Table.Briefings Table.Briefings Logo
Podcast Forum Top 100 of the Table 2025 Events Heads
Bestellen Kostenlos testen
Login
ENG DE
Table.Briefings

Sinolytics Radar

Sinolytics Radar

China’s anti-monopoly campaign: not only targeting tech giants​

For many China observers, antitrust actions largely seem to be a regulatory instrument for the Chinese government to crack down on overly powerful tech giants like Alibaba. However, China’s anti-monopoly regulation overall has become much more powerful and sophisticated, reaching well beyond internet companies. China’s government is forcefully moving against monopolistic structures in many consumer-oriented sectors.

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

The compliance oracle

China’s enterprise credit risk score (企业信用风险分类) brings government inspections of companies into the age of “predictive supervision”: the score assesses the future likelihood of companies to be non-compliant. Depending on the score result, government authorities will determine the frequency of inspections for each company. Recently, the new risk score went from pilot phase into country-wide implementation. Companies throughout China can soon expect the new governance tool to determine the number of government visits at their plants and offices.

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

National pride gains importance in consumerism

Especially among the younger generation of Chinese consumers, a new consumer identity is emerging. Widely labeled “Guochao” (“National Tide”), it represents a growing preference for national brands with explicitly Chinese brand character, reflecting increasing national pride and confidence. In the past few years, several Chinese brands have successfully used a national branding strategy to increase their visibility and recognition on the Chinese market in comparison to their foreign competitor brands.​

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

RCEP against China's vulnerability

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest trade agreement in the world, enters into force in January 2022. RCEP is part of China’s larger push to regionalize trade, secure supply chains in its neighborhood, and thereby reduce its vulnerability to supply disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions. RCEP also aims to open new markets for Chinese companies in the region. Establishing a level playing field and higher environment and labor standards are not RCEP’s top priority: in these areas it lags behind China’s existing trade agreements with developed economies.

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

Fuel cells on the rise

In parallel to its ambitions for establishing a globally leading electric vehicle (EV) sector, China is also kicking off its industrial plans for developing a competitive hydrogen sector. Especially fuel cell (FC) technology for commercial vehicles has great potential. The official targets imply a huge market that well-prepared foreign players might tap into in the next decade.

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

IT regulation takes hold

China's cyber and data security regulation is expanding rapidly. Numerous new regulations and stricter enforcement pose increasingly difficult challenges for European companies. Depending on the industry sector and type of data usage, they face a wide range of regulatory requirements.

Von

Sinolytics Radar

Coal prices in turmoil

Cases of electricity shortages have been a major concern for companies in China recently. The Chinese system of largely fixed electricity prices seemed inadequate to cushion fluctuations in the price of coal. But China's powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) proved once again that it can intervene effectively in acute imbalances: The NDRC applied a combination of market-oriented liberalization steps and direct government market intervention, thus lowering the coal price within a short period of time and stabilizing the market, Sinolytics analyzes.

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

Standards used strategically

Setting standards in China is a highly political process. While companies play an increasingly important role in the definition of standards, the state retains significant control over the process. State influence allows for the strategic use of standards to advantage domestic firms and disadvantage foreign competitors.

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

No decoupling in financial markets

Everyone is discussing the trend of “decoupling” between China and the Western world. Indeed, especially in the realms of technology and data governance, increasing separation between the two spheres is clearly evident. However, on capital markets things seem to be moving in the opposite direction: cross-border portfolio investments into and out of China are growing fast, despite some recent setbacks.

Von Redaktion Table

Sinolytics Radar

Emissions trading: The new player is not yet scoring any goals

Since Xi Jinping’s announcement that China will reach carbon neutrality by 2060, companies are trying to figure out, how China’s decarbonization agenda will impact their business. But so far, trading is not taking off. Limited scope, high volume of freely-allocated allowance, and limitation of market participants led to a lackluster start of China’s new carbon market, concludes consulting firm Sinolytics.

Von Redaktion Table