German competition guardians Face to face with Google, Apple & Co.

Status: 23.06.2021 3:56 p.m.

The big tech companies from the USA are becoming more and more powerful all over the world. There are also new players from China. The Bundeskartellamt does not just want to accept market power.

From Sebastian Tittelbach, WDR

For a few months now, one hears an abbreviation more frequently in the office corridors of the Federal Cartel Office: GAFA. They are the first letters of the really big ones: Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. And Bundeskartellamt President Andreas Mundt has all of these in his sights. “We are talking about the most powerful companies in the world. We’re getting very strong companies in China – so this is by no means an American event, it’s a global trend.”

New rules have been in effect since the beginning of the year

German competition law changed at the beginning of the year. Since then, the cartel watchdogs have been able to take action against Internet companies more easily. And the 400-person authority from Bonn does not shy away from tech giants from overseas worth billions. “It’s not about throwing sand in the machine”says head of the authorities Mundt. “Our aim is simply to end anti-competitive behavior at these companies.”

Amazon already had to reorganize its marketplace under pressure from the Federal Cartel Office. Amazon has given the smaller retailers who offer their goods there more rights. The Federal Cartel Office is currently taking a look at Apple. “We know what kind of universe Apple maintains, and I personally see it that way that restrictions of competition are possible”, so Mundt. “And now let’s see how this process develops.”

The pandemic is leaving its mark

The corona pandemic did not leave the Federal Cartel Office completely without a trace. In 2020, the investigators only went out for a single search – for reasons of hygiene, the head of the authorities said: “We were out last summer, and we’re honestly looking forward to going back out now, if the numbers allow.”

Even without searches, the Bonn authorities found enough evidence to punish companies. She imposed 349 million euros in fines last year. Half a billion less than in 2019, but still well above the long-term average. Above all, steel and aluminum forges, manufacturers of street sewer castings, such as covers made of cast iron or concrete, and wholesalers of pesticides have to pay. Elsewhere, the cartel watchdogs were more flexible because of Corona: in the automotive industry, for example, they approved collaborations between companies so that the supply chains did not collapse completely in the pandemic. “Then other cooperations are possible between companies where you might have concerns outside of the pandemic, then say in the pandemic: The economic situation is such that you can and must cooperate”, explains the head of the Cartel Office, Mundt.

High hopes, more work

He has great expectations of the new competition register, which was launched in the spring. “The competition register is simply about registering companies that owe something. Violation of minimum wage et cetera.” Such companies can be banned from public tenders for three to five years.

The Bundeskartellamt expects more work on merger control in the current year. Because of the pandemic, there could be more company mergers. The cartel office will examine such mergers without any corona bonus, announces the head of the authorities Mundt. Because when companies merge, it is usually forever – but hopefully not the corona pandemic

41 domestically listed Chinese companies, 7 overseas listed Chinese companies, and the amount of IPO financing increased month-on-month.

36 Chinese companies are supported by VC/PE institutions, among which domestic listed companies account for 90%

JD Logistics received the highest IPO financing amount this month, and the logistics industry ranked first in financing amount

The number of listed companies in Guangdong Province remains the leading; Beijing and Shanghai have both raised over RMB 10 billion in financing

 The China Securities Regulatory Commission will study and formulate a package of institutional measures to prohibit improper shareholding by resignees from the system to make up for the shortcomings of the system

According to data from Zero2IPO Private Equity, there are 48 Chinese companies in May 2021[1]The number of IPOs completed in various global trading markets increased by 100% year-on-year; the total financing amount was 64.405 billion yuan, and the financing amount increased by 149.5% year-on-year and 17.6% month-on-month. Chinese companies that completed their IPO this month involved 16 primary industries and landed in 7 trading markets. The average IPO financing amount of Chinese companies was 1.342 billion yuan, an increase of 49.4% from the previous month. The highest single financing amount was 20.229 billion yuan. A total of 36 VC/PE-backed companies went public this month, involving 205 institutions, with a VC/PE penetration rate of 75%.

Figure 1 The number of domestic and overseas listings and total financing amount of Chinese companies from May 2020 to May 2021

Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn

The total financing amount of IPO companies in the top ten in May accounted for 69.1%

The three IPO companies with the largest amount of financing this month are: JD Logistics listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising a total of 20.229 billion yuan; Hehui Optoelectronics listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board, raising a total of 7.106 billion yuan; The Shanghai Stock Exchange was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and raised a total of 2.901 billion yuan.

Table 1 Top 10 IPO corporate financing in May

Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn Table 2 Top 10 listed Chinese companies in financing supported by domestic and overseas VC/PE IPOs in May Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn Registered listed companies accounted for more than 50%, and the amount of overseas listed financing increased month-on-month In May, there were 41 domestic listed Chinese companies, accounting for 85.4% of the number of Chinese companies IPO this month. The initial financing amounted to 39.646 billion yuan, accounting for 61.6% of the total financing for the month. In May 2021, 11 and 14 companies were successfully registered and listed on the Growth Enterprise Market and the Science and Technology Innovation Board, accounting for 52.1% of the total number of listed companies in the month, and initial financing accounted for 31.6%. In May, 4 Chinese concept stocks were listed on the U.S. stocks, with a financing amount of approximately RMB 3.093 billion; 3 companies were listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a financing amount of approximately RMB 21.666 billion. The amount of financing in the U.S. and Hong Kong stock markets both increased from last month. Figure 2 Distribution of domestic and overseas listings of Chinese companies in May 2021 (by listing sector) Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn Figure 3 The distribution of Chinese companies listing in the domestic market under different IPO systems from May 2020 to May 2021 Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn Guangdong Province leads the way in the number of IPOs, and Beijing ranks first in terms of financing According to private equity statistics, in May 2021, the number of IPOs in the five provinces and cities of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Beijing is 5 or more, a total of 32; the initial financing amount plus a total of RMB 50.99 billion, accounting for the country The total amount is nearly 80%. Among them, Guangdong Province leads other provinces in the number of listings of 9 Chinese companies; Beijing and Shanghai have raised financing amounts of more than 10 billion yuan respectively, and Beijing ranked first in the amount of financing raised by Chinese companies listed at 24.988 billion yuan, accounting for about 38.8%. Table 3: Geographical distribution of Chinese companies’ domestic and overseas listings in May 2021 Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn The May IPO involved 16 industries, with the logistics industry having the highest amount of financing In May 2021, the IPO will involve 16 industries. The number of listed companies in machinery manufacturing, biotechnology/medical health, chemical raw materials and processing industries is 5 or more. In terms of financing, the logistics industry IPO financing was 21.09 billion yuan, accounting for 32.8% of the total financing of Chinese enterprises, ranking first; semiconductor, electronic equipment, and machinery manufacturing industries ranked second and third respectively, with financing amounts exceeding 7 billion. yuan. Figure 45: Industry distribution of the number of IPO companies and financing amount in month 45 Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn The VC/PE penetration rate of listed companies in May was 75% Among the listed companies this month, 36 Chinese companies were supported by VC/PE institutions, of which 33 were listed domestically, accounting for 91.7%. There are 7 and 13 IPO companies on the ChiNext Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, respectively, which have received support from VC/PE institutions. The book returns of VC/PE-invested companies listed on domestic listings have dropped. In May 2021, the book return multiples (calculated at issue price) were 1.96 times, a decrease of 27.4% from the previous month and a year-on-year decrease of 35.1%; the book returns of overseas listings in May 2021 increased significantly year-on-year , An increase of 97.21%. Figure 5 Trend of VC/PE-backed IPO penetration from May 2020 to May 2021 Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn Figure 6 Distribution of book returns of VC/PE supporting IPOs in domestic and overseas markets of Chinese companies from May 2020 to May 2021 (issuance date) Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn 16 VC/PE institutions have won no less than 2 Chinese IPOs Among the listed companies this month, 36 Chinese companies received support from VC/PE institutions, a decrease of 12.2% from the previous month. Among them, 16 institutions have invested companies with no less than 2 IPOs. The book return of Lieliang Fund in the Waterdrop IPO was as high as 98.26 times. Table 45 Listed in VC/PE Institution Invested Companies (Partial Institutions) Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn Note: 1. The IPOs listed in the above table refer to companies headquartered in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) that are first listed on domestic and foreign stock exchanges within the scope of the statistics in 2021. Companies listed in the second listing and multiple listings are not listed. Included; 2. The investment institution only lists the named shareholders appearing in the prospectus; 3. The book amount is the number of shares held by the institution before the initial issuance of the invested project (excluding the cornerstone wheel/strategic placement) * issue price It is calculated that part of the book value may be biased because the number of shares held before the IPO was not disclosed in the prospectus. The China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the Guidelines for the Supervision of the Shareholding Behavior of Retired Persons from the Securities Regulatory Commission System, clarifying the verification requirements for the participation of the resigned employees The China Securities Regulatory Commission has always attached great importance to the supervision of shareholders of companies to be listed, continuously improved the shareholder supervision system and mechanism, and made great efforts to prevent illegal and illegal “creation of wealth”. In February of this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the “Guidelines for the Application of Regulatory Rules Regarding Information Disclosure of Shareholders of Listed Companies Applying for Initial Public Offerings”, which strengthened the regulatory constraints on surprise share purchases, abnormal share prices, transfer of interests, and “shadow shareholders”, and compacted the information of companies to be listed. Disclosure responsibility and intermediary agency verification responsibility to guide legal and compliant investment in companies that are to be listed. During the implementation of the system, the China Securities Regulatory Commission insisted on cutting its blade inward, and simultaneously studied and formulated a package of system measures to prohibit improper shareholding by system resignees to make up for the shortcomings of the system. While strengthening anti-corruption supervision and management and improving the independent review system, we have specially formulated and issued the “Guidelines for the Application of Regulatory Rules Issuance No. 2” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guidelines”) to clarify that the retired personnel of the China Securities Regulatory Commission will participate in the public offering and listing or the New Third Board. The verification requirements of selected-tier listed companies highlight the targeted supervision of resigners who fall within the scope of the specification, compact the verification responsibilities of intermediary agencies, and maintain the “three public” order in the market. The “Guidelines” mainly include the following: One is to clarify the circumstances of improper shareholding. The resignation personnel of the CSRC system used the influence of their original position to seek investment opportunities, the process of shareholding has the transfer of interests, the shareholding during the shareholding prohibition period, the shareholding as an unqualified shareholder, the source of the shareholding funds violates laws and regulations, etc., are considered to be improper shareholding. The second is to strengthen the verification responsibilities of intermediary agencies. In the process of verifying shareholder information, intermediary agencies should comprehensively check whether there is a shareholding situation of resigned personnel specified in the Guidelines and determine whether it is an improper shareholding situation. In the case of improper share purchase, it shall be cleared up. When the issuer and the intermediary institution submit the application documents for the issuance and listing (listing), they shall make a special explanation on the relevant verification status of the resigned personnel of the CSRC system. After submitting an application for issuance and listing (listing), if an improper shareholding situation is discovered or a major media question arises, the intermediary institution shall check and report in a timely manner. The third is to strengthen audit supervision and establish an independent review system. Review the issuance and listing (listing) review process involving the participation of departed employees to ensure that the review process is fair, just, and in compliance with laws and regulations. If clues of violations of law and discipline are found, they shall be handed over to relevant departments for handling. Key case analysis of this month: JD Logistics, Hehui Optoelectronics, Electric Wind Power JD Logistics is listed in Hong Kong, and another listed company is added to the JD department On May 28, 2021, JD Logistics officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code of “02618.HK”. It is the second listed company incubated by JD Group. JD Health has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange before this. The issue price of JD Logistics is HK$40.36 per share per share, and it plans to issue 60,160,800 shares, with a market value of approximately RMB 202.294 billion. On the day of issuance, the closing price was HK$41.7, and the net proceeds from the IPO were approximately HK$24.113 billion. JD Logistics is a technology-driven supply chain solution and logistics service provider under JD. It was born out of JD Group’s self-built logistics. In 2012, it officially registered a logistics company. In 2017, JD Logistics Group was established. On February 16, 2021, JD Logistics submitted a prospectus on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and officially launched the IPO. Three months later, JD Logistics officially launched a global public offering of shares. JD Logistics’ IPO has attracted attention from many parties. On May 20, JD Logistics’ IPO subscription ended ahead of schedule. JD Logistics was subscribed by more than 1 million people, oversubscribed by more than 700 times, and frozen funds exceeded 550 billion Hong Kong dollars. According to data from the JD Logistics prospectus, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, JD Logistics’ revenues were 37.9 billion yuan, 49.8 billion yuan, and 73.4 billion yuan, respectively. Among them, there was a year-on-year increase of 31.6% in 2019 and a year-on-year increase of 47.2% in 2020, almost compared to 2018. Doubled. In the first quarter of 2021, JD Logistics’ revenue reached 22.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 64.1%, and continued to maintain rapid growth. At the same time, JD Logistics already has profitability. According to previously disclosed public data, after excluding changes in fair value such as equity incentives that do not affect the company’s value, JD Logistics has a profit of more than 1.7 billion in 2020. Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn Display panel manufacturer Hehui Optoelectronics goes public, with an issue market value of RMB 35.529 billion On May 28, 2021, Hehui Optoelectronics “688538.SH” was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange with an issue price of 2.65 yuan per share. It plans to issue 2.681 billion shares, with a total financing amount of 7.106 billion yuan and a market value of 35.529 billion yuan. . The closing price on the day of listing was 4.2 yuan, with a turnover of 6.441 billion yuan. The controlling shareholder of Hehui Optoelectronics is Lianhe Investment. Before this issuance, Union Investment held a total of 8.05 billion shares of the company, accounting for 75.12% of the company’s total share capital. The actual controller of the company is the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which holds 100% equity of Lianhe Investment. Hehui Optoelectronics is a well-known AMOLED semiconductor display panel manufacturer in China, focusing on the R&D, production and sales of small and medium-sized AMOLED semiconductor display panels. According to the prospectus, Hehui Optoelectronics has focused on small and medium-sized AMOLED since its establishment. It is the first domestic manufacturer to achieve mass production of AMOLED semiconductor display panels in the industry, breaking the foreign monopoly. At present, Hehui Optoelectronics has two production lines of the 4.5th generation and the 6th generation, both of which can produce rigid and flexible AMOLED panels. Among them, the production capacity of the 4.5th generation AMOLED production line is 15K/month, the planned production capacity of the 6th generation AMOLED production line is 30K/month, and the mass production capacity is 15K/month, and the 15K/month production capacity is expected to be mass-produced in the second quarter of this year. However, although Hehui Optoelectronics believes that the future growth rate of flexible AMOLED is better than that of rigid AMOLED, it is also known that the flexible display scene has not yet appeared on a large scale, so it is still mainly based on rigid AMOLED. Hehui Optoelectronics’ rigid AMOLED panel mass production capacity ranks first in China and second in the world, while the revenue of flexible products in 2020 is only 71,500 yuan. Source: Private Equity Pass 2021.6 www.pedata.cn “The first share of state-owned assets split” electric wind power successfully listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange On May 19, 2021, Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group Co., Ltd. “688660.SH” was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, with an issue price of 29.01 yuan per share, 533 million shares issued, and a market value of 7.253 billion yuan. According to the announcement, about 2.901 billion yuan of raised funds will be invested in “new product and technology development projects”, “Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group Shandong Haiyang Test Base Project”, “post-market capability improvement project” and other projects, and Reasonably arrange capital investment. Electric Wind Power was established in 2006 and is a holding subsidiary of Shanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd. As the first state-owned company to split a listed stock, in June last year, Electric Wind Power submitted a listing application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. After nearly a year, it successfully listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. At present, the company’s products cover a full range of wind turbines from 1.25MW to 8MW, basically achieving full power coverage. In addition, the company firmly grasps the major development trends of industry refinement, customization, and large megawatts, and conducts active product development and layout in the onshore 4.X series, 5.X series and the offshore 5.X series and 8.0MW series. . In addition to the overall design technology of wind turbines, the company also has the core technology research and development capabilities of wind turbines represented by blade technology and control technology, and has formed technical research and development capabilities and advantages in key components and key technologies

Market power of Chinese companies Beijing takes on tech companies

Status: 23.06.2021 12:18 p.m.

Numerous large and valuable tech companies have emerged in China in recent years. The government did its best to promote the rise. In the meantime, however, the feel-good phase is over.

By Steffen Wurzel, ARD-Studio Shanghai A small coffee shop in Shanghai’s Jing’an business district. The shop is popular, a take-away coffee costs the equivalent of two euros, a bargain for this location. The fact that shopkeeper Wu Jialing is still worth it is because he can sell a lot of coffee within a short period of time. Customers pay by smartphone. You simply scan the QR code that is hanging next to the coffee machine. “Paying by app is incredibly fast,” says the shop owner. Serving the cash register, looking for change, washing your hands after contacting the cash register and cash – all of this is eliminated. Correspondingly more sales are possible.

Revolutionized dealing with money

The payment apps Alipay and WeChat-Pay have revolutionized the way money is handled in China within a few years. Instead of struggling with the mostly old-fashioned, complicated and sluggish state banks, most Chinese people now fully rely on the smartphone apps of the domestic fintech companies Ant and Tencent to handle their everyday financial transactions.

It is no longer just about cashless payments. The Alipay app can now also be used to take care of investments, insurance and old-age provision. That too weakens the role of the state banks. “In the area of ​​finance, China has developed from a very backward place to a global pioneer in terms of fintech,” explains Martin Chorzempa of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. Not only in the financial technology sector have new, powerful large corporations emerged in the country in recent years. There was also a start-up boom in other tech areas, financed partly by state and partly private venture capital.

Government rethinking corporate relationships

Whether online shopping, social media or delivery services: For years, companies such as Alibaba, Bytedance and Meituan have been able to rely on political and sometimes financial support from the government. But in the past few months the climate has changed, says Duncan Clark, head of the management consultancy BDA in the Chinese capital Beijing. “It seems that the government in China is rethinking its relationship with the big tech companies.”

Obviously, some of the big tech companies have grown too big too quickly for the communist leadership – and above all too powerful. The fact that cartel and supervisory authorities are taking action against the market power of large corporations such as Google, Amazon or Facebook is also true in Europe and the USA. But: “What makes the matter special in China are the outstanding position of the Communist Party and the tensions that exist again and again in China: Tensions between the large state corporations supervised by the CP on the one hand and the private sector on the other.” explains Clark.

Ant IPO stopped

These tensions became apparent in China over the past year. In several cases, the state and party leadership slowed down the emerging private companies. Ant, the parent company of the payment and financial services app Alipay, wanted to go public last November, for example. It would have been the largest IPO in world economic history. With him, the Chinese fintech company Ant would have collected around 30 billion euros. But two days before the equity debut in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the government surprisingly stopped the IPO. Ant does not meet certain regulations, it was announced. Further details: none. But in the following weeks it became clear that the cancellation of the Ant IPO probably came from the very top. China’s state and party leadership was apparently bothered by statements by Ant boss Ma Yun, alias Jack Ma, who said in a speech in Shanghai shortly before the planned IPO: “As far as the financial sector is concerned, we are still beginners in China. We do have Big banks – they are like big rivers. But what we mainly need are small lakes, ponds, streams and smaller rivers. ”

Open criticism crosses a red line

China’s financial system, previously dominated by large state banks, harbors risks, Ma criticized. That is unhealthy. A statement that many experts would endorse, but from the point of view of the communist leadership, the previously ubiquitous model manager had crossed a red line with his open criticism of the state banks.

The IPO of his fintech company Ant burst. Ma himself had to withdraw to a large extent from the public.

Several company directors resigned

“At first it was thought that this was all about Jack Ma because he was so open about himself, and about his company Ant,” says management consultant Clark, who has also written a book about the rise of Jack Ma. “But since then we have seen much more extensive crackdown by the authorities against large tech companies in China.”

