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BYD Suffers Fifth Straight Month of Lower Sales
BYD, which unseated Tesla last year as the world’s top seller of new energy vehicles, suffered its fifth straight month of sale declines in January, Reuters reported, citing a Sunday stock market filing. The automaker, which is ramping up efforts to expand overseas, said sales fell 30 percent from a year earlier, amid tough domestic competition and weak mainland consumer spending. BYD sold 210,051 vehicles globally last month. About half of those sales were plug-in hybrids, and about half were exports. Production in the month was down 29 percent, extending a decline that began last July. On the mainland, BYD last month launched upgraded versions of several plug-in hybrid models with long-range batteries. The company said in January that it is aiming for overseas shipments of 1.3 million vehicles this year. Its new electric car plant in Hungary is scheduled to begin operations this year. The company also has plants in Brazil and Thailand, with factories planned in Indonesia and Turkey.
Chipmaker Wingtech Projects Wider Loss for 2025
Shanghai-based chip company Wingtech, which has been in a running dispute with its Dutch subsidiary Nexperia, said it may post a 2025 loss of between 9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) and 13.5 billion yuan in 2025, exceeding its 2.8 billion yuan loss in 2024. Wingtech blamed the Dutch government’s takeover of chipmaker Nexperia for the expected poor earnings, the South China Morning Post reported. The September takeover was a knock-on effect from new US restrictions placing subsidiaries of Chinese companies on the same trade blacklist as their parents. Wingtech said in its preliminary earnings statement that its authority over Nexperia continues to be “temporarily restricted.” The battle between parent and subsidiary began over management disagreements and spread to wafer shipments from Nexperia to Wingtech, threatening the global supply chain in automaking. The takeover is the subject of a lawsuit pending in the Dutch judicial system.
China’s CSPC Signs AstraZeneca Deal Valued at Up to US$17.3 Billion
UK pharma giant AstraZeneca said it will license experimental weight-loss drugs from China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical and collaborate on other projects, paying a US$1.2 billion upfront fee and promising further payments of up US$17.3 billion if development and sales milestones are met. The newly licensed drug candidates include CSPC’s SYH2082, a “clinical-ready” product, and three other pre-clinical products in its injectable weight-management portfolio. It’s the largest deal to date for Hong Kong-listed CSPC, which is based in Hebei Province. AstraZeneca said investment in China’s pharmaceutical sector are key to supporting the company’s target of launching 20 new medicines by 2030.
China-Listed Chip Makers Signal Strong Earnings Growth
China’s listed semiconductor companies are poised to report strong profits for 2025 amid rising demand and prices for chips, and government initiatives to develop national self-sufficiency in chipmaking, the South China Morning Post reported. In preliminary earnings reports, graphics processing unit designer Cambricon Technologies said it expects net profit of up to 2.2 billion yuan, (US$316 million) — its first year of profit. Moore Threads forecasts a narrowing of its loss to 1 billion yuan on a 247 percent rise in revenue. MetaX is predicting its loss will narrow by half to up to 798 million yuan. Hangzhou-based Great Microwave Technology said it may show up to 145 million yuan in profit on heavy demand from customers in the specialized integrated circuits market, and Biwin Storage projected up to a 520 percent surged in profit to 1 billion yuan. China Micro Semicon forecasts a doubling of profit and GigaDevice Semiconductor said it expects earnings to grow 46 percent.