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The Star
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
China's factory activity returns to growth in June, Caixin PMI shows
A worker on the production line at the Shenzhen Kate Plastic Products Co. toy factory in Shenzhen, China, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg BEIJING: China's factory activity returned to expansion in June, supported by an increase in new orders that lifted production, a private-sector survey showed on Tuesday. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 50.4 in June from 48.3 in May, surpassing analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction. The reading contrasts with China's official PMI on Monday that showed factory activity shrank for a third straight month. But new export orders in both surveys remained in negative terrain in June, suggesting potential challenges for exports in the second half of the year. "Overall, manufacturing supply and demand recovered in June," said Wang Zhe, economist at Caixin Insight Group. "However, we must recognise that the external environment remains severe and complex, with increasing uncertainties. The issue of insufficient effective demand at home has yet to be fundamentally resolved." Overall new orders increased in June after falling in May, with factory bosses citing an improvement in trade conditions and promotional activities to boost sales, the Caixin survey showed. That drove factory output to the highest reading since November 2024. Due to higher new work inflows and a reduction in workforce capacity, accumulation of backlogged orders was recorded for the first time in three months. Employment across the Chinese manufacturing sector contracted in June amid both resignations and redundancies, according to respondents. Some smaller exporters had to sell at a loss or to cut wages and jobs to stay afloat. Average output charges fell at the most pronounced pace since January, which in turn was supported by lower input costs. Export charges continued to increase, however, driven by rising shipping and logistics costs. The level of business confidence eased from May and remained below the series long-run trend. Goldman Sachs economists said the upcoming July Politburo meeting, a key meeting to discuss the economy, is unlikely to result in major stimulus measures, as policymakers appear satisfied with the economic performance so far this year. In trade developments, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced last week that the United States and China had resolved issues surrounding shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets, building on a deal reached in May in Geneva. China's Commerce Ministry said on Friday export applications for controlled items would be approved in accordance with the law. - Reuters
Toronto Sun
28-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Canada orders Hikvision to cease local operations
Published Jun 28, 2025 • 1 minute read Surveillance cameras manufactured by Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. are mounted on a post at a testing station near the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, China, on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Photo by Qilai Shen / Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said her government ordered Hikvision Canada to cease all operations in the country and close its business. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The government has determined that Hikvision Canada's continued operations in the country would be 'injurious to Canada's national security' after a review under the Investment Canada Act, according to a statement on X. The scope of the review doesn't extend to Hikvision's affiliate operations outside of Canada, Joly added. The government will prohibit the purchase or use of Hikvision products in government departments, agencies and crown corporations. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy to Canada on Saturday hit out at the decision, saying it 'seriously damaged' the legitimate rights and interest of Chinese companies and interfered with bilateral trade. Beijing urges Canada to 'stop politicizing' economic and trade issues and stop the 'unreasonable suppression' of Chinese business, according to a statement on social media. —With assistance from Amy Li. Columnists NHL Sunshine Girls Toronto Raptors Sunshine Girls
The Star
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Star
Chinese EV trucks poised to build the cities of the future
Chinese EV trucks will build the cities of the Qilai Shen/Bloomberg IF you think the world is starting to get used to surging sales of Chinese-made electric cars, the next wave of exports is going to be bigger, and more powerful. That's because the construction machinery giants that grew fat off the country's property bubble are looking for new markets to offset the downturn at home. Combined with looming electrification, the effects could be quite as dramatic as the other Made-in-China export booms which have so troubled trading partners. Consider Sany Heavy Industry Co. In 2020, 83% of its business was selling excavators, cranes, concrete mixers and the like to domestic developers. In the space of just four years, China's property crash has caused its turnover in that market to shrink by two-thirds. Overseas markets now account for more than 60% of revenue. It's hoping to raise US$1.5bil via a Hong Kong initial public offering to help it double international sales to 100 billion yuan (US$14bil), the South China Morning Post reported. Sany isn't alone. Its local rivals XCMG Construction Machinery Co, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co and Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co are all facing the same collapse of activity on the home front, where housing starts in the first four months of 2025 fell to their lowest level since 2003. That's left dismal returns on all the assets they built to service a market that's since disappeared – below 5%, less than half what Caterpillar Inc manages and well below the 7.7% at Komatsu Ltd. The best way out is to find export markets to get the production lines for all those diggers, dozers, lifters and trucks humming again. Zoomlion's international sales have followed Sany's in becoming the largest element of its revenue. XCMG and LiuGong aren't far behind. — Bloomberg David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. The views expressed here are the writer's own.
New York Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Hit by Trade War, China's Garment Industry Refuses to Stop Hustling
Visuals by Qilai Shen Text by Meaghan Tobin China makes nearly one in every three garments sold around the world. Much of it comes from Guangzhou, which has long been a hub of China's trade with the rest of the world. The city, in the southeast, is home to thousands of small factories where people sew seams and affix zippers as quickly as fashion trends change. But as President Trump has ramped up tariffs targeting China, workers in the bustling garment industry here are growing worried about whether people around the world will keep buying. Online marketplaces like Amazon, Shein and Temu helped American shoppers get hooked on goods from Guangzhou at rock-bottom platforms became popular at the same time that the Chinese government was pushing small businesses to find buyers overseas. Until April, business was good. Then the world's two-largest economies began forcing each other apart with tariffs. There's a reason Guangzhou is the world's hub for cheap some neighborhoods, open-air workshops sit across the street from one another. One cuts the fabric out, another sews the seams and a third adds zippers and finishing. A fourth business is responsible for picking up batches of orders that are collected at logistics centers. Feng Chaoyun has run a clothing factory with his wife for seven years. They used to employ 25 people sewing dresses for Shein, which ordered about 40,000 each orders dropped to just 20,000 in April. Lately, Mr. Feng said, they can afford to pay only 10 workers. 'With the order volume down, we can't support so many people,' he said. For workshops here, many of which operate around the clock, profit margins are already razor-thin. Many don't have the safety net to survive this period of people told us they had watched neighboring businesses close down in the past few weeks as orders from foreign buyers dropped significantly. Economists have warned that millions of people could lose their jobs because of the tariffs. Factories hire workers each day at informal markets that convene on particular bring samples of the products they are looking for people to assemble — crisp white T-shirts, delicate linen skirts. Workers decide if they want to spend the day pressing seams or stitching elastic waistbands. Liu Miao parked his motorbike on the sidewalk with a dress sample draped over the handlebars. For the past five years, he sold clothes to wholesale buyers in the United States on Amazon. But they stopped buying when tariffs kicked in. This month, he stopped selling on Amazon. 'We can't make it work even if we hire fewer people,' Mr. Liu said. Workers are convinced that people all over the world still need to buy the T-shirts, dresses and crop tops made in Guangzhou's are moving to other provinces or to other countries, where they hoped to pay lower wages and avoid tariffs. Others were looking for new buyers in Europe and Southeast Asia. 'People in other countries still need to wear clothes,' said Zhang Yikui, who works at a factory that sells clothing on Shein and Amazon. 'Little by little, China will keep going.' Meaghan Tobin covers business and tech in Asia with a focus on China. Qilai Shen is a photographer based in Shanghai. Siyi Zhao contributed research.
