic challenges, shrinking exports, a declining housing market, a tightening of household spending, and high unemployment.

"It shows that they have exhausted their imagination to solve difficult problems," said Yale professor Roach. He added that Xi Jinping has repeatedly talked about new growth models and new sources of production, "but we need to see concreteness, and we lack the Third Plenum."

Serious impact on the environment

In 2019, Beijing began to significantly reduce state subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles. Many ride-hailing companies were caught off guard by the policy change, which seriously affected the cash flow of these companies without preparation. It was also from that year that the "electric vehicle graveyard" "field" began to attract public attention.

The large number of abandoned electric vehicles also raises additional environmental concerns. The rapid elimination of older models may offset the benefits of electric vehicles in combating climate change, because the carbon emissions generated by manufacturing electric vehicles are greater and may require It will be a few years before electric vehicles become more dominant than fuel vehicles. In addition, whether the steel and batteries used in the structures of these abandoned electric vehicles contain key metals such as nickel, lithium, and cobalt can be recycled and reused is also a major focus of attention from the outside world.

Ride-hailing companies collapse

A senior analyst at JSC Automotive pointed out that in the early stages of the development of China's electric vehicle market, vehicle delivery volume was mainly driven by shared vehicle fleets, and only a small number of consumers would choose to buy them. These vehicles are mainly purchased by ride-hailing platforms and rented to users.

This demand fueled the electric vehicle industry, which has grown exponentially ever since. China is currently at the forefront of the global electric vehicle field. It produced about 6 million electric vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles last year, accounting for almost 1/3 of new domestic sales and 60% of the total number of existing electric vehicles in the world. In Beijing With the support of China, China also has the most extensive charging infrastructure.

However, the speed of light has also caused a lot of impact. Now people can buy new electric vehicles that can travel 300 kilometers on a single charge for only about US$10,000 (approximately RM47,300). Therefore, a large number of old Several electric vehicles have been phased out, and many ride-hailing companies that were the first to adopt electric vehicles have gone bankrupt. There are currently about 100 electric vehicle manufacturers in China, down from about 500 in 2019. In the past five years, nearly 400 electric vehicle companies have withdrawn from the market.

Forging production records to defraud subsidies

Before Tesla, the major American electric vehicle manufacturer, entered China in early 2020 and started production at its Shanghai plant, most of the electric vehicles produced in China were small in size and of low quality. Faced with consumers with various choices of fuel vehicles, Electric cars have little appeal.

To promote the popularization of electric vehicles, the Chinese government began to provide subsidies of up to 60,000 yuan (approximately RM39,700) per vehicle in the late 2000s and restricted the number of fuel vehicles in several major cities. Automakers have nurtured and founded a number of ride-hailing startups, which in turn have become major buyers of electric vehicle products.

In the mid-2010s, as China expanded support for the adoption of electric vehicles and promoted a credit system to reward manufacturers for producing electric vehicles, companies began to exploit loopholes to obtain subsidies by forging non-existent EV records.

The People's Daily revealed in 2016 that dozens of companies had defrauded more than 9.3 billion yuan (approximately RM6.15 billion) in subsidies.

A large number of electric vehicles are abandoned, and China’s emerging “cemeteries” abound

(Shanghai News on the 5th) Under the influence of climate change, the automobile industry is promoting transformation. Major traditional car manufacturers have launched electric vehicles one after another. A large number of new startups have sprung up to try to seize the market. However, as the supply surges and the demand side fails to keep up with the growth, China has begun to emerge. "Electric car graveyard".

From Hangzhou to Nanjing, a large number of abandoned electric vehicles have appeared in many places in China. These vehicles may have been abandoned after the ride-hailing platform went bankrupt, or they may have been gradually eliminated as car manufacturers continue to introduce electric vehicles with better performance and longer driving range. . This reflects the overcapacity and waste that may be faced when capital pours into emerging industries, and it has also become a "strange milestone" in the rapid progress of electric vehicles.

Most of the abandoned vehicles are simple electric vehicles equipped with batteries that can travel about 100 kilometers on a single charge. Most of them were manufactured in the mid-2010s, when the Chinese government offered generous subsidies to attract hundreds of car manufacturers to enter the electric field. in the ride-hailing sector, and are purchased in bulk by ride-hailing platforms that care less about long-term quality.

