Cross-border finance blockchain platform built

CHINA has established a digital finance service platform to leverage blockchain technology to spur the development of a China-Europe cargo train service.

The one-stop platform, launched by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in June, provides services like financing application and credit extension, said Liang Hong, an official of the Xi’an branch of the People’s Bank of China. As of Wednesday, a total of 30 firms from industries such as logistics and cross-border trade had secured fund support worth 1.25 billion yuan (US$194 million) thanks to the platform, Liang said.

Manbang uses digitization to reduce emissions

MANBANG Group, China’s leading domestic freight service platform, has used digitization to help reduce carbon emissions in transportation.

With the intelligent recommendations of big data, Manbang helps truck drivers find goods quickly and reduces empty-load rates and fuel consumption, reducing carbon emissions by an estimated 330,000 tons in 2020, the company said. Carbon emissions by the transport sector account for about 10 percent of the society’s total carbon emissions, with 80 percent from the road freight transport, said Tan Xiaoyu, a senior engineer at the planning and research institute of the Ministry of Transport.

Xiaomi’s second-quarter revenue jumps 64%

HONG KONG-LISTED smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.’s second-quarter revenue rose a record 64 percent from a year earlier, it said Wednesday.

Sales reached 87.8 billion yuan (US$13.56 billion), up from 53.54 billion a year earlier and beating analyst expectations of 84.53 billion yuan. Net income reached 6.32 billion yuan, up 87.4 percent year on year and above analyst expectations. Xiaomi’s share of the global smartphone market grew 83 percent year on year in the quarter, according to research firm Canalys.

CATL weighs buying stake in miner Jinchuan

CONTEMPORARY Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) is considering buying a minority stake in Chinese miner Jinchuan Group International Resources Co., in the hopes of securing supplies of key battery metals, people with knowledge of the matter said.

CATL, which is the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery maker, is in initial discussions with Jinchuan International about acquiring a roughly 10 percent stake in the miner, said the people.