（原标题：厂商：新能源汽车补贴明年将提前退坡，地方补贴或取消）

澎湃新闻记者 李皙寅

临近年底，不少新能源汽车生产商正在等待政策靴子落地。

近日，澎湃新闻（www.thepaper.cn）记者从多位新能源汽车、动力电池生产商处了解到，此前坊间传言的新能源汽车补贴退坡提速的消息或将坐实，文件已成稿，消息将不日公布。未来，高能量密度电池、长续航里程将成为重点鼓励标准，地方财政补贴或将取消。

一位不愿具名的消息人士对澎湃新闻记者称，他从工信部方面了解到，2018年起，续航里程低于150公里的新能源汽车将不再享受补贴；此外，新能源汽车地方补贴将被叫停。

在2017年度国家补贴标准中，针对续航里程在100到150公里间的新能源汽车，给予2万元补贴；此外，地方可以在国家财政补贴的标准上，给予不超过50%的地方财政补贴。

针对新能源汽车补贴的退坡，坊间曾有多个版本的传言。澎湃新闻记者从多个信源了解到，其中倾向于补贴能量密度高、续航里程长的车型，减少能量密度低、续航里程短的补贴的政策倾向，正逐渐被坐实。

另有动力电池生产商对澎湃新闻记者透露，在新版财政补贴方案中，新能源客车的度电补贴将从1800元/度下调至1100元/度，非快充类单车国补上限调整为不超过18万元，国补+地补上线下调为不超过27万元，后二者补贴额度缩水40%。

不过，这些说法尚未获得财政部、工信部的公开回应。

退坡提前到来，车企称“生产节奏被打乱”

新能源汽车财政补贴的退坡并非突如其来。

在2016年底公布的新能源汽车补贴细则中，就明确提出：补贴公示内容维持两年，2019年将在2017年的基础上退坡20%。

“政策有三年之痒，能够实施三年就差不多了。”今年11月，中国汽车技术研究中心首席专家刘斌就曾公开阐述补贴政策的调整逻辑：政府新能源汽车产业支持政策的思路已从“普惠”转向“择优”，从单纯的奖励机制变成奖惩结合。

中国汽车技术研究中心隶属于国资委，业务包括为政府提供标准化与技术法规的服务等，涉足政策起草及前期调研工作。

不少车企没想到的是退坡来得如此之快。

有车企高管对澎湃新闻记者说，从原来计划两年调一次到一年调整一次（2017年新能源汽车补贴细则诞生于2016年底，至今存续尚不满一年），“这对企业成本影响非常大，刚上市的新车，年后就没了补贴，有可能导致马上退市。”

“补贴退坡会波及销量占比70%以上的车型，这么大的量恰恰是中国最主流的（新能源汽车），一下子退到零，把企业的生产节奏全部都打乱了。很多生产计划要彻底推倒重来，这是非常灾难性的变化。（关于国家的新能源汽车补贴政策）每三年就有个断档，没有政策的延续性，这让企业很难受。”今年12月，上海交通大学智能网联电动汽车创新中心主任殷承良在一公开论坛上，表达了上述观点。

政策动态调整、环境多变之下，刘斌认为，在战略上车企需要想清楚，选择跟着政策走还是依据自身的发展来进行选择。企业遵循政策设计车型，一方面可以享受到政策红利，另一方面在技术创新、研发、产业类型上也会有所限制。

小型电动车、客车受波及最深，或将短期波动销售市场

从补贴调整的方式来看，此前能量密度较低，主打市内通勤、共享出行领域里的小型新能源乘用车及新能源客车受到的影响最大。

从全国乘用车联席会数据来看，2017年微型电动车消费市场需求旺盛，今年1月到11月间，A00级电动乘用车销售量达到24.44万辆，同比增长162%，占新能源乘用车销量的53.35%。

宁波利维能储能系统有限公司总经理孙晓东认为，伴随补贴额度下降，直至2020年彻底取消，电动车的市场结构或许会出现重大调整：伴随补贴额度的下滑，家用A级轿车销量会断崖式下跌。

电动大巴则面临补贴潮退下后裸泳的窘况。

从今年1月到10月的累计销量数据来看，宇通客车位居第一，累计销售量1.1万辆；比亚迪客车排第二，8445辆。但从工信部合格证产量数据看，今年前十个月没有月产量过万的车企，前面几个月产量都在数百辆徘徊。

在12月15日举办的第八届全球新能源汽车大会上，第一电动网的CEO崔志强评价，说行业深蹲甚至滞缓都不为过。

崔志强分析，尽管政策力推，但结合采购、运营来看，电动客车的综合成本仍很高，这恐怕是客车行业难以快速、大规模电动化的内因。目前各种技术配置的新能源客车在国内都还处于“被检验”的状态，仅就城市公共交通而言，尚没有任何一类产品可以被锁定为技术经济效益最佳，从而可大规模推广应用。

近日，澎湃新闻记者走访北京多个新能源汽车销售网点，不少销售人员已经把补贴退坡，作为一种推销理由，鼓动消费者尽快提车，并表示，一旦新能源汽车补贴退坡调整，很可能导致明年年初无车可卖。

