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China's EV Maker BYD Gets Bad News From DC
And Punches Back
The question of whether U.S. business ties with China are sustainable given distrust over Chinese investment in America is playing out with
BYD Motors, the
Warren Buffet-backed, Chinese electric vehicle maker located in Southern California.
A defense policy bill is heading to the White House that would bar use of federal funds to purchase buses and rail cars from Chinese companies, over concerns about security issues and spying. The restriction would go into effect in two years.
Stella Li, president of the U.S. subsidiary of
BYD Company, recently sounded an alarm about the defense bill, which targets Chinese transit suppliers. She defended BYD by highlighting its contributions toward the U.S. adoption of electric vehicles and pointed out that a ban would slow continued advancement in green energy transit.
The action comes at a time when the U.S. and China, the world's top two superpowers, are locked in issues over cooperation or competition, largely focused on technology.
BYD, based in Shenzhen, is the world's largest maker of electric vehicles while
Tesla claims that titles for automobiles.
BYD's Li pointed to three reasons why a potential block is a bad idea, and will hurt a company that is already deeply interconnected with the U.S. economy and jobs. The ban under the National Defense Authorization Act that passed Congress this past week would also impact Chinese state-owned rail car maker CRCC.
Chinese IPOs in NY Lift Off
Action continues for Chinese tech IPOs in the U.S., despite ongoing frictions between the U.S. and China in the race for technology power.
China drone maker
EHang - the one that does two-seater passenger flying drones - lifted off on Nasdaq this past week and raised $43 million. That's less than half its targeted $100 million in a tough climate given the scrutiny of Chinese companies in the U.S.
A second Chinese company,
Ucommune - a rival to
WeWork in China - is attempting an IPO in New York, seeking to raise $100 million. Two big banks have reportedly dropped out of the IPO over concerns about a too-high valuation, which also tripped up
WeWork.
The end of the year is always a busy time for IPOs and this year is no exception for China, which could see as many as 35 Chinese companies list in New York in 2019. That's about the same level as 2018, before the US-China tech cold war took hold.
Read
Forbes:
China IPO Lift-Off
NOTEWORTHY
It's been a big year for Chinese VCs in Africa as they branch out into tech, logistics and e-commerce and look outward after a cooling off of China's red-hot market.
DEALS
WeLab has snared $156 million in Series C strategic financing, completing the largest fintech fundraising in Greater China in 2019.
Tiger Global has led a $26 million funding of invoice discounting platform KredX in India.
Observe.AI Raises $26 Million to digitally transform the $300 billion voice customer service market with artificial intelligence. The deal was led by Scale Venture Partners, with Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, 01 Advisors, and Emergent Venture.
SPEAKING UP
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