BEIJING
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FILE PHOTO: People walk past a showroom outside Tesla China headquarters at China Central Mall in Beijing, China July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
April 12, 2019
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc on Friday said it has started taking orders in China for a lower-priced version of its Model 3 car, as it seeks to expand its lineup and boost sales in the world’s biggest EV market.
The California-based firm said in a statement that Chinese customers can now order a standard range Model 3 variant whose starting price of 377,000 yuan ($56,167) will make it the cheapest version of the car in China.
The model will be equipped with Tesla’s Autopilot assisted driving function, the automaker said.
Tesla has been adjusting prices of its U.S.-made cars in China to remain affordable in the country, a move also aimed at fending off competition from a swathe of domestic EV startups such as Nio Inc, Byton and XPeng Motors.
Previously, the starting price for a Model 3 in China was 407,000 yuan for a rear-wheel-drive long range version with no Autopilot.
Tesla currently imports all the cars it sells in China. It is building a factory in Shanghai that will initially manufacture Model 3 cars.
(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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Workers walk among the newly arrived imported Toyota cars at the Shenzhen Dachan Bay Terminals in Guangdong province, China April 10, 2019. Picture taken April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
April 12, 2019
By Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s auto sales fell again in March but the pace of decline was the smallest in seven months, industry data showed, as car makers reduced retail prices to boost business after Beijing handed out tax cuts to spur consumer spending.
Sales fell 5.2 percent from a year ago to 2.52 million vehicles, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Friday, marking the ninth straight month of decline in the world’s largest auto market.
But this was the smallest drop since August 2018.
“We saw a warmer recovery in March. We are optimistic and hope to see the turning point appear in around July and August” said Xu Haidong, assistant secretary general at CAAM, the country’s biggest auto industry association.
Recent government cuts to value-added tax (VAT) are expected to further benefit car sales, Xu added. “The VAT cut can drive production and employment, so an effective implementation of the policy can bring warmth to the market.”
China has cut VAT for the manufacturing sector to 13 percent from 16 percent, prompting some car makers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz to lower prices.
“We expect China’s auto market to see positive growth in the third quarter and a relatively large increase in the fourth,” said Alan Kang, Shanghai-based analyst at LMC Automotive.
In 2018, China’s car market hit reverse for the first time since the 1990s against a backdrop of slowing economic growth and a crippling Sino-U.S. trade war.
However, new energy vehicle (NEV) sales have remained a bright spot, jumping almost 62 percent last year even as the broader auto market contracted.
Last month, NEV sales rose 85.4 percent to 126,000 units, the CAAM said.
China has been a keen supporter of NEV – pure battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrids – and has started implementing NEV sales quota requirements for automakers.
After rolling out a generous 5-year NEV subsidy program in 2016 to support sales and encourage innovation, Beijing recently pledged to phase it out by 2020 and raise standards for vehicles eligible for subsidies amid criticism some firms have become too reliant on the funds.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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FILE PHOTO: Steel pipes to be exported are seen at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China May 31, 2018. China Daily via REUTERS/File Photo
April 12, 2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s exports rebounded in March but imports shrank for a fourth straight month and at a sharper pace, painting a mixed picture of the economy as trade talks with the United States reach their endgame.
Investors are hoping for more signs of economic recovery in China to temper worries about slowing global growth, after the IMF this week downgraded its 2019 world outlook for the third time.
But veteran China watchers had said export gains may be due more to seasonal factors than any sudden turnaround in lackluster global demand, as shipments were expected to jump after long holidays in February.
March exports rose 14.2 percent from a year earlier, customs data showed on Friday, the strongest growth in five months. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 7.3 percent gain after February’s 20.8 percent plunge.
But China’s imports fell more than expected, suggesting its domestic demand remains weak. Imports fell 7.6 percent from a year earlier, worse than analysts’ forecasts for a 1.3 percent fall and widening from February’s 5.2 percent drop.
That left the country with a trade surplus of $32.64 billion for the month, according to Reuters calculations based on the official data, much larger than forecasts of $7.05 billion.
In the first quarter, exports rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier, while imports fell 4.8 percent.
A customs spokesman said he expects mild growth in both exports and imports in the current quarter.
TENTATIVE SIGNS
China factory surveys for March had provided some glimmers of hope that demand was improving at home and abroad, suggesting government stimulus measures may be starting to take hold.
While export orders remained sluggish, there were signs that a long spell of contraction was easing even as trade talks with the United States appeared to be making progress.
Washington and Beijing have largely agreed on a mechanism to police any trade agreement they reach, including establishing new “enforcement offices,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday.