Other prominent startup founders and tech billionaires resigned. For example, Zhang Yiming, the head of the TikTok parent company Bytedance, and Huang Zheng, who ran the emerging Chinese online shopping group Pinduoduo. The reasons for the resignations are unclear, but most industry observers believe government pressure played a role. “The Communist Party is profiting enormously from the consumption boom that all these tech companies have triggered in China,” Clark analyzes. “But this is not a one-way street. We see a certain double dependency between the CP and the tech companies: Both somehow need each other, but in the end the party says: ‘You need us more.'” It is becoming increasingly clear that China’s leadership is no longer allowing private tech companies to get away with as much as it has before. They too must submit to the Communist Party’s claim to leadership. Criticism will not be tolerated, however subtle it may be.

Lost 25 billion euros in one post

This was recently also experienced at the delivery service group Meituan, against which the antitrust authorities are investigating. Meituan boss Wang Xing posted a historical satirical text that is more than 1000 years old in early May. This text is about criticism of a former Chinese emperor. Some understood the post of the company boss and multi-billionaire as a hidden criticism of today’s rulers. The Meituan boss deleted the posted text, but Meituan’s stock market price plummeted by almost 15 percent, and the company lost around 25 billion euros in value in one fell swoop. The fact that Xing then donated around ten percent of his personal fortune, around 1.8 billion euros, to a charity is understood as an attempt at penance. “Many company bosses in China are currently examining how they can get rid of outstanding titles or even parts of their assets,” reports management consultant Clark. “It’s about behaving as inconspicuously as possible, no longer being the tallest tree in the forest. Because it is the first to be felled.”

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Fight against Corona What speaks for and against child vaccinations

Status: 06/22/2021 8:57 a.m.

The debate about whether children should be vaccinated against Corona is in full swing. Companies are pressing ahead with their studies for the approval of a vaccine for young children as well. What is the current state of research?

From Axel John, SWR

Just a few steps from the magnificent Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin is the rather inconspicuous Hausvogteiplatz. But what is sensational is what happens there in a sober office building. The Association of Research-Based Drug Manufacturers (VfA) has its headquarters here. The experts maintain contact with pharmaceutical companies all over the world – also when it comes to corona vaccine research, which is still under high pressure.

Particularly strict requirements for tests with minors

A team of specialists is constantly collecting the latest data from all over the world. Rolf Hömke is also there. The biochemist is an expert in research and drug safety. “When developing a new drug, it is standard that the preparation is initially only tested on adults. If these results are correspondingly good, studies with minors follow.” However, a prerequisite is a medical benefit in children and adolescents. Hömke gives an example: “A new antibiotic, for example, is also needed for children – but a preparation against prostate cancer is not.” Even higher requirements would apply to the tests in order to avoid stress in young people as far as possible. Both parents must have agreed together. The conditions also demanded that the children also say yes as soon as possible. “Money cannot be earned with such participation. The test subjects receive an expense allowance. The participants are mostly idealists or sick people who hope for an effective treatment.”

Intermediate results of the vaccine test series for children under twelve years of age BioNTech / Pfizer started a study in March 2021 with children aged six months and younger than twelve years. In the first phase, a small number of minors initially received different doses. In the current phase II, around 4500 young people are to be tested for the effectiveness of the vaccine in more than 90 facilities in the USA, Finland, Poland and Spain. Here researchers analyze the respective immune response. Results could be available from September.

Moderna reported the start of the phase II / III study in March. More than 6,700 children between six months and under twelve years of age in the United States and Canada are expected to participate. Here, too, it was initially about the best dosage. The effectiveness is then checked in the further course.

With the vaccine from AstraZeneca investigations began at Oxford University in February. Several hundred young people and children between the ages of six and under 18 should take part. The study has been temporarily stopped by the British authorities after reports of very rare side effects with thrombosis.

Janssen / Johnson & Johnson started testing his vaccine with adolescents aged twelve and over in April 2021. If the interim results are good, younger test persons should join the group. However, this study is also currently on hold.

Sinovac has been testing its CoronaVac vaccine in China since the beginning of May. In phase II, minors between the ages of three and 17 are to be tested here.

Source: VfA

STIKO sees no rush

Professor Dr. Fred Zepp follows vaccine development with great interest. On the one hand, Zepp is a member of the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO). The committee drew up the recommendations for the sequence of corona vaccinations. Zepp was also director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Mainz University Hospital for many years. He believes it is imperative that vaccines be developed for minors as well. This is particularly important for high-risk patients such as children with chronic cardiopulmonary diseases, emphasizes Zepp. “The mRNA vaccine process is an impressive development with excellent prospects. But we do not yet have any broad experience with children,” explains Zepp. For him it is important that the development of an adult’s organism is differentiated. The acute side effects can usually be recognized in the first twelve to 16 weeks. “With infants or children, on the other hand, I have an organism that is subject to constant development. That is why I say: We are currently under no time pressure in this group and should wait for further study results.” In addition, there are hardly any children in Europe who are seriously ill with Covid-19. Less than 80 children in Germany were being treated in an intensive care unit because of Corona. There have also been very few deaths that are even below the rate of flu. Zepp is also referring to a few cases in adolescents in the USA who developed heart muscle inflammation after the second vaccination with BioNTech. The authorities are currently investigating whether there is a connection. “The coronavirus will continue to change. I expect that the older population could also be affected here.”

“The pathogen spreads unhindered, especially in children”

In Munich, Matthias Kromayer leans over the latest results from corona vaccine research in children. The microbiologist recommends vaccinating minors according to the relevant studies and approvals – regardless of the vaccine. Kromayer works on the board of MIG AG. The company is currently investing in 30 start-ups. In 2008, BioNTech received a good 13 million euros as an initial investment from MIG.

For Kromayer, a vaccination rate of 70 to 80 percent in the population is the goal. “Then there is a good chance of paralyzing the spread of the virus and mutated variants. The pathogen spreads unhindered, especially in children. They are closer together and cannot yet adhere to the hygiene rules,” explains Kromayer. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are more than 8.5 million people under the age of twelve in Germany. For Kromayer, this group is so large that it should not be ignored in the fight against pandemics. At the same time, children have a much stronger immune system that can deal with Corona much better. In this way, fewer pathogens would presumably be transmitted: “The vaccine side effects in children are likely to be very limited, but the resulting protection for other population groups is high. That should be weighed up.”

Politicians do not want to commit themselves yet

In Berlin, too, the Federal Ministry of Health has long since registered the emerging debate. Whether and to what extent children should also be vaccinated in the fight against Corona is still silent. Upon request, the press office simply declares: “The results of studies and possible approval by the European authorities remain to be seen.”

According to BioNTech / Pfizer, reliable results from the currently ongoing study series can be expected from September onwards. By then, at the latest, the discussion about the best vaccination strategy will really start

Heil is promoting training bonuses There should be no “Corona vintage”

Status: 06/22/2021 05:07

The second year of training since the beginning of the corona pandemic begins in September. The federal government supports training companies with training bonuses, but Labor Minister Heil is still worried about a corona kink on the apprenticeship market. Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil sees the German training market facing a critical phase after months of the pandemic. The number of apprenticeships like applicants had already decreased last year, said the minister. Figures from the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training prove this. The test comes this summer, “Heil told the Funke media group. “We are currently fighting the clock as the training year begins on September 1st.” It is clear: “We are not allowed to allow a Corona class in training.”

6000 euros bonus per apprenticeship position

Many companies were hesitant at the moment because they believed they could not afford apprentices at the moment. Heil called on companies to make greater use of state support offers such as the training bonus. The bonus has been approved for almost 40,000 training positions since last summer.

Heil pointed out that the new protective umbrella for training has been in place since the beginning of June. The premium was also doubled in March. Companies affected by a pandemic that keep their training quota have been receiving EUR 4,000 per apprenticeship position since the beginning of June, and EUR 6,000 for new trainee positions.

According to the Federal Ministry of Labor, the program has a total volume of 410 million euros for the current year. By mid-June, around 88 million euros, almost a fifth, had been paid out

Competition authority Antitrust Office targets Apple

As of: June 21, 2021 2:46 p.m.

The Federal Cartel Office is now also investigating Apple. Above all, the US group’s business conduct in the App Store wants to investigate. Similar proceedings are in progress against other large tech companies. The Federal Cartel Office initiates investigations against the technology group Apple. The authority wants to find out whether the US group with parts of its business a “cross-market importance” has in competition. Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt said: “We will now examine whether Apple has built a digital ecosystem across several markets around the iPhone with the proprietary iOS operating system.” After all, the US group also produces tablets, computers, headphones and watches and sells them at the same time “a range of device-related services and services”. The Group’s Services division includes the App Store, iCloud, technical support at AppleCare, the Apple Music music service, the range of games in front of Apple Arcade, the Apple TV + streaming service and other services.

EU sees unfair competition

During its investigation, the Cartel Office will also examine Apple’s technical and financial resources as well as access to data, according to Mundt. One focus of the investigation will be on the operation of the app store, as this enables the group in many cases to influence the business activities of third parties.

Apple’s app store system is already being investigated by the EU Commission, which accuses the group of unfair competition with other providers of music streaming services. Among other things, it is controversial that 15 to 30 percent of the digital revenues in the App Store go to Apple. “We look forward to discussing our approach with the Federal Cartel Office and engaging in an open dialogue about any concerns”it said in a response from Apple. The group is “proud to be an engine for innovation and jobs”. The iOS platform alone supports more than 250,000 workplaces in Germany.

Cartel office can intervene earlier

The background to the investigation is a reform of the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) in January. A central component is the modernization of abuse control. The supervisory authorities can now intervene earlier in the event of suspected violations by large digital corporations and prohibit anti-competitive practices.

This also makes it easier for the Cartel Office to take action against large digital companies that are important to competition across borders between different market areas. This has already had consequences: the last time the Bonn authority was against the online network Facebook and in May against the mail order company Amazon and against the internet company Google Investigation started.

According to the cartel office, an expansion of the investigation against Apple is imminent. The authority intends to “to take a closer look at Apple’s specific behavior in a possible further procedure”. The Office has received various complaints against potentially anti-competitive practices

Corona crisis Further help for business in sight

Status: 06/18/2021 5:51 p.m.

The states are urging to continue Corona aid for companies until the end of the year – Federal Minister of Economics Altmaier indicated readiness. Support for domestic exporters has already been extended. There are signs of an extension of the corona aid for companies that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. The economics ministers of the federal states demanded that the funds previously planned until the end of September be continued until the end of the year. The federal government pays the previous “Bridging Aid III”.

Extension after the summer break if necessary

Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) made it clear after a meeting with his country ministerial colleagues that he is not averse to an extension. One will look at the situation and, if necessary, extend the help after the summer break. The corona aid only applies to companies that can demonstrate a sharp drop in sales and can trace them back to the pandemic. As the economy is currently picking up again and more business is being done again, the number of companies eligible to apply is falling.

Altmaier: So far, 105 billion euros have been transferred

So far, a total of 105 billion euros have been transferred to companies as corona aid, said Altmaier. Roughly half of these are loans and half are grants that do not have to be repaid. In addition, there is money from the federal states. According to Altmaier, the state support has paid off: “Together we managed to prevent a loss of substance in the German economy.”

Against the background of the lower number of infections and the lifting of restrictions, Altmaier said the economy was “coming to a new start faster than many feared”. Growth is picking up – this year it will be 3.5 to 4 percent and in 2022 it will be more than 4 percent. The economy will have reached pre-crisis levels by spring 2022 at the latest. “That means, we are hopefully out of the worst,” said the CDU politician. When the bridging aid, which ran until the end of June, was extended by three months as “bridging aid III plus”, he was in any case in favor of continuing it until the end of the year.

Aid to exporters continues

Meanwhile, the corona aid for domestic exporters has already been extended until the end of the year. They were decided in July 2020 and should actually end this month. “Even if the economic situation has improved significantly in the past few months, the corona pandemic continues to pose challenges for the export industry,” the Ministry of Economics justified the decision. “Some companies are only now feeling the stresses with a delay.”

“Security signal” to the economy

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Andreas Pinkwart, spoke out in favor of continuing to support sectors such as the trade fair industry. After all, they would “presumably not yet be able to work in the fourth quarter in the way they normally would at normal times”. In addition, the FDP politician considers the extension of the bridging aid to be a good precaution for possible rising incidences in autumn. Then you would “not have to put on a new program from the hip”, but would have already been prepared. Saarland’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Anke Rehlinger, considers the prospect of the extension of the aid to be “a protective signal” to the economy. “We have to take care of the industries that are still suffering from the pandemic.” She stressed that the time should be used to prepare for all eventualities in autumn and winter. Should one be forced to make restrictions again because of the pandemic, there could be “other, smarter measures” that would take into account aspects such as a high vaccination rate.

Situation in trade fair industry “catastrophic”

The corona pandemic hit large parts of the German economy hard. In the meantime, things are looking a little better again, also because restrictions have been relaxed and restaurants and cafes are open again, for example. However, the situation in some sectors such as the trade fair industry is still very tense.

Jörn Holtmeier, managing director of the trade fair association AUMA, described the situation in his branch as “catastrophic”. The first industry get-togethers would take place again in September, but the number of trade fairs until the end of the year was clear. There have been many rejections. “If a stand builder finally gets another order for his first trade fair in November or December, but then does not receive any more money from the state in October, this can extremely worsen the already tense financial situation of his company.” Then company bankruptcies are possible. It is mainly about stand builders, caterers and private trade fair organizers. Exhibition companies that belong to municipalities and the state are not entitled to federal corona aid.

Around 231,000 employees

Holtmeier is also in favor of extending the aid until the end of the year. This was just a safety net, he said. “Some companies will get orders again beforehand and make sales, they will not have to use the help.”

According to AUMA, Germany’s trade fair industry has around 231,000 employees. This not only includes organizers and stand builders, but also companies with a strong trade fair business – a hotel, for example, which does most of its business with trade fair visitors, is proportionately included in the number of employees. Since March 2020, according to the Ifo Institute, the crisis in the trade fair industry has led to economic damage of an estimated 40 billion euros: Dealers could no longer buy anything at the industry get-togethers, and there were no more visitors who would spend money on restaurant visits, hotel stays or taxi rides

background

Corona consequences for companies How much longer does the state have to help?

Status: 06/17/2021 10:18 a.m.

Today, the federal and state economics ministers are discussing how to proceed with corona aid for companies. Warnings against a permanent state economy are getting louder. But some industries are still deeply in crisis.

From Axel John, SWR

Tim Sandrock walks through the 3500 square meter hall of his event company. He points to huge loudspeakers, lighting systems or projectors that are piled up to the ceiling. “That would normally all be used outside in mid-June, at theater events, village festivals or music concerts”says Sandrock. “The camp could be swept through completely. We haven’t moved the technology for at least 15 months.”

He is one of the two managing directors of Flo-Service GmbH in Mainz. The company has 25 employees and six trainees. The company organizes up to 1500 events per year with a focus on the Rhine-Main area. “From the disco ball for the teenage party to the stage technology for a Sting concert, we cover everything”says Sandrock. Although the economy is taking off again across the country, Flo-Service still has few orders at major events due to the pandemic requirements. Most recently, among other things, the Oktoberfest was canceled. This sends a devastating signal to the industry.

Hope for further help

“We are broadly positioned and have thus been able to limit losses. The Federal Employment Agency helped us a lot through short-time work with around 31,000 euros per month. The bridging aids were also extremely important to us last year”says Sandrock. “However, our company has fixed costs of 150,000 euros every month.”

“I very much hope for further government aid” – Flo Service Managing Director Tim Sandrock. Image: Axel John, SWR

Flo-Service mainly draws on its operating reserves before Corona. In addition, there was a tough austerity course. Overall, sales have decreased by a good third. This means that Sandrock is still in a brilliant position in the industry. Other companies make a minus of 90 percent or are no longer there. “In the long run, of course, you can’t finance a company like ours. I therefore very much hope for further state aid”, he says. Cultural events have a pre-planning of three to nine months. In the uncertain Corona time, that’s half an eternity. “I am optimistic that the worst is behind us. But we still need support for a transition period. Otherwise all previous payments would be pointless”, says Sandrock.

Economics ministers discuss further aid

The federal and state economics ministers meet today in Düsseldorf – for the first time in attendance. One question is: what will happen next with the support for the economy? The bridging allowance and short-time work allowance were only recently extended to the end of September and even expanded. Now it is about a renewed extension until the end of the year.

The host of the meeting, the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Economic Affairs Andreas Pinkwart from the FDP, has already made a decision: “I am in favor of the aid being extended beyond the end of September until the end of the year”, he says. “Sectors such as the trade fair and event industry or the showmen will continue to suffer from a drop in sales in the fall. The Federal Ministry of Economics also sees it that way. I would also like to advocate this course at the federal government.”

NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Pinkwart is campaigning for a further extension of the corona aid. Image: dpa

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Economic Affairs also refers to legal constraints. “Unfortunately, to fight the pandemic, we had to restrict the freedom of trade. That is why the bridging aid is not subsidy, but compensation. Parts of the economy are only now gradually returning to normal”says Pinkwart. Now it is a matter of creating transitions for the companies concerned.

Share of businesses in need is falling

More and more companies seem to manage this transition. According to a study by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), only eight percent of all companies saw their existence threatened by May. In April this value was still 13 percent. “The incidence values ​​are easing in many places, and at the same time private-sector companies in Germany are looking more optimistically into the future, “says IAB Director Bernd Fitzenberger. So far, the Federal Ministry of Economics has approved a total of more than 105 billion euros for the economy during the crisis. In addition, there is short-time work allowance of around 32.3 billion euros.

Criticism from economists

More and more economists are critical of the ongoing political assistance. Lars Feld is one of them. The 54-year-old economist is a proven regulatory politician, i.e. oriented towards the principles of market and competition. “The extension until the end of September is fine. But I do not believe in a renewed extension”, he says. “The upswing is in full swing. According to the Bundesbank, we will have growth of 3.7 percent in Germany this year. Next year it should be five percent. The need for an expansive fiscal policy that continues to be so strong is therefore decreasing.”

In addition, there are always deadweight effects at companies that find themselves in a difficult situation without this having anything to do with Corona. However, Feld limits his analysis with a view to the event industry. “If the state restricts certain companies in certain sectors of the constitutionally granted freedom of trade, then this must be compensated. But we will have to live with Corona in the long term. Therefore, I think it is questionable whether the events industry can continue as it did before the pandemic.”

Digital structural change also in the event area

Tim Sandrock in Mainz knows that too. In order to survive economically, Flo-Service had already digitized itself during the lockdown. “We have brought our analog offers into the digital space. Instead of a meeting with a projector, screen or interpreting service, we now also offer complete software solutions”says Sandrock. Corona has massively accelerated development. “There will be a growing digital share at events of all kinds in the future.”

In order not to complicate this structural change, Sandrock is also in favor of a foreseeable phase out of the aid. For the next few months, however, the company needs government aid again. If politicians decide in favor of renewed extension, Sandrock will submit an application. “But I am sure that the industry will recover quickly after Corona. I’m also counting on a catch-up effect. Man is a sociable being. That’s why we’ll be back.”

Business support Only a few corona aid accessed

Status: 06/17/2021 10:08 a.m.

The federal government had made available 150 billion euros for companies as corona aid in grant programs – according to the Ifo Institute, just 24 percent of this was accessed. Companies in Germany have so far called on much less Corona aid than planned by the federal government. “Only a fraction of the budgeted aid was paid out to the companies affected by the corona pandemic,” said Selina Schulze-Spüntrup, researcher at the Ifo Institute. “That also has to do with the fact that some of the eligibility requirements were formulated quite strictly to rule out abuse.” According to the information, the federal government provided 150 billion euros in grant programs. Of this, 24 percent have so far been accessed. For emergency aid from the federal government, 50 billion euros were estimated, according to Ifo, less than a third of it was used.

Bridging aids were also not exhausted

In the case of the subsequent bridging aid, too, the money paid out was well below the budgeted amount: According to economic researchers, it was 6 percent for bridging aid I, around 10 percent for bridging aid II, and a good 28 percent for bridging aid III.

56 percent of the available funds were paid out of the November aid, 33 percent of the December aid. The state-owned KfW Bank has so far pledged 46 billion euros from its special program.

Promotion fund planned New women’s network for start-ups

As of: 06/17/2021 1:58 p.m.

