Category: Flash News

On March 22, Li Jialu, Director of the Circulation Development Department of the Ministry of Commerce, stated at the launch ceremony of the “2025 National Home Appliance Consumption Season” this morning that from the consumer side, the home appliance consumption market has continued to recover since the second half of last year. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, from August 2024 to present, consumers have purchased nearly 90 million units of old for new home appliance products. According to value-added tax invoice data, from October 2024 to February 2025, retail sales of household audiovisual equipment such as televisions and daily household appliances such as refrigerators increased by 23.3% and 56.1% year-on-year, respectively. From the production perspective, both the output and profit of household appliances are showing an increasing trend. In 2024, the production of refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines will increase by 8.3%, 9.7%, and 8.8% respectively year-on-year, and the total profit of the household appliance industry will increase by 11.4% year-on-year. (Caixin News Agency reporter Lu Tingting)

On March 22, the State Administration for Financial Regulation recently released the “Management Measures for Commercial Banks’ Agency Sales Business” (hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”), and relevant department heads answered questions from reporters regarding the “Measures”. 1、 What is the background and main content of the formulation of the Measures? In recent years, commercial banks have rapidly developed their consignment business, with an increasingly diverse range of consignment products and types, and a wider customer coverage. On the basis of continuously strengthening the responsibilities of financial product issuers and managers in relevant regulatory systems, it is necessary to further clarify the obligations of commercial banks as sales agents. To this end, the General Administration has formulated the “Measures” aimed at promoting the standardized and orderly development of commercial banks’ consignment business. The Measures consist of eight chapters and 54 articles, mainly including the following content: Chapter 1 General Provisions, which clarifies the conditions and basic principles that commercial banks should meet to carry out consignment business. Chapter 2: Internal Management System for Sales Agency Business, clarifying that commercial banks need to establish and improve management systems, business systems, internal management, consumer protection mechanisms, and other mechanisms to carry out sales agency business. Chapter 3: Management of Cooperative Institutions, Strengthening the Management Responsibility of Commercial Banks for Cooperative Institutions, Clarifying the Requirements for Admission Review and Exit Mechanism of Cooperative Institutions, and Clarifying the Legal Responsibilities of Commercial Banks and Cooperative Institutions. Chapter 4: Admission Management of Sales Products, Strengthening the Responsibility of Commercial Banks for Admission Management of Sales Products, and Clarifying Due Diligence Requirements. Chapter 5 Sales Management: Standardize the promotion and agency sales behavior of commercial banks. Chapter 6: Management of the Term of Contract Sales Products, clarifying the obligations that commercial banks should fulfill during the term of contract sales. Chapter 7 Supervision and Management, clarifying the reporting requirements and regulatory measures for commercial banks to carry out consignment business. Chapter 8 Supplementary Provisions stipulate the implementation time of the Measures, etc. 2、 What are the requirements for commercial banks in the management of cooperative institutions and product access management under the Measures? The Measures strengthen the management responsibility of commercial banks towards cooperative institutions in terms of admission requirements, exit mechanisms, signing procedures and contents of consignment agreements, management of related party transactions, and attribution of responsibilities. For cooperating institutions that have already been admitted, regular review and evaluation are required. For institutions implementing exit, it is required to provide good customer service for existing products. In terms of product admission for consignment sales, due diligence requirements are specified by category. From the perspective of strengthening risk control, relevant departments of commercial banks are required to conduct comprehensive evaluations of certain products in the admission process and obtain approval from the bank’s senior management. 3、 What regulations does the Measures provide for the promotion and sale of consignment products by commercial banks? The Measures require commercial banks to establish and improve a monitoring and management mechanism for the entire process of agency sales, and make specific provisions for promotional materials, information inquiry, product display, suitability management, sales personnel management, traceability management, etc., including the need to develop consistent sales product display rules for similar products, carefully evaluate the appropriateness of customer purchases, put forward targeted requirements for sales management of customer groups such as the elderly and those with limited civil capacity, and strengthen the qualification and behavior management of sales personnel. 4、 What obligations should commercial banks fulfill during the term of consignment products? The Measures stipulate that during the existence period of consignment products, commercial banks should continue to pay attention to important information such as product risk return characteristics, risk rating changes, and information disclosure, and urge cooperative institutions to fulfill their proactive management responsibilities; Urge cooperating institutions to disclose relevant information on consignment products in accordance with regulations; Continuously strengthening customer service, commercial banks should inform customers of the product related information provided by cooperative institutions or assist customers in querying relevant information from cooperative institutions if they request to know about the consignment products. 5、 What are the considerations regarding the implementation time of the Measures? To ensure the smooth implementation of policies, the Measures are scheduled to come into effect on October 1, 2025. Commercial banks will make various preparations in accordance with the requirements of the Measures. When the Measures are implemented, for existing products that do not comply with the provisions of Article 28, the stock can be gradually resolved through natural expiration or other means in accordance with the original agreement.