However, a top White House official said on Monday the U.S. side is “not satisfied yet” about all the issues standing in the way of a deal to end the U.S.-China trade war.
President Donald Trump said last week that an agreement could be reached in about four weeks.
But economists warn that even if a deal is reached, and both sides rescind tit-for-tat tariffs, Chinese exporters will still have to contend with weakening demand globally.
The International Monetary Fund trimmed its 2019 global growth forecast this week to 3.3 percent, while slightly boosting its forecast for China to 6.3 percent, in part because the Sino-U.S. trade war did not escalate as much as expected.
Chinese exporters will also likely have to scramble to win back lost market share.
The trade dispute has prompted some U.S. firms to shift purchases of tariff-targeted products like furniture and refrigerators to countries such as Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence’s trade data firm Panjiva.
SHRINKING IMPORTS
On imports, analysts said companies may not be restocking their inventories as much as usual due to concerns over the longer-term economic outlook.
Slackening demand has sent corporate profits into a tailspin, which could curb the fresh investment that Beijing is counting on to fuel an economic revival.
Policymakers have acknowledged the economy is under pressure as multi-year debt and pollution crackdown have deterred investment, while the U.S.-China trade war is hurting China’s exporters and their domestic supply chains.
In response, Beijing has announced more spending on roads, railways and ports, along with trillions of yuan of tax cuts to ease pressure on corporate balance sheets and avert a sharper economic slowdown.
Investors are closely watching to see how long it will take those support measures to take hold. But analysts believe China will still need to loosen policy further in coming months to ensure a sustained economic turnaround.
China’s economic growth is expected to cool to around 6.3 percent in the first quarter of the year and may not bottom out until later in the year, according to a Reuters poll. The economy grew 6.6 percent last year, a 28-year low.
(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Writing by Lusha Zhang and Yawen Chen; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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A woman selects vegetables at a supermarket in Beijing, China, April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee
April 12, 2019
By Lusha Zhang and Kevin Yao
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s economic growth is expected to slow to a near 30-year low of 6.2 percent this year, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, as sluggish demand at home and abroad weigh on activity despite a flurry of policy support measures.
The median forecast was slightly lower than the 6.3 percent economists had predicted in the last poll in January.
While the world’s second-largest economy has shown some signs of steadying recently, analysts caution it is too early to tell if the newfound momentum can be sustained.
Policy stimulus thus far has also been more restrained by Chinese standards than in past downturns, which could mean a more gradual recovery.
Most of the 88 institutions covered in the survey do not expect growth to bottom out until later in the year as looser monetary condition and fiscal stimulus take time to percolate through the economy and revive domestic demand.
“We expect the economy will slow further in second quarter as exports likely remain under pressure as global demand deteriorates and the property market stays in a downward cycle, while stubbornly weak consumption for durable goods caps demand,” said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura.
The full-year forecast of 6.2 percent would still fall within the government’s target of 6.0-6.5 percent, but it would mark the weakest pace of growth China has seen in 29 years, and spell a further deceleration from 6.6 percent in 2018 and 6.8 percent in 2017.
Growth next year will likely cool further to 6.0 percent, the poll showed.
Multi-year regulatory campaigns to curb debt risks and pollution have deterred fresh investment, while a year-long trade war with the United States has hurt China’s exporters.
First-quarter growth was seen cooling to 6.3 percent from a year earlier, the same as in the previous poll, from 6.4 percent in the fourth-quarter of 2018, the weakest pace since the global financial crisis.
China will post its first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) and March activity data on April 17.
SUPPORT MEASURES
Beijing has stepped up fiscal stimulus this year, announcing more spending on roads, railways and ports, along with trillions of yuan of tax cuts to ease pressure on corporate balance sheets.
It has also pressed banks to keep lending to struggling smaller, private companies, and on more affordable terms, even though they are considered higher credit risks than state-backed firms.
Investors are hoping for more signs of economic recovery in China to cushion worries about slowing global growth, after the IMF this week downgraded its 2019 world outlook for the third time citing U.S.-China trade tensions.
Optimism has increased that Washington could reach a deal with Beijing soon. The two sides have largely agreed on a mechanism to police any trade agreement they reach, including establishing new “enforcement offices,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump said last week that a deal could be ready around the end of April.
But economists warn that even if a trade deal is reached, and tit-for-tat tariffs are removed, Chinese exporters will still have to contend with weakening demand globally.
POLICY EASING SEEN ON CARDS
Analysts expect the central bank will ease policy further this year to spur lending and reduce the risk off a sharper slowdown. But they do not expect a cut in the benchmark lending rate, which would risk adding to a mountain of debt left over from past stimulus campaigns.