Women are a rarity in the boardrooms of young companies. As a study shows, this is also due to the corporate culture. A new network wants to change that. According to a study, women rarely make it to the top of listed start-ups. “The young companies repeat the design flaws of the previous generation: They grow without women,” said Wiebke Ankersen and Christian Berg, heads of the non-profit AllBright Foundation. The German-Swedish organization advocates more women and diversity in management positions. The proportion of women on the executive floor at the ten companies that were founded in the past 15 years and are represented in the DAX index family is 5.4 percent. For the 160 companies in the DAX, MDAX and SDAX, the average is 12.6 percent.

Men dominate

According to the study, the top young companies, with the exception of the online furniture retailer Home24 and the pharmaceutical company Medios, are almost exclusively made up of men. “The founders often surround themselves with people who are very similar to them and hold on to them,” says the study.

Delivery Hero is the only company in the top stock exchange league that still specifies the “target size zero”. This means that the DAX company has so far been planning the board of directors without women. The company declares that the composition of the management board has proven itself. “Of course, this does not rule out an increase in the proportion of women at this management level.”

Politicians decide on new quotas

A draft law recently passed by the Bundestag stipulates that in future at least one woman must sit on the board in listed and codetermine companies with more than 2000 employees and more than three board members. This must be taken into account when filling new posts.

According to the draft law, other companies that do not fall under the requirement should justify in future if they plan to run the board without women. If this does not happen, fines are to be threatened.

New investment network for start-ups

In order to support women in setting up companies, around 60 managers from large corporations and politicians have set up a network of women supporters. With their association encourageventures they want to accompany “female founders from the founding idea to the IPO” if at least one woman belongs to the founding team, explains initiator Ina Schlie.

For this purpose, the establishment of an “all-female growth fund” worth 100 to 200 million euros is planned, from which the support will be provided. Startups run by women have a harder time raising capital. “According to the Female Founders Monitor 2020, only five percent of the female founders’ teams have already received one million euros or more in external capital,” said Alexa Gorman from the software company SAP. “In the case of the founding teams, on the other hand, it is around 30 percent.” In addition to Schlie and Gorman, the network includes, among others, the former Minister of Economic Affairs Brigitte Zypries, the head of freight transport at Deutsche Bahn, Sigrid Nikutta, and Douglas boss Tina Müller

German companies and Brexit “A big disappointment”

Status: 16.06.2021 5:08 p.m.

New customs controls, more bureaucracy, additional costs: Brexit is causing many German companies to consider whether they can still maintain locations in Great Britain. By Aylin Dülger, tagesschau.de Little of what Heller makes stays in England. The company from Nürtingen near Stuttgart operates worldwide. The mechanical engineering company exports components that are installed in machines for milling engine and metal parts at the UK site of Redditch in the county of Worcestershire. From there they reach end customers in many different industries. Both export and import are part of day-to-day business. Brexit will put this business to the test. “For a long time we clung to the illusion that in the end a solution based on partnership would emerge,” says Heller boss Klaus Winkler. Instead, the Brexit agreements created a very bureaucratic construct.

05/31/2021

The truck takes eight days instead of three

Like many of the small and medium-sized companies that form the backbone of the export-oriented German economy, Heller is now struggling with additional customs controls and bureaucracy. “We have a completely different form war,” says Winkler. “A truck that we send from Nürtingen to England now takes between eight and ten days. We used to do it in three days.”

Klaus Winkler, Head of the Heller Group: “Long indulged in an illusion” The Chamber of Commerce and Industry also moved in April British Chamber of Commerce in Germany a first sobering Brexit balance sheet . Two thirds of the companies surveyed assessed the effects of the new foreign trade rules with Great Britain more negatively than expected at the beginning of the year. More than three quarters of all respondents reported difficulties in moving goods. And almost every fifth company has therefore decided to completely stop foreign trade with the island.

05/12/2021

Fear of withdrawal

For Heller, completely forgoing foreign trade with Great Britain is a horror scenario that the company is trying to avert. Business has been slowed down enormously, said Winkler. “We had to convey to our colleagues in Great Britain in a credible manner that we do not intend to question the location in Redditch, but rather to preserve it if it can somehow be done.” In order not to jeopardize its competitiveness, the special machine manufacturer will have to constantly reassess the situation in the near future. Because if the products become too expensive, customers threaten to turn to competitors – the location could no longer be held.

04/28/2021

Smaller companies more affected

Smaller companies in particular suffered from the additional administrative effort, according to Ulrich Hoppe, head of the German-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK) in London. That makes it no longer economically viable for many to serve the British market. “The medium-sized and large companies that are active in the United Kingdom are of course also struggling with the additional effort, but they can cushion it much better,” explains Hoppe. Despite the additional costs, the British market will remain very important due to its strategic importance. In 2020, Germany exported goods worth 66.85 billion euros to Great Britain. That was around 5.5 percent of total exports. This made the United Kingdom the fifth most important export market for the Federal Republic of Germany. So that German companies do not leave the island in the future, Heller boss Winkler would like to make goods traffic easier . He is hoping for less bureaucracy on the part of the English authorities, so that the additional effort can be reduced to a more bearable level. For the time being, however, disillusionment dominates. Even if Heller wants to stick to its British location: “Overall, Brexit is a big disappointment for us.”

China’s anti-sanctions law Another setback for relationships

Status: 16.06.2021 10:30 a.m.

With the anti-sanctions law, China has created an instrument against foreign companies. Anyone who adheres to EU or US penalties against Beijing faces retribution. The industry is unsettled. From Steffen Wurzel, ARD studio Shanghai Many foreign business representatives see the new anti-sanctions law as a further setback for the relationship between Europe and China. As usual, the European Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying association of foreign companies in the People’s Republic, spoke up. The law continues to politicize dealings with China, so the criticism. “Basically, it ranges from uncertainty to shock,” said Chamber President Jörg Wuttke, describing the reactions of the member companies.

“Sovereignty inviolable”

With the new anti-sanctions law, the communist leadership in Beijing can punish foreign companies in the future; For example, if these sanctions follow, for example, the EU or the USA, which are directed against human rights violations in China. This could affect the textile industry, for example: If the EU should decide to sanction cotton companies from the Xinjiang region because there are strong indications of forced labor there, then China’s leadership could say the other way around to foreign textile and sporting goods manufacturers: You are only allowed to continue in China Do business if you specifically use Xinjiang cotton.

07/30/2020

“With this law, China shows that the sovereignty, the dignity, the core interests and the development interests of the People’s Republic are inviolable”, the constitutional lawyer Li Qingming of the State Chinese Academy for Social Studies defended the measure on the television channel CCTV. The state defends all of this. “We are resolutely opposed to the hegemonic striving and power politics of the West.”

Legal security for the government

Foreign observers in China criticized the fact that the law leaves much in the dark. The whole thing is “nebulous,” said a European diplomat ARD . It is clear, however, that the anti-sanctions law will not change much in the matter. Because the People’s Republic is not a constitutional state, and even without a legal basis, the communist leadership has repeatedly punished foreign companies and even entire states in the past. With the new law, however, the government can now deal with uncomfortable foreign actors in a supposedly legally secure manner.

March 22, 2021

“Text kept very vague”

The President of the European Chamber of Commerce, Wuttke, called the law a new “toolkit” for the government. “You can worry when you see the text. The text is – typically Chinese – very vague. So you could interpret everything into it,” he said. The draft law, which the members only saw as a finished law, includes very large circles. Even family members and subcontractors could be punished.

02.12.2020

The passing of the anti-sanctions law has created a lot of uncertainty among foreign companies in China. But there are also other voices. The head of a German middle class center in Kunshan near Shanghai said the ARD : Many German companies with which he has to do take note of such news calmly. According to the motto: The decisions of the state leadership in Beijing cannot be changed anyway.

2021-06-15 17:54

[Global Network Comprehensive Reporting Reporter Zhao Youping]Hong Kong’s “Singdao.com” and “Dongwang” news. Next Magazine, a subsidiary of Next Media, founded by Li Zhiying, published the birth certificate of Hong Kong artist Cecilia Cheung’s third son the previous year. Editor-in-Chief Mak Jingqing, reporter Zheng Jing and the two companies were charged with violating the “Privacy Ordinance.” When the case was arraigned at the West Kowloon Court in Hong Kong today (15th), Next Media, Next Weekly and Mai Jingqing pleaded guilty and were fined 40,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately RMB 32,988) each, which is a total of 120,000 Hong Kong dollar (approximately RMB 98,964). As for the “Next Weekly” reporter Zheng Jing in the same case, she was allowed to sign conservative behaviors for HK$2,000 (people who are required to sign conservative behaviors must pledge through guarantees to maintain good behavior and abide by the law) for 12 months, and the charge was dropped.

Hong Kong’s “East Net” stated that after Cecilia Cheung gave birth to his third son in 2018, who the father of the child was has attracted media attention. “Next Magazine” obtained the birth certificate of Cecilia Cheung’s young son through an immigration search in 2019, and disclosed the certificate in the report without the consent of the person involved, suspected of violating the “Privacy Ordinance.” Cecilia Cheung later complained that the police had issued a ticket to “Next Magazine” editor-in-chief Mai Jingqing, a reporter involved in the data collection, Zheng Jing, and two companies, saying that they were suspected of having committed “disclosure of data obtained without the consent of the data user.” The crime of personal data” and the “crime of assisting and instigating the disclosure of personal data obtained without the consent of the data user”.

According to Hong Kong’s “Sing Tao” report, the four defendants are Next Media Co., Ltd., Element 5 Digital Limited, the publisher of Next Magazine, Mak Jingqing, the editor-in-chief of Next Week, and Zheng Jing, the reporter. Judge Xu Qiwei said in the case today that this case involves a child’s birth registration information, and no one should arbitrarily disclose it. The victim is a female artist. All life will arouse the interest of movie fans, but there will be no exceptions to the protection of privacy by public figures. , The media has the responsibility and should respect others and protect privacy.

The judge considered that the defendants had pleaded guilty and admitted that they were not sufficiently sensitive to the regulations. They had instructed employees to handle similar incidents carefully in the future, and would publish an apology. They ordered a fine of 40,000 Hong Kong dollars for each of the three defendants, including Mai Jingqing, or a total of 120,000 Hong Kong dollars.

“Dongwang” stated that “Next Magazine” published an apology on its website this afternoon, acknowledging that it had published a copy of the birth registration record belonging to Cecilia Cheung’s relatives, thus infringing on Zhang’s personal privacy and causing trouble to her. “Next Magazine” apologized to Cecilia Cheung for this matter, and stated that it had retracted and deleted relevant reports as early as last year, and would not publish relevant information in the future.

Hong Kong’s “East Net” stated that after Cecilia Cheung gave birth to his third son in 2018, who the father of the child was has attracted media attention. “Next Magazine” obtained the birth certificate of Cecilia Cheung’s young son through an immigration search in 2019, and disclosed the certificate in the report without the consent of the person involved, suspected of violating the “Privacy Ordinance.” Cecilia Cheung later complained that the police had issued a ticket to “Next Magazine” editor-in-chief Mai Jingqing, a reporter involved in the data collection, Zheng Jing, and two companies, saying that they were suspected of having committed “disclosure of data obtained without the consent of the data user.” The crime of personal data” and the “crime of assisting and instigating the disclosure of personal data obtained without the consent of the data user”.

According to Hong Kong’s “Sing Tao” report, the four defendants are Next Media Co., Ltd., Element 5 Digital Limited, the publisher of Next Magazine, Mak Jingqing, the editor-in-chief of Next Week, and Zheng Jing, the reporter. Judge Xu Qiwei said in the case today that this case involves a child’s birth registration information, and no one should arbitrarily disclose it. The victim is a female artist. All life will arouse the interest of movie fans, but there will be no exceptions to the protection of privacy by public figures. , The media has the responsibility and should respect others and protect privacy.

The judge considered that the defendants had pleaded guilty and admitted that they were not sufficiently sensitive to the regulations. They had instructed employees to handle similar incidents carefully in the future, and would publish an apology. They ordered a fine of 40,000 Hong Kong dollars for each of the three defendants, including Mai Jingqing, or a total of 120,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Produced | Sohu Think Tank

Edit | Xu Xiaoqi

On May 23, the live broadcast of “Value Symbiosis: Organizational Management in the Digital Era” jointly held by People’s Posts and Telecommunications Press and the BiMBA Business School of Peking University National Development Institute was held online. Chen Chunhua, Dean of BiMBA Business School of Peking University National Development Research Institute, delivered a speech at the meeting.

How does an organization produce high performance? Chen Chunhua believes, Individual development must match the speed of organizational development. Sometimes in an organization, some individuals may feel that the development is not sufficient. The reason is that the speed of individual development exceeds that of the organization. Sometimes, some organizations will eliminate many individuals because the speed of organizational development exceeds the speed of individual development.

“According to this logic, the most important requirement for individuals in the entire organization is how to collaborate with the organization. Because you can’t succeed, you must use the organizational platform. It is very important to discuss the concept of collaboration between individuals and organizations.” Chen Chunhua said.

She pointed out that the individual factors that cooperate with the organization mainly depend on personality, ability, and cognition. There is talent in personality, but the influence of environment on the formation of personality is far greater than talent.

Chen Chunhua analyzed, New individuals and strong individuals who can collaborate with the organization, have a high sense of self-efficacy . People with a high sense of self-efficacy understand their own interests and know the key factors that affect them. He will invest a lot in his field of interest. It must be possible to eliminate any external factors and find ways to achieve expectations.

She also said, The competence of a strong individual can be expanded and has the characteristics of being able to achieve high-performance work. One of the greatest help brought by digitization is to enable individuals to have stronger capabilities. Digitization allows individuals to have a lot of information and a lot of digital tools, which can help solve many problems. Digitalization can also reorganize the cost and efficiency of many things. Young people with digital abilities have done many things beyond everyone’s imagination.

In Chen Chunhua’s view, today’s new individuals, their expectations and psychological contract with others are dominated by personal expectations. In the past, the relationship with the organization was dominated by the organization. But today’s strong individuals and new individuals are not like this, they are dominated by individual expectations. So he cares more about the organization’s ability to commit, rather than his own ability to commit to the organization.

“ Therefore, in the relationship between individuals and organizations, employee loyalty becomes employee satisfaction and finally employee happiness . “Chen Chunhua said.

Industry collects billions Record sums for biotech companies

Status: 15.06.2021 10:46 a.m.

The successes of biotech companies such as BioNTech attract investors: The industry has a new financial record in Germany. But the exuberance could be followed by disillusionment. By Thomas Spinnler, tagesschau.de The entire biotech industry is currently benefiting greatly from the attention generated by the rapid and successful development of corona vaccines. The pandemic has given a boost to a sector that is already in the focus of many investors due to technological and medical advances in recent years. As the “Financial Times” (FT) reports, the venture capitalist Flagship Pioneering – one of the major investors in the Vaccine manufacturer Moderna – around $ 3.5 billion for a new fund. Its aim is to promote the next generation of biotech companies.

Fund tries a new model

When investing in the biotech industry, investors must calculate with particular risks. Many of the companies to invest in do not yet have a product on the market. It is uncertain whether this will ever be the case, as the path from research to a marketable product is very long and often fails.

01/06/2021

Flagship Pioneering is now trying a different way. What is special, according to “FT”, is that the fund’s goal is not the usual search for newly founded companies in which to invest. Rather, modern biotechnologies are to be developed in-house in certain segments under the umbrella of the fund. Only then are plans to set up companies as offshoots.

The profits are gushing

Unsurprisingly, financiers are on the lookout for business ideas; they smell a gigantic business. Just a look at the rapidly rising share prices of many companies in the past few months shows how convinced the market players are of a lucrative future for the sector. In fact, profits are gushing – at least for the best-known representatives who have successfully launched products. BioNTech generated a net profit of 1.1 billion euros in the first quarter of 2021. In the first quarter of 2020, the Mainz-based company had to accept a net loss of 53 million euros due to high research and development costs.

05/10/2021

The US vaccine manufacturer Moderna made in the first quarter profit – equal to a billion dollars. In the previous year, Moderna had to cope with a loss of 124 million. The turnover multiplied from eight million to 1.9 billion dollars. $ 1.7 billion of this comes from corona vaccine revenue. While Moderna shares rose by more than 200 percent in the past twelve months, BioNTech shares gained over 340 percent in the same period.

Lighthouse companies in particular benefit

In Germany, the biotech industry set a new financial record last year. As the experts from the testing and consulting company EY calculated in their Biotech Report 2021, financing in Germany reached a peak of 3.1 billion euros in 2020. A comparison with the USA shows the order of magnitude. According to EY, around $ 100 billion went into biotech financing for venture capitalists.

02/27/2021

“Covid-19 is a huge catalyst for the entire biotechnology industry,” said Alexander W. Nuyken, Head of the Life Sciences Sector in Strategy and Transactions at EY and co-author of the study. In their report, the experts at EY point out that the investments essentially relate to the flagship company BioNTech, which alone accounted for 51 percent of the financing volume in 2020. According to Nuyken, biotechnology is part of the solution to a problem that is a matter of fate for humanity. “That has come to mind.”

More help from the state?

This year it’s going on at a high pace: The “Handelsblatt” quotes from preliminary figures from the Bio Deutschland Association. Accordingly, the industry received a total of 870 million euros in capital from January to May. That is around three and a half times as much as in the same period last year. Nuyken campaigns for the state to help even more: “I hope that politicians show more will to improve framework conditions.” There is now an opportunity for the biotech scene to play a major role in this country in the long term or to play an even greater role in the future.

Hope for new products

In fact, taxpayers have already made a major contribution to making the industry so successful: Since the beginning of the pandemic, governments have allocated tens of billions to research and development on vaccines, which are now generating sales and profits for companies. However, it is uncertain whether, thanks to the many fresh billions, the supply of innovative medical products will make a leap. Nuyken warns of disappointing expectations: “If investors with no biotech experience think they can make a quick buck here, they’re wrong.” After the boom, the expert warns, disillusionment could quickly set in.

Decoding the Hong Kong stocks, the original trump card column of the Hong Kong Caihua News Agency, and financial experts gathered. After reading, remember to subscribe, comment, and like.

“The 27th Shanghai TV Festival”, “The 4th China Film and Television Capital Summit”, “Dragon Boat Festival” and many other film and television industry events followed one after another.

What is the box office record of the Dragon Boat Festival in 2021? Has the film and television industry recovered in the first quarter? After two years of trough, can the film and television industry regain the favor of capital?

The box office broke 400 million, and the Dragon Boat Festival fell

On weekends and Dragon Boat Festival, the three-day holiday has passed, and the box office data for the most important holiday schedules in the film and television industry has been released.

According to the data of Maoyan Professional Edition, as of 12:00 on June 15th, the total box office of the Dragon Boat Festival is 466 million yuan.

I don’t know, the box office of this year’s Dragon Boat Festival of 466 million yuan has shrunk significantly compared with the same period in previous years. Before the new crown epidemic, the box office of the Dragon Boat Festival in 2019 was 785 million yuan, and the box office of the Dragon Boat Festival in 2018 was 912 million yuan. This year, the box office of the Dragon Boat Festival has only recovered by half.

As for the reason for the poor box office this year, some people say that the quality and subject matter of the film, while others say that the attendance rate is not as good as before.

This year’s Dragon Boat Festival’s higher box office movies include “Beyond”, “Bed Rabbit 2: Escape Plan,” and “Tropical Once Upon a Time”, which are ranked in the top three on the schedule.

Compared with previous Dragon Boat Festival files such as “Warcraft” and “Jurassic World 2,” some film critics pointed out sharply that this year’s Dragon Boat Festival films lacked box office appeal.

The shortage of imported films is also one of the reasons for the low box office. Industrial Securities pointed out that due to the still short supply of imported films, the box office from January to May of 2021 was 25.5 billion yuan, down 6% from the same period in 2019.

In the medium and long term, as the proportion of overseas vaccines continues to increase, the supply of high-quality imported tablets is expected to gradually recover.

Of course, in the post-epidemic era, attendance is also a major factor affecting movie box office.

