WeBank reports soaring net profit WEBANK, China’s first private and online-only lender, saw its net profit soar 38.87% to 6.88 billion yuan (US$1.08 million) last year, accounting for more than 50% of the total net profits logged by all private banks in China, according to financial filings of the bank. Operating income at Tencent-backed WeBank was 26.99 billion yuan last year, up 35.75% from a year ago, while its total assets increased by 22.65% from a year ago to 438.75 billion yuan at the end of 2021. The bank’s return on assets stood at 1.75% at the end of last year, much higher than the averaged 0.93% among private banks in the country. Beijing to have 700,000 EV charging piles BEIJING plans to build more electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the coming years, with the total number of charging piles reaching 700,000 by 2025. Local authorities will encourage the installation of electric vehicle charging piles in the residential quarters across the city in the coming years, said Chai Wenzhong, an official with the Beijing municipal commission of urban management. By 2025, electric vehicle owners in the plain areas of the city will have access to charging points within 3 km, while people in the downtown areas will have charging points within 900 meters. Local govt. bonds issuance gains momentum THE issuance of local government special bonds in China has progressed much faster, an official said Tuesday. The country has allocated all special bond quotas for project construction, Vice Minister of Finance Xu Hongcai told a press conference. By the end of March, the country had front-loaded about 1.25 trillion yuan worth of the 2022 bond quota, or 86% of the total. Nation to improve cold-chain logistics AUTHORITIES have released a guideline on speeding up cold-chain logistics and transportation, pledging efforts to improve infrastructure network and push upgrading of technological equipment. China will optimize the layout of cold-chain facilities at hub ports and improve the network of cold-chain transportation facilities for the production and sales of goods, according to a guideline jointly released by several government agencies including the Ministry of Transport. | 