Lower jobless rate

THE country’s job market remained stable in March, seeing lower unemployment rate, official data showed yesterday.

In March, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5.2 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Aptiv center

U.S. auto-parts supplier Aptiv said yesterday it was opening an autonomous mobility center in Shanghai, in a push to position its self-driving vehicles in China.

The center in the world’s biggest auto market would be one of Aptiv’s major autonomous driving engineering hubs, alongside Boston, Singapore, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas, the company said. The Shanghai unit will focus on Aptiv’s L4 or level 4 technology that will allow cars to pilot themselves without a human driver under certain conditions.

NXP investment

DUTCH chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV said yesterday that it has invested in Chinese self-driving technology company Hawkeye Technology Co. to expand its footprint in the automotive radar market in China.

NXP also signed a collaboration agreement with the Chinese firm under which Hawkeye will offer its expertise in 77Ghz automotive radar, a technology that enhances automotive safety by enabling vehicles to identify crash situations, a team of engineers and a lab complex within Southeast University in Nanjing, China, NXP said.

CNPC ethylene plant

CHINA National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has started building a 9.05 billion yuan (US$1.35 billion) project to make ethylene from ethane in Xinjiang, the Economic Information Daily reported yesterday.

The complex, located in Korla in southern Xinjiang, is slated for completion by June 2021.