The People’s Bank of China has slashed bank’s reserve requirement ratio (RRR) five times over the past year and analysts forecast three more cuts of 50 basis points each in this quarter and the next two.
The finding was the same as in January.
China will step up its policy of targeted cuts to banks’ reserve ratios to encourage financing for small and medium-sized businesses that play a key role in economic growth, the cabinet said on Sunday.
The economists expect the PBOC to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4.35 percent through at least the end of 2020, the Reuters poll showed.
The central bank has been guiding money market rates lower in various ways since last year, which is reducing corporate financing costs, while banks have been lowering mortgage rates in some areas.
The poll also predicted annual consumer inflation to be more muted at 2.1 percent in 2019, cooling from the 2.3 percent estimated in the January survey.
Data this week showed China’s producer prices in March picked up for the first time in nine months while consumer inflation also quickened.
“Despite the rise in inflation, we believe it will not change the easing bias of the People’s Bank of China, as the CPI inflation comes mainly from pork prices rather than a general rise in prices,” Lu said.
(Reporting by Lusha Zhang and Kevin Yao; Polling by Khushboo Mittal in Bangalore and Jing Wang in Shanghai; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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The logo of British life insurer Prudential is seen on their building in London, Britain March 17, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson
April 12, 2019
By Sumeet Chatterjee and Alun John
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Foreign insurers including Generali and Prudential Plc are in early talks with authorities to enter China’s private pensions sector, people with knowledge of the matter said, as Beijing opens up to overseas companies.
Hong Kong-based AIA Group and Manulife Financial are also considering similar moves, they said.
Beijing gave approval to the first foreign joint-venture firm to establish a pensions insurance business last month and two of the people said China has been running pilot projects in three provinces involving foreign firms. Those projects end later this year.
Foreign insurers would compete with eight established Chinese pension insurance firms that dominate the potentially lucrative market, where the fast-greying population is set to produce 250 million people older than 60 by 2020.
“The average longevity of people in China is increasing but the pension market remains under-penetrated,” Prudential Asia Chief Executive Nic Nicandrou told Reuters.
Some of the foreign companies are expected to submit applications in the second half of this year to set up pensions businesses, the people said. They declined to be identified as the plans are not firm yet and also are not public.
“POISED”
Last month, Heng An Standard Life, a joint venture between Standard Life Aberdeen and Tianjin TEDA International, became the first foreign joint-venture entity to receive regulatory approval by China to establish a pensions insurance company.
China’s pensions assets, including those managed by the state, grew by 20 percent in 2017 to 11 trillion yuan ($1.64 trillion) and are expected to more than quadruple by 2025, consultancy KPMG said in a report this year.
Underlining the potential, consultant Willis Towers Watson said China has one of the lowest ratios of private-employee annuity pension assets to GDP among major economies at 1.5 percent. That compares with 120.5 percent of GDP in the United States and more than 130 percent in Australia.
Prudential has a 50-50 life-insurance venture with China’s CITIC Group. Nicandrou said the venture is “well poised” to participate in the pension market but he did not elaborate on any specific plans.
Rob Leonardi, Asia regional officer for Italy’s top insurer Generali, said the firm was seeing progress in pensions reform in China.
“If this trend continues, we can expect more foreign funded companies to express further interest in the coming months,” he said. The company declined to give details about its plans for the market.
AIA, which operates the only wholly owned foreign life insurance business in China, declined to comment.
“MATTER OF TIME”
Global asset managers have been lobbying Beijing to offer tax benefits and other incentives to encourage investment in mutual funds for retirement.
Manulife, which signed a pact with Agricultural Bank of China in 2017 to jointly explore opportunities in China’s pension and retirement market, is looking to establish a joint-venture pension management company.
It plans to draw upon its life insurance and asset management joint ventures in China to launch retirement solutions and products, said Calvin Chiu, head of Asia retirement at Manulife Asset Management.
“The government has expressed willingness to open up the financial services sectors in the country, it’s just a matter of time and priority. They do recognize the value that foreign players can add in the pension space,” he said.
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
“All countries are trying to shift pensions away from the iron rice bowl concept,” Gerry Grimstone, chairman of Heng An Standard Life said.
“There have been some attempts at this in China, but, the fact is, there is technology in the west, and an approach to this which the Chinese were keen to bring into their market.”
(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Alun John; Editing by Neil Fullick)
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A Honda Li Nian EV concept car is displayed during a media preview of the Auto China 2018 motor show in Beijing, China April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
April 12, 2019
WUHAN, China (Reuters) – Honda’s sales in China are likely to catch up with its sales in the United States within two to three years and the firm would like them to eventually overtake U.S. sales, the company’s chief executive said on Friday.