Although the China Film Distribution and Projection Association has increased its theater attendance to 75% since September 25, 2020.

However, due to multiple factors such as people’s fear of the epidemic, it is still difficult to fully recover the attendance rate. According to a warning from Cineworld, the world’s second largest theater operator, theater attendance will not return to the level before the new crown epidemic until 2024.

Although the Dragon Boat Festival schedule is lacking in terms of film and attendance, industry companies have increased their publicity efforts in 2021 and are preparing to regain lost ground.

For example, Huayi Brothers increased its film promotion in the first quarter of 2021, resulting in an increase in sales expenses of 185.98% compared with the same period of the previous year, and the sales expense ratio returned to the level of early 2017.

Wanda Movies has also increased its publicity efforts. In the first quarter of 2021, the company’s sales expenses were 388 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 229.94%.

After the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, there are only eleven golden films left in 2021, and the film industry faces severe challenges in returning blood.

In the first quarter, most of the companies in the industry returned to their blood and still face emotional challenges in watching movies

Although the box office of the Dragon Boat Festival was not satisfactory, after the retaliatory rebound in the box office of the Spring Festival and Qingming of 2021, the full recovery of film and television companies is just around the corner.

Judging from the performance of the first quarter of 2021, industry companies have achieved greater growth in both revenue and net profit attributable to the parent.

Wind data shows that there are 28 A-share film and television concept stocks, of which 25 have achieved year-on-year growth in revenue in the first quarter of 2021, and all have doubled.

For example, Hualu Baina’s revenue in the first quarter was approximately 216 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of nearly 13 times. ST Beiwen’s revenue was approximately 16 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12 times.

Most companies in the industry have achieved exponential growth. On the one hand, this is due to the recovery of this year’s performance, and on the other hand, it is also due to the low performance base caused by the 2020 epidemic.

In the first quarter, Wanda Films, Huace Films, and China Films had revenues of more than 1 billion yuan, which were about 4.1 billion yuan, 1.4 billion yuan, and 1.3 billion yuan, respectively. The revenue growth rate was as high as 228%, 84%, and 387%, respectively. .

While the industry leaders are regaining lost ground, there are also some individual companies that have achieved negative year-on-year revenue growth. They are Meisheng Culture, New Culture and Tangde Film and Television, respectively, about -20%, -48%, and -83%.

Tang De Film and Television, which is engaged in TV dramas, film investment, production and other businesses, has been seriously injured since 2018. Affected by the public opinion events of the heroine, the leading TV drama “Ba Qing Chuan” that it invested and produced failed to be broadcast on time, which caused a serious impact on the company’s performance. Negative Effects.

In addition, since 2018, due to the tightening of regulatory policies, the new crown epidemic and other factors, the overall prosperity of the film and television industry has declined, and the sales progress of Tangde Film and Television’s film and television drama projects has been lower than expected.

In terms of net profit, in the first quarter of 2021, most of the industry companies achieved a return to blood, and only contemporary style and sports lost about 150 million yuan, which is a large amount of loss.

Compared with the “end of the epidemic” in the first quarter of 2020, most of the industry companies’ net profits attributable to their mothers have achieved significant results. Among them, the net profit attributable to the parent company of Guangguang Media has increased by 5.73 times year-on-year, and the net profit of Huayi Brothers has also increased by 2.63 times. , Fengyuzhu, Hengdian Film and Television and other companies have more than doubled the growth rate.

Only Hualu Baina, Ciwen Media, ST Beiwen, Contemporary Style, Tangde Film and Television, and New Culture’s net profit growth rate is lower than the same period in 2020.

Although the film and television companies have gradually recovered their blood, the overall recovery situation is still severe. The film and television companies not only face re-stimulating the mood of watching movies and prompting the return of viewers, but also face the multi-faceted competition of Internet long and short videos.

Since 2021, the film and television industry has exploded twice in collective rights protection, protesting against short video platforms and other acts of editing, cutting, moving, and disseminating film and television works.

Once a certain industry has collective rights protection and protest, the expression of rights or interests (IP) is violated, and it also indicates that the industry has entered a development bottleneck period.

Compared with the crazy influx of capital into the film and television industry, is the film and television industry now abandoned by capital?

Film and television bottomed out, capital recovered

For the profit-seeking nature of capital, it is a bit too one-sided to simply say that a certain industry was abandoned by capital due to the downturn.

At the 4th China Film and Television Capital Summit just held, Huayi Brothers Vice Chairman and CEO Wang Zhonglei said that the valuation of many listed companies in the film and television industry has dropped to the lowest point, and the overall valuation of many companies is even worse than the iceberg of Internet companies. For one thing, the valuation of listed companies in the film and television industry will surely rebound in the future.

Wang Zhonglei has a more profound experience as an industry insider. Since 2020, affected by the epidemic, the film and television industry has entered the darkest moment. Whether it is film or TV series production, the valuation is lower than that of A-shares.

Specific to industry companies, for example, Huayi Brothers has a net profit loss of 1.048 billion yuan attributable to its parent in 2020, corresponding to a PE of -9.47.

Looking at the company’s valuation, it was revealed in 2018 that the “black swan” fluctuated downwards in the film and television industry, and remained at a low level under the epidemic.

Is the film and television industry really abandoned by capital?

No. The film and television industry is going out of the darkest moment and experiencing Nirvana rebirth. First of all, film and television, as a major cultural and entertainment category of the Chinese people, has huge room for development, and the market scale is gradually strengthening.

Secondly, from a policy perspective, under the epidemic, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation, and the National Film Administration jointly issued an announcement to provide tax support policies for the film industry and temporarily exempt the collection of special film funds.

At the local level, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places have successively introduced supporting policies to increase cinema subsidies to ensure the normal operation and healthy development of the film market.

It is precisely because of effective guarantees that in the first quarter of 2021, companies in the film and television industry will gradually recover, and the secondary market will begin to pick up.

Wind data shows that half of the 28 A-share film and television concept stocks have recovered. Since the beginning of the year, the share price of Zhongguang Tianze has risen about 61%, the share price of Jebsen shares has risen about 38%, and the share price of Huakai Creative has risen 37%.

On the contrary, the share price of the leading Wanda Films has fallen by 13%, Chinese films have also fallen by about 4%, and Huayi Brothers has fallen even more, by about 15%.

In the future, with the boom of the film and television industry, if the content-driven Huayi Brothers can retrieve the core password of the content, it will be sooner or later that the valuation will return.

For example, Huayi Brothers is one of the producers of the No. 1 box office movie “Beyond” in the Dragon Boat Festival this year. In addition, the company also participated in the investment in “Hello, Li Huanying” and “Mermaid 2” directed by Stephen Chow, both of which are excellent movies in recent years. works.

The box office of “Hello, Li Huanying” has exceeded 5 billion yuan, and Stephen Chow’s “Mermaid 2” is also a blockbuster that has attracted the attention of the audience.

With the return of the box office, it will be sooner or later for the film and television industry to regain the favor of capital.

Written by: Li Ying

Author: Li Ying

Edit: lala

Online optician Mister Spex wants to go public

Status: 14.06.2021 11:16 a.m.

The list of companies that want to go public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange this year is getting longer and longer. Now the online optician Mister Spex is also planning to go out onto the floor to finance its expansion course. The Berlin online optician Mister Spex needs fresh money to finance its expansion plans abroad and wants to go public on the Frankfurt stock exchange by the end of September. The company would like to sell new shares from a capital increase as well as papers from existing shareholders and raise at least 225 million euros. It is Mister Spex’s second attempt to go public. There were already plans in 2018 to finance growth with the help of an IPO. Ultimately, however, the company managed to raise the necessary money through new financing rounds from private investors, so that the IPO was canceled. The shareholders include investors such as Goldman Sachs, DN Capital, Intershop founder Stephan Schambach and StudiVZ founder Ehssan Dariani. Global Growth Capital, a subsidiary of the Internet holding company Rocket Internet, also provided a loan.

Strong increase in sales

Founder and CEO Dirk Graber is quoted as saying: “The IPO is the next logical step for us to strengthen our position as a leading, fundamentally digitally oriented European omnichannel optical brand and to support our long-term growth strategy.” In fact, since its founding at the end of 2007, Mister Spex has succeeded in taking market share from the dominant optician chains in Germany, Fielmann and Apollo, and showing that buying glasses on the Internet can work just as well as in brick-and-mortar stores. Last year, the company increased its sales disproportionately to 164 million euros (plus 18 percent), while Fielmann’s revenues fell by six percent to 1.4 billion euros.

More than 40 own branches

At the European level, revenue in the eyewear market has even fallen by 13 percent. In the first quarter of 2021, Mister Spex is also reporting “sustained momentum” with sales growth of 27 percent compared to the first quarter of 2021. In addition, Mister Spex achieved a positive operating result of seven million euros last year. Despite the strong growth on the Internet, Mister Spex has opened more and more stationary branches in recent years. The company now operates 42 branches of its own in Germany, Austria and Sweden. The managing director Mirko Caspar told the “Handelsblatt” that in the long term half of the sales should be generated in the branches. The figures showed that the combination of online shop, own stores and 400 partner opticians enabled rapid and extensive growth.

Deliveries to companies Farms are waiting for more vaccine

Status: 14.06.2021 12:44 p.m.

Company doctors have been able to vaccinate their employees for a week. But the amount of vaccine allocated is nowhere near sufficient. In the second week, fewer vaccine doses are delivered than in the first. From Jens Eberl, WDR BMW has big plans. The automobile manufacturer has set up a total of 29 vaccination lines at its locations in Germany. In Munich alone there are six vaccination lines at two locations. The company said it could do up to 2,500 vaccinations a day. This means that the entire workforce in Germany can be vaccinated within a few weeks. The problem: there isn’t enough vaccine. A little more than 5000 employees were vaccinated in the first week. The situation is similar with the consumer goods manufacturer Henkel. A vaccination center was set up in a company building in the immediate vicinity of the factory premises in Düsseldorf. Up to 1500 employees per week can be vaccinated. In the first week, however, there were only 640.

Fewer vaccine doses in the second week

“Many companies have prepared themselves really well,” says Wolfgang Panter, President of the Association of German Company and Company Doctors (VDBW). “6300 company doctors are available nationwide and have ordered vaccines.” But it is only arriving slowly. The distribution is based on the number of company doctors in the company. Last week there were 102 doses per doctor. This week it should be 84. “Originally, 804 cans per head were planned, but it was clear that this would never be the case,” said Panter. The company doctors are now relying heavily on July. Here one reckons that the vaccination turbo will be switched on. Be prepared.

FAQ 06/08/2021

High demand from the staff

At Thyssenkrupp, vaccinations are carried out every five minutes at the Essen site, on four vaccination lines, with seven doctors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Should more vaccine be delivered, vaccinations can also be carried out in the evening and on weekends and a 5th vaccination line can also be used. 50,000 people work at Currenta, which manages and operates one of the largest chemical sites. They had ordered 20,000 doses here; if these had arrived, the vaccination would be finished in two to three weeks. But only 3000 came. According to the company, the vaccination lines of Deutsche Telekom have a capacity of up to 10,000 vaccinations per week. Telekom has 89,000 employees in Germany. Due to the approval of priority group 3 by the federal states, vaccinations had already been carried out in the company. The company expects up to 30,000 employees to take advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated by company doctors. Telekom has set up 18 vaccination lines nationwide for this purpose.

06/02/2021

IT facilitates rapid processes

Many companies have also adapted their IT to vaccinate. For example, BASF has developed its own online booking system together with an IT service provider. Employees can use this to register. The navigation along the entire Impfstraße is completely digitized from check-in to check-out. The vaccination center went into operation on April 14th. Up to and including Friday, around 16,000 BASF employees had received an initial vaccination. Initially, the vaccination sequence prescribed by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate was followed and priority groups II and III were vaccinated. Since June 7, all BASF employees at the Ludwigshafen site have been able to register for a vaccination appointment. At the Vonovia real estate group, a random generator determines who receives a vaccination offer for which location based on the activity performed. First, the random number generator selects employees with direct customer contact.

Prioritization canceled in many places

In the meantime, many companies have completely removed the prioritization. The Deutsche Post says that there is no longer any personal prioritization in the sequence of vaccinations. “Through the choice of location and the allocation of appointments, we ensure that employees in the operational area have at least equal access to operational vaccination appointments,” says the company. At RWE, employees have been able to make appointments using an online tool or by telephone since last Monday. RWE does not plan to prioritize vaccinations. The President of the Association of German Company and Company Doctors has established that every company has a different approach to prioritization. From his point of view, employees who are exposed to a higher risk should still be given preference, for example field staff or fitters; People who have a lot of contacts. Of course, you can’t dictate that, says Panter.

Change due to the corona crisis How the pandemic is changing the way we work

Status: 13.06.2021 3:42 p.m.

Fewer new infections, many vaccinated people and the imminent end of the obligation to work from home: in many companies, the return to the office is foreseeable. How much of the pandemic’s day-to-day work will be retained? From Peter Sonnenberg, SWR How should one put it when a terrible event like a pandemic also brings welcome and sustainable changes with it? Covid-19 brought sickness and death, unemployment and poverty, limitations and loneliness. However, the pandemic also led to progress in the world of work that was not thought possible, which without the virus would not have been conceivable or would only have been possible much later. “Before the pandemic, I sat in the car for three hours on the days I had to go to the office,” says Paula Widmer. That is bad for them and the environment. The 28-year-old is Internal Communication Manager at Schott in Mainz, but she lives in Heidelberg, a hundred kilometers away. Even before Corona, she sometimes worked at home. So she didn’t have to set up an office there first. She could just stay at home and do the many international switching conferences with the foreign locations from there. For her, working from home is a gift, and she hopes that her employer will continue to give employees this opportunity. However, she would like to see her colleagues a little more often and would like a mix of home and in-office.

05/25/2021

Corona as an accelerator

That is exactly what the future will be, assures work researcher Jutta Rump. “Corona was the burning glass, the fire accelerator for the development towards virtual work and communication,” she says. Many business trips were unnecessary in the past. You can now see who can work from home without sacrificing productivity. And most people would like the empty sky, empty streets and trains anyway. Corona has interrupted the usual processes for many people – and also called them into question. “When things go well, changes are difficult, that’s why digitization went so slowly, our workplaces hardly changed – and we have had ten years of partying in which no one wanted to change anything,” says the professor for international personnel management and organizational development. It was only the “external pandemic factor” that showed what was different and what was better, explains Rump. But the researcher also predicts a partial return to old habits. “We won’t go from one extreme to the other, no more business trips, just online conferences, but maybe only half as much of everything. People want the positive out of both, a healthy amount of everything.”

04/28/2021

No need to work in new ways

But not all of them can or want to be part of this new world of work. “I also missed setting up a nice study,” says Daniel Brixius. “But I don’t have far to go to the office, and I have two small children at home. I’m better at flow at work.” The marketing manager was mostly with the company even during the pandemic. A hygiene situation has been created there for colleagues who prefer to work in the company, which makes this possible. His colleagues in production couldn’t stay at home either, for nothing has changed for them. He is happy if the workplace situation remains flexible in the future, but more so for his colleagues. He himself feels more comfortable in the office, especially when a few more colleagues come again. And they don’t even have to all have their fixed desks.

05/26/2021

Companies have to offer flexible forms of work

Work researcher Rump calls these hybrid models. Anyone who wants to remain fit for the future as a company must offer flexible forms of work and also communicate virtually. Work-life balance is becoming more and more important to employees. If you have nothing to offer, you have to give an applicant a good reason. That is why the sectors with a shortage of young talent and skilled workers are driving the transformation that has begun. “But the whole business world will change faster with Corona than it would have done without it,” says Rump. “Retailers are becoming online retailers, virtual business processes run much faster than analog processes, and e-commerce and artificial intelligence also intervene in logistics and production.”

Expect new elbow mentality

But not everything is great, she points out. The “we-feeling” in the teams suffers when colleagues hardly meet, and the solidarity that was felt for one another during the pandemic will give way to a new elbow mentality. Because before that the coffers were full, the markets were distributed. Now both the state pots are empty and the reserves of many companies have been used up. But now, it is said, is the time to invest in order to stay “up to date”. “I fear a stronger global distribution struggle for a smaller cake and therefore less consensus,” said the professor.

05/19/2021

“Team spirit is more likely to arise when working in the office”

Nina Moyer does not fear that for the special glass manufacturer Schott. She is responsible for the company’s global talent management and now feels, on the alleged home stretch of the pandemic, internal joy and gratitude of the employees towards the company, which is getting through the crisis well. “But I am also convinced that we shouldn’t keep everything we’ve done in the past 18 months. In my opinion, the right spirit and team spirit is more likely to come about when working together in the office.” But you have learned a lot across all departments, says the HR manager. “Today we can make meetings much more compact and effective and realize that you don’t have to fly around the globe for every meeting, a lot goes online. After the pandemic experience, we appreciate the encounter, the togetherness in the office, much more – it used to be Of course. Never before have so many colleagues asked whether the summer party will take place again this year. ”

FAQ 01/12/2021

Mix as the best model

The labor scientist Rump also says that the mix will be the best model. As practical as home office is for many, it is even physically restrictive. You look at a monitor all day and hardly move. “Most people work more effectively at home, hardly take breaks, forget which day of the week is because every day appears the same. Who can handle it?” And with it, it also answers the question of whether employees work well in the home office or just mow the lawn. “Anyone who does not work properly in the home office has shit their employer in the office beforehand and slipped away where he could.” It is important that the new world of work is created together with the employees. Surveys have shown that there is a great desire to be able to choose – between the more conventional or the new way of working.

Image source: Tuworm Creative

Recently, with the end of the college entrance examination in various places,2021The national college entrance examination came to an end.After the college entrance examination, As the choice of the candidate’s future university, major, and city, one of the important hurdles that the candidate and parents will face is to apply for it. Many people use “three-point test, seven-point report” to describe the application of the college entrance examination, which shows its importance.

However, with the implementation and advancement of the new college entrance examination policy, voluntary reporting has become more and more complicated.Many parents and test-takers have a growing demand for voluntary reporting services, which has given birth to a hot market.

In recent years, companies that provide voluntary reporting services have sprung up. Sky Eye Check data shows that Nearly 90% of the voluntary reporting related companies were established within 5 years. In 2019, the number of registrations of service-related companies voluntarily filed exceeded 330, and more than 550 related companies were added in 2020, an increase of 66.5% from the previous month. Before 2013, my country’s voluntary reporting of the annual registration number of relevant companies (all company status) was only single digits.

According to data from Tianyan Check, there are currently more than 1,500 companies in my country whose names or business scopes contain “volunteer reporting.”Subject to industrial and commercial registration, in the first May of 2021, there were nearly 320 new voluntary filing related companies, an increase of 77% year-on-year. In Hebei alone, there are more than 200 new voluntary reporting related enterprises, accounting for 77% of the total.

From the geographical distribution point of view, the implementation of the new college entrance examination in 2021 Hebei Province currently has more than 900 related companies that have volunteered to report, making it the province with the most related companies in the country, accounting for about 62% of the total. Inner Mongolia and Shandong ranked second and third.

It is understood that at present, Volunteer reporting services are mainly divided into two types: data cards selling software systems and one-to-one consultation.

Volunteer filling data cards generally rely on artificial intelligence and big data to provide students with a reference for voluntary filling schemes. According to iiMedia Consulting’s statistics, in the first half of 2021, 32.2% of the information obtained through volunteer guidance or auxiliary software was 32.2%, and the data for the same period in 2020 was 28.2%.

One-to-one consultation is aimed at the individual needs of students, and a voluntary filing planner customizes a voluntary filing plan for them.It’s worth noting that while the market is booming, Volunteer reporting of the planner’s qualifications, service pricing, and service process has yet to form industry standards. Relevant industry insiders said that the college entrance examination voluntary reporting and consulting service industry is still immature, and some institutions have extremely high prices, but they cannot really provide parents with valuable services. Therefore, candidates and parents need to make rational judgments when choosing voluntary services.

