Covid-19 & Vaccine

  • In the past week, Brazil became the most severely affected country in the world. The virus mutates and then mutates. In the first half of 2020, two viruses, B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33, are prevalent. The currently popular P.1 and P.2 variants are derived from B.1.1.28, and the latest variant virus N.9 is derived from B.1.1.33.
    Peru has closed flights to and from Brazil; Uruguay has sent additional soldiers with live ammunition to guard the closed border while delivering additional doses of vaccines to border towns; Chile now requires anyone arriving in Brazil to go to special quarantine hotels. In Colombia, the country not only banned flights in and out of Brazil, but also cut off flights to Leticia, a border city close to Brazil.
  • Following the announcement of the suspension of AstraZeneca vaccination by the Netherlands and Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia and other countries introduced the same measures on March 15th and 16th. So far, 20 countries in Europe have announced the suspension of AstraZeneca vaccine.
  • Iceland will allow visitors from countries other than the Schengen countries to receive the new crown vaccine to enter, without the need to undergo new crown testing and isolation.

China

  • British think tank Z/Yen Group: released the 29th Global Financial Center Index (GFCI 29). The top ten financial centers in the world are ranked in order of New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Shenzhen, Frankfurt and Zurich.
  • Wu Qing, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai: In 2020, domestic IC trading revenue will be close to 885 billion yuan, an average annual growth rate of 20% during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Last year, the scale of Shanghai’s integrated circuit industry accounted for about 22% of the country’s total, with an output value exceeding 200 billion yuan, an increase of more than 20%. At present, more than 700 key integrated circuit companies have settled in Shanghai. In the past, the accumulated investment in the semiconductor field has exceeded 300 billion yuan.
  • Beijing: In 2020, the total output value of the animation and game industry will exceed 100 billion yuan, reaching 106.3 billion yuan. It has become an important research and development center and the largest export destination for the animation and game industry in the country.

Economy

  • In 2020, China’s chip industry sales will increase by 17.8%, reaching 891.1 billion yuan. The chip shortage is “unprecedented”, and international cooperation is the only way to solve the chip crisis.

Company

  • BMW Group: Disclosure of the “three-step” plan for corporate transformation towards digital and intelligent travel. Among them, by the end of 2021, BMW will achieve the world’s largest OTA upgrade. By 2023, BMW will provide at least one pure electric model in about 90% of the market segments; by 2025, BMW’s pure electric model sales will be year-on-year An increase of more than 50%; by 2030, pure electric models will account for at least 50% of the total global sales, by then, MINI will become a pure electric brand.
  • Google said on Tuesday (March 16) that it will reduce the service fee of the first $1 million that developers earn through its app store from 30% to 15%.

Industry

  • In 2020, the consumption scale of China’s auto aftermarket will exceed one trillion yuan. With the steady improvement of my country’s economic situation, the continued recovery of automotive aftermarket consumption, the orderly recovery of second-hand car transaction volume; the steady growth of car modification and the recycling of scrapped motor vehicles; the rapid development of shared travel and charging facilities. Preliminary estimates indicate that the total transaction volume of the above-mentioned items exceeds 1 trillion yuan, which has strongly stimulated automobile consumption.
  • In 2020, China’s electric vehicle sales amounted to 1.367 million units, accounting for 41.3% of the total global sales and 5.4% of the total sales of the Chinese automobile market. However, the problem of structural overcapacity in my country’s electric vehicle industry has become increasingly prominent. Electric vehicles, which account for only 5.4% of the total sales, are scattered among nearly 200 car companies, and the electric vehicle knockout competition is accelerating.
  • SEMI Global Vice President Ju Long: In 2020, global semiconductor equipment will increase by 18.9%, and China will become the world’s largest semiconductor equipment market for the first time, with a growth rate of 39.3%. The global semiconductor market is expected to reach US$500 billion around 2022-2023.
  • Strategy Analytics: In 2021, global smartphone shipments will rebound by 6.5% year-on-year, reaching 1.38 billion units. Xiaomi is expected to surpass Huawei to become the world’s third largest smartphone manufacturer.
  • NHK: The Japanese government announced that starting March 18, it will raise tariffs on imported beef from the United States from 25.8% to 38.5%, with a 30-day period.

World

  • US President Biden: Anyone with an annual income of more than $400,000 will face tax increases.