Latest news with #Alibaba-owned
The Star
7 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Platforms to rein in aggressive discounting
JD delivery worker Li Hualu displays a notification that says he now has full social insurance and a housing provident fund on March 6 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Local media reported that he was the first delivery rider to enjoy such benefits in the city. BU ENSA/HANGZHOU DAILY China's leading e-commerce and food delivery platforms including Meituan, Taobao, and JD have pledged to rein in aggressive discounting practices, in a coordinated response to foster fairer competition and a more sustainable digital economy. The four firms released statements on Friday outlining a range of commitments, including better planning of subsidies, refraining from irrational promotional campaigns, and avoiding selling goods and services significantly below cost. The moves come just weeks after China's top market regulator summoned major platforms over concerns about cutthroat competition in the sector. Meituan published an open letter titled Prospering the Industry Ecosystem, Resisting Disorderly Competition via its official WeChat account, saying it would "firmly regulate promotional activities and eliminate unfair competition." The company emphasized that all subsidies must comply with antitrust laws and must not involve pricing far below cost. It also committed to transparent disclosure of subsidy amounts, avoiding exaggerated marketing, and ensuring that merchants retain the right to set prices independently. Meituan said it would protect the interests of small and medium-sized businesses, apply subsidies without discrimination, and aim to build a multi-stakeholder ecosystem that benefits consumers, vendors, delivery workers and the platform alike. JD made similar pledges via its internal bulletin, stating that it would "resist vicious competition" and focus instead on differentiated offerings and quality service. The company said it would rely on technological innovation and supply chain upgrades to build long-term competitiveness and consumer trust. "Subsidies should not be a race to the bottom. We believe in winning users through quality, price and service — not by burning cash," the company said. Taobao's flash sales subsidiary and issued a joint statement, pledging to "resolutely oppose malicious competition and jointly foster a win-win ecosystem." The two Alibaba-owned platforms said they would better tailor subsidies to the needs of both consumers and merchants, avoid irrational large-scale giveaways such as "0-yuan purchases", and uphold merchants' rights to be informed, to choose and to set prices. The flurry of statements followed a July 18 announcement from the State Administration for Market Regulation, which said it had summoned several platforms and ordered them to curb improper promotional conduct and to participate in competition rationally. The regulator urged platforms to take primary responsibility for industry standards and "correct irregular promotional activities" to support the healthy development of the catering and delivery sectors. The move also aligns with broader policy goals set during the Central Economic Work Conference in December, which called for greater oversight of monopolistic behavior and disorderly competition in the digital economy. Those priorities were further reinforced in the 2025 Government Work Report, which advocated eliminating market entry and exit barriers and creating a unified national market. Li Mingtao, chief e-commerce analyst at the China International Electronic Commerce Center, said the coordinated pledges marked a "proactive" shift by platforms to address early signs of violations and unfair competition in the food delivery sector. "All these efforts sent a clear signal on regulating market behavior and set an example for fostering a healthier, more orderly platform economy," Li said. - China Daily/ANN
New Indian Express
04-08-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
China's Ant Group to fully exit Paytm by selling 5.84% stake
China's Ant Group is all set to exit One 97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, as it plans to sell its remaining 5.84% equity stake in the fintech firm through block deals on Tuesday. Sources said that the total value of the deal is pegged at Rs 3,800 crore. The floor price for the block deal has been fixed at Rs 1,020 per share, a 5.4% discount to Paytm's last closing price of Rs 1,078.20 on Monday on the NSE. The stake sale is likely to be executed as a clean-out trade, indicating a full exit of Antfin's specified stake in a single tranche. At the end of the June quarter, Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V. held a 5.84% stake, or 3.77 crore shares in the company, according to exchange data. Antfin has been reducing its stake in Paytm in recent quarters. This is the third significant stake sale by the Ant Group in One 97 Communications and is expected to lead to the full exit of the Chinese investor from the company. In May 2025 and August 2023, the Alibaba-owned company sold about a 14.3% stake of Paytm for about Rs 8,830 crore.