Here, the mustard pile reminds all parents and candidates to keep their eyes open when choosing voluntary reporting tools, products, and consulting services. The Ministry of Education has issued a reminder that candidates and parents are advised to be vigilant about voluntary reporting and consulting activities organized by various consulting agencies in the society. Some high-priced apps, websites or consulting agencies have problems such as irregularities and security risks.

Law for more women on boards Which companies now have to act

Status: 11.06.2021 3:55 p.m.

In future, women must be given greater consideration when filling executive board positions: the Bundestag has passed the “second management positions law”. What are the rules now? And how many companies does this affect?

What was decided?

The new minimum number of women on executive boards applies to listed companies with equal co-determination and more than 2,000 employees. In future, you must have at least one woman on the board if it has more than three members. The minimum participation only applies when a new position is filled. “An appointment of a board member in violation of this participation requirement is void,” says the law. There are stricter rules for companies with a majority shareholding by the federal government: In general, if there are more than two members of the management team, there should be at least one woman. This applies to Deutsche Bahn AG or German air traffic control, for example. In addition, the fixed minimum quota for the Supervisory Board is to apply, which is 30 percent.

interview 03/08/2011

Other listed or co-determined companies that do not fall under the requirement should in future have to justify if they plan for the board of directors without women. If this does not happen, there is a risk of fines. With the law, the reporting obligations for companies are tightened accordingly. However, the Federal Council still has to approve the law.

How many women sit on company boards?

More than half of the large listed companies in Germany have no women on their boards, as a study by the Women in Supervisory Boards Initiative (FidAR) shows. The 160 groups in the stock market indices DAX, MDAX and SDAX as well as the 26 companies listed on the stock exchange with equal co-determination (as of March 22nd) were evaluated.

background 02/17/2011

Accordingly, in 103 of 186 corporations examined, not a single woman sits in the boardroom. At the same time, the average proportion of women on executive boards rose to 13 percent compared to the previous year, which corresponds to a plus of 2.3 percent. In the 200 companies with the highest turnover in Germany, the proportion of women on executive boards is 11.5 percent, as a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) shows. In the past year, the proportion of women on supervisory boards in the currently 106 companies that are subject to the mandatory women’s quota was an average of 35.9 percent.

Which companies need to improve?

According to the FidAR study, the number of companies that would be affected by the law passed today is 66. Of these, 25 had no women on the board of directors as of the reporting date. This also applies to the engine manufacturer MTU and HeidelbergCement, two companies from the DAX. The situation will soon change at the building materials company. At the end of May, HeidelbergCement announced that Nicola Kimm will take over the newly created position of Chief Sustainability Officer from September 1st. She is then responsible for the issues of sustainability and new technologies.

05/28/2021

The course has also been set at MTU: The company has formulated the goal of a women’s quota on the Executive Board of 25 percent by 2022. The Executive Board is currently made up of four men. According to the study, Knorr-Bremse was also one of the companies that would have to make improvements. That has now happened: Claudia Mayfeld has been in charge of the newly created Executive Board department for Integrity and Law since May 1, 2021. According to the authors of the study, Adidas, Bayer, Eon, Infineon, Fielmann and Südzucker have each appointed women to their boards since the bill was announced.

The Greens and the Economy relationship status complicated

Status: 11.06.2021 5:19 p.m.

For a long time eco-party and industry could not go together. In the meantime, both sides have grown closer. But the relationship remains difficult: many companies are critical of the election manifesto. By Björn Dake, ARD capital studio Leuna Chemical Park in Saxony-Anhalt. Robert Habeck is standing on a construction site wearing a white hard hat. A new system for epoxy resin is being built here – including for wind turbine rotor blades. The Green boss listens with interest and keeps asking questions. As a farewell, the boss of the chemical park operator Infraleuna, Christof Günther, gives him a book and says: “We would of course be happy if you might honor us again in a different role.” The chemical industry is looking for contact with the Greens. Who knows if they won’t be in the federal government in a few months and Habeck will be a minister?

End of an enmity

Habeck is still party leader of the Greens alongside Annalena Baerbock. And as such, he seeks proximity to industry: “Chemistry has to become climate-neutral. The best way to do that is to talk to chemistry.” When visiting the election campaign in Leuna, there was no sign of fear of contact. Not anymore, as Habeck emphasizes: “The old hostility, greens and chemistry, where it used to be said: Close everything so that the environment is clean – it has long since become a constructive, creative, searching relationship with one another.”

Lobbyists are lining up

Dieter Janecek is responsible for this relationship. He is the industrial policy spokesman for the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag. As the MP from Munich reports, the lobbyists are standing in line with him. Almost 50 percent of the election campaign dates are company visits. Many companies also wanted to show what problems they have with the energy transition. According to Janecek, the relationship is not free of tension. For example, the will be discussed The amount of the CO2 price and the question of what the state and what the market regulates. However, he sees the networking between the Greens and business at a high point. Ex-Siemens boss Joe Kaeser will speak at the federal delegates’ conference on the weekend. So are the bosses campaigning for the Green Chancellor candidate Baerbock?

Industry is critical of the election program

Joachim Lang from the Federation of German Industries does not want to make an election recommendation. He also says that relations with the Greens have improved. According to him, the party leadership has begun to be interested in the economy. He is all the more astonished by the Greens’ party program. The BDI chief executive calls it “a tribute to the left party base”. Lang accuses the Greens of wanting to replace the social market economy with state control and redistribution. He means, for example, rent ceilings, a higher top tax rate and a wealth tax.

Economy demands faster climate decisions

The industry association thinks it is good that the Greens want to push investments. In the draft of the election manifesto, on which the Greens delegates will vote on the weekend, there is talk of investments amounting to 50 billion euros per year. The money is to be spent on fast internet, rail expansion, research and urban development. This is to be financed primarily through loans. Regardless of who will rule after the federal election – the industry wants planning security in climate policy. Lang says: “Every new federal government will have to find clear, new decision-making paths because we no longer have the time for the previous decision-making paths.”

Weak economic literacy in state elections

Back in Saxony-Anhalt. Habeck is campaigning in the beer garden on the Peißnitzinsel in Halle. He stands in the shade of some trees and reports on his visit to Leuna. His conclusion: The contrast between climate protection and the economy has always been “stupid”. Climate protection is economic policy and location policy. There is applause from around 100 listeners. But in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt last Sunday, the Greens won only a few votes. The election analysis shows that the economy and jobs remain weak points for the party. The pollsters of Infratest dimap measure the lowest competence values ​​here.

Controversial project passed Bundestag decides Supply Chain Act

Status: 11.06.2021 11:58 a.m.

In the future, large German companies will have to pay more attention to compliance with human rights and environmental standards by their suppliers – otherwise they face fines. The opposition criticized the Bundestag resolution. The Bundestag has passed the Supply Chain Act, which makes large companies more responsible than before for conditions at their global suppliers. 412 MPs voted for the law, 159 voted against it and 59 abstained. During the final deliberations in parliament, the Greens announced that they would vote with the government factions of the CDU / CSU and SPD. The FDP and AfD spoke out against it, the left wanted to abstain. The controversial project had been wrestled for a long time.

There is a risk of fines of two percent of sales

From 2023, large companies in Germany will be obliged to take action against human rights violations and environmental violations at their suppliers. Failure to do so can result in fines of up to two percent of annual sales. It initially applies to corporations with more than 3000 employees. According to the coalition, there are more than 925 companies. From 2024, companies with more than 1000 employees are also to be included, which would be around 4800 companies.

“Children belong in schools and not in mines”

Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) said that politics must take action against child labor. “Children belong in schools and not in mines,” he said. Around 160 million children are currently working around the world, half of them in particularly dangerous conditions. That is why we need clear standards.

For Development Aid Minister Müller it is “the most important law for more justice between rich and poor”. Image: dpa Development Aid Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) said the law was “certainly the most important law for more justice between rich and poor”. He emphasized that it came about against strong lobby pressure. In the interests of business, the Union had enforced that there is no additional civil liability for companies. Corporations would have legal and planning security, so representatives of the Union parliamentary group.

AfD: Law harms German economy

The FDP and AfD, however, accused the regulation of harming the German economy. The AfD criticized that competitors of German companies were the winners of the law. Greens and leftists welcomed the law as a first step, but criticized it as inadequate. The left argued that because there was no civil liability, the law was too weak and made too few companies accountable.

On May 24, Huawei issued the “Statement Regarding Huawei Not Building Cars” stating that the company spokesperson has repeatedly clarified the false rumors about Huawei building cars. Today, we reiterate that Huawei does not build cars. This long-term strategy was clear in 2018, and nothing has changed. Huawei also stated that it will not participate in investing in any car companies, and BAIC (600166), Changan (000625) and Guangzhou Automobile Group (601238) will only serve as strategic partners and use Huawei’s solutions to help them create future-oriented car. The cooperation with Jinconcelis is also to solve the current survival problem of Huawei authorized mobile phone retail stores. On the 24th, affected by the “Huawei does not build cars” statement, Huawei’s automotive concept stocks fell across the board. Changan Automobile and BAIC Blue Valley fell by the limit. Xiaokang shares (601127.SH) plummeted by more than six points, and Guangzhou Automobile Group fell by as much as six points. 4.32%. Huawei denies building cars again In the “Statement on Huawei Not Building Cars,” Huawei said: We believe that what the industry needs is not Huawei brand cars, but Huawei’s accumulated ICT technology capabilities over 30 years to help automakers build future-oriented cars. , That is, to provide car companies with intelligent networked auto parts based on Huawei’s ICT capabilities. So far, we have not invested in any car companies. In the future, it will not invest in any auto companies, nor will it hold or participate in shares. In the future, all discussions that Huawei builds cars or participates in the auto manufacturing industry are rumours and don’t be credulous. We have chosen BAIC, Changan and Guangzhou Automobile as our strategic partners to support them in building their respective sub-brands. Cars that use Huawei’s autonomous driving solution can only use the HI logo with Huawei’s authorization, which represents Huawei Inside. Regarding the cooperation between Huawei and Jincon Sailus, a subsidiary of Chongqing Xiaokang Group, Huawei is a supplier of electric components for Celes SF5 and HiCar cockpit components. At the same time, in order to solve the problem of survival of Huawei authorized mobile phone retail stores in the situation where Huawei’s mobile phones are greatly reduced, Huawei is supporting some retail stores to sell this car, and retail stores can obtain corresponding benefits. It can be seen from Huawei’s statement that Huawei’s positioning of itself has not changed, and that it is a provider of automotive intelligent network components. Huawei will not directly enter the vehicle manufacturing industry, and rumors about “Huawei making cars” in the market are all false. Huawei said that it can help car companies build good cars. Of course, Huawei has the strength to fulfill its promises. Huawei has launched a comprehensive layout around the three core areas of “smart driving, smart cabin, and three-electricity”. On April 18, at the Huawei HI new product launch conference, Wang Jun, President of Huawei Smart Car Solutions BU, said that Huawei will release five new products, covering smart cockpits, computing platforms, radars, autonomous driving open platforms and thermal management systems. “From the perspective of business portfolio and technical solutions, Huawei’s full-stack self-developed almost all core businesses of smart cars, including hardware and software. Tesla’s advantage is the massive trip data of global users, Baidu’s advantage is algorithms, and Huawei’s However, the advantages of the company are all-round, and it can open up the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. This kind of strength is not possessed by new car-building forces or cross-border car-building technology companies.” Industry insiders analyzed and said to reporters. “Catch up” with Huawei’s car companies Although Huawei has always stated that it will not build cars, rumors about Huawei building cars in the market have been uninterrupted. It was reported on March 9 that Huawei and GAC Group’s new energy vehicle company GAC Aian had begun to jointly develop the next generation of smart electric vehicles. Both parties invested in R&D teams of more than 100 people. After the news was released, on the same day, GAC Group’s AH shares soared collectively, with A shares rising 6.39% and H shares rising 4.26%. At the end of April, there was news that Huawei was negotiating with Xiaokang shares to acquire a controlling stake in Chongqing Jinkang New Energy Automobile, in order to produce smart cars with the Huawei brand. Subsequently, Shen Wei, the secretary of the board of Xiaokang shares, said that the cooperation with Huawei was only in business, and he clearly denied that Huawei will control or participate in Jinkang. And Huawei also said that “there is no such thing.” But even denying it will not affect the performance of Xiaokang shares in the capital market. The share price of Xiaokang shares has risen from around 23 yuan in early April to 66.54 yuan on May 18, which has soared nearly three times. Since the new energy vehicle Cyrus SF5 under Xiaokang shares entered the Huawei Mall on April 19, only one week, the order of Cyrus SF5 reached 6,000. In sharp contrast, the sales volume of SF5 in 2020 is only 732 units. SF5’s weekly sales volume is eight times that of last year’s full-year orders. On the eve of the Shanghai Auto Show on April 17, Huawei and BAIC New Energy Jihu released the first smart car jointly created-Alpha S, officially called the “global new benchmark for autonomous driving.” Since then, BAIC Blue Valley’s share price has risen from about 12 yuan in mid-April to a peak of more than 19 yuan. At the Shanghai Auto Show on April 20, Changan Automobile’s chairman Zhu Huarong revealed that he has teamed up with CATL and Huawei to create a smart electric networked vehicle platform (ie CHN). The plan for high-end smart electric vehicles is on track, and a new high-end brand name is about to come. Announced. On May 20, Changan Automobile issued an announcement to formally rename its holding subsidiary Changan Weilai New Energy Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. to Avita Technology Co., Ltd., and jointly create autonomous and controllable intelligent electric vehicles with Changan Automobile, Huawei and CATL The connected car platform (CHN) creates a rich series of smart car products. On May 21, the share price of Changan Automobile rose 8.46% to close at 25 yuan per share. In the past 40 trading days, the share price of Changan Automobile rose 76%. Although in this process, Huawei has not formally stated its position to build cars, news about Huawei’s participation in car building has been spread out one after another, which has continuously aroused the enthusiasm of the market. As long as car companies have a relationship with Huawei, the market will definitely buy it, and it will have the most direct manifestation in the stock price. And this time Huawei completely denies building a car, which can be regarded as breaking the market’s thinking about Huawei building a car. Huawei’s 2020 annual report shows that its growth has slowed sharply, with annual revenue of 891.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of only 3.8%. In the previous three years, Huawei has achieved a year-on-year growth of about 19%. On April 28, Huawei announced its operating results for the first quarter of 2021. Due to the sales of Honor and the decline in mobile phone sales, operating income fell 16.9% year-on-year to 150.57 billion yuan. Huawei’s overall revenue is expected to face greater pressure in 2021. “The automotive business may be the focus of Huawei’s efforts in the next few years. Huawei needs to find new profit growth points. At the moment when smart cars are in the air, with Huawei’s technical strength, they choose to help automakers build good cars instead of their own. It is undoubtedly a safe and wise choice to build a car in person.” said the industry insider. Editor: Zhai Yanan Editor: Wang Dayong

From the perspective of subdivided stocks, the gains are even more amazing. Pull the timeline to look at the gains. Stocks that have doubled are everywhere. Three leading leaders: ST Shede (willing to wine), ST Zotye, and ST Rock.

And the wine industry is the leader of the ST sector’s surge. Since September last year, the company’s cumulative increase has exceeded 6 times, corresponding to a total market value of more than 70 billion.

The logic of capital speculation in the wine industry lies in two points: one is that it did not rise because the major shareholder was bad, and the valuation of the stock price plummeted after ST was underestimated. The adjustment strategy of the company’s management made the company’s performance start again, and it took off some time ago.

According to the first quarter report of 2021, the company’s operating income for the first quarter of 2021 was 1.028 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 154.21%; net profit was 302 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1031.19%. The 2020 annual report shows that the company achieved revenue of 2.704 billion yuan in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 2.02%; net profit was 581.1 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.42%.

Another point is that the liquor sector continued to be sought after by funds in the second half of last year, which gave the willingness to the wine industry a good stock price environment. After all, the business model of liquor is the top class in the A-share consumer track field, enjoying a high valuation premium and institutional grouping. trend.

Therefore, under the leadership of the willing wine industry this year, the ST sector has set off a big market. The main logic is to focus on low valuations. After the bubble of group stocks is superimposed, some funds are looking for low valuations in other sectors to speculate. .

Moreover, from the recent institutional survey actions, last week, according to data, a number of ST companies received institutional research, including *ST Huaying, *ST Kodi, *ST Lion, *ST Zhongfu, ST Six companies, Senyuan and ST Xintong.

These companies focus on new energy, consumption and technology. From the perspective of ST Mengshi, one company mainly focuses on R&D, production and sales of various types of batteries. From 2017 to 2020, the net profit of *ST Mengshi is -1.39 respectively. 100 million yuan, 2.777 billion yuan, 152 million yuan, and 1.814 billion yuan. Only in 2019 due to debt restructuring exempted debt to achieve profitability, the company abbreviation was also changed from “ST Lion” to “ST Lion”.

However, since its audited net assets attributable to shareholders of listed companies at the end of the 2020 period are negative, on April 30 this year, the company once again “wears stars and hats.”

It is worth noting that the asset restructuring plan disclosed by *ST Lions in 2018 has not been completed until today, and there is still uncertainty about whether it can be successfully completed. *ST Kedi introduced that the reorganization of major shareholders is proceeding in an orderly manner; *ST Zhongfu stated that in the first quarter of 2021, due to the continuous rise in aluminum prices and the commissioning of the Guangyuan electrolytic aluminum project, the profit of the electrolytic aluminum business increased; it was also affected by the company and its subsidiaries. After entering the judicial reorganization, the suspension of interest accrual in accordance with the law affected the reduction of financial expenses and achieved profitability in the first quarter.The company’s debt restructuring is currently being carried out in an orderly manner

For ST stocks, the fundamentals of these companies are very poor. What can be seen is whether the company’s management can make substantial adjustments and changes, and then stay in the capital market, so that there is a gap in expectations, but for institutions, The survey is only to understand that if you want to build a large-scale position and buy, in fact, there is also the risk judgment of the institution itself.

Moreover, in addition to the recent attention of ST stocks by institutions, there are also several companies that have also been extensively investigated by institutions.

Survey of more than 150 institutions

According to Wind data, in the past week, more than 370 institutions including securities companies and fund companies investigated 124 A-share listed companies, covering dozens of subdivisions such as chemicals, machinery, electronic equipment, electronic components, and construction engineering.

Among them, Tuopu Group and Hairong Technology have received surveys from more than 150 institutions. However, these two companies have increased by more than 30%.

As a Tesla concept star stock, Tuopu Group is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of rubber shock absorption products and sound insulation products in the field of automotive NVH (vibration, noise reduction and comfort control).

The technology and R&D level in the automotive NVH field ranks in the forefront of the country. It is one of the few domestic NVH parts suppliers with the ability to synchronize the research and development of the entire vehicle, and it is also the earliest domestic independent entry into the global vehicle supporting parts procurement system Brand auto parts manufacturer.

The latest performance shows that in the first quarter, revenue was 2.426 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 100.8%, profit attributable to the parent was 246 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 116.4%, and net profit attributable to the parent after deduction was 240 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 122.9%.

New orders promote performance, and the Tier0.5 cooperation model has already cooperated with new leading car-building forces such as RIVIAN, Xiaopeng, Weilai, and Ideal.

Hairong Technology is a professional company integrating R&D, production and sales of raw materials in the baking industry, including dozens of high-quality food raw materials in three categories, including non-dairy cream, non-dairy cream containing milk fat, jam, and chocolate. It already has two production bases in Shanghai, China and New Delhi, India. The current stock price corresponds to PE54.8 times.

In 2020, the total operating income will be 572 million yuan, a decrease of 2.04% year-on-year. In 2021, the total operating income will be 157 million yuan, +43.91% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to the parent in 2020 will be 87 million yuan, an increase of 13.18% year-on-year. In 2021, Q1 will be returned to the parent Net profit was 16 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 323.76%; in 2020, net profit attributable to the parent after deduction was 83 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.92%.