US, Taiwan. Japan's stocks are historical high there are no problem for 3-5% adjustment.

China needs to unlock more stimulus to meet 5% GDP target- ANZ

Investing.com-- The Chinese government will likely need to unlock more stimulus to meet its 5% GDP target for 2024, analysts at ANZ said in a note on Tuesday.

ANZ analysts noted that the 5% target, which is the same as 2023, was slightly above market consensus, and likely presented a bottom line for policymakers, who are targeting a doubling in China’s gross domestic product by 2035.

But they said that to achieve the 5% growth, the Chinese economy will need more stimulus in 2024.

To this end, ANZ analysts said the 5% GDP target reinforced the bank’s forecast for an at least 20 basis point cut in China’s policy rates by end-2024, and that April 2024 presented the next window for a cut, when first-quarter GDP data will be released.

The People’s Bank of China had slashed its reserve requirement ratio earlier in 2024 after GDP data for the fourth quarter missed expectations. 2023 GDP also barely grew past the 5% target.

ANZ analysts said that increased fiscal spending will factor into China meeting its GDP target for 2024, but declining fiscal efficiency may present some challenges on the fiscal front.

China unveiled its 5% GDP target during the 2024 National People's Congress, where Beijing also promised more policy support for the economy.

But Chinese markets were largely underwhelmed by the 2024 GDP target, although losses in the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes were limited by apparent buying by government funds. But losses in mainland stocks saw Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plummet 2.4%.

Wrong side o history reflected in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index. TSEC weighted index 19,386.92 right side of history.

World’s largest chipmaker TSMC to build a second factory in Japan


Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is upping its output in Japan as it continues to expand its global presence.

The world’s largest chipmaker will build a second semiconductor fabrication plant, or fab, in the country in “response to rising customer demand,” TSMC said in a statement Tuesday.

Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), a subsidiary majority-owned by TSMC, plans to start construction by the end of 2024, it added. The facility is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2027.

Together with JASM’s first plant, which is scheduled to begin operation this year, the overall investment in Japan will exceed $20 billion “with strong support from the Japanese government,” the statement said. Toyota Motor (TM) and Sony (SONY) have also invested in the venture.

The plants will together create about 3,400 skilled jobs, according to TSMC. The increased production in Japan comes at a time when the chip maker is facing delays at its project in Arizona.

The company had announced in 2022 that it would build a second semiconductor plant in the southwestern US state, adding to plans for an existing fab and raising its overall investment in Arizona from $12 billion to $40 billion.

The investment has previously been lauded by US President Joe Biden as a sign that US manufacturing “is back.”

But earlier this year, TSMC said the facility will now be operational only in 2027 or 2028, compared to previous expectations of a 2026 start.

TSMC, based in the Taiwanese city of Hsinchu, produces an estimated 90% of the world’s super-advanced semiconductors and supplies to global tech giants such as Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA).

It mass produces components that are vital to the running of everything from smartphones to washing machines.

Asian stocks rise tracking Wall St; Japan, Australia notch record highs

Most Asian stocks rose on Friday tracking strong overnight gains on Wall Street, with Japanese and Australian markets at record highs amid growing hopes over lower interest rates in 2024.

Regional markets tracked an overnight rally in Wall Street as the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite notched record closing highs on buying into technology shares. Gains came after key PCE inflation data eased as expected in January, which fed into bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by June.

U.S. stock futures were mildly positive in Asian trade.

Japanese stocks surge, Nikkei 225 back at record high
Japanese stocks were by far the best performers in Asia, with the Nikkei 225 rising 1.7% to a record high of 39,920 points. The broader TOPIX index rose 1.1% and also hit a lifetime high of 2,707.05 points.

Friday’s gains were driven chiefly by technology stocks, with Japanese chipmakers and chip-adjacent stocks tracking outsized gains in their U.S. peers on hype over improved prospects from artificial intelligence. Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) rose 4.6%, while Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) added 2.6%.

For the country to sustain this rally, Japan will have to deepen its “corporate governance reforms, which will further boost shareholder returns,” Hurley said.

The Japanese government has implemented corporate governance reforms since 2013, with the aim of making businesses more accountable to their shareholders and promoting their sustainable growth.

