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  6. Apec to spotlight Shenzhen's global fintech push

    Shenzhen’s financial services sector has been increasingly shaped by the deep integration of fintech and by its expanding overseas reach, according to a senior executive at Ping An Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Those trends are likely to draw wider attention next week, when global leaders arrive in the southern Chinese city for the Apec summit. Xu Hua, assistant president of Ping An Property and Casualty Insurance Company, said the company’s own history mirrors Shenzhen's fintech development. Founded in the 1980s in Shekou – an industrial area in western Shenzhen – it has grown from a regional insurer into a service network covering more than 110 countries. Financial services already form one of Shenzhen’s four pillar industries. Ping An Property and Casualty Insurance Company is among the companies taking part in the meeting, and its parent, Ping An Group, is one of the official sponsors. Xu said Shenzhen’s financial industry is most characterised by the deep integration of finance and technology. "Shenzhen is an innovation capital. It brings together a group of representative technology companies. Technological innovation comes with trial and error and risk. It faces practical difficulties such as high research and development investment, rapid technology iteration and strong uncertainty," he said. "Wherever innovation goes, insurance must follow. Overall, technology is Shenzhen’s underlying character. What insurance needs to do is serve well as a shock absorber for the real economy, so that technology companies dare to innovate, dare to invest and dare to go global." Xu said the company has tailor-made more than 400 million yuan in dedicated risk protection for this summit. He believes the meeting will not only bring short-term benefits, but also have long-term value, and hopes that the exchange opportunities at the Apec meeting can be transformed into sustained project cooperation. For cross-border operations, he called for closer cooperation with insurers, reinsurers and professional service providers so that companies can better understand local risks and coverage requirements. In sectors such as new energy, advanced manufacturing and the digital economy, he proposed that industry partners jointly assess emerging risks and develop products that keep pace with innovation. Xu said that in addition to helping mainland enterprises go global and providing protection services for their overseas expansion, the company has also formed close ties with Apec economies. The sector’s scale underscores its role in the city: financial services account for nearly 15 percent of Shenzhen’s GDP, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange had more than 2,900 listed companies as of the end of September. Edited by Aaron Tam

  9. HK, region mixed as Nvidia faces crunch on Huang sack

    Asian stocks wobbled at the start of regional trading on Thursday, while Nvidia shares plunged in after-hours trading on news that its board may oust longtime chief executive Jensen Huang. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened down 194 points, or 0.8 percent, at 24,121. The tech index fell 32 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,995 while the China Enterprises Index slipped 66 points, or 0.81 percent, to 8,105. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index inched down seven points, or 0.21 percent, to open at 3,673. The Shenzhen Component Index was 28 points, or 0.25 percent, lower at 11,361 while the ChiNext Index was down 0.5 percent at 2,559. Nvidia's board is meeting late on Wednesday to decide whether to oust Huang, a source said, as the world's dominant supplier of AI processors grapples with the fallout of allegations that he had an affair with a suspected spy for China. The New York Times has also reported that Huang had had an affair with a company executive who reported to him. "It looks bad from every single angle," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive at Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "I believe the board won't oust him until they have an all-star, a known entity in the tech sector, to replace him. At the end of the day, let's not forget that the Nvidia chip is the centrepiece of the AI story." Shares in Nvidia slid more than eight percent after the bell, weighing on S&P 500 e-mini futures, which slipped 0.4 percent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei opened 226 points, or 0.37 percent, higher at 61,475 and was 390 points higher still at one stage before noon. In Seoul, the Kospi opened 10 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,385 and, like the Nikkei, tracked up cautiously by 38 points at one stage before lunch. "Renewed optimism around AI drove US equities higher overnight, with positive developments around CoreWeave and Anthropic adding to enthusiasm around the sector and helping the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rally," Westpac analysts wrote in a note. (Agencies) Edited by Aaron Tam