In terms of the market outlook, institutions have different views. Take Industrial Securities as an example: the world staged a “value stock bull market”. The Chinese market need not worry too much. A large amount of liquidity is still accumulated in the currency and bond markets, and global funds flow to the stock market. It also flows to emerging markets, of which China has benefited the most. Valuation is down and profitability is up. We continue to be optimistic about the main line of global recovery. It is recommended that the short-term performance is quickly implemented, rather than telling stories and speculating in expected industries and individual stocks.

In terms of specific directions, Industrial Securities recommends grasping three main lines: the first is the global recovery with rising volume and price of mid-upstream cyclical manufactured products; the second is the service-oriented consumption that has gradually recovered from the epidemic; the third is the main line of carbon neutrality.

While Coca-Cola’s new products have been well received by the market, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily discovered that beverage companies have already targeted the alcohol track. The beer category appears in the new trademark of Wanglaoji, a leading domestic herbal tea company, and another member may be added to the liquor market.

For many beverage companies involved in alcohol, industry insiders analyzed that beverage companies’ cross-border layout of alcohol is mainly because their category growth is restricted, and they hope to seek new increments through cross-border.

Cross-border wine sales

When the new Coca-Cola sparkling wine products were launched, heated debates arose. Beverage companies are very attractive to be a wine seller. When it comes to the sales market, beverage companies’ wine selling dividends begin to appear.

A reporter from Beijing Business Daily entered the official flagship store of Coca-Cola and found that from the first day of June to today, the new sparkling wine has three product links. According to incomplete statistics, the total sales volume is nearly 8,000 and the number of evaluations totals nearly 1,000. Compared with Rui’ao Zero Sugar Sparkling Wine, which was launched on JD.com on the same day, with only 100+ ratings, Coca-Cola’s new products are more popular in the consumer market.

It is not surprising that “Happy Water” is involved in wine, as the interaction between herbal tea and beer has also attracted attention. It is reported that Wanglaoji, a leading Chinese herbal tea company, has classified beer categories among the 100 newly applied trademarks. In this regard, the person in charge of Wang Laoji said that the company registered the trademark only to protect intellectual property rights, and there is currently no plan to market beer products.

However, a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily found in the official flagship store of Guangyao Baiyunshan that Wanglaoji already had craft beer, Jibei, but the sales of this product were bleak, with monthly sales of only 3.

Yin Kai, the founder of Chaoyinhui (Shanghai) Brand Management Co., Ltd., believes that although Wanglaoji has had a dispute over management rights, he has always done a good job in trademark protection. Regarding the 32 categories of beer, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group applied for and was approved for registration in 1992 and 1995. Since then, it has continued to apply for a large number of trademarks in 32 categories. Therefore, Wang Lo Kat’s response does not rule out the possibility of his involvement in beer.

The company that loves liquor trademarks is also Genki Forest. In April this year, Yuanqi Forest registered “Liquor Gas Forest” and other liquor trademarks. The reporter further learned through Tianyan Check that in the international classification of Yuanqi Forest’s trademark information, there are a total of 1,365 “32 categories-beer and beverages” and a total of 474 “33 categories-alcohol”. Prior to this, Yuanqi Forest invested in Shanghai Bishan Beer Co., Ltd. and Beijing Guanyun Technology Co., Ltd. in February and March this year, respectively, and entered the beer and liquor double track.

Break the circle for profit

From Coca-Cola to Genki Forest, the enthusiasm of various beverage companies to sell alcohol is unabated. The main reason is to find new profit growth points outside of its own category.

Regarding Coca-Cola, some people in the industry believe that, in addition to improving the strategy of all-category beverages, beverage companies’ selling alcohol is more likely to seek to increase the company’s business under conditions of unsatisfactory performance. According to the 2020 financial report, Coca-Cola’s revenue last year was 33 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year decline of 11%. In addition, according to Coca-Cola’s 2021 quarterly report, the company achieved a net profit of US$2.25 billion in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 19%.

With the decline in the performance of beverage companies, the temperature of the beverage market remains unchanged. According to Tmall data in 2020, the search volume of product keywords such as “micro-drinking” and “fruit wine” has increased by about 70% year-on-year. Tmall liquor turnover data in 2020 shows that the overall year-on-year growth rate of wine is 40%, the growth rate of fruit wine is 70%, and the growth rate of pre-mixed wine is 60%.

Yin Kai believes that the alcohol products and self-owned beverage products of beverage companies have a considerable degree of overlap in the three dimensions of target groups, channels and consumption scenarios. At the same time, in terms of supply chain management and quality control, beverage companies have a crushing advantage over new startups. Compared with traditional wine companies, beverage companies have obvious advantages in consumer taste trend research and brand promotion.

Do consumers pay?

Beverage companies have set off a craze for selling alcohol, but what is concerned is whether these “foreign wines” can last and whether consumers will pay for it.

Industry insiders believe that from the beginning of Wahaha’s entry into the wine track in 2013, and now that young talents such as Yuanqi Forest hit the wine market, the layout of beverage companies in the wine industry tends to have a rapid momentum at the beginning, but the wine market needs long-term layout and deep cultivation , The alcohol products of beverage companies can arouse the curiosity of consumers, but they may not be able to retain consumers.

In the comment section of Coca-Cola sparkling wine new products, consumers have mixed feelings about the product. Some consumers say that the new product has a refreshing taste, low sugar and low fat, and another part of the consumer believes that the new product is “nothing but nothing” and “just passed.”

In addition, a person in charge of the supermarket beverage area told reporters that cross-border products such as new Coca-Cola sparkling wines will be considered when purchasing. Because this type of product will attract more curiosity to consumers, it can also be called a “traffic product”, but the product has not yet been launched in the supermarket, and its offline sales are difficult to predict, because the increase in online sales is not It means that offline is still popular.

Regarding the impact of beverage companies’ entry into the wine track on traditional wine companies, Yin Kai believes that most beverage companies are optimistic about low-alcohol wines and have little interest in high-grade wines. The low-alcohol body weight accounts for a very low proportion of the entire wine industry, so it will not have an impact on traditional liquor companies, but it will pose a certain threat to the beer industry. For pre-mixed and newly created low-alcohol wine companies, although they have taken root on the low-alcohol wine track, they still face pressure from many new entrants.

In the view of beer marketing expert Fang Gang, the future trend of beverage companies’ wine making is still difficult to see. After all, the boundary between wine and beverages is blurring.

Beijing Commercial Daily reporter Zhao Shuping, intern reporter Zhao Dan, intern Wang Ao

(Picture source: China United Business Daily)

“About 6 years ago, I sent an email to the team, saying that China’s high-speed rail is the most advanced, high-rise buildings are also the most advanced, Internet platforms, e-commerce, logistics systems and other infrastructure are all the most advanced, but We have seen the involution of the Internet industry and the surplus of the platform economy. What is relatively lacking is good products and good services. This is also the source of the country’s supply-side reforms.”

Tang Binsen believes that in the past six years, the process of wealth creation in China is rewarding companies that do good products, such as Xiaomi, Ideal, Weilai Automobile and other products made with the spirit of the Internet. The essence is to make up for the shortcomings caused by consumption. It is a world of good products and good services.

In the past two years, “Internet thinking” has become popular. Distribution fission, private domain traffic, and free models have affected many companies. Many companies have just learned D2C and then learned C2M. The company has become unprofitable.

“My understanding of the spirit of the Internet has two sentences: one is the ultimate pursuit of user experience, and the other is the extreme respect for talents. Because of the ultimate pursuit of user experience, there are various ABTests, and we have invented retention rates, A series of concepts such as NPS, secondary retention and monthly retention are used to pay attention to the loss of users in every link.”

In fact, Tang Binsen didn’t have this consciousness at the beginning. “We also went through a detour at the beginning, and asked professionals to do a pricing analysis for us, saying that Coke is about 3.5 yuan, you can only sell 4 yuan, the channel and the terminal each take 30% of the commission, and the cost is about 5. Mao, at that time we produced products worth 5 million yuan, and then we destroyed them. I thought for a long time, why couldn’t we follow this model? Actually, it was just a bunch of boxes. Then I found one. Colleagues who play games, ask him to make a drink he likes without thinking about anything.”

It is based on this concept that Yuanqi Forest is the first in the industry to use a sweetener that is very close to sugar, and its cost is 50 times more expensive than traditional aspartame. It is the first to use 3 times milk and 3 times tea and juice bubbles. 99% of sugar comes from fruit juice. “This is not about feelings and implanting ads. This is the true spirit of the Internet. Internet companies pay great attention to daily statistics. What we pursue is to drink first, then earn income, and finally profit.”

Tang Binsen believes that in the past, China’s FMCG industry did not attract talents, but now many FMCG companies have begun to learn how to play the Internet, have begun to implement equity incentives, and use the talent standards of Internet companies to attract talents. Many Tsinghua and Peking University graduates are entering In the fast-moving consumer goods industry, the opportunity for great development of the industry is coming.

“There is a famous saying in the Internet industry that humans will only reward companies that are good to users. Products made with this spirit will have a better retention rate, will be recommended by users, and will definitely be rewarded.” Tang Binsen said.

Chongqing New Century Department Store Chain Management Co., Ltd., Chongqing Yonghui Supermarket Co., Ltd., Chongqing Yipin Hongyu Technology Co., Ltd., Chongqing China Resources Vanguard Life Supermarket Co., Ltd., Chongqing Hema Fresh Network Technology Co., Ltd., Chongqing Carrefour Commercial Co., Ltd., Chongqing 10 companies including Ailian Department Store Supermarket Co., Ltd., Metro Commercial Group Chongqing Liangjiang New District Shopping Center, Chongqing Sam’s Member Store Co., Ltd., and Chongqing Chaolizhi Electronic Commerce Co., Ltd. participated in the event.

At the event ceremony, the person in charge of Chongqing New Century Department Store Chain Management Co., Ltd. read out the “Commitment Letter” on behalf of the participating companies, calling on food operators in the city to take the initiative to make commitments on food safety and epidemic prevention and control. First, strictly implement comprehensive food enhancements. Ten requirements for safety management: strengthen the building of food safety management capabilities, strict employee health management, strict food sales process control, strict implementation of the unqualified food delisting system, strict management and control of environmental sanitation in business premises, strict performance of food safety risk prevention responsibilities, and continuous improvement Improve the food safety traceability system, strictly implement the food safety self-inspection system, consciously obey the management of the supervisory authority, and strengthen self-discipline and industry self-discipline. The second is to strictly implement the six requirements for comprehensively strengthening the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic: continue to implement epidemic prevention and control measures at business sites, strengthen the management of imported cold chain food workers, fully implement nucleic acid testing and preventive disinfection measures, and strengthen imported cold chain food information Filing, strict implementation of the “three specials” management (that is, the purchase of imported cold chain food special channels, storage in special areas, and sales in special areas), and the “four must not” (that is, no business without inspection and quarantine certificate, nucleic acid test certificate, Sterilization certificate, imported cold chain food from Yushou source code).

The relevant person in charge of Chongqing Yipin Hongyu Technology Co., Ltd. made a statement on behalf of the participating companies. Said that they will resolutely fulfill their commitments and actively cooperate with relevant functional departments in the prevention and control of imported cold chain food epidemics, so as to achieve both production and operation and epidemic prevention and control.

The person in charge of the Food Business Department of the Municipal Market Supervision Bureau requires the participating food chain business enterprises to further improve the food safety management system, refine the food safety management measures and epidemic prevention and control measures, and implement each commitment one by one.

He said that the person in charge of each enterprise must tighten the food safety string at any time and put food safety first. At the same time, food business enterprises should increase self-inspection of weak links in management, especially the links and varieties that are prone to problems, increase the frequency of self-inspection, and take effective measures in time for hidden food safety hazards discovered through self-inspection. eliminate.

It is necessary to further improve and improve the food safety management system and implement it. In particular, it is necessary to strictly implement the food purchase inspection record system, food safety self-inspection system, and unqualified food delisting systems, disclose relevant food purchase inspection information in a timely manner, and take the initiative to introduce good food into the market Quality access, minimizing the hidden dangers of food safety risks.

In addition, food business enterprises have further strengthened the prevention and control of imported cold chain foods. Organize practitioners to conduct nucleic acid testing and vaccinate new coronary pneumonia vaccines as required. Purchasing and operating imported cold chain foods must strictly check the quarantine certificate, the nucleic acid test certificate, the disinfection certificate and the source code. Anything without the above “three certificates and one code” shall not be marketed. It is strictly forbidden to purchase and operate imported cold chain foods from unknown sources, and strictly implement the requirements of special channels for purchases, storage in special areas, and sales in special areas. It is necessary to cooperate with relevant departments to carry out the nucleic acid testing of imported cold-chain food, and disinfect the outer packaging of imported cold-chain food as required. Producers and operators engaged in the business of imported cold chain foods must follow the prevention and control requirements and standardize the use of the “Yu Traceability” imported cold chain food traceability management platform to realize the full chain information traceability management of imported cold chain food in our city.

Upstream news reporter Yan Wei

Company location Less bankruptcies instead of bankruptcies

Status: 10.06.2021 11:38 a.m.

The number of companies filing for bankruptcy in Germany fell in the first few months of the year. Other numbers also indicate no bankruptcy wave so far. But there were significantly more consumer bankruptcies. In the current year, the wave of bankruptcies feared as a result of the corona crisis has not materialized in Germany so far. From January to March, 3762 companies filed for bankruptcy, as the Federal Statistical Office announced. That meant a decrease of 19.7 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year. “The economic hardship of many companies due to the Corona crisis was therefore not yet reflected in an increase in the number of reported corporate insolvencies,” explained the statisticians. The number of regular insolvency proceedings opened gives indications of further developments. In May, this was seven percent below the value of the previous month. In April there was even a decline of 17 percent after significant growth rates had been registered in February and March.

Effect of the Corona exception rules

One reason for the low number of company bankruptcies in the current year is the obligation to file for insolvency, which was temporarily suspended during the Corona crisis, for insolvent and over-indebted companies. Insolvent companies have had to file for bankruptcy again since October 2020. This obligation was suspended until the end of December for over-indebted companies. For companies that have been waiting for the payment of the government aid that has been planned since November, the obligation to apply for insolvency proceedings since May 1, 2021 applies again in full in the event of an imbalance. On average, the companies affected by insolvency in the first quarter were larger than in the same period of the previous year. At 17.1 billion euros, the expected claims of the creditors were well above the figure for the same period in the previous year of 7.3 billion euros.

Consumer bankruptcies have risen sharply

The number of consumer bankruptcies developed differently than with companies. This rose in the first quarter by more than half compared to the same period of the previous year to 22,686. “The sharp increase is related to a law to gradually shorten residual debt discharge procedures from six to three years,” explained the Federal Statistical Office. The new regulation enables those affected to make a quicker economic fresh start after insolvency proceedings. “It can therefore be assumed that many over-indebted private individuals initially withheld their application for bankruptcy in order to benefit from the new regulation,” it said.

More exports in April Exports almost up again Pre-crisis level

Status: 09.06.2021 11:00 a.m.

Thanks to strong demand from Europe and the USA, German companies exported more for the twelfth month in a row in April. Above all, cars “made in Germany” were in demand. The German export economy continues to grow – albeit not quite as strongly as it was recently. In April it achieved an increase of 0.3 percent compared to March. In total, the companies exported goods worth almost 112 billion euros. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office. It was the twelfth consecutive month of growth in German exports.

48 percent more exported than in April 2020

Compared to the same month last year, the increase was almost 48 percent. However, this plus must be seen against the background that in April 2020 the German economy was fully in corona lockdown. The strongest growth in exports to Great Britain was in April of the current year. 64 percent more goods were sold there – compared to the same month last year. Exports to the EU countries rose by almost 59 percent and to the USA by around 60 percent. 16 percent more goods were exported to China.

German cars pull the most

German cars were the best exports. Car exports rose by 280 percent. However, this was related to the fact that car production had been shut down sharply due to Corona in April 2020. Exports of German electronic goods rose by 36 percent. In the meantime, exports are only 0.5 percent below the level of February 2020. That was the last month before the effects of the Corona crisis became noticeable in Germany and before the restrictions on the economy began.

Delivery bottlenecks and shortages of raw materials easily dealt with

Economists are impressed by Germany’s export strength. Although material shortages and the lack of intermediate products weigh on industrial production, “but at least the industry succeeds in exporting goods,” said VP Bank’s chief economist, Thomas Gitzel. In April, the German industry had produced less than in the previous month due to delivery bottlenecks and scarce raw materials. In May there could be a setback for the German export economy. The export expectations of the industry surveyed by the Ifo Institute fell from 23.9 points in April to 23.0 points.

Optimism for the rest of the year

Despite small skid marks, German exporters are confident for 2021. The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) recently raised its export forecast to plus eight percent. Previously, growth of only six percent was expected.

Economic aid will be extended The Bridging aid III gets a “plus”

As of: 06/09/2021 1:56 p.m.

Many companies that have been closed for a long time due to Corona can reopen. But because the situation is still difficult in some industries, several aids will be extended until the end of September – including the short-time working rules. The simplified access rules for short-time work due to the corona pandemic will be extended by a further three months beyond the end of June. The economic crisis caused by the pandemic is “not over yet” and it is therefore important to continue protecting jobs, said Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil. The cabinet has therefore decided to extend the rules, as there are companies “that need short-time work beyond June 30”. The SPD politician referred, among other things, to the event industry. In the justification for the proposal for the cabinet, it is said that, in the view of the federal government, there are still “uncertainties” despite falling corona numbers and vaccination progress. It is about “stabilizing employment relationships and thereby avoiding unemployment and possibly bankruptcies as far as possible”. Above all, financially heavily burdened companies in the retail trade, in the entertainment, travel and tourism industries and in the hotel and restaurant industry, need easier access to short-time working beyond June 30, 2021.

Additional costs for BA of 2.6 billion euros

In addition to easier access to short-time working allowance, the full reimbursement of social security contributions for companies is to be extended. The federal government is making around 2.6 billion euros available for both instruments. Salvation announced the move in May and speaking of planning security for companies. Since the beginning of the year, the BA has already spent over 13 billion euros on short-time work. It is about “continuing to consistently secure employment” and building a “bridge to the time of economic recovery,” said Heil. Short-time working has already saved millions of jobs during the crisis and will continue to do so “where necessary”. The CSU in the Bundestag also pointed out that companies would be brought over the summer in this way. Criticism came from the Greens, who spoke of a “missed opportunity”. The extension “should have been combined with the introduction of a minimum short-time work allowance” in order to provide security and prevent going to the job center, explained the labor market expert Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn.

Bridging Aid III will also be extended

Further economic aid will also be paid longer. As the Ministry of Finance and Economics announced, Bridging Aid III for companies and self-employed people will be continued until September 30, 2021 – under the new name “Bridging Aid III Plus”. Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) said the “economic engine” was running. Nevertheless, the exit from the pandemic is gradual. That is why the extension of the aid, which was previously limited to the end of June, is an important signal. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) emphasized that Germany had weathered the pandemic better than many others economically because the government had resolutely provided aid. “And this support is not stopped shortly before the goal, that would be economic nonsense.” The bridging aid is the government’s central crisis instrument to cushion the consequences of the pandemic on jobs and companies. With the extension, the upper limit for the subsidies will also be increased – especially larger companies from the fashion and hotel industries, for example, had complained that they had not yet received the aid. At the same time, companies that take employees out of short-time working earlier or hire new employees should receive a “restart bonus”.

