US-Asia Business

US-China Market Watch: Green Finance, Beef, Tesla

Your monthly roundup of the latest US-China business and industry news.

China seeks green energy financing boost

President Trump may have pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement that aims to reduce greenhouse gases, but China is full-speed ahead when it comes to finding sustainable energy sources.

A Chinese cabinet agency announced in June that it would set up special economic zones that offer financial incentives to developers of green-energy projects, China Daily reported. The five zones will be located in the Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces and in other regions throughout the country.

China wants to encourage more banks and private investors to put financial backing behind environmentally sound projects, said Chen Yulu, the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China. The central bank is also considering other incentive policies, such as promoting sustainable business practices.

China is expected to pass the U.S. as the world leader in clean energy development, as it boosted its foreign investment last year in renewable energy sources to $32 billion, Renewable Energy World reported. China has installed more solar and wind power capacity than any country, and it’s a leader in manufacturing solar power panels and electric cars.

But China has a way to go, as it remains the world’s largest polluter, the Wall Street Journal reported. The primary culprit is China’s reliance on coal-fired power plants, although China will require its coal plants to meet tough efficiency standards by 2020. Perhaps the new economic zones will assist China’s power producers in meeting that goal.

Index includes Chinese blue-chips

Inclusion of Chinese blue-chip stocks on widely watched stock index marks a global milestone.

MSCI has added China-listed shares to its emerging-markets index, Bloomberg reported. MSCI has previously declined to list Chinese stocks in the index due to China’s large number of suspended stocks and complaints about the restrictions on repatriating capital from China. But Chinese capital market reform appears to have addressed some of those concerns, which likely lead MSCI to make the change to its index.

U.S. beef lands in China

As a follow up to last month’s U.S. beef export talks, first shipments of beef in 14 years from the U.S. arrived in China to meet the demand for premium meat in China’s $2.6 billion beef import market. The new U.S.-China trade agreement is expected to boost China’s exports of agricultural and food products to the U.S. The deal should also mean new business for American beef producers.

Boneless beef and bone-in beef from U.S. cattle aged under 30 months will be eligible for import to China, Reuters reported. The cattle must be able to be traced to its birth family.

Tesla eyes China manufacturing deal

BYD, the giant Chinese electric-car manufacturer, is about to see a big new competitor on its home turf.

Tesla is close to finalizing an agreement to manufacture its electric cars in Shanghai’s Lingang development zone, according to a Bloomberg report. The deal would require Tesla to establish a joint venture with one local partner. Tesla already has a major Chinese investor; Tencent Holdings this year paid $1.8 billion for a 5 percent stake in Tesla.

Disney celebrates Chinese anniversary

Walt Disney has no regrets about its foray into China.

Disney celebrated the one-year anniversary of its Shanghai theme park in June. The $5.5 billion theme park hosted more than 10 million guests in its first year—a faster pace toward profits than Disney’s theme parks in Paris and Hong Kong.

Disney is also doing well in Chinese movie theaters; its box office revenue has tripled over the past two years.

The success has Disney plotting future development plans in China, a Disney executive told Reuters

Getting there: railways and roads improved

China continues to upgrade its transportation infrastructure.

A new ferry terminal is in the works for the island of Taipa, which is part of Macau, according to TTG Asia.

A new highway in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is projected to shorten the mileage to the northwestern Chinese province from Beijing by 1,000 kilometers, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

And a new high-speed railway will speed travelers between Beijing and Shenyang at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour.

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