Foreign inflows have also supported the rally, Hurley added.

According to recent estimates from Goldman Sachs, Japan’s equity funds have witnessed a cumulative inflow of $5.1 billion so far in 2024. Last year, they registered an inflow of $7.4 billion.

Last June, billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway added to its holdings in Japan’s five biggest trading houses.

Semiconductor manufacturer Screen Holdings soared 10.2%. It was the top performer among the Nikkei constituents. Advantest, which supplies testing equipment for the chip industry, surged 7.5%. Tokyo Electron, which sells electronics and semiconductor production equipment, jumped 6%.

Daniel Hurley, a portfolio specialist for emerging market and Japanese equities at T. Rowe Price, said the rally was primarily driven by strong earnings, a weak yen and corporate governance reforms.

The yen has fallen more than 6% against the US dollar so far this year, after losing about 8% against the greenback in 2023. A weaker currency benefits Japanese exporters and makes shares in the nation’s companies cheaper for foreign investors.

Japanese technology companies also have a bright outlook, as demand for AI soars, Hurley added.

Japanese semiconductor shares jumped on Thursday, after Nvidia (NVDA) said its quarterly profits skyrocketed 769% from a year ago. That drove a surge in Nvidia’s shares in aftermarket trading.

Unfortunately surge in Nvidia shares not for CCP. Lol.

Daniel Hurley, a portfolio specialist for emerging market and Japanese equities at T. Rowe Price, said the rally was primarily driven by strong earnings, a weak yen and corporate governance reforms.

The yen has fallen more than 6% against the US dollar so far this year, after losing about 8% against the greenback in 2023. A weaker currency benefits Japanese exporters and makes shares in the nation’s companies cheaper for foreign investors.

Japanese technology companies also have a bright outlook, as demand for AI soars, Hurley added.

The Nikkei gained 28% in 2023, making it the best performer in Asia. So far this year, it has jumped more than 17%, putting it out in front of other major global indexes.

“This is a moment to reflect on the investor recognition that a true [lasting] bull market has been underway in Japan for some time now and likely offers further gains to come,” Morgan Stanley strategists wrote in a research note on Thursday.

One specific reason for the optimism is strong corporate earnings, they said.

Strong corporate earning and not using country reserve to support stock market is the key words.

Japan’s stock market cheers first record high in 34 years

Hong Kong
CNN
—
Japan’s stock market has finally set a new record high for the first time since 1989 when an asset-price bubble popped, ushering in decades of economic stagnation.

Strong gains in Japanese semiconductor stocks on the back of Nvidia’s blockbuster earnings report late Wednesday helped push the Nikkei index up 2.2% to close at 39,098.68 points on Thursday, topping its previous record high on December 29, 1989.

But the index has been on a tear for more than a year, driven by a combination of stronger corporate earnings, a weaker yen that helps exporters, and an influx of foreign investors looking for an alternative to China’s depressed markets.

Smart investors follow smart money, smart money is smarter than what you imagine.

Property developer Country Garden hit with winding-up petition in Hong Kong

Embattled developer Country Garden Holdings (HK:2007), which is at the heart of a property market crisis China, received a winding-up petition in Hong Kong on Wednesday over its inability to repay some of its debts.

Creditor Ever Credit Ltd filed the petition in the High Court of Hong Kong over the non-payment of a HK$1.6 billion ($200 million) loan, plus interest, Country Garden said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The first hearing for the petition is now set to take place on May 17.

Country Garden is undergoing a massive overhaul of its debt obligations, and has held multiple restructuring talks with creditors after it clocked multiple defaults in 2023. The firm, which is one of the biggest property developers in China, has now become the face of a struggling sector, amid slowing sales, weakening prices and fears of a wave of defaults.

Peer China Evergrande Group (HK:3333), whose default had triggered China’s ongoing property crisis, was ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court earlier this year, after receiving a similar winding-up petition from some of its creditors.

More to come. Lol.

Stocks bask in tech euphoria, Nvidia boom

SYDNEY: Global stock markets were on course for a week of heady gains on Friday as AI darling Nvidia's stunning results sparked a wave of record highs from Asia to Europe and the U.S., while the yen nursed losses on a range of currencies.

