Xpeng expands further to Europe DOMESTIC electric-car maker Xpeng is expanding further to Europe, taking aim at the Swedish and Dutch markets. Until now the only overseas foray for Xpeng, which makes the P7 and P5 sedans as well as the G3 and G9 sport-utility vehicles, has been Norway. It began shipping its cars there in late 2020. Xpeng will open a store in Stockholm and will also partner with local auto dealer Bilia. It has also reached an agreement with the Dutch unit of Swiss vehicle distributor Emil Frey, which will develop its sales and service network in the Netherlands and manage its stores there. Xpeng intends to opens a store in the Netherlands next month. BlackRock CCB gets nod for pension products BLACKROCK CCB Wealth Management has gained the license from China’s top banking regulator to pilot wealth management products for pensions in Guangzhou and Chengdu. The joint venture is owned by BlackRock Financial Management Inc., CCB Wealth Management Co. (a subsidiary of China Construction Bank) and Fullerton Management Pte Ltd. The preliminary cap for funds raised by the company is set at 10 billion yuan (US$1.57 billion) in a one-year trial period. Overseas investors buy more yuan bonds OVERSEAS institutional investors bought more Chinese bonds in January, according to data from the China Foreign Exchange Trading System. In January, overseas institutional investors bought 783.2 billion yuan (US$123 billion) in Chinese bonds and sold 641.9 billion yuan, the data showed. These transactions led to a net purchase of 141.3 billion yuan, 51.6 billion yuan higher compared with the previous month. Last month, spot transactions of yuan bonds made by overseas institutional investors neared 1.43 trillion yuan, up 53 percent from December 2021. Zhenro Properties shares, bonds plunge SHARES and bonds of Shanghai-based property developer Zhenro Properties fell heavily Friday before one of its yuan bonds was temporarily suspended from trading. Its Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 66.4 percent to their lowest level since listing in January 2018, while shares in its property services unit plunged 57.7 percent. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index rose 2.2 percent. Zhenro’s 2024 yuan bond fell by more than 20 percent before being suspended in Shanghai. | 