BlackRock is cautious about Chinese Internet companies and cuts some of its semiconductor positions

Reading Global (2021.06.23) BlackRock is cautious about Chinese Internet companies and cuts some of its semiconductor positions BlackRock, a world-renowned asset management company, issued a comment on the 23rd and pointed out that it is cautious about Chinese Internet companies because it is not clear whether the targets of the regulators will penetrate into small businesses or even other industries. In addition, the bank cut some of its positions in semiconductor and memory suppliers. BlackRock pointed out that as it is currently in the process of global economic recovery, the bank is still optimistic about the prospects of risky assets in Asia in the next few months, but one of the risks lies in the antitrust supervision of China’s large technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) giants. It may spread to other industries. And the bank said that so far, the regulatory authorities have focused on large companies with extensive consumer coverage and strong data collection capabilities. It is unclear whether the regulators will penetrate into small businesses or even other industries. In addition, the bank has cut some of its positions in semiconductor and memory suppliers to reflect the competitive situation and changes in stock valuations, especially after a round of uptrend, it has begun to pay attention to its fundamentals. Since this industry represents a key pillar of the future, it will be closely watched. As for the theme of sustainable development, especially the theme related to new energy is becoming a potential investment opportunity. The bank is cautiously investing in solar inverters, electric vehicle batteries and photovoltaic-related components, as it sees China’s role as a reliable global supplier of sustainable solutions becoming more and more important. Companies with a certain position in the field have also increased the proportion of new energy holdings in the past six months. South Korea intends to allocate 220 billion won to seize 6G dominance The South Korean government will invest 220 billion won in the next five years to seize the commanding heights of the next-generation 6G communications core technology through joint research between South Korea and the United States. The Ministry of Science, Technology, Information and Communication of South Korea held a joint 6G strategy meeting between the government and the people on the 23rd and formulated the “6G R&D Implementation Plan.” The implementation plan specifically includes ensuring the next generation of core original technologies, taking the lead in obtaining international standards and patents, and building a research industry foundation. In order to ensure the next generation of core original technologies, the Korean government will invest 200 billion won in ten strategic technologies in six key areas such as low-orbit communication satellites and ultra-precision network technology, and jointly promote research and cooperation with the United States, China, Finland and other countries. project. In terms of international standards, the Korean government will lead the establishment of a 6G development vision, and work with the Patent Office to provide comprehensive support for the development and patents of 6G core technologies. In addition, the South Korean government strives to operate 6G R&D centers in three universities within the year to cultivate senior talents through industry-university-research cooperation to lay the foundation for related technology research and development and industrial development. This meeting is part of the follow-up measures to the South Korea-US summit. At the meeting, the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Planning and Evaluation (IITP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) signed a memorandum of understanding on joint research cooperation. Japan will consider implementing stricter regulations on foreign ownership of shares in domestic companies According to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 23rd, the Japanese government is considering tightening the supervision of foreign holdings of Japanese companies with important technologies in the nuclear industry and national defense. According to the report, the new regulations are designed to prevent overseas funds and companies from requesting Japanese companies that may weaken their competitive advantages or leak technical expertise. The newspaper stated that the government plans to propose specific measures before the end of this year and initiate necessary legislation. However, a Japanese trade official denied the report, saying that they had not considered tightening regulations. Japan’s Ministry of Finance did not immediately comment. “Yomiuri Shimbun” said that measures under consideration include ordering foreign investors who violate the new regulations to sell their shares in Japanese companies. The report said that through the new regulations, the government will seek to continue to intervene to support the retention and development of technologies that are considered important, even if foreign capital has already invested. Before any new measures were introduced, another government regulation came into effect in May last year. This set of regulations imposes stricter foreign ownership regulations on hundreds of companies in more than a dozen industries that are recognized as having a central role in national security. Since then, foreign investors who wish to purchase 1% or more of shares in such core companies will in principle be subject to pre-examination, while the previous threshold was 10%. The 12 industries identified as critical to national security include oil, railways, utilities, weapons, space, nuclear power, aviation, telecommunications, and network security. Japan’s 2020 restaurant closures exceed the Lehman crisis Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 23rd that according to a survey of the Japanese catering industry in 2020, the number of closed stores reached 5230. The number rose to 1.9 times that of 2019, and far exceeded that of 2008 (3859 companies) during the Lehman crisis. The spread of the new crown epidemic has had a huge impact on the catering industry, and the investment in equipment for opening new stores and renovating existing stores has also been drastically reduced by 30% compared with the previous year. The survey targeted 557 major catering companies and was carried out from early April to early June, and received effective answers from 311 companies. The number of stores closed in 2020 far exceeds the number of newly opened stores (3465), and the scale is equivalent to 5.5% of the total number of stores in the 2019 survey. The businesses with a large number of closed stores are restaurants (1249), bars and izakayas (919). According to the company, Japanese catering company Pepper Food Service (392) and Japanese large-scale restaurant chain Colowide (386) and other companies The number of closed stores is relatively prominent. Compared with the previous year, the store sales of 292 companies decreased by 15.9% year-on-year to 6.642 trillion yen. This is the first time there has been a decline in revenue in 10 years. The decline was the largest since the 1997 survey with comparable data, and it fell to the level of 6 trillion yen for the first time in seven years. Due to the suspension of business under the epidemic, shortening of business hours, and avoiding the provision of alcohol, sales have fallen sharply. Regarding the question of whether to close or shorten business hours within one year starting from April 2020, 91.6% of the companies answered “closed business” and 95.4% of companies answered “shortened business hours”. Only restaurants that provide food delivery services such as Pizza Hut in Japan have increased sales (an increase of 14.7%). From the perspective of business formats affected by avoidance of alcohol sales, the sales of hotels and banquet halls (a decrease of 60.1%), bars and izakaya (a decrease of 46.6%), etc. have fallen sharply. (This article is compiled from Reuters, Lianhe Zaobao, Nikkei) Compiled by Zhou Yuqing, an intern reporter of Economic Observation Network