Nvidia surged 16.4%, adding a record $277 billion in market value on Thursday. The Santa Clara, California-based company's results supercharged a global AI-led rally in technology stocks, propelling the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrials, Europe's STOXX 600 and Japan's Nikkei share average to record highs.

Tokyo is closed for a holiday on Friday, with the Nikkei futures trading up about 300 points.

Some of the regional tech shares were taking a breather after a stellar rally this week, but MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan IT index still put on 0.5% to the highest since March 2022.

Smart investors look for growth stocks not for CCP's Huawei. Lol.

Nvidia reignites stock rally, Tokyo smashes 34-year high

NEW YORK: Global stock markets rallied Thursday as investors cheered bumper profits from US chip giant Nvidia, seen as the bellwether for artificial intelligence, with records falling in Asia, Europe and North America.

Shares of Nvidia surged 16.4 percent, lifting its market value to almost US$2 trillion, after reporting that quarterly profits soared to US$12.3 billion – on record high revenue driven by demand for its technology to power artificial intelligence.

The Nasdaq powered up three percent, while both the Dow and S&P 500 ended at fresh records. The blue-chip index lodged its first close above 39,000 points.

"Nvidia shows that AI is here to stay," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. "It's a tipping point where AI is going to go mainstream and get mass adoption and it's going to be very bullish."

Euphoria over Nvidia and AI touched off a broader rally in tech shares, sending Japan's Nikkei 225 up 2.2 percent to end at an all-time high of 39,098.68 points, breaking a record high that had stood since 1989.

After the so-called "lost decades" of economic malaise, punctuated with the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Japan's shares began picking up around 2013 and recent months have seen them gain momentum.

Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, said that "the highly anticipated Nvidia earnings report, which many deemed the investing event of the year or decade, seemingly didn't disappoint."

Not for CCP. Lol.

The leadership’s response has been to pledge a boost in domestic demand and economic recovery for 2024, with a focus on supporting the economy through more stimulus measures. Yet, the effectiveness of these initiatives remains to be seen, as previous measures have underwhelmed market expectations and investor confidence. The government is advocating for a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, aiming to enhance economic vitality and address the risks and imbalances plaguing the economy. Nonetheless, the path to a sustainable recovery appears complex, with challenges such as managing high levels of debt, stimulating consumption and navigating geopolitical tensions​​.

Tokyo stock benchmark at new 34-year high

Tokyo's benchmark stock index hit a new 34-year high for the third straight trading day on Tuesday. It followed a record close on New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average on better-than-expected US economic numbers.

The Nikkei 225 finished the day at 37,963. It surged more than 1,000 points or 2.9 percent from Friday. Monday was a holiday in Japan.

The index briefly topped the 38,000 mark for the first time since January 1990. Semiconductor and communications-related shares led the way on the back of a robust Japanese corporate performance.

The Nikkei Stock Average has gained 5 percent over the past three trading days. The benchmark is getting closer to its highest-ever point of 38,915, which it reached in December 1989.

Most of the stocks are new high this year. Smart investors choose the growth stocks.,

China’s economic challenges are multifaceted, stemming from a post-COVID recovery that has fallen short of expectations. Despite hopes that the end of stringent COVID-19 restrictions would rejuvenate consumer spending, foreign investment and manufacturing, the reality has been starkly different. Consumers are saving more than spending, foreign firms are withdrawing investments, and the property sector, along with local government finances, has been severely impacted. These developments raise doubts about the sustainability of China’s growth model, which has long been driven by construction and investment over consumption​​​​​​.

TSEC weighted index 18,676.31 VS HANG SENG INDEX 16,503.10. The difference is larger and larger. Lol.

The crisis has had wide-ranging implications, not only for property developers but also for the Chinese economy as a whole. The real estate sector, a critical engine of economic growth in China, has faced $125 billion in bond defaults between 2020 and 2023. This slump has contributed to layoffs, financial instability and a dampening effect on China’s post-pandemic economic recovery​.

CCP still could not manufacture AI chips. Silly Lol.

Nvidia only sell downgraded chips to China which will not affect their earnings. If u think Nvidia only worth US 100 just go and short the share price.

he downturn has been attributed to a variety of factors, including regulatory crackdowns, geopolitical tensions, real estate defaults and internal economic pressures, prompting a call for decisive action to prevent further damage to consumer confidence, especially as the country approached the Lunar New Year holiday.

