HSBC Sees Big Shake-up
On the evening of August 9, Helen Wong, HSBC Holdings’ greater China chief executive stepped down. On August 5th, HSBC also parted ways with its chief executive, John Flint, less than 18 months after his appointment. At the same time, HSBC announced a 2% job-cut worldwide, bringing the number of lay-offs totaling 4,700, including managers on different levels.
This turn of events immediately triggered a reaction in the capital market, and HSBC’s share price fell below 60 HKD. With China-US trade frictions escalating and Hong Kong protests intensifying, HSBC suddenly replaced senior management personnel, causing much speculation in the market, which also caused some fast spreading rumors. After undergoing the turmoil with high level managers leaving, management restructuring and serious reputational damage, it is necessary for HSBC to re-examine its own development strategy, but it is still too early to tell what kind of reform measures will be taken in the future, and whether it will return to prosperity.
Plant-Based Meat Brings Revolution in Food Industry
This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese plant-based meat producer called “Zhen Rou” will launch the world’s first “artificial meat mooncake.” Since the US plant-based meat company Beyond Meat landed on Nasdaq in May 2019, its share price has increased nearly six-fold, making it one of the most popular stocks of the year. Artificial meat has also become one of the hottest topics in the consumer market and investment circles.
For centuries, advances in science have brought about drastic changes in our world, but food may be one of the areas that have been least affected by technological development for a long time, especially basic foods such as grains, vegetables, meat, eggs, and milk. Innovations in the food industry are often confined to taste, packaging and marketing. The disruption of the food industry through science and technology has begun, which opens up vast business opportunities. For China, this revolution has not yet had a direct impact on the food industry. However, many domestic research institutions have begun to explore this area.
Insurance Companies Need to Adapt to the China Market
Recently, many commercial insurance companies have issued claims reports for the first half of 2019. Overall, the amount of medical insurance paid by commercial insurance companies was higher than that of the same period last year. However, commercial health insurance companies still struggle to solve the thorny problem of the spending burden in the case of serious illness.
In China, the insurance business strategy is different from that of most foreign countries. Insurance companies operating in China generally provides less than thorough coverage of illnesses so that they could reduce the possibility of people who buy insurance might conceal pre-existing health problems. Paying high compensation for too many people might cost a company too much and run out of funds. At present, more and more Chinese people are starting to buy commercial medical insurance. In terms of claims management strategies, insurance companies need to further explore the market and design specific policies for the Chinese .
China’s Vape Industry Grows Quickly But Still Full of Uncertainties
In the past few months, the major e-cigarette producers have begun to enter offline stores.
The vape industry has grown rapidly since the end of 2017, and this product has rapidly attracted large investments. More vape brands are entering the market, and there are more than 1,000 e-cigarette producing plants in Shenzhen alone. The chain of the electronic cigarette industry is not so simple as to produce, ship, and sell, it has extended into offline stores and this investment game is becoming more and more complicated. Due to the influx of capital, the e-cigarette industry took less than a year before hundreds of brands competed with each other. On this basis, capital pushed e-cigarettes into offline stores and this new market quickly matured. However, it should also be noted that the policies concerning e-cigarette production and sales are full of uncertainties which means that the capital might abandon this industry at any time.