Takahiro Hachigo made the comments to a small group of reporters after the official opening of a new plant in Wuhan.
Hachigo said that the catch-up could happen “soon”, later clarifying to Reuters that he was referring to a two-to-three-year time period.
“We would like China sales to overtake the U.S.,” he said, adding that the company did not expect U.S. sales to increase significantly.
Honda’s manufacturing capacity in China could be expanded if necessary, he added.
Honda last year sold roughly 1.7 million vehicles in the United States and 1.4 million in China.
(Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in Wuhan; writing by Yilei Sun in Shanghai; editing by Richard Pullin)
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FILE PHOTO – I IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa speaks during the International Tax Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2017. REUTERS/Beawiharta
April 11, 2019
By Leika Kihara
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bigger-than-expected slowdown in China’s economy is among key risks to global growth, International Monetary Fund Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa warned, as G20 finance leaders gather to discuss a darkening world economic outlook.
Furusawa said China’s slowdown so far has been moderate and Beijing has the necessary tools to underpin growth, helping keep Asia a key driver of the global economy.
But he warned that uncertainty over China’s growth outlook was among risks to the global economy, as well as the chance of an abrupt tightening of market conditions if Sino-U.S. trade talks take an unexpected turn for the worse.
“One would be the trade friction, which is weighing not just on trade volume but investment,” Furusawa said on risks to the global outlook. “If China’s economy slows more than expected, that’s also a risk to the global economy,” he told Reuters on Wednesday.
Trade frictions and China’s slowdown are among factors finance leaders of the Group of 20 major economies will discuss when they meet this week on the sidelines of the IMF meetings.
China’s economy expanded at a 6.6 percent rate last year, the slowest rate of expansion since 1990, stoking concern that slumping demand in the world’s second-largest economy could prolong weaknesses in global growth.
The IMF expects China’s growth to slow further to 6.3 percent this year, though the forecast was an upgrade from its projection made three months ago.
Furusawa said China should not lose sight of the need to undertake structural reforms to address problems like excess capacity and rising debt, even as it seeks to spur growth with short-term stimulus measures.
“That’s a crucial point and Chinese authorities understand this well,” he said. “It’s undesirable for China, or any other country, to keep relying on stimulus measures for too long. You need structural reform to strengthen economic fundamentals.”
Furusawa said the decisions by U.S. and European central banks to pause in their efforts to normalize monetary policy were desirable not just for Asia but for the entire world economy given weakening growth.
But he said central banks should not be the only game in town when aiming for sustainable economic growth.
“Given current conditions, we support the current accommodative monetary policy stance,” said Furusawa, a former top Japanese currency diplomat.
“That said, monetary easing must remain data dependent and be well communicated. Countries need to undertake necessary structural reforms that will help them achieve sustainable growth,” he added.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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FILE PHOTO: People walk past a sign board of Huawei at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia 2016 in Shanghai, China May 12, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
April 11, 2019
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said on Thursday the security of its telecoms network equipment was as tight as any, and hit back at the U.S. government for briefing Washington’s allies against it.
Huawei, the global market leader, is the target of a campaign by Washington, which has barred it from next-generation 5G networks due to concerns over its ties to the Chinese government and says Western countries should block its technology.
The issue is crucial because of 5G’s leading role in internet-connected products ranging from self-driving cars and smart cities to augmented reality and artificial intelligence.
“We are probably the most tested vendor in the world,” Huawei’s cybersecurity director Sophie Batas told journalists at its new cybersecurity center in Brussels.
She criticized comments by Robert Strayer, U.S. State Department deputy assistant secretary for cyber, international communications and information policy, who told journalists on Wednesday that countries adopting risk-based security frameworks for 5G would lead to Huawei being banned.
“I have difficulty believing that a government like the United States organized a press conference yesterday to single out one particular company, and I wonder why it is going so far,” she said.
The two countries are also embroiled in a long-running trade dispute.
Batas said there were a range of tests customers could do on Huawei products at the center and similar facilities in several countries, as well as hiring independent third party evaluators.
She said law firms Zhong Lun, Clifford Chance and Ernst & Young had looked into China’s intelligence laws and concluded that did not allow Beijing to install backdoor features in a company’s equipment.