China’s real estate sector has been grappling with significant challenges, culminating in a crisis that has reverberated through the country’s economy. The crisis was highlighted by the downfall of China Evergrande, Group one of China’s largest property developers, which became emblematic of the broader issues plaguing the sector. Evergrande’s aggressive expansion, characterized by a rapid acquisition of land and significant borrowing, eventually led to its financial distress. This situation underscored the broader vulnerabilities within China’s real estate market, including high levels of debt, a slowdown in property sales and regulatory changes aimed at curbing speculative investments​​.

Chinese President Xi Jinping Grappling With $7 Trillion Downturn As Country's Debt Levels Soar, Real Estate Collapses And Markets Pull Back Over 21% From 2021 Highs

As China grapples with the fallout from a $7 trillion stock decline, officials are gearing up to brief President Xi Jinping on measures to stabilize the market. This move signifies Beijing’s urgency to restore investor confidence and halt the market’s slide, which has erased a significant value from Hong Kong and China equities since their 2021 peaks. The Shanghai Composite Index, for example, is down over 21% from its high in December 2021.

China's foreign direct investment totaled $33 billion on a net basis in 2023, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, down about 80% from 2022. The figure was positive as new investment surpassed outflows. But FDI declined for the second straight year and is less than 10% of the peak of $344 billion marked in 2021.

Inflows exceeded outflows by $17.5 billion in the October-December quarter. This followed the first-ever net outflow recorded in the prior quarter.

Foreign direct investment in China falls to 30-year low

BEIJING -- Investment in China by companies based abroad has sunk to the lowest level in 30 years, according to official data released on Sunday, in a sign that foreign corporations are leaving China due to tougher crackdowns on spying and U.S. sanctions.

China's top chipmaker SMIC reports a 55% fall in quarterly net profit

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: China's largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) on Tuesday reported a 55% fall in fourth-quarter profit, missing analyst expectations as it cited weak global demand and fierce industry competition.

Unaudited profit attributable to owners of the company during the quarter came in at $174.68 million, down from $385.53 million in the quarter and missing the consensus estimate of $277 million, according to the LSEG poll of analysts.

Revenue for the quarter rose 3.5% to $1.68 billion, slightly above the consensus revenue estimate of 1.66 billion yuan in the poll.

For the full year, revenue was $6.32 billion, down from $7.27 billion in 2022. Net income fell to $902.5 million in 2023 from $1.82 billion in the previous year, SMIC said.

Rubbish chips maker.🤣🤣

Come lah. No action talk only.🤣🤣

Stark Contrast! Loyalty to CCP Sinks Hong Kong’s Economy! Rejecting CCP, Taiwan’s Economy Soars

https://youtu.be/VZoAg961m1c?si=VYh4rfFQSDX0hej4

‘Overthrow XI Jinping’ Displayed in China! Man Flees to US, Remotely Leads Anti-CCP Actions

https://youtu.be/dAt0L0JLJKc?si=_bPzhq4f7Jk01pYP

Chinese turn U.S. embassy post into 'Wailing Wall' for stock plunge

BEIJING (Reuters) - Many Chinese are venting their frustration at the slowing economy and the weak stock market in an unconventional place: the social media account of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

A post on Friday on protecting wild giraffes by the U.S. embassy on Weibo (NASDAQ:WB), a Chinese platform similar to X, has attracted 130,000 comments and 15,000 reposts as of Sunday, many of them unrelated to wildlife conservation.

"Could you spare us some missiles to bomb away the Shanghai Stock Exchange?" one user wrote in an repost of the article.

The Weibo account of the U.S. embassy in China "has become the Wailing Wall of Chinese retail equity investors", another user wrote.

The U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

While Weibo users can publish individual posts about the market and the economy, Chinese authorities regularly block what they view as "negative" online comments when they gain traction.

The comments function on posts related to the economy or the markets on social media platforms can also be turned off, or only show selected comments, restricting channels in which people can express their opinions.

China's blue-chip CSI300 Index tumbled 6.3% last month, plumbing five-year lows, after a raft of government support measures failed to prop up confidence dented by multiple economic headwinds, including a multi-year property slump, tepid domestic consumption and deflationary pressures.

