BYD Co (比亞迪), the Chinese automaker backed by Warren Buffett, has come under fire for pollution at one of its factories that residents say has caused nosebleeds in hundreds of children.
Officials in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, sent a team to BYD’s factory to investigate gas emissions after receiving complaints from neighbors, the local government said in a statement on its Sina Weibo account on Sunday.
The team includes third-party testing institutions and experts who are to try to get to the bottom of the issue that has seen scores of parents in Changsha protest.
Photo: Reuters
One report said that more than 600 children living near the production plant in the city’s Yuhua District have experienced repeated nosebleeds since last month.
Shenzhen-based BYD said over the weekend that its emissions comply with regulations, adding that it has taken steps to reduce the odor caused by the plant, which has been in operation since 2012.
BYD also said that it has filed police reports alleging the complaints about nosebleeds are groundless and malicious.
The company’s China-traded shares yesterday dropped, falling as much as 4.6 percent, their biggest intraday decline in almost two weeks. Markets in Hong Kong, where BYD is also listed, are closed for a public holiday.
The stock, along with battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (新能源科技), was among the biggest drags on the CSI 300 index.
BYD is one of China’s most successful vehicle companies in terms of sales, producing both conventional gas automobiles as well as electric vehicles, for which it also makes batteries.
CONSIDERATIONS: The NSTC instructed the park to assist laid-off workers and urge companies to use furlough programs to ease the effects of falling demand Firms in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), which houses major tech companies, reported laying off 496 employees last month amid weakened global demand, Hsinchu Science Park Bureau director-general Wayne Wang (王永壯) said yesterday. Wang told a news conference that 48 companies in the science park laid off employees last month, including one hard disk supplier which let go 241 employees as part of a plant closure due to falling demand. Other companies reported sporadic layoffs as they adjusted to weakening demand, he said. Wang made the remarks after local media reported the layoffs over the weekend. Although the global economy is struggling with high
DEJA VU: Echoing the probe into real-estate giant Evergrande Group, the bank is under Beijing police scrutiny after last week, telling investors it is ‘severely insolvent’ Chinese authorities said they recently opened criminal investigations into Zhongzhi Enterprise Group Co’s (中植企業) money management business, days after the embattled shadow banking giant revealed a shortfall of US$36.4 billion in its balance sheet. Police in Beijing said in a statement on WeChat that they took “criminal mandatory measures” against multiple suspects, identifying one by their last name, Xie (解). They urged investors to report cases or provide leads to the authorities, including filing complaints online. Xie Zhikun (解直錕), the group’s founder, died in 2021, but several of his relatives are executives at the company. The statement did not elaborate on what
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck have promised to solve investment subsidy issues for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Intel Corp, despite the country’s budget woes. Uncertainty over the funding to TSMC and Intel has arisen after a ruling by the German Federal Constitutional Court, which cast doubt over subsidies for construction of local semiconductor chip plants. On Nov. 15, the court ruled that the German government’s decision last year to reallocate 60 billion euros (US$65.74 billion) of unused funding from COVID-19 pandemic support measures to its Climate and Transformation Fund
NEW TREAD: The Taiwanese shoe brand paired with TSMC to turn silicon waste into a circular economy good, following its success making shoes from coffee grounds Ccilu International Inc (馳綠國際), a Taiwan-based footwear brand, has become the first company in the world to turn silicon waste from contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) into eco-friendly shoes. Last year, the global footwear industry saw the first pair of pressure-relief slippers made from recycled silicon waste by Ccilu. The brand continued to unveil follow-up collections, including sports shoes and massage slippers made from the same materials. In an interview with CNA, Ccilu CEO Wilson Hsu (許佳鳴) recalled the company’s innovation of the first pair of slippers made from silicon waste after its silicon waste treatment partner, Semisils Applied Materials
RSS