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Major Chinese cities see full recovery in holiday consumption to pre-epidemic levels during Dragon Boat Festival

Strong momentum expected to last as economic pickup continues

People visit Jianchang ancient city in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 1, 2023. China is witnessing a travel boom during this year's five-day May Day holiday. — People visit Jianchang ancient city in Xichang, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, May 1, 2023. China is witnessing a travel boom during this year’s five-day May Day holiday. Photo:Xinhua

Major Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai have seen a full recovery in the tourism and consumption sectors during the recent three-day Dragon Boat Festival holidays, with certain indicators exceeding that of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official data on Sunday.

The data offered more signs that China’s economic recovery continues on a steady path, despite downward pressure, analysts noted, dismissing foreign media claims of softened consumption power.

In Beijing, 216 tourist attractions welcomed 5.19 million visitors for the holidays, recording a 2.1 percent growth comparing with the same period in 2019, official data showed on Sunday. That generated a revenue of 309.09 million yuan ($43.05 million), up 5.8 percent from the same period in 2019.

In addition to travel-related consumption, Beijing also saw a boost in entertainment revenue. A total of 708 performances were held during the holidays, which attracted more than 200,000 viewers and generated nearly 60 million yuan through ticket sales. The number of performances increased 125.5 percent compared with the same period in 2019, while ticket sales jumped 156.6 percent.

“Despite the recent heat waves in Beijing, I could still see crowds of people in multiple scenic spots especially indoor locations when I took my son out,” a Beijing-based white-collar surnamed Ma told the Global Times on Sunday.

Meanwhile, around 6.23 million tourists visited Guangzhou, another popular destination in South China’s Guangdong Province for the holidays, recording a year-on-year increase of 32 percent and a 4.5 percent growth compared with 2019, according to local official data. The provincial capital achieved a total income of 3.47 billion yuan, a yearly surge of 58.2 percent.

The number of visitors and consumers on subways, shopping malls and restaurants in Guangzhou noticeably surged during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that he personally did not notice people around who downgraded or stopped consumption.

Source : https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202306/1293149.shtml

Tesla to build Shanghai factory to make Megapack batteries

Tesla Inc is opening a factory in Shanghai, capable of producing ten thousand Megapack energy product per year, to supplement output of Megapack factory in California, the company said in a tweet on Sunday.

The news was first reported by Chinese state media outlet Xinhua.

Elon Musk’s automaker will break ground on the plant in the third quarter and start production in the second quarter of 2024, Xinhua reported from a signing ceremony in Shanghai.

Complementing a huge existing Shanghai plant making electric vehicles, the new factory will initially produce 10,000 Megapack units a year, equal to around 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage, to be sold globally, Xinhua said.

With the new Shanghai plant, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will take advantage of China’s world leading battery supply chain to ramp up output and lower costs of its Megapack lithium-ion battery units to meet rising demand of energy storage globally as the world shifts to use more renewable energy.

Tesla generates most of its money from its electric car business, but Musk has committed to grow its solar energy and battery business to roughly the same size.

Chinese battery giant CATL has also been deepening its collaborations with clients including Tesla in energy storage battery supplies, which its Chairman Robin Zeng expected to have a larger market than batteries powering electric vehicles (EV).

Tesla currently has a Megafactory in Lathrop, California, capable of manufacturing 10,000 Megapacks per year.

The company began producing Model 3 cars in Shanghai in 2019 and now is capable of producing 22,000 units of cars per week.

Tesla planned to expand the Gigafactory Shanghai, its most productive automaking plant, to add an annual capacity of 450,000 units, Reuters reported last May.

The U.S. company, however, had grappled with rising inventory in Shanghai as demand started weakening in the third quarter, leading to aggressive price cuts in its major markets globally in January.

Source: https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/tesla-to-build-shanghai-gigafactory-to-make-energy-storage-product–xinhua-3051153

China on brink of biggest Covid-19 crisis since Wuhan as cases surge.

China is scrambling to address its most severe Covid-19 outbreak in two years, reporting soaring cases in a fresh wave that has seen the country tweak its zero-Covid policy by allowing rapid antigen tests (RATs) for public use.

After topping 1,000 for two days in a row, new locally transmitted cases surged to more than 3,100, this time driven by a spike in symptomatic infections, the National Health Commission reported on Sunday.

It came as 16 provinces reported new coronavirus infections, as did the four megacities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing.

Source: https://www.scmp.com/coronavirus/greater-china/article/3170289/china-covid-19-cases-surge-3-times-cross-3000-most-severe