In late January, state media reported that China will take more "forceful" measures to support market confidence after a cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang.

Chinese authorities have since ramped up efforts to calm investors, sending out positive messages that sometimes produce the opposite effect.

On Friday, the official People's Daily published an article with the headline: "The entire country is filled with optimism".

The headline was soon mocked on Chinese social media.

A Weibo user, in an repost of the U.S. embassy's giraffe protection article, wrote: "The entire giraffe community is filled with optimism."

Battling between US optimism, China pessimism

A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. A wave of economic data from the Asia & Pacific region hits local markets on Monday, as investors get their first chance to react to the sizzling U.S. employment numbers from Friday and digest the latest deterioration in sentiment towards China.

Monday's economic calendar includes purchasing managers index figures from several countries including China and Japan, Indonesian GDP, Thai inflation and Australian trade.

If Asian markets take their cue from Wall Street, expect a burst higher. There was nothing in the January jobs report that suggests the U.S. economy's momentum is fading. Quite the opposite.

With the tailwinds of bumper tech earnings also behind them, the S&P 500 roared to a new all-time high and the Nasdaq jumped to a fresh two-year peak. Remarkably, that is the S&P 500's 13th weekly gain out of the last 14.

Music to Asian bulls' ears, right? Yes, but there are grounds for caution - the dollar bounced back, U.S. bond yields are soaring, and concern over China's economy and markets is back at the forefront of investors' minds.

China's CSI 300 index of blue chip shares fell on Friday, bringing its losses for the week to 4.6 per cent. That's the biggest weekly decline since October 2022, and comes as the index fell six months in a row for the first time ever.

The IMF last week warned that China's growth could slow to 3.5 per cent by 2028, and the United States added more than a dozen Chinese companies to those it alleges are working with Beijing's military, as part of a broader effort to keep American technology from aiding China.

Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he would impose tariffs on China again if he is elected in November and they could exceed 60 per cent.

That said, the poor price action, newsflow and sentiment are drawing some investors in. Bank of America and EPFR data show cumulative inflows into Chinese stocks have hit a new record, and Goldman Sachs says hedge funds have been buying at the fastest pace in five years.

LOW RETIREMENT AGE
China, which accepts few and only highly-skilled foreign workers, has one of the world's lowest retirement ages, at 60 for men, 55 for white-collar women and 50 for women who work in factories. A record 28 million people are scheduled to retire this year.
Employees at state-owned companies are typically mandated to retire when of age, while private employers rarely keep workers longer, whereas in some Western countries the retirement age is more flexible.
Unemployed Li Zhulin, 50, from the northwestern Shaanxi province frets about relying solely on her husband's pension of about 5,000 to 7,000 yuan ($697 to $975) per month when he retires in 2027 after a career at a state-owned company.
Li has been cutting back on expenses and scouring the internet for financial planning tips to try to be "less of a burden" for her only daughter.
"In addition to supporting her own family if she marries, she would also take care of four elderly people," Li said, including the husband's parents. "I can't imagine how difficult that would be."
Chinese society has traditionally expected children to support their parents financially as they age and often by living together to care for them.
But as in many Western countries, rapid urbanisation has shifted young people to bigger cities and away from their parents, prompting a rising number of seniors to rely on self care or government payments.

In the next 10 years, about 300 million people currently aged 50 to 60 - China's largest demographic group, equivalent to almost the entire U.S. population - are set to leave the workforce at a time when pension budgets are already stretched.
The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035, with about a third of the country's provincial-level jurisdictions running pension budget deficits, according to finance ministry data.

China's ageing population threatens switch to new economic growth model

HONG KONG, Jan 18 (Reuters) - China's ageing population threatens key Beijing policy goals for the coming decade of boosting domestic consumption and reining in ballooning debt, posing a severe challenge to the economy's long-term growth prospects.
A record low birth rate in 2023 and a wave of COVID-19 deaths resulted in a second consecutive year of population decline, accelerating concerns about China's demographic downturn.
Large groups of the 1.4 billion people living in the world's second-largest economy will exit the labour pool and age past a prime period of their lives for consumption, exacerbating structural imbalances that policymakers have vowed to address.

