In Depth: Commercial Insurance’s Rise Exposes Chokepoints in China’s Medical System

Stablecoin bank: ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co. Ltd. saw its Hong Kong-listed shares surge more than 50% over the past week after the city passed its Stablecoins Bill on May 21, breaking through HK$21 ($2.70) Friday before closing down 8.5%. The internet insurer’s ZA Bank Ltd. provides reserve banking services to stablecoin issuers. Under the forthcoming stablecoin law, issuers of stablecoins, digital currencies whose value is typically pegged to a stable asset, will need to maintain sufficient reserve assets and ensure the stablecoin can always be redeemed for the underlying currency on a one-for-one basis.

Hong Kong opens path to Saudi sukuk: Hong Kong has listed its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking Saudi Arabian sovereign Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, a milestone in strengthening financial ties between the two markets. The ETF, called Premia BOCHK Saudi Arabia Government Sukuk ETF, began trading Thursday. It gives investors access to investment-grade sukuk denominated in Saudi riyals or U.S. dollars issued by the Saudi government or its agencies, according to a statement from Premia Partners Co. Ltd., the manager of the ETF. Sukuk are bonds that comply with Sharia law; instead of paying interest, they generate returns based on the profits of an underlying asset. The ETF tracks the performance of the iBoxx Tadawul Government and Agencies Sukuk Index. The fund was inspired by demand for fixed-income products from institutional investors in Southeast Asian Islamic countries, Premia Managing Partner Rebecca Chua said. The listing comes around 18 months after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange debuted its first Saudi stock ETF.

Li Auto decelerates: Electric-vehicle (EV) maker Li Auto Inc.’s first quarter performance fell sharply from the previous three months, according to its financial report published Thursday. The firm delivered around 93,000 vehicles during the period, up 16% on the year but down 42% quarter-on-quarter. Vehicle sales revenue similarly fell 42% to 24.7 billion yuan — a 2% year-on-year increase. Net profit tumbled 82% from the previous quarter to 647 million yuan. Li Auto’s relatively expensive cars — mostly priced above 200,000 yuan — meant that the company benefited much less than other EV-makers from the government’s consumer trade-in programs. The market growth spurred by these old-for-new car subsidies was mainly concentrated in lower-priced segments, with new-energy passenger vehicles retailing below 80,000 yuan experiencing the strongest growth in sales, according to Chinese industry data. Rivals of Li Auto have launched new brands to cover other segments of the market. Overall, the domestic industry remains locked in an intense price war that has pushed most carmakers to repeatedly roll out steep discounts and perks to win customers.

Corruption probe: Bi Jingquan, a standing committee member of China’s top political advisory body, is under investigation for suspected “severe violations of discipline and law” — a common euphemism for corruption — according to the country’s top anti-graft agency. As well as being a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Heilongjiang province native is also deputy director of the Economic Committee, and chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

Families are out of fashion: China’s young adults are becoming increasingly uninterested in getting married and having children, which is bad timing for a country with a shrinking population. A recent survey by the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that among the 18 to 24 age group, 51.8% of respondents consider marriage unimportant, while 59.4% view having children as unimportant. The survey also revealed that 70% of college students were open to the idea of a childless marriage. This sentiment is even stronger among female college students, where 85.3% said they were willing to marry without having kids. The results highlight a transformation in China from a society that prioritized having families to a young generation facing economic strife, with high youth unemployment, weak real estate market and a GDP growth rate that pales in comparison to what their parents experienced at the same age.