On March 22nd, there have been multiple arson incidents targeting Tesla electric vehicles and related facilities in the United States recently. Trump said, “Those caught sabotaging Tesla are likely to be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, including sponsors. We are looking for you.” Musk reposted Trump’s remarks on X platform with the caption, “The people who funded Tesla’s attack are the worst bad guys.

On March 22nd, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Friday after meeting with provincial and territorial leaders that Canada plans to eliminate barriers between provinces and territories and achieve free internal trade before Canada Day on July 1st to respond to US tariff measures.

On March 22, local time, Venezuelan Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Cabello stated that the Venezuelan immigrants expelled by the United States have nothing to do with the “disbanded” criminal organization “Aragua Train”. Cabello stated that the US government claims everywhere that Venezuelan immigrants are members of the “Aragua Train”, which is not true, and Venezuela has not accepted any members of the “Aragua Train”. Meanwhile, there are no members of the criminal organization on the list of Venezuelans detained in El Salvador that has been released. In addition, Cabello emphasized that criminal organizations like the “Aragua Train” have been dismantled by Venezuelan security forces. Cabello also stated that Venezuelan immigration officials have arrived in Mexico to assist the Venezuelan embassy in helping immigrants return home.

On March 22, local time, French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barro stated that France opposes the annexation of the Gaza Strip or the West Bank in any form. Barrow stated on the same day that France has a clear vision for the future of the Middle East region. The ‘two-state solution’ is a solution that enables peaceful coexistence, mutual recognition, and security guarantees between Palestine and Israel, and is also the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region.

On March 22nd, Yehia Sareya, spokesperson for the Houthi armed forces, announced that the Houthi armed forces successfully attacked Israel’s Ben Gurion airport using a “Palestinian 2” hypersonic ballistic missile. This operation has successfully achieved its goal. In addition, the Houthis launched military operations for the sixth consecutive day, using multiple drones to strike multiple escort warships of the US aircraft carrier Harry Truman. There is currently no response from the United States or Israel regarding the above remarks.

On March 22nd, due to the Trump administration’s threat to impose drug import tariffs, Johnson&Johnson has formulated a plan to increase its investment in the United States by 25% over the next four years, reaching over $55 billion. Johnson&Johnson announced on Friday that it plans to build four new factories, one of which will be located in Wilson, North Carolina. The factory officially broke ground earlier that day.

March 22, according to the statement of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 21st, the building of the Iraqi Consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye was shot by unknown people at 21:00 on the same day. The statement stated that the attacker rode a motorcycle and fired a Kalashnikov rifle at the front of the consulate building before fleeing the scene. The incident did not cause any casualties.

On March 22, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Council, Kim Jong un, met with visiting Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Shoigu, on March 21 local time. Shoigu conveyed Russian President Putin’s greetings and handwritten letter to Kim Jong un. Kim Jong un expressed gratitude for this and instructed Shoigu to convey greetings to Putin. During their conversation, Kim Jong un and Shoigu extensively exchanged views on the important issues of safeguarding the security interests and international justice of North Korea and Russia, as well as the insights and opinions of the leadership of the two countries on the regional and international situation, and confirmed their completely consistent positions. Kim Jong un stated that North Korea will continue to provide unwavering support to Russia in its struggle to safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security interests. During the conversation, both sides expressed that the leadership of the two countries will unconditionally fulfill all the provisions of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between North Korea and Russia. Kim Jong un and Shoigu also had talks on strengthening exchanges and cooperation in various aspects, including the security field between the two countries.