The Ever Given ship ran aground in the southern part of the Suez Canal, Egypt, on March 26, 2021. (Photo: AFP/VNA) The Ever Given ship is no longer blocking the Suez Canal, but the story doesn’t end there with companies embroiled in a lengthy legal battle related to the event, hoping to “save” it. goods worth hundreds of millions of dollars are still being held on this ship for months. IKEA and Lenovo are two of many companies whose goods were detained on board the Ever Given after the ship was stranded at the airport. Suez Canal for six days in March. Many smaller companies such as the British bicycle manufacturer Pearson 1860 and Snuggy UK also had many important orders stuck on this ship. An Egyptian court has detained the Ever Given and its 18,300 containers after the Suez Canal Authority filed its first petition against the ship’s owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha of Japan, for 916 compensation. million USD for damages and losses caused by the above incident. Therefore, the Ever Given ship and all its cargo are being held at Great Bitter Lake in the canal during the aforementioned legal battle. Many companies have products on ship Ever Given said they were completely unaware of the status of the goods while the proceedings were ongoing, and were not involved in the negotiations surrounding the release of the goods. Even if the parties reach an agreement, these companies or their insurance companies may still be liable for some part of the award. Companies may be forced to spend money under the “General average” clause in international maritime law, under which the parties involved in a shipping voyage are forced to share the costs proportionally if there is a loss. happening. Clyde & Co., a law firm representing companies and insurers with more than $100 million worth of cargo stranded on the Ever Given ship, estimates the total value of the cargo on board at between 600-700 million dollars./.

Corona protection in companies Are employers allowed to force vaccination?

Status: 08.06.2021 7:13 p.m.

Since the beginning of the week, company doctors have also been able to vaccinate against Covid-19. But what about legally? Can companies require their staff to be vaccinated? And are they allowed to grant privileges to those who have been vaccinated? From Jens Eberl, WDR The companies have a great interest in preventing infections with the coronavirus and sick leave. This is why many employers want their employees to be vaccinated. With the start of vaccinations by the company doctors, various legal issues between employers and employees come to the fore. An overview.

Can the employer oblige his staff to vaccinate?

Employees only need to be vaccinated if there is a legal obligation to do so. There is no statutory vaccination requirement with Covid-19. “However, special features apply in facilities such as hospitals, prevention or rehabilitation facilities and medical practices,” says the Brühl-based specialist lawyer for labor law, Michael Felser. “They must ensure that all measures required by the state of the art of medical science are taken there to prevent infections and the spread of pathogens. Curiously, however, this does not apply in care facilities for the elderly, although the problem here is likely to be comparable”, so Felser. In the health care facilities mentioned, the employer cannot force employees to vaccinate either. However, he must ensure that non-vaccinated people pose no risk to patients. Patient protection can therefore make it necessary that non-vaccinated people can no longer work in certain areas.

Do employees have to inform the employer about their vaccination status?

Actually, there is no obligation to provide information about the personal vaccination status to the employer. However, the Gelsenkirchen labor lawyer Arndt Kempgens emphasizes that companies have to take corona protective measures for their employees. But they could only do that if the corona vaccination status was known. Kempgens concludes from this that in connection with Corona, under labor law – as an exception – there could be an obligation on the part of employees to notify the vaccination status and, under certain circumstances, to prove it.

Are vaccination incentives such as bonus payments from the employer permitted?

Employers could pay a “vaccination bonus”, for example through a one-off sum of money, vouchers or extra vacation days. Lawyer Felser says: “This is not entirely uncritical, because rewards can exert undue pressure not to exercise one’s rights. For example, courts have only declared rewards for employees who rarely get sick to be admissible under strict conditions.” The trade unions consider incentives for those willing to vaccinate to be permissible. However, they have a say in any case, as such a bonus is subject to co-determination. Kempgens emphasizes, however, that it must be fair: “There must not only be a bonus for those who don’t like vaccinations as an incentive to vaccinate, but if so, then for everyone.”

Can the employer exert “vaccination pressure”? Can the staff defend themselves against this?

If there is no statutory vaccination requirement, the employer cannot exert any pressure, neither with instructions nor with threats such as transfer or even warnings and dismissal. Such measures would be illegal. However, attorney Kempgens reports: “We are currently hearing more and more of such cases in legal practice. Pressure is exerted to convince those unwilling to vaccinate.” In extreme cases, employees can even defend themselves against this with an action for an injunction before the labor courts.

Are professional disadvantages possible if you don’t get vaccinated?

If there is no compulsory vaccination, the employer cannot differentiate according to whether someone is vaccinated or not or whether they have not wanted to be vaccinated in the past, as long as there was no obligation to do so. In medical institutions, however, the employer can reject applicants if they are not vaccinated and do not want to be vaccinated. Lawyer Kempgens, however, restricts: “Unvaccinated employees require other protective measures in the company and also lead to disagreements among the employees. For this reason, non-vaccinated employees will certainly not be preferred in the company in the near future.”

Are employers allowed to distinguish between vaccinated and non-vaccinated people?

“In my opinion, they even have to,” says Kempgens. “As with official measures, labor law restrictions are more difficult to justify for vaccinated people, while labor law protective measures have to be stronger for non-vaccinated people.” Felser believes privileges are conceivable, such as the earlier return of vaccinated employees from the home office to the office or the use of communal facilities such as the canteen. However, the incentive or pressure from such preferences should not be disproportionate.

Bad cell phone reception Lost in the dead zone

As of: June 8th, 2021 3:59 p.m.

Cell phone reception is still patchy in many rural areas. According to the network agency, more than ten percent of the country’s area is affected. Expansion is often delayed – companies could now face sanctions. The deeper you go into Germany’s rural regions, the worse the cell phone reception. This is the result of a current report by the Federal Network Agency. This is by no means a rare phenomenon. As the report shows, the supply is poor or non-existent on eleven percent of the country’s area. However, complete dead zones are really rare: Cell phone users, regardless of the provider, have no reception at all on just 0.3 percent of the area in Germany – they are “areas that are not provided with any technology”. This proportion is highest in Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate with 0.8 percent. In eight of the 16 federal states it is zero.

Annoying “gray spots”

However, 3.8 percent of the country’s area is referred to as so-called “white spots” in the report. In these areas, reception is only possible in the age-old 2G cellular standard. This standard is too slow for modern, complex mobile radio applications such as videos. 7.2 percent of the area are considered “gray spots”. Only one of the three German cellular networks, Telekom, Vodafone or Telefónica Deutschland, can be received there in the 4G standard. Anyone who is a customer of another network is left behind. Gray spots are astonishingly widespread: In Baden-Württemberg the proportion is ten percent, in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate it is 9.9 percent. Bavaria is fourth from bottom with 9.2 percent.

Industry points to high costs

In the Internet age, stable cell phone reception across the board is considered crucial for the development of rural areas. The flow of data is also becoming increasingly important for farmers in the fields, forest workers and hikers. The data from the Federal Network Agency show how great the need for expansion is. The telecommunications industry points to the high costs incurred in rural expansion. The network operators are now cooperating with each other to fill the gaps. In addition, there is a new state “mobile radio infrastructure company” that wants to use funding to enable radio locations where economic operation is not worthwhile. In the future, it is also planned to map 5G coverage and the main points of disconnections in voice telephony in a suitable form.

Main traffic routes not fully supplied

The report by the Federal Network Agency also deals with the issue of network supply along the main transport routes. Since the beginning of 2020, there should be 4G reception everywhere on motorways and ICE routes. However, 100 percent coverage has not yet been achieved. In the case of the motorways, the degree of coverage is between 95.4 and 99 percent, depending on the company, and between 94.4 and 98.2 percent for the railways, writes the Federal Network Agency. After all, the supply along the main traffic routes has been improved.

Fines not excluded

The authority refers to a total of around 550 locations where the companies were unable to ensure the required network supply in good time. “The examination has shown that there are cases of actual and / or legal impossibility at around 20 planned locations. The majority of the cases are temporary delays,” it says. The Federal Network Agency is currently examining possible sanctions against the mobile network operators. It is crucial here whether the delays were caused by the mobile network operator – for example due to late planning of the location – or by third parties, for example due to long building permit procedures or late cancellations by landlords. If the network operator is responsible for the delay, there is a risk of fines.

Because of taxes and bans How tobacco companies are realigning themselves

Status: June 8th, 2021 4:00 p.m.

The big tobacco companies still make billions in profits with cigarettes. But after decades of success, BAT, Altria & Co. are slowly turning around in the face of increasing bans and rising tobacco taxes. They are still running an extremely lucrative business. But the revenues and profits of the large tobacco companies are likely to come under further pressure in the coming years. New restrictions could reduce profits, higher taxes are supposed to increase government revenues in the Corona crisis and will further increase the prices for the “blue haze”. The first increase in tobacco taxes since 2015 is due in Germany. In the spring the governing parties CDU, CSU and SPD agreed on the framework conditions for tax increases . This should generate additional revenues of 11.3 billion by the end of 2025. A good half of this should be collected more through the classic tobacco tax, e-cigarettes should generate tax revenues of three billion euros and less harmful products in the industry should also contribute almost two billion euros. These include tobacco heaters that manufacturers had brought onto the market in recent years. The tax increases are to start gradually from 2022.

“Smoke-free Germany” called for

This is another turning point for tobacco companies after the sale of menthol cigarettes was banned in the EU in mid-2020. But the tax hike does not go far enough for health organizations. Significantly higher taxes are necessary to get people to stop smoking, according to a statement from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the non-smoking alliance and the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine (DPG) called for a “smoke-free Germany” by 2040. There should still be a long way to go until then. Tobacco consumption fell by around 30 percent between 2011 and 2020. However, just under a quarter of adults in Germany still smokes.

Billions in income from cigarettes

The tobacco companies, for which Germany is an important but not a decisive market, have been changing direction for years, but Altria, Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco (BAT) continue to make good money with traditional cigarettes. BAT, for example, earned around £ 6.4 billion net last year, a large part of which was paid out to shareholders in the form of a dividend. And the current business forecast for the first half of the year, which was published today, does not read badly from the company’s point of view: The group expects growth of more than five percent for the current financial year. This also exceeds the previous forecasts. According to BAT, products of “new categories” such as e-cigarettes and tobacco vaporizers are more important. According to earlier information, the tobacco giant intends to win around 50 million customers for the vaporizer in the next ten years; the total customer base is currently 150 million. Big competitors Altria and Philip Morris are also well represented in the e-cigarette and tobacco vaporizer business. But without writing off the classic cigarette. Philip Morris Germany, for example, recently increased production at the Dresden plant. Due to temporarily closed borders in the pandemic, the demand for cigarettes from domestic production even increased. The company also saw higher demand for “fine-cut” tobacco. It is used for rolling cigarettes – smokers are increasingly looking for inexpensive alternatives to cigarettes from the pack.

Tobacco vaporizers and cannabis products

The coming years will show how quickly the tobacco companies can change course strategically. Some of the manufacturers want to offer new products without nicotine, but with caffeine. They also work on cannabis products. Further legalization of cannabis could open up new billion-dollar revenue streams for them. However, the pressure on the classic cigarette from the state is likely to accelerate and at the same time burden this process of change on the part of providers. This applies above all to the world’s most important sales market for tobacco multinationals, the USA: According to media reports, the new US government under Joe Biden wants to reduce the nicotine content of cigarettes to such an extent that they should no longer be addictive. In addition, menthol cigarettes could also face a ban in the USA.

Illustration (Source: Chinadaily) South Korea’s Ministry of Science and Information Technology and Communications said on June 1 that many cloud data center operators have cooperated with companies specializing in chips used in Korean servers to meet the respond to the increase in demand for semiconductor products and respond to uncertainties in the global supply chain. The ministry said five data center companies, Naver Cloud, Douzone Bizon, Kakao Enterprise, NHN and KT, along with the Artificial Intelligence Industry Cluster Agency, signed a memorandum of understanding with Korean server chip companies SK Telecom, Rebellions, FuriosaAI, and Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute to expand the use of products Semiconductor domestically produced artificial intelligence (AI) in data centers. Demand for AI semiconductor products from data center operators has been increasing in recent times. These companies need chips to process large volumes of data efficiently. Ministry of Science and Technology Information – Korean media predicts that the global server AI chip market will grow from $3.5 billion in 2020 to $34.7 billion in 2030. Under the aforementioned agreement, the companies will also cooperate on chip development, as well as pursue plans to establish a semiconductor test environment at an AI industry complex in Gwangju, 329 kilometers south of Seoul. The ministry said it would support the cooperation plan of the company and hope that this agreement will boost the semiconductor industry of Korea in the context of a recent global supply shortage.

Icons of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple on mobile phones. Photo: VNA Washington has proposed a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, lower than that proposed by the Group of Top Industrialized Countries (G7), but higher than some other countries such as Ireland. But the UK is still concerned that this plan does not go far enough to tax giant technology corporations such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. In a recent statement, Mr. Sunak emphasized the importance of fair taxation for technology corporations and called on the US and G7 countries to discuss this issue next week. The meeting of G7 finance ministers is expected to take place from June 4-5. According to Mr. Sunak, companies like Facebook also want to solve this problem, which can bring certainty and stability to them. Besides, Mr. Sunak also mentioned that the UK is considering a separate online sales tax, when large multinational corporations, especially digital corporations, do not pay taxes in the right places, right place and this is not fair. In 2015, member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) agreed in principle to a plan to prevent multinational corporations from evading taxes by moving their headquarters to countries with low tax rates. . Despite years of negotiations, progress has been insignificant. However, discussions have been revived with the recent proposal of US President Joe Biden. Recently, the US government has proposed to the OECD a tax rate of at least 15% for multinational corporations. This is the first time the US has officially proposed a global minimum tax rate. France and Germany have voiced their support for the US proposal for a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, and expressed hope for an early breakthrough in negotiations on this issue.

The Rice Trader affirmed that up to now, only Ho Quang Tri private enterprise is the first and only Vietnamese enterprise officially approved to use the unique “World’s Best Rice” award logo. rights for marketing and business purposes. According to the Rice Trader, there are about 10 Vietnamese companies that use the ST25 rice brand to print on packages and promotional materials in the country and for export without asking for permission or consent from TRT. TRT officially warns Vietnamese piracy companies about the respect needed when using the brand logo “World’s Best Rice” in their rice packages being traded in the market. Photo: TL. Through this release, TRT officially warns Vietnamese companies that infringe on piracy about the necessary respect when using the brand symbol “World’s Best Rice” in their rice packages being traded. business in the market. This is an illegal use of intellectual property rights and provisions of the “World’s Best Rice” award logo. According to TRT, contest participants acknowledge that they have no right to use the contest trademarks without permission and that the winning country is also required to abide by the contest’s commitments. Without a proper resolution to this action, those company names will be made public because of their influence on the overall direction of the industry. “In addition, our organization takes this matter seriously that the country may even lose the right to participate in this competition in the following years. We firmly believe that value creators deserve it. deserves a reward and this has always been our intention throughout the process of organizing this contest,” said a representative of TRT.

Samsung Display’s dominance is being threatened by Chinese companies In particular, when Apple adopted OLED panels instead of LCD panels starting with the iPhone 12 series in 2020, the use of OLED panels increased sharply. Recently, Chinese display companies are entering the small and medium-sized OLED panel market, increasing the supply of low-cost panels. Omdia estimates that Apple will use the largest number of OLED panels for smartphones next year. It is expected that Apple will use 169 million OLED panels in 2021 and 190 million panels in 2022. Most likely they will use OLED panels for new products expected to launch in the second half of 2021. Meanwhile, Samsung is also expected to use 155 million OLED panels in 2021 and 168 million panels in 2022, the second largest after Apple. Although Samsung Display is expected to maintain its No. 1 position in the global smartphone OLED display market next year, its market share is expected to shrink due to competition from other manufacturers. Chinese company. In fact, according to Omdia, Samsung Display’s market share has dropped from 86% in 2019 to 78% in 2020. Omdia forecasts that its market share will drop to 77% in 2021 and 65% in next. On the other hand, the market share of Chinese companies is expected to increase from 15% in 2021 to 27% in 2022. In particular, BOE, China’s largest display manufacturer, is expected to expand the market. share from 6% in 2021 to 13% in 2022. Regarding this, Omdia said: “Chinese display companies are improving their technical skills. China will be a major threat to South Korea’s leading position in the OLED display market.” Phan Van Hoa (according to Businesskorea)

“I’m really surprised! VinSmart has entered the top 3 brands in Vietnam, and the top 20 in Asia by the end of 2020. They still have many opportunities in the near future when 5G networks are more popular in Asian countries. Asia, Africa, with cheaper usage,” said Neil Mawston, global head of telecommunications at research firm Strategy Analytics. Zing . VinSmart’s smartphone production may be hampered by a global chip shortage. When asked if a reason for the decision could be found, Mr. Mawston suggested that the global chip crisis could be a factor. Not just a single name, this crisis is making many smartphone manufacturers difficult. Many firms face difficulties in the global crisis hoảng “In terms of sales volume, VinSmart is still a small smartphone company in terms of scale. I think small firms are suffering the most because of the chip shortage crisis,” said Anshel Sag, an analyst at the company. Moor Insights & Strategy shared with Zing. The crisis of the semiconductor industry began with the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic. At that time, manufacturers thought that user demand would also decrease. However, the truth is the opposite. Due to long-term stay at home, people buy more technology. They buy more powerful computers, bigger screens to work from home. Children can buy new laptops to study at home. TVs, game consoles, and home appliances all increased sales. Chip companies like TSMC are working at more than 100% capacity to reduce the impact of the chip industry crisis. Photo: Reuters. The pandemic has turned into a month-long shopping festival. Therefore, the demand for chips also increased sharply. In the world, there are only a few outsourcing companies possessing modern technology to provide chips for smartphones. When every industry wants to increase production, the supply cannot meet. “Small firms are at a disadvantage because their scale is not large enough, leading to very thin profit margins. In the smartphone industry, scale is very important. It takes a lot of smartphones to be able to negotiate flexible prices. good conditions,” said Mr. Sag when asked about the difficulties of small smartphone manufacturers. In the first quarter financial report published at the end of April, Apple CEO Tim Cook also warned about chip shortages. The head of Apple said that it was not the demand that fell, but the lack of chip supply was the company’s biggest concern in the second quarter. Apple CEO also acknowledged that the company may face difficulties in the near future because of chip shortages. Photo: Cnet. “We think there will be a problem with supply. The chip shortage will mainly affect iPads and Macs. We also control our demand fairly well, but cannot comment on demand from vendors. different,” the Apple CEO told investors. Haven’t found a solution yet Currently, the smartphone market is only a game of a few big companies. One-time names like Sony accepted to downsize, selling only 400,000 units in the first quarter as they tried to keep the Xperia brand for a while. The chip crisis will make it even more difficult for small-scale smartphone companies in the near future. VinSmart has entered the top 3 brands in Vietnam, and the top 20 in Asia by the end of 2020. They also have many opportunities in the near future when 5G networks are more popular in Asian and African countries, with fees. cheaper to use. – Neil Mawston, Global Head of Telecommunications at research firm Strategy Analytics “When producing on a small scale, these companies will be the first affected by the lack of supply, increasing prices. It should also be remembered that suppliers still prioritize serving large, most important customers. theirs,” commented Mr. Anshel Sag. According to Neil Mawston, in addition to the main processor, another component, the screen, also increased in price by about 15%. This is also a consequence of the chip crisis, because every screen on a smartphone must have a control chip. “The pandemic, social distancing, and competition for supplies with other products such as tablets, laptops and electric vehicles have put the smartphone component supply chain in the most stressful state in years.” Mr. Neil Mawston shared. In a recent interview, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said that the chip shortage could last until the end of 2021. Therefore, difficulties are still ahead for many companies producing technology products. Cars are the manufacturing sector hardest hit by chip shortages. Technology manufacturers may also be affected in the near future. Photo: Automotive News. When asked more about VinSmart, Mr. Neil Mawston said that he was surprised because Vsmart smartphones have a certain market share in the domestic market. This analyst believes that this is one of the big advantages to be able to expand into the regional market. “Every major smartphone maker uses the domestic market as a platform to go regional or global. Apple’s iPhone was successful in the US and then expanded to other countries. The story is similar to Huawei in China. Korea, and Samsung in Korea. VinSmart is also open to growth in Southeast Asia. Therefore, we find it difficult to understand when they decide to stop producing smartphones, especially when the opportunity for 5G is very close, “Mr. Mawston said.

