Tesla ships cars from reopened Shanghai plant

TESLA Inc. sent out a shipment of 4,767 cars from its Shanghai plant yesterday for Slovenia, the first batch of exports since the factory reopened April 19, the Shanghai Observer reported.

The ship Glovis Splendor set off early yesterday from Shanghai with the Tesla cars and is headed for the Port of Koper in Slovenia, according to the Shanghai-based news outlet. Tesla has also arranged 4,100 cars to be shipped Friday, it said, adding that the automaker aims to export 300,000 cars from Shanghai in 2022.

Walmart revamps private brand to woo shoppers

U.S. retail giant Walmart recently announced that its private label brand “Great Value” has been upgraded in terms of products, prices and packaging to better meet the needs of Chinese middle-class families.

“Great Value” is one of Walmart’s three private label brands in China, with “Marketside” and “George” being the other two. While the brands offer a wide selection of merchandise covering packaged food, groceries and clothing, “Great Value” focuses primarily on packaged food, daily necessities and frozen fresh food.

Firms on innovation board spend more on R&D

COMPANIES listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s sci-tech innovation board saw steady growth in research and development (R&D) spending last year, data from the board has shown.

The R&D input of firms listed on the board, commonly known as the STAR market, reached 85.24 billion yuan (US$12.7 billion) in 2021, up 29% year on year. The expansion in spending yielded fruitful results, with over 7,800 inventions patented by these firms last year. Among all sectors, companies in the integrated circuit and biomedical sectors recorded higher R&D intensity than others. So far, 29% of the STAR market firms have been officially recognized as “little giants.”

NEV sales surge despite epidemic blow

SALES of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China surged in April despite COVID-19 resurgences, data from an industry association showed Tuesday.

Last month, the retail sales of NEVs in China expanded 78.4% year on year to 282,000 units, according to the China Passenger Car Association. In the first four months of this year, the sales of NEVs in China totaled 1.35 million units, skyrocketing by 128.4% year on year, the data showed. Data from the association also showed the retail sales of passenger cars in China declined 35.5% year on year to 1.04 million units last month.