Latest news with #Shanxi
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Former PBOC deputy governor Liu Guiping to head Bank of China, sources say
BEIJING, May 22 (Reuters) - China will appoint financial veteran Liu Guiping as chairman of Bank of China ( opens new tab, the nation's fourth largest state-owned bank, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Liu, who currently serves as executive vice mayor of Tianjin city, will replace current chairman Ge Haijiao, who will move to become governor of China's northern Shanxi province, said the sources, who declined to be named as they're not authorised to speak to the media. The appointments will be announced as soon as this week, the sources said. The Tianjin municipal government, Shanxi provincial government, and Bank of China did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment. Liu, 59, has held several prominent positions in China's financial sector, including deputy governor of the People's Bank of China from November 2020 to April 2022 and president of state lender China Construction Bank ( opens new tab from March 2019 to November 2020. He was executive vice president at sovereign investor China Investment Corp from 2014 to 2016. Before that, Liu spent his career at major state lender Agricultural Bank of China ( opens new tab for more than two decades. Ge will succeed Jin Xiangjun, who was placed under investigation in April by China's anti-graft organ on suspicion of serious violation of law and discipline, according to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Chinese President Xi Jinping has cracked down on corruption involving party members, saying in January that it is the biggest threat to China's Communist Party.
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
China's army of food delivery drivers get by with help from discount 'loving meals'
BEIJING (AP) — After the lunchtime rush, it's time for China's food delivery drivers to eat. Liu Lijie, halfway through a 13-hour workday, parked his electric scooter in front of a restaurant in Beijing for his go-to choice, lamb noodle soup with a side of pickles, for 12 yuan ($1.65), a discount of 6 yuan off the regular price. The reduced-price meal is part of a movement that offers free or discounted meals to people in need, no questions asked. Known as 'aixincan' (eye-sheen-zan), or 'loving meals,' they are available at some restaurants in major Chinese cities, home to large populations of migrant workers who come looking for jobs. 'There is a lot of pressure in life since I came to Beijing to work, so eating aixincan is both economical and practical,' said the 40-year-old Liu, who arrived two years ago from nearby Shanxi province. Eager to get back to earning money, he digs into his meal at a branch of the Yushiji restaurant chain without even stopping to remove his helmet, branded with the name of the popular food delivery app. The movement, also known as 'suixincan' or 'follow-the-heart meals,' can be traced back to the early 2000s. It has been featured in China's government-run media and on social media, including posts in which influencers pose as hungry customers in need to highlight the generosity of the restaurants. Luo Shuai, a driver for Meituan, China's largest food delivery service, learned of Yushiji's discounted meal initiative through colleagues and has since become a daily customer at the Beijing chain, which serves food from his native Henan province. 'It reminded me of my hometown,' said the 27-year-old Luo, who moved to Beijing at the end of last year. Among China's nearly 300 million migrant workers, an increasing preference for gig-based work such as delivery driving over factory work has emerged in recent years. There are now more than 200 million gig-economy workers, according to government data. For a full-time driver, the average monthly pay at Meituan can reach more than $1,500. But only 11% of the app's drivers work full-time. Part-timers in the biggest cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, averaged closer to $1,000 a month in 2024. The existence of discounted meals reflects a shift in China's urban landscape, according to Xiang Biao, head of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany. Previously, migrant workers could carve out their own spaces by helping each other, he said, but those networks have disappeared with the erosion of informal restaurants in cities for hygiene and safety reasons. 'They will have to seek help from strangers,' Xiang said. The state-implemented cleanup since the late 2000s of 'urban villages' — spaces where migrant workers would live that grew alongside urban development — has increased those pressures. The stigma of asking for free food exists in all societies, Xiang said, though it may not be an issue for delivery drivers in China, as they are already socially marginalized. Feng Yong, the 43-year-old manager of 'Doornail Meat Pie' — so named because its food resembles the round wooden nail covers on classical Chinese doors — spends much of his day kneading, filling and wrapping the pies at the Muslim Chinese restaurant in Beijing. He said the restaurant began serving aixincan to help people in need and inspire others to do the same. A Shandong province native who moved to the Chinese capital more than 20 years ago, Feng said he has a deep understanding of being an outsider struggling in a new city. The key, he said, is to avoid any embarrassment for customers who are in need. Some hesitate at the entrance. The staff do what they can to help and don't inquire about a potential customer's circumstances. 'We don't refuse them anything, just as long as they're full,' Feng said.
South China Morning Post
09-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China boss sparks envy by allotting US$1.4 million to 2,000 employees from futures profits
A market owner in China has sparked jealousy online after distributing nearly 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) in profits from gold futures investments among his more than 2,000 employees, including cooks and cleaners. Advertisement Liu Mingjun, is a former musician who became an entrepreneur in 2021 and founded the Ronghe 1+1 Fresh Supermarket chain in Shanxi province, northern China. Since its opening, Liu's business has expanded to include 33 outlets in Shanxi province and has even extended into neighbouring Henan province, employing a total of 2,040 staff. In an interview with Jiupai News on April 26, Liu said that he has distributed a total of 9.13 million yuan (US$1.25 million) in profits, which came from a one-year investment in gold futures. The entrepreneur's cash handout even stretched lowly staff like cooks and cleaners. Photo: Weibo 'I specialise in futures trading and have been doing so for 20 years, but this is the first time I have made this much,' he said.
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How French technology could reduce China's reliance on imported aluminium ore
China is a top aluminium producer and consumer but it lacks the high-quality bauxite needed to make it. The country instead relies on imported aluminium ore from Guinea and Australia – but that could soon change. Advertisement A plant in the central province of Shanxi is being upgraded with a French technology that will enable it to produce aluminium from China's low-grade ore that was previously unusable. The Bayer process, invented by Austrian chemist Karl Josef Bayer in 1888, is widely used to refine bauxite into smelting-grade alumina, or aluminium oxide – the precursor to aluminium. But it is not an efficient or cost-effective way to refine bauxite with a high silica content, the main ore type in China. Silica is an impurity that could result in a substantial loss of alumina and caustic soda – a solution used to dissolve bauxite in the Bayer process. After a decade of research, French chemist Yves Ocello, from green tech company IB2, has come up with a way to transform low-grade bauxite into a high-quality material. The process neutralises silica and sulphur, meaning high-silica bauxite can be refined using the Bayer method. Beijing has released a two-year plan calling for a greener aluminium industry. Photo: Xinhua In 2023, IB2 signed a 22-year agreement with Chinese firm Liulin Senze Coal & Aluminum to switch over to the technology.