Last month, Germany set tougher criteria for vendors supplying telecoms network equipment there, but stopped short of singling out Huawei, instead saying the same rules should apply to all vendors.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by John Stonestreet)
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FILE PHOTO: Ashley Ian Alder, Chief Executive Officer of Securities and Futures Commission and Chairman of the Board of International Organization of Securities Commissions, attends the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo
April 11, 2019
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s securities regulator has told funds who claim to consider environmental, social or governance (ESG) factors in their investment decisions to make it clear to their investors how it is they do so.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said in a Thursday circular that a majority of the more than 20 funds it has authorized that claim an investment focus on ESG do not specifically disclose how they incorporate such factors into their investment selection process.
Under the new rules, funds that say in their name or their investment strategy that they follow ESG or green principles must provide documents to investors that describe their investment focus, their selection criteria and evaluation methodology, among others.
“This guidance drives home the important message to asset managers that they are expected to do more than simply make the claim that they take ESG factors into account, without making clear to investors how they do this,” Ashley Alder, the SFC’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Research from BNP Paribas, published on Monday, found that Asian investors lagged global counterparts in terms of ESG investment (allocating 10 percent of assets compared to 18 percent of assets globally). However, Asian respondents to the survey said that they expected to allocate more funds to ESG investment in the coming years.
The move by the Hong Kong watchdog comes as other regulators are also tightening standards, including those around green bonds.
China is close to releasing tougher requirements for selling green bonds, Reuters reported last month.
The new rules will demand the products, where proceeds are used to fund environmentally friendly projects, no longer include fossil fuels such as “clean coal” – a controversial definition that has put Beijing at odds with some investors and environmental groups.
(Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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Chinese banknotes are seen at a vendor’s cash box at a market in Beijing February 14, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
April 11, 2019
By Stella Qiu and Se Young Lee
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factory-gate inflation picked up for the first time in nine months in March, edging away from deflationary territory, in a fresh sign that government efforts to boost the economy may be starting to revitalise domestic demand.
Consumer inflation also quickened, jumping to the highest since October 2018 as pork prices soared due to a growing epidemic of swine fever, official data showed on Thursday.
The step-up in producer inflation, while slight, will likely add to optimism that the world’s second-largest economy is slowly starting to turn the corner, after recent surveys showed factory activity expanded for the first time in months.
But analysts urge caution, saying it will take a few more months of better data and further policy support from Beijing to see if a recovery can be sustained.
China’s producer price index (PPI) in March rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier, in line with analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters poll and advancing from a 0.1 percent increase in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Most of the gain was in mining, with prices in extraction rising 4.2 percent on-year, up from 1.8 percent in February. Drops in raw material prices also moderated.
But improvements may have been due more to changes in commodity prices than stronger demand. Prices of consumer durables fell for a second month, pointing to lingering weakness in demand for big-ticket items such as cars and appliances.
“Looking ahead, we expect oil prices to fall back in the coming months. This will drag down PPI… Meanwhile, continued economic weakness is likely to keep a lid on broader price pressures,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, Senior China Economist at Capital Economics.
On a monthly basis, producer prices increased for the first time in five months. The index inched up 0.1 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent decrease in February.
The world’s second-largest economy is growing at its weakest pace in almost three decades amid weaker domestic demand and a year-long trade war with the United States. Multi-year campaigns to curb debt risks and pollution have deterred fresh investment.
In response, Beijing plans more spending on roads, railways and ports, which is expected to push up demand for and prices of construction materials. Prices of steel reinforcing bars used in building hit 7-1/2 years highs this week.
Last month, the government announced nearly 2 trillion yuan (227 billion pounds) in additional tax cuts to ease the pressure on corporate balance sheets, while authorities are pressing banks to keep lending to struggling smaller firms.
Cuts in value-added tax (VAT) that kicked in on April 1 have already led authorities to reduce prices for electricity and natural gas. Retail gasoline and diesel prices are to be reduced as well.
A growing number of companies ranging from Apple Inc to BMW have lowered prices for their products following the tax cuts.
SWINE FEVER DRIVING UP PORK PRICES
The consumer price index (CPI) in March rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier, a five-month high, largely due to higher pork prices as the spread of African swine fever prompts farmers to cull their herds.
That was more than a 1.5 percent increase in February but just below market expectations for a 2.4 percent rise.
Pork prices rose 5.1 percent in March from a year earlier, the first increase after a 25-month declining streak.
On a month-on-month basis, CPI rose 1.2 percent.
Some analysts forecast pig production in China, which eats about half of the world’s pork, will fall by around 30 percent in 2019, which would send meat prices soaring.
But economists say the central bank is unlikely to overreact to a food price spike if it appears temporary and core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, remains steady.
Non-food consumer inflation was 1.8 percent on-year, just a touch more than February.
(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Se Young Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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