Household consumption's share of economic output in China is already one of the lowest in the world, while many provincial governments - responsible for pensions and elderly care - are deep in debt as a result of decades of credit-fuelled investment-driven growth.
"China's age structure change will slow down economic growth," said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow at the Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS) at Victoria University in Melbourne.

HONG KONG, Jan 16 (Reuters) - China's largest private property developer, Country Garden, <2007.HK> expects the property market will remain weak in 2024 and the company could face more, "severe" challenges, its top management said.
Country Garden, which defaulted on its $11 billion worth of offshore bonds in October and extended repayments on its onshore notes last year, is among a long list of developers facing a cash crunch since being hit by a debt crisis in mid-2021.

Next Country Garden etc. one by one.

Here’s a look at the market’s reaction after the liquidation, and its implications for the Chinese property sector.

How did the market react to Evergrande’s winding up order?

Trading in the shares of Evergrande and its associated companies was halted soon after the judgment, but by then these stocks had already fallen. Evergrande tumbled 21 per cent on the day to 16.3 cents. Shares in its unit Evergrande New Energy Vehicle slumped 18 per cent to 22.9 cents, while its property management arm Evergrande Property Services lost 2.5 per cent to 39 cents.

Shares of other indebted developers such as Country Garden Holdings and Longfor rose amid optimism that Evergrande’s collapse would remove the industry’s biggest headache and Chinese authorities are now prepared to introduce easing measures in the property sector.In the bond market, embattled Evergrande peers also performed well or remained stable in sharp contrast to the collapse in the developer’s bonds. “It’s quite interesting that bonds of high yield developers including Dalian Wanda, Greenland, and China Southern City, were actually trading up on Monday morning,” said Zerlina Zeng, senior director at CreditSights. “Even in the afternoon, the tone was good.”

What do analysts foresee after the sector’s biggest liquidation, in the context of China property’s recent performance?

The biggest-ever liquidation order on a Hong Kong-listed company came at a time when markets were expecting a stimulus package from Chinese authorities to calm sluggish stocks and stabilise home sales performance.

China Evergrande Group, one of the world’s most indebted property developers, was ordered to wind up by a Hong Kong court that after it failed to reach a consensus with creditors to put forward a “concrete restructuring proposal” following years of discussions, paving the way for the biggest-ever liquidation of a Chinese property developer.

The decision triggered an implosion in the shares and bonds of the company and its associates. The rest of the sector saw buying, which analysts say reflected optimism that the court’s order would remove the most problematic entity in the sector, allowing authorities to introduce easing measures for the remaining players.

Justice Linda Chan appointed Eddie Middleton and Tiffany Wong Wing-sze, managing directors of the consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, as provisional liquidators for the developer.he winding-up order to the Guangzhou-based developer, however, still faces cross-jurisdictional challenges as most of the company’s assets are located in mainland China

Worsening crisis at Evergrande, world's most indebted developer

(Reuters) - A Hong Kong court ordered the liquidation of China Evergrande (HK:3333) Group on Monday.

Evergrande is the world's most indebted real estate developer and has been at the centre of an unprecedented liquidity crisis in China's property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the world's second-largest economy.

Once China's top-selling developer, Evergrande's financial crisis became public in 2021 and since then it and a string of its peers have defaulted on their offshore debt obligations amid slowing home sales and fewer new avenues for fundraising, triggering fears of wider contagion that could spread to the country's banks.

COMPLICATED PROCESS

Evergrande applied for another adjournment on Monday as its lawyer said it had made "some progress" on the restructuring proposal. In the latest offer, the developer proposed creditors swap their debts into all the shares the company holds in its two Hong Kong units, compared to stakes of about 30% in the subsidiaries ahead of the last hearing in December.

The liquidation process could be complicated, with potential political considerations, given the many authorities involved.

But it is expected to have little impact on the company's operations including home construction projects in the near term, as it could take months or years for the offshore liquidator appointed by the creditors to take control of subsidiaries across mainland China - a different jurisdiction from Hong Kong.

Ahead of the Evergrande decision, China's Supreme Court and Hong Kong's Department of Justice said they signed an arrangement on the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial cases effective immediately in both places.