Facebook may be fined $ 1.8 million in Israel for “acquiring” 2 companies without permission According to Reuters, Facebook is facing a fine of up to $ 1.8 million for its act of acquiring two Israeli companies, RedKix Inc in 2018 and Service Friend Ltd in 2019 but without approval and violating the law. clause in the Economic Competition Law of Israel. Authorities in the country argue that Facebook has a market share in Israel in excess of 50% and that the group must report transactions and obtain consent before any merger in the country. . The authorities also said that Facebook and Istagram are two exclusive social networks in Israel. Facebook will face a hearing soon and the company will have 60 days to appeal the charges before serving the fine. Talking about this, Facebook has denied allegations of antitrust behavior and said that Facebook is still cooperating with the investigations of the authorities. In addition, Facebook believes that there is no reporting obligation in relation to these transactions and hopes that the competent authorities will come to the right conclusions. Last year, Facebook was also fined by the US federal court up to $5 billion related to data privacy violations and forced Facebook to strengthen privacy protections, provide quarterly report on the implementation of the agreement and the establishment of an independent monitoring board. In Canada, Facebook was also fined $6.5 million by the Competition Bureau for sharing user information with other companies.

The shortage of semiconductor chips globally has a heavy impact on many industries. Artwork: Reuters Some of the world’s top semiconductor buyers, including Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc (Google’s parent company), are working with leading chip makers in the world, such as Intel Corp. , to set up a new lobbying group to promote the US Government to support semiconductor chip manufacturing. The Semiconductors in America Alliance, which includes Amazon Web Services’s Amazon Web Services division, said on May 11 that it urged US lawmakers to provide support for the CHIPS Act for the country. The United States (CHIPS for America Act), which President Joe Biden asked Congress to provide finances worth $ 50 billion. In a letter to congressional bicameral Democrats and Republicans, the coalition said funding for the CHIPS Act would help the United States build the necessary capacity for a more flexible supply chain. to ensure important technologies will be available in the US when needed. Global semiconductor chip shortages hit the auto industry heavily, with Ford Motor Co saying it may have to halve its car production in the second quarter. Automotive industry groups are pressing the Biden administration to secure chip supplies for car factories. However, government officials have been reluctant to use national security laws to divert the supply of computer chips to automakers because they fear it could harm other industries. The new alliance involves companies from other industries using semiconductors, including AT&T, Cisco Systems, General Electric, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Verizon Communications Inc. However, they warn that the government only supports one industry like the automobile industry. Tech giants, like Apple, are also hit hard by a shortage of semiconductors, but are less severe than automakers. Last month, the iPhone maker said it would lose about $ 3-4 billion in revenue in the second quarter (ending June 2021) due to a shortage of chips. According to Refinitiv estimates, Apple’s second quarter revenue is forecast to reach $ 72.9 billion./.

“On April 30, my family wants to go out, a place around the North like Mai Chau, Dia Tibet Pagoda, Sa Pa, or the homestay in the forest”, “This April 30 I want to let my two children go out. 1 day near Hanoi, need location advice “, … is the information posted by members on a travel forum. To avoid overload at famous destinations, many tourists choose desolate places such as mountainous or remote islands, … That is because in fact, up to this point, some tourist destinations such as Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Sa Pa (Lao Cai), Ly Son (Quang Ngai), some provinces in the East – Northwest region .. . Many places have full rooms, sealed service. The director of travel company G., based in Nguyen Luong Bang street (Hanoi), said that visitors rushed to travel on April 30 to May 1, so the company was overloaded, unable to serve. should stop accepting customers. In particular, this year, guests still travel early, go the whole week before the holiday (April 23-27), or after that (from May 2-3), … so the service is full. dozens of days in a row. Da Nang is chosen by many tourists during the holidays of April 30 to May 1 (photo M. Man) For example, this director shared, until now, it is difficult to find a limousine for guests to go from April 30 to May 1 to Sa Pa because the transportation companies have leased out cleanly. In Da Nang, the rush of tourists until April 30 to May 1 heralded the “fire” situation of the hotel room. Up to now, Nui Than Tai Tourist Area has run out of rooms during the peak ceremony. Muong Thanh Luxury Danang Hotel reaches 80% of room capacity, … Also in Ly Son (Quang Ngai), the number of tourists registered to visit the island also increased dramatically, expected over 10,000 people. 133 accommodation establishments on the island – including 8 hotels, 60 guesthouses, and the rest are homestays with over 1,000 rooms – have also run out of rooms. Talking to PV.VietNamNet, representative of Flamingo Redtours said that the company closed the tour book from April 30 to May 1 from last week. During this holiday, the company served more than 10,000 visitors, an increase of about 40% over the same period in 2020. Some resorts such as Flamingo Dai Lai, Flamingo Cat Ba have been full of customers since the beginning of March. Vietravel also recorded the number of tourists booking tours in April up to 35,000, in May 53,000 visitors; in which the number of visitors registered for holiday tourism accounts for about 40%. Compared to the same period in 2019 in the domestic tourism segment (at the time of no translation), an increase of about 10%. Up to now, almost 30 / 4- / 1/5 ceremony tour has been full. This company continues to receive visitors to close to the holiday depending on the status of the tourist routes. In general, this year’s holiday tour price does not increase compared to every year. Saigontourist Travel Company also plans to increase the number of seats for summer tours by more than 20% compared to the same period last year. 7:00 am on April 8, Noi Bai airport was crowded with tourists (photo NH) Opportunities to travel to regain momentum Tourism company director G. analyzed, if the previous year, the flight of up to a hundred people was delayed by Covid-19, it was difficult or impossible to claim money, then this year, the group learned from experience. often choose to go by car. Passengers traveling far by plane are mainly small groups and households. Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Nang, … are still “hot” spots chosen by many customers. The representative of Vietravel also said that after the Covid-19 translation, the tourist’s travel trend has changed dramatically, from group travel, available schedules, tourists prefer self-travel. due. For small groups of tourists from 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 guests can easily book flight + hotel services at a saving price of up to 30% compared to booking an odd service. The percentage of visitors who book this combo at the company this year’s holiday is about 65% of the package tour. To date, according to the Airport Corporation (ACV), in Noi Bai alone, on the occasion of April 30 and the summer peak, there will be about 500 domestic flights, with more than 75,000 passengers per day. . This figure is almost on the par with the peak of 2019, when the Covid-19 translation has not yet appeared. The airlines are expected to regain the “performance” of the number of domestic tourists, instead of international tourists. As for the travel companies, this was also the period when the market had a deep differentiation. The market is only really for reputable, potential and passionate companies. While small companies sink with no customers, many still exist and are on a good recovery, the director said. As at G company, it has always been a secret since Tet. Everyone works from 9am to 11pm to meet the needs of inquiring information, booking tours of guests. Last year, in May-June, before the second outbreak broke out, there were so many domestic tourists that “never been so crowded,” commented the female director. The domestic department’s two-month revenue is equal to the whole year revenue. This year, the number of visitors is expected to be even greater. The problem of Covid’s existence requires not only travel companies but also service providers such as hotels, restaurants, transportation, … to have experience and financial potential to maintain operations. move. The occasion of April 30 and May 1 and the peak of this summer is an opportunity for companies to stand firm and break through.

Apple supports employees to vaccinate Covid-19 in its offices. Recently, Apple technology company said that they are starting to implement a program to support employees to vaccinate Covid-19 voluntarily right in their offices. An Apple spokesperson said the iPhone manufacturer is currently working with Walgreens Boots Alliance as a supplier and will open a website for employees to register and schedule injections. Apple was one of the first major Silicon Valley companies to launch a program to help its employees get vaccinated. Apple also encourages employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine and allows them to take leave to go to the clinic and to recover if symptoms occur after the injection. Apple also hopes its employees can return to offices soon after working remotely due to the pandemic. Last month, the Amazon Group also gave Covid-19 vaccines to frontline employees, starting in Missouri, Nevada and Kansas. Earlier this month, Germany’s largest private banking group, Deutsche Bank AG, became the first major bank in New York, US to say it would support Covid-19 vaccination staff at my office.

The red shirt comes out after Nike sued MSCHF. Photo: The Fashion Law. Accordingly, the shirt is considered a product mocking Nike named “Legal Fees” (roughly translated: Legal fees), sold for 66 USD. To match the design of the newly launched Satan shoe, it is also red and has a pair of horns imprinted above the complaint image. “This product adds to the persistent tease from both MSCHF and Lil Nas X over the sportswear brand. The T-shirt is similar to Warren Lotas’s rebuttal after Nike filed the lawsuit. The Fashion Law comment. Warren Lotas’s brand also once sold shirts, pencils and bumper stickers, and was mocking after a long legal battle with Nike. To the curiosity of many people, MSCHF quickly removed new products on their personal pages as well as the web. However, the online community took a quick snapshot. Satan shoes still quickly sold out despite receiving mixed opinions. Photo: MSCHF. Before that, on March 28, American male rapper Lil Nas X released the image of the Air Max sneakers, which was produced with a limited quantity of 666 pairs. The design’s controversial point is that the internal air cushion is filled with red ink. Each pair of shoes will have a drop of human blood, the manufacturer said. Followers unhappy with the product said they would boycott Nike. Thereafter, Nike confirmed that MSCHF’s shoes were made with no approval or authorization. A Nike spokesman told Input : “The company doesn’t want to have anything to do with these shoes. We have no relationship with Little Nas X or MSCHF. We have not designed or released these shoes.” As of now, some people receiving shoes say MSCHF is starting to ship products. The brand also announced it will be donating the 666 Satan shoes on its personal page.

From Constantin Röse, ARD stock exchange studio Five years: That’s how long EU and British diplomats have been fighting for Brexit. With the Vote in the European Parliament the agreement is now closed – but with a clear warning from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that this agreement has “teeth”. That sounds more like a threat than restarting relationships.

Northern Ireland contentious issue

So is the ongoing EU-UK dispute going on? No, says Jörg Krämer, Commerzbank’s chief economist: “We’ve seen the big brawl a long time ago. But there are still open issues.” For example the situation in Northern Ireland: The EU complains about violations of the UK against the exit agreement. This actually guarantees open borders between the British province and the EU member Ireland. However, the UK doesn’t like this. However, Krämer considers it unlikely that the EU will react to this with punitive tariffs. “I do not believe that this conflict will escalate to such an extent that the European Union will introduce tariffs on the movement of goods,” says the economist, because: “The European Union would cut its own flesh.” If you look at the total exports of the EU to Great Britain, they did not decrease in January.

Bureaucratic hurdles deter companies

The picture is very different in the case of German-British trade relations. German exports to Great Britain collapsed by 30 percent in January compared to the previous year. The mood in German companies is correspondingly bad. Customs formalities in particular are a thorn in their side for companies that want to export goods to the island, explains Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Bank. “You were in part surprised by all these bureaucratic hurdles that have now been built up by the fact that Great Britain is no longer a member of the European internal market.” This leads to higher costs and more bureaucracy, according to Brzeski, and that scares some companies off. According to a survey by the British Chamber for Commerce in Germany and the consulting firm KPMG, 17 percent decided to stop foreign trade with Great Britain completely because it is no longer worthwhile for them.

Still many questions unanswered

In this divorce, however, it also becomes clear that many issues are still unresolved: What is the future of deep-sea fishing? Or how do the EU and Great Britain deal with financial services? Economist Brzeski does not yet believe in a quick relaxation between the mainland and the island. “In the coming months – probably also in the course of this entire year and also next year – we will see the negative consequences of Brexit rather than being able to talk about new opportunities here.” If anyone sees opportunities, it is the Brexit hardliners. You like to refer to the strong economic forecasts. According to this, economic growth in Great Britain is expected to be around six percent this year, in Germany, for example, only around 3.5 percent. The British economy owes this primarily to the vaccination success in the country – and by no means to Brexit. You will only really be able to see the consequences of this after the pandemic.

From Ingrid Bertram, WDR At the toilet paper manufacturer Hakle in Düsseldorf, the machines run in three shifts. 250 employees work here. With the corona crisis, no employee can be dispensed with anymore. And at the latest when one of his engineers was in the intensive care unit, Managing Director Volker Jung knew that no other of his employees should experience that. He has been trying to get the vaccine since January, but so far in vain. The tents for the vaccinations are ready, extra rooms are reserved and the company doctor has recruited doctors who are actually retired for the vaccinations. Basically, it could start – but patience is required instead. Will it all pay off? Probably not on paper: the company has already spent 300,000 euros on the PCR tests. The vaccination route will cost a lot less. But Volker Jung believes that two thirds of his workforce are willing to vaccinate. At least he wants to offer them something. He doesn’t want to lose anyone.

Persuasion by company doctors

Ralf Stoffels also has to be patient. He heads the BIW Isolierstoffe company. He would like to organize the vaccination through the company medical center. Not only his 550 employees, but even the entire Hagen-Ennepe-Ruhr industrial park could be supplied via this. But here, too, the vaccine is missing. Ralf Stoffels, who is also President of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is convinced that companies can better reach many people with vaccinations. “Many of the employees do not even accept the voluntary offers,” says Stoffels. He’s already observing this in the voluntary tests. In other words, everything that costs time and does not fit into everyday work becomes a hurdle. “In the company it would be organizationally easier for many, and the company doctor could still do some persuasion.” Because most of Stoffel’s employees work in shifts, come from Eastern Europe or are refugees and trained in the company. Knowledge of the how and why of vaccination is often rudimentary.

Previous illnesses mostly unknown

But even if there are some arguments in favor of immunization at the company doctor – even Anette Wahl-Wachendorf from the Association of German Company and Company Doctors does not know when the first vaccinations will arrive in the company. “Many companies are in the starting blocks,” says the organization’s vice president. But there is actually still a lot to be clarified: For example, it must be ensured in the companies that they are regularly supplied by large pharmacies, as the mRNA vaccines can only be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. In addition, it has not yet been clarified who is liable in the event of vaccination reactions or side effects. “For that there should now be a basic state liability,” said Wahl-Wachendorf. And ultimately it must also be clear that the prioritization in the company no longer applies automatically, because after all, a company doctor can vaccinate according to age, but cannot take previous illnesses into account, as he usually does not know them. The company doctor believes that it would be better to first consider those who have the most customer contacts. But above all, none of this should entail any further bureaucratic effort. Because now it is a matter of vaccinating as many people as possible.

Since the second half of 2019, pig raising has become the new wealth code. In addition to traditional pig breeding companies, real estate companies such as Vanke, Country Garden and some Internet companies have started to raise pigs. In 2020, pig companies have indeed made unprecedented profits. Tianbang shares have increased their profits by more than 1,000 times a year, but the result of relying on the sky is that the profits of pig companies will shrink sharply when the price of pigs falls after the year.

The pigs that fly into the air have a one-year profit exceeding 4.6 times the total since the listing

In fact, the same is true. As long as the pigs can be raised alive to the slaughter, a lot of money can be made. In this wave of pig cycles, the price of pork rose from about ten yuan a catty to more than fifty yuan a catty.

At present, most pig companies have disclosed performance data for 2020, which is basically a big increase as expected, and some even earn enough profits for decades in a year.

On April 21, Tianbang Co., Ltd. announced its 2020 performance report. It achieved operating income of 10.764 billion, a year-on-year increase of 79.2%, realized a net profit of 3.245 billion attributable to the parent, a year-on-year increase of 3131.98%, and realized a non-net profit of 3.312 billion, a year-on-year increase of 106917.13 %.

Interestingly, since Tianbang shares went public in 2007, its main business includes pig breeding and pork product processing, pig vaccines, pig feed and aquatic feed, and pig breeding technical services. Based on historical data as of 2019 It can be seen that the total net profit of the company attributable to the parent is only 702 million, and the net profit in 2020 is 4.6 times that.

In other words, no matter how long this strong performance can last, Tianbang has made more than sixty years of profits in this year alone. Previously, due to the impact of African swine fever, the national pork production capacity fell off a cliff in 2019. Although it is in the process of recovery in 2020, the market is still in short supply, resulting in a high level of live pig market prices throughout the year.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the average price of live pigs in 2020 is 34.03 yuan/kg, a sharp increase of 60.36% year-on-year, while the annual report of Tianbang shares shows that the average sales price of the company’s multi-breed combination of live pigs reached 51.46 yuan/kg, an increase of 177% year-on-year . In addition, Tianbang shares achieved 3.0778 million pigs for slaughter throughout the year, an increase of 26.17% year-on-year. Among them, the number of breeding pigs for slaughter was 329,100, an increase of 515% year-on-year, and the number of piglets for slaughter was 1.687 million, an increase of 443% year-on-year. The main reason for the huge increase in company profits.

On the 22nd, Wen’s shares also published its annual report. In 2020, operating income was 74.923 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.47%, but the net profit attributable to the parent was only 7.426 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 46.83%, and non-net profit was only 6.381 billion, a year-on-year decrease. 51.11%. Judging from the current leading pig companies that have publicly disclosed their performance, Wen’s shares are also the only pig company that has experienced negative profit growth.

Unlike Tianbang, which only breeds live pigs, Wen’s breeding business includes live pigs and white feather chickens and other poultry. In 2020, the revenue of pig farming will increase by 10.84% ​​year-on-year, and the gross profit rate will increase by 1.74%. However, the revenue of broiler and other farming products fell by 9.3% and 1.92% respectively. Especially when the price of broiler chicken and the price of live pigs fluctuated in the opposite direction, the gross profit margin of the broiler business fell sharply by 25.93% to 0.38%, which is also the company’s net profit. One of the main reasons for the decline.

Pig prices fell, performance fell, piglet market enthusiasm continued

Unlike the elated annual report, the quarterly report of the pig company is full of sorrows.

From New Year’s Day to early April, pork prices were nearly cut in half, with a drop of 43.74%. Especially after the Spring Festival, market demand was weak. Since March, the price of pigs has continued to decline. As of April 9, the average domestic pig price was 20.84 yuan/kg, a drop of 30.99% from March 2.

A few days ago, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs also said that as the supply and demand situation continues to improve, pork prices have fallen for 12 consecutive weeks, falling to about 40 yuan per kilogram, a year-on-year decrease of about 25%. After April 9th, the pig price bottomed out and rebounded. As of the 21st, the pig price has experienced two short-term rebounds.

But at the same time, the cost of raising pigs has increased, with corn up 47.0% year-on-year, and compound feed for fat pigs up 16.1% year-on-year. Pig prices fell and feed prices climbed. In the end, the price of pigs and grains fell rapidly. In late March, it fell to around 9.23, and it was as high as 20 in the same period in 2020. It is currently falling back to the level of August 2019.

In such a market environment, the quarterly reports of pig companies have almost all fallen. The profit of Tianbang shares shrank to 191 million to 238 million, a year-on-year decrease of 50%-60%. Zhengbang’s net profit also fell to 205 million to 305 million, a year-on-year decrease of 66.32%-77.36%. Wen’s shares realized net profit attributable to the parent 544 million, a year-on-year decrease of 71.28%.

The reason is mostly due to the sharp decline in domestic pig prices and the superimposed increase in corn and other feed prices to squeeze profits. In addition, the slaughter structure of live pigs is also known as one of the other major influencing factors. Early elimination of some sows and early slaughter of fat pigs to avoid the risk of epidemic accounted for a relatively high proportion, while breeding pigs and piglets accounted for a relatively small proportion.

At present, only Muyuan’s first quarterly report has achieved growth. The company expects the net profit attributable to the mother will reach 6.7 billion to 7.3 billion, an increase of 62.17%-76.7% year-on-year. The company said that it was due to the expansion of the scale of pig farming and sales of 7.72 million pigs in the first quarter. , An increase of 201.09% year-on-year.

In fact, my country has always been a big country for pig breeding and consumption. However, due to various factors, it has been plagued by the “pig cycle” all the year round. This time, after many real estate companies and Internet companies have entered the pig breeding market, can they change the problem? The situation of the neck may be the point.

Different from the volatility and decline of live pig prices, since December 2020, piglet prices have risen steadily. Even if they decline after the year, they are still higher than the live pig market prices. From this perspective, the market supply has more momentum for continuous pig raising. .

Perhaps it is a question of the uncertainty of the pig breeding sales market. The live pig futures listed on DCE have continued to fluctuate and fall after the market plummeted, and the pork sector in the secondary market is also more negative than positive. (Blue Whale Capital Xu Xiaochun xuxiaochun@lanjinger.com)