Straits Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
South-east Asia e-commerce sales projected to more than double by 2030: DBS report
South-east Asia e-commerce sales are projected to more than double by 2030, according to a DBS report. PHOTO: ST FILE SINGAPORE – South-east Asia e-commerce sales are projected to more than double by 2030 as large platforms continue to solidify their hold in the region, according to the DBS NextWave South-east Asia report. The report was launched on May 14 in partnership with market data and insights firm Cube. Cube's data predicts that total e-commerce sales will grow from US$184 billion (S$239 billion) in 2024 to US$410 billion by 2030, which reflects a compound annual growth rate of 14 per cent. Physical goods are expected to account for about 90 per cent of the sales, with food delivery making up the rest. 'Over the past decade, hundreds of millions of consumers in South-east Asia went online to purchase products and meals for the first time,' the DBS report noted. 'Looking back, it all happened at just the right time. E-commerce became the biggest beneficiary of existing efforts to build out South-east Asia's nascent digital infrastructure in areas like 4G/5G connectivity, and the fast-growing online shopping market willed new solutions into being in areas like digital payments and logistics,' the report added. Major e-commerce player like Alibaba-owned Lazada reported its first profitable month in July 2024. Singapore-headquartered, US-listed Sea posted its first profitable year in 2023, and also had a strong start to the year, with its e-commerce arm Shopee reporting a 28.3 per cent surge in first-quarter revenue. Forward growth, however, will slow as most targetable consumers are already shopping online , the DBS report noted. But the major players are likely able to benefit from higher commission charges given their dominance. In 2024, Shopee was the first large platform to impose share fee increase of several percentage points, and its peers followed suit. Mr Chua Shih Guan, DBS Bank's head of digital economy group, institutional banking, said: 'As the region's e-commerce sector matures, we are seeing a shift from simply offering promotions and discounts to more innovative and differentiated customer experiences, through investments in areas like AI-driven personalisation, smarter logistics and embedded finance.' Mr Chua Shih Guan, DBS Bank's head of digital economy group, institutional banking, delivering the opening remarks at the launch of the DBS NextWave South-east Asia report on May 14. PHOTO: DBS BANK If faced with low disruption in the next few years, the 'Generation One' winners in the region, including Shopee, Lazada and Grab, will continue to consolidate market share and enjoy high profitability, according to a scenario projection in the DBS report. However, it said this dominance may not be permanent. China's e-commerce landscape suggests that the dominant players can be challenged by newer platforms such as ByteDance and Pinduodo, when the latter were able to gain traction with innovative, immersive and frictionless shopping experiences. Hence, the key is for the Generation One winners to compete on customer experience innovation, and Cube's co-founder Simon Torring said he expects to see a lot of innovation from inside these winners. 'Because they now have profitable core businesses, and with that, they will have the ability to take some concentrated bets [and] try new business models,' he said at the launch of the report. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China's factory-gate deflation deepens as trade war bites
[BEIJING] China's factory-gate prices posted the steepest drop in six months in April while consumer prices fell for a third month, underlining the need for more stimulus as policymakers grapple with the economic toll from a trade war with the United States. A prolonged housing market downturn, high household debt and job insecurity have hampered investment and consumer spending, keeping deflationary pressures alive. Now, the economy is also facing increasing external risks from trade barriers. However, there are hopes for a de-escalation of tensions as US-China trade talks begin in Switzerland on Saturday. The producer price index (PPI) dropped 2.7 per cent in April year-on-year, worse than a 2.5 per cent decline in March but was less than economists' forecast for a 2.8 per cent fall, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Saturday. 'China still faces persistent deflationary pressure,' said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. 'The pressure may rise in coming months as exports will likely weaken.' 'Even if China and the US can make progress and cut tariffs in trade negotiations, tariffs are unlikely to go back to the level before April,' Zhang added. 'More proactive fiscal policy is necessary to boost domestic demand and address the deflation problem.' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Consumer prices eased 0.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, matching a 0.1 per cent drop in March and the forecast in a Reuters poll. CPI was up 0.1 per cent month-on-month versus a 0.4 per cent fall in March and compared with economists' forecasts for no change in prices. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, stood at 0.5 per cent in April from a year earlier, in line with the increase recorded in March. The Chinese government is implementing a wide range of measures to stimulate consumption across different sectors and last week announced a raft of stimulus measures, including interest rate cuts and a major injection of liquidity. As the trade war between the world's two largest economies weighs on exports, China's retail giants, including and Alibaba-owned Freshippo, have initiated measures to help exporters pivot to the domestic market. That could further depress prices as business and consumer confidence remain subdued due to the uncertain outlook. Global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, have lowered their GDP forecasts for China this year to below the official target of around 5 per cent, attributing the downgrade to the damaging trade war. REUTERS
Business Times
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China's consumer prices fall for third month in April, PPI slips again
[BEIJING] China's consumer prices fell for the third consecutive month in April, while factory-gate prices recorded their steepest drop in six months, as policymakers grapple with the economic impact of a trade war with the United States. A prolonged housing market downturn, high household debt and job insecurity have hampered investment and consumer spending, keeping deflationary pressures alive. The economy is also facing increasing external risks from escalating trade barriers. However, there are hopes for a de-escalation of tensions as US-China trade talks begin in Switzerland on Saturday. The consumer price index edged down 0.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, matching a 0.1 per cent drop in March, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Saturday, and a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.1 per cent dip. CPI was up 0.1 per cent month-on-month versus the 0.4 per cent fall in March and compared with economists' forecasts for no change in prices. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, stood at 0.5 per cent in April from a year earlier, in line with the increase recorded in March. As the trade war between the world's two largest economies weighs on exports, China's retail giants, including and Alibaba-owned Freshippo, have initiated measures to help exporters pivot to the domestic market. This could further depress prices as business and consumer confidence remain subdued due to the uncertain outlook. Global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, have lowered their GDP forecasts for China this year to below the official target of around 5 per cent, attributing the downgrade to the damaging trade war. The producer price index (PPI) dropped 2.7 per cent in April year on year, worse than a 2.5 per cent decline in March but was less than economists' forecast for a 2.8 per cent fall. REUTERS
