China tech groups to help exporters sell domestically...Sunac China unveils final offshore debt restructuring plan...Apple’s China smartphone shipments fall in Q1

China tech groups to help exporters sell domestically

Ecommerce giants Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo are leading Chinese internet groups in launching multibillion-dollar initiatives to help traditional exporters switch to domestic sales, as part of a national campaign to cushion the country’s economy from an escalating trade war with the US, reports the Financial Times. Alibaba has set up a task force to source goods from exporters in more than 10 provinces across China. Taobao and Tmall, its ecommerce marketplaces, have promised to offer higher commissions and better exposure on their platforms to encourage at least 10,000 exporters to sell 100,000 items. Alibaba’s supermarket chain Freshippo also said it had created special “green channels” for export suppliers to sell their products on its shelves.

Pinduoduo had earlier responded to sellers on its international arm Temu being hit by the ending on May 2 of “de minimis” duty exemptions on packages to the US. It promised to invest RMB 100 billion ($13.7 billion) to help its merchants “pivot and upgrade.”

“We are determined to shoulder the costs and risks . . . and to navigate the uncertainties in the external market environment,” Pinduoduo’s co-chief executive Zhao Jiazhen said. “We’ll prioritise ensuring the stable development and healthy profits of small and medium-sized manufacturers.”

Sunac China unveils final offshore debt restructuring plan

Sunac China Holding unveiled its final offshore debt restructuring plan late on Thursday, aiming to convert approximately $9.55 billion in offshore debt entirely into equity—only 10 days before its scheduled liquidation hearing, reports Caixin. Under the new proposal, the troubled property developer plans to issue two categories of mandatory convertible bonds to overseas creditors. The first carries a conversion price of HK$6.80 ($0.87) per share and can be converted immediately after the restructuring takes effect. The second, capped at 25% of total outstanding debt, has a lower conversion price of HK$3.85 per share but is convertible only between the 18th and 30th months after the restructuring.

Both conversion prices significantly exceed Sunac’s April 17 closing price of HK$1.58, representing premiums of approximately 330% and 147%, respectively.

The restructuring also includes a shareholder stability plan, under which principal shareholders must purchase convertible bonds equivalent to roughly $23 for every $100 in bonds distributed to creditors. These shareholders, including Sunac founder and largest shareholder Sun Hongbin, cannot sell, pledge or transfer these shares for economic benefit for six years, retaining only limited rights such as voting.

Apple’s China smartphone shipments fall in Q1

Apple’s iPhone shipments in mainland China fell 9% from a year ago to 9.8 million units in the first quarter, according to research firm IDC, three months after the US tech giant recaptured the top spot in the world’s largest smartphone market, reports the South China Morning Post. That made Apple the only top-five-ranked handset vendor in China to record a decline last quarter, when domestic smartphone shipments grew 3.3% year on year to 71.6 million units, IDC data showed.

Apple, which is still awaiting Beijing’s approval to offer artificial-intelligence features on its iPhones in China, stumbled because “its premium-pricing structure prevented it from capitalising” on the government subsidy scheme for electronics purchases, according to IDC Asia-Pacific senior research manager Will Wong.

The scheme, which began on January 20, gives consumers a 15% subsidy—capped at RMB 500 ($68.50) per purchase—for buying smartphones, tablets and smartwatches that cost under RMB 6,000.

China, Cambodia sign canal deal, vow supply chain cooperation

China and Cambodia have agreed to build safe and stable supply chains together and to strengthen cooperation in transportation infrastructure, they said in a joint statement released by China's foreign ministry on Friday, reports Reuters. The two countries also signed a deal on the construction of a major canal Cambodia hopes will transform its economic fortunes, though the investment and scale of the project have been apparently trimmed.

The agreements came at the conclusion of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that included stops in Vietnam and Malaysia.The trip was part of Beijing's effort to consolidate economic and trading ties with close neighbours in the face of China's tariff standoff with the United States.

"China supports Cambodia in building the Funan Techo Integrated Water Conservancy Project in accordance with the principles of feasibility and sustainability," the joint statement said.

Alibaba AI cancer detection tool clears FDA hurdle

Alibaba Group Holding’s research arm, Damo Academy, has secured a key endorsement from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cancer detection tool, as Chinese technology giants look to play a larger role in the global healthcare industry, reports the South China Morning Post. The FDA granted the “breakthrough device” designation to the research group’s Damo Panda model, allowing for an expedited review and approval process, Alibaba said in a statement on Thursday.

Alibaba first revealed Damo Panda, which is designed to identify pancreatic cancer, in November 2023 in a paper published in the medical journal Nature Medicine. The tool can effectively detect early-stage malignancies in asymptomatic patients, according to the paper.

Panda is a deep learning model trained on abdominal non-contrast computed tomography (CT) scans of 3,208 pancreatic cancer patients. Testing showed a 34.1% higher sensitivity than radiologists in identifying the disease, Damo researchers said at the time.

Turning to home

Several of China’s top technology firms, including Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo, say they are taking steps to help the country’s exporters become better able to sell their products in the China market, following the imposition of tough US tariffs.

Making it easier for exporters to sell goods into the China market may have some benefits, but there is also the potential to hurt those businesses that are already aimed at the domestic market, moving the problem around rather than solving it. The China market cannot expand to a degree that it would be able to absorb even a fraction of the goods previously exported. The fundamental problem is low consumer confidence and these changes have no impact on that.