Evergrande had been working on a $23 billion debt revamp plan with a group of creditors known as the ad hoc bondholder group for almost two years. Its original plan was scuppered in late September when Evergrande said its billionaire founder Hui Ka Yan was under investigation for suspected crimes.

The liquidation petition was first filed in June 2022 by Top Shine, an investor in Evergrande unit Fangchebao which said the developer had failed to honour an agreement to repurchase shares it had bought in the subsidiary.

The proceedings had been adjourned multiple times and Justice Chan had said previously the December hearing would be the last before a decision was made whether to liquidate Evergrande in the absence of a "concrete" restructuring plan.

Before Monday, at least three Chinese developers have been ordered by a Hong Kong court to liquidate since the current debt crisis unfolded in mid-2021.

China Evergrande ordered to liquidate, owing $300 billion

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the liquidation of property giant China Evergrande (HK:3333) Group, a move likely to send ripples through China's crumbling financial markets as policymakers scramble to contain a deepening crisis.

The decision to liquidate the world's most indebted developer with more than $300 billion of total liabilities was made by Hong Kong Justice Linda Chan, who noted Evergrande had been unable to offer a concrete restructuring plan despite months of delays.

"It is time for the court to say enough is enough," she said.

Chan will deliver her reasons for granting the liquidation at 2:30 pm (0630 GMT). It is expected a provisional liquidator will be appointed to oversee Evergrande ahead of a permanent appointment.

Evergrande, which has $240 billion of assets, sent a struggling property sector into a tailspin when it defaulted on its debt in 2021 and the liquidation ruling will likely further jolt already fragile Chinese capital and property markets.

Beijing is grappling with an underperforming economy, its worst property market in nine years and a stock market wallowing near five-year lows, so any fresh hit to markets could further undermine policymakers' efforts to rejuvenate growth.

"Evergrande's liquidation is a sign that China is willing to go to extreme ends to quell the property bubble," said Andrew Collier, Orient Capital Research managing director.

"This is good for the economy in the long term but very difficult in the short term."

Evergrande's shares were trading down as much as 20% before the hearing. Trading was halted in China Evergrande and its listed subsidiaries China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group and Evergrande Property Services after the verdict.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, who spoke after Li, responded: “We want to tell our Chinese friends, we do not want to decouple but we need to de-risk our supply chains in some ways.”

Von der Leyen said China was preparing export controls on three metals used in semiconductor production — germanium, gallium and graphite — and that this “was not trust-building”.

“So we are in intense discussions on that point”, she said. “We have to be very frank and very open . . . it is always better to address problems so that we can solve them.”

Li Qiang says China’s economy grew an ‘estimated’ 5.2% in 2023
Premier hails ‘steady’ economic progress in Davos speech but calls on world to address ‘trust deficit’ among nations


China’s economy grew an “estimated” 5.2 per cent last year, beating the official target, the country’s number two leader Premier Li Qiang said in Davos as he sought to allay concerns over its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Li also urged the world to address what he described as a “trust deficit” among nations and in a veiled dig at the US, said “multilateralism” did not mean that only a few countries could set the rules.

Li said China’s growth rate last year — a rise from the figure of 3 per cent in 2022 when the country was hit by widespread Covid lockdowns — was achieved without resorting to “massive stimulus” and the economy was making “steady progress”.

“We did not seek short-term growth while accumulating long-term risks, rather we focused on strengthening the internal drivers,” he said. “Just as a healthy person often has a strong immune system, the Chinese economy can handle ups and downs in its performance. The overall trend of long-term growth will not change.”

But changes to the Chinese economy, including a shift toward the services sector, have made traditional real-world indicators less reliable.

"It's very difficult to really get a sense of the entire economy independently. It's too large," CSIS's Kennedy said, adding that "you just need to use a lot of different sources of data, look at high-frequency data and draw your own conclusions."

Beijing also has become less transparent about what data it releases, as when it decided to stop publishing youth unemployment data last year when the figure reached a record 21%. This week, that information was released again for the first time since last summer, using a new methodology that calculated the rate to be 15%.

Regardless of the accuracy of official data, the cost of the uncertainty and Beijing's perceived lack of transparency falls mostly on China itself.

"Policymakers can't resolve economic problems because doing so would publicly acknowledge that such problems exist. It also disincentivizes investment from global businesses," Rhodium said in its research note.