05 BUSINESS/MARKETSCONTACT US AT: 8351-9531, YYUNFEI@YAHOO.COM Wednesday March 4, 2020

Chinese RMB

100 Hong Kong dollars 89.33

100 U.S. dollars 695.16 100 Japanese yen 6.4206 100 Euros 774.57 100 British pounds 887.63 100 Swiss francs 725.59

100 Canadian dollars 521.63 100 Australian dollars 454.54

100 Singapore dollars 500.39

Hong Kong dollar 7.7817

Japanese yen 107.74

Euro 0.8968

British pound 0.7823 Swiss franc 0.9578

Canadian dollar 1.3346

Australian dollar 1.5278 Singapore dollar 1.3915

U.S. dollar

Shanghai Composite Index

Shanghai B

Shenzhen Component Index

Shenzhen B

Last 238.59 Open 239.85 High 241.16 Low 237.86 Change 0.21%

Last 931.68 Open 938.67 High 942.13 Low 929.46 Change -0.38%

Last 2,992.90 Open 3,006.89 High 3,026.84 Low 2,976.62 Change 0.74%

Exchange Rates (Tuesday)

Stock Indices (Tuesday)

Last 11,484.21 Open 11,597.66 High 11,734.18 Low 11,378.76 Change 0.90%

NEARLY 300 million people have gone back to work in China since the Lunar New Year break as more companies restart busi-ness and coronavirus travel restrictions ease.

Eighteen regions in China have cut the emergency response level as of Monday, and authorities eased travel restrictions amid a sharp drop in new coronavirus infection cases.

China transportation min-istry data showed an average of 15.8 million passengers returned from their home-towns per day last week, the third week after the prolonged Lunar New Year break.

That brings the total to 295 million people so far tracked by the ministry as having returned to their workplaces since the holiday, according to calcula-tions based on transportation ministry data.

Increasing traffic flows in big cities also indicate more com-muting across the country.

Location technology firm TOMTOM’s traffic index shows congestion levels picked up noticeably in most major cities Monday to their highest levels since the virus outbreak.

Average daily passenger volumes at metros across the country reached 10.2 million last week, up 65.15 percent from a week earlier, accord-

ing to data compiled by China Association of Metros.

China’s top officials have urged local authorities to do everything they can to help companies resume production, including extending cheap loans and simplifying paperwork.

According to authorities, at least 11 regions in China have seen resumption rates at compa-nies with annual revenue above 200 million yuan (US$28.73 million) exceed 90 percent.

But the matrix doesn’t specify the utilization rates at the firms and excludes small-sized firms.

A “nightlight” index launched by China Merchants Bank, based on light intensity at a sample of 143 industrial parks across the country at night, shows that work resumption levels remain below 55 percent as of Feb. 28, compared with a peak of more than 80 percent in late last year.

Ping An Bank estimated that average capacity resumption at its 600 small and micro-busi-nesses clients was 59 percent as of Feb. 24, up from 30 percent in the prior week.

A survey of 577 firms in China by the European Union Chamber of Commerce and the German Chamber of Commerce found almost half reporting staff shortages and almost a third struggling with compliance requirements. (SD-Agencies)

Factories restart as virus cases drop

TWO of China’s biggest online used car trading platforms are putting workers on leave or cutting staff salaries as the coronavirus epidemic dries up sales, the companies said.

Uxin Ltd., the country’s largest online used car trading platform, said in a statement Monday it was using both strat-egies as part of efforts to control its budget and cash flow.

The company said it would not lay off staff but expected business in the first and second quarter to be “affected by varying degrees.”

Chehaoduo, another online

car dealer which secured US$1.5 billion in funding from SoftBank’s Vision Fund last year, is cutting staff salaries by different degrees in February and March.

Chehaoduo, which oper-ates used car trading website Guazi.com and new car sales platform Maodou.com, said in a statement that it expected the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on car consumption to be temporary but it was trying to cut costs by various methods, such as temporary salary adjustments.

It added it would increase its

activity on livestreaming plat-forms to try to boost sales.

China is bracing for a big hit to its economy, President Xi Jinping has said, but policymakers have pledged to prevent large-scale layoffs, tell-ing local governments to help stabilize jobs by drawing on unemployment insurance and similar funds.

Average daily used car sales plunged by 70 percent in the last week of February compared with a year earlier, preliminary data from China’s Automobile Dealers Association, showed Monday. (SD-Agencies)

People choose vehicles at a used car market in Beijing in this file photo. Two of China’s biggest online used car trading platforms are putting workers on leave or cutting staff salaries as the coronavirus epidemic dries up sales. Xinhua

Online used car trading firms cut salaries

ZHEJIANG Geely Holding Group said yesterday it was investing 2.27 billion yuan (US$326 million) in a new satellite manufacturing plant, where it plans to build low-orbit satellites to provide more accu-rate data for self-driving cars.

Geely, one of China’s most internationally known compa-nies due to its investments in Daimler, Volvo and Proton, is building the facilities in Taizhou, where it has car plants. It aims to produce 500 satellites a year

by around 2025, with around 300 highly-skilled staff.

Geely’s technology develop-ment arm, Geely Technology Group, launched Geespace to research, launch and operate low-orbit satellites in 2018.

Geespace will begin the launch of its commercial low-orbit satellite network by the end of this year, Geely said.

Geely said low-orbit satellites would offer high speed Internet connectivity, precise navigation and cloud computing capabili-

ties to cars with autonomous driving technology.

Geely, which sold 2.18 million cars last year, is among global automakers from Tesla to Toyota to pursue autonomous driving technologies.

It is building low-orbit satel-lites to meet demand for high-speed connectivity capabilities that can deliver fast software updates. From around 2025, Geely’s cars will have more functions to connect to the satellites. (SD-Agencies)

Geely to build satellites for autonomous cars

CHINA Evergrande Group, the country’s No.3 developer by sales, surprised the market Sunday when it said it sold more than 99,000 units worth 102.7 billion yuan (US$14.7 billion) online in February, boosted by aggressive promotions, despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Initiatives including allowing a deposit of as little as 5,000 yuan — with the option to cancel and get a refund — helped Evergrande record bumper transactions in a nearly frozen property market.

Aggressive promotions and online sales by Evergrande are expected to put pressure on other real estate firms to follow suit, intensifying competition in the cut-throat real estate market.

Data from property researcher CRIC, which tracks the official

online registration system and does not include company’s online subscriptions, recorded a much lower figure of 47 billion yuan worth of home sales.

While the data from CRIC, which compiles a sales league table each month, raise ques-tions over whether deposits will actually become sales, analysts expect competition to ramp up in coming months.

According to CRIC, Ever-grande was still the top performer in February, with contracted sales surging 118 percent from a year ago. Country Garden and China Vanke trailed with 30 billion yuan and 28.6 billion yuan sales, respectively.

Evergrande’s doubling of sales also outperformed a 30 percent decline of the top 30

developers’ sales during the month, data showed.

Official February national sales figures are due in mid-March and analysts had expected a slowdown in sales this year due to a cooling economy.

Evergrande said in mid-Feb-ruary it would offer 25 percent discounts for all properties until the end of month, and introduced electronic con-tracts to boost online sales as the coronavirus keeps physi-cal offices shut and potential buyers at home.

For March, although the dis-count has been reduced to 22 percent, the developer lowered the deposit amount to 2,000 yuan from 5,000 yuan and guaranteed a full refund until May 10. (SD-Agencies)

Evergrande’s promotions may intensify competition