2017年初，因为新能源汽车补贴退坡，企业需要调整商务政策，导致新能源汽车销量下滑，多家经销商一度停止提车。

补贴退坡后，成本由谁承担？

伴随补贴退坡，新能源汽车厂商间的竞争越发激烈。

北汽新能源汽车营销公司总经理李一秀称，“如果把新能源汽车比喻成孩子，那么国家对他并不是娇惯，而选择快速锤炼、提升，加速他的培养。”

目前“政策驱动+生态驱动”为主，市场驱动为辅，将在2019年底，迎来窗口期的转变——转向产品驱动、市场驱动的新阶段，更强调产品个性化、品牌化的打造。

与此同时，新能源汽车产品的大量推陈出新及价格优惠正在加速，车企间或将刺刀见红。

据不完全统计，2017年，新能源汽车包括全新和升级车型在内，共上市45款新车，各家厂商布局速度极快；另一方面，新能源汽车的终端促销力度正在加大，部分车型优惠额度已经超过2万元。

补贴退坡后，由谁来承担成本将成为一个新挑战。

对此，奇瑞新能源科技有限公司市场部长卢华平指出，一旦补贴退坡，单车成本将增加1.7万元至2.5万元，“如果厂商分摊，这是死路一条；成本将由三方承担，对消费者来说，明年可能涨价；经销商的商务政策可能缩减；企业内部将再提降本增效。”

回溯2017年新能源汽车财政补贴的退坡，受影响的不止是整车制造商。

一位动力电池企业高管对澎湃新闻记者称，今年国补退坡后，直接影响了整车厂回款效率，加上新能源汽车需求旺盛，上游稀有金属的价格疯涨，这给动力电池行业带来了极大的压力。

沃特玛电池副总裁钟孟光对澎湃新闻记者称，目前动力电池厂更面临着巨大的成本压力：2015年前，一台纯电动车50%的成本源自电池，电池太贵，影响了市场推广。通过技术升级和规模化生产，电池成本已经降到35%至40%，这促使动力电池厂商不断地降本增效。未来，改进工艺，规模化生产，自动化水平提升，梯次利用将成为动力电池企业间比拼的关键所在。

孙晓东认为，未来电动车的电池制造成本需要进一步降低，才能达到电池折旧和油电差价的平衡，而目前动力电池制造成本已经下降到1.7元/Wh甚至是1.4元/Wh，材料端已经被压得非常低，进一步降低直接成本很困难。因此，梯级利用将成为重要的使用场景，储能市场及汽车换电技术将迎来新的发展机遇。

后补贴时代：补贴政策包正在“路上”

在财政补贴退坡的同时，有关部委正用一揽子计划规范、推广新能源汽车的进一步发展。

刘斌指出，过去数年实践中，政府运用在新能源行业上的政策工具逐步增加，既有财税支持、也可以通过免限购、免限行等政策工具；国家层面推动的部委从2-3个增加至18个。

此前，财政部经济建设司副司长宋秋玲也透露，财政部会同工信部、科技部、发改委、能源局等部门，正在针对新能源车补贴建立一整套财税政策体系，补贴从单项政策到政策组合拳，政策体系不断完善。

据澎湃新闻记者了解，针对“后补贴时代”，已有多家机构联合研究应对办法，包括税收支持政策、2020年后续补贴政策研究、交通差异化政策、充电基础设施支持政策和双积分政策、商业模式研究等方面。

今年9月，中国汽车技术研究中心、中国汽车工程学会、中国电动汽车百人会联合开展的《后补贴时代新能源汽车支持政策体系研究》课题启动会举行，探讨如何实现新能源汽车产业在补贴退出后平稳过渡、持续发展。

本文来源：澎湃新闻 责任编辑：王凤枝_NT2541

Three years ago cash was still king in China – until Alipay and WeChat Pay shook up the entire ecosystem.

Today, their dominance in mobile payments for everything from taxi fares to peer-to-peer transfers have not only made them household names in a country of 1.4 billion people, but incumbent payment operators are being forced to innovate or risk being left behind.

China has embraced mobile payments faster than any other country. Last year, mobile payment transactions hit US$5.5 trillion ($7.8t), making China the largest mobile payments market in the world, according to iResearch.

Tencent’s WeChat Pay, together with Ant Financial’s Alipay and its overseas strategic mobile payment partners, claim a total of 600 million and 800 million users respectively.

Combined, they account for over 66 per cent of the third party payments market in China, based on research by Analysys International.

But not satisfied with just dominating the Chinese mainland, both companies have started laying the groundwork to introduce their services to other Asian markets like Hong Kong and Singapore.

“Tencent and Ant Financial are biting at the heels of incumbent payment operators,” said Michael Yeo, research manager for financial and retail insights at IDC.

China’s monopoly bank card services provider China UnionPay has sat up and taken notice. With only a 17 per cent market share in third-party payments, it has just launched an integrated mobile payments service as it looks to compete head to head with Alipay and WeChat Pay.

The UnionPay QuickPass app supports both near field communication (NFC) technology and QR codes, allowing almost all mainland banks to expand their mobile payments services on a unified platform. But it comes three years after Alipay and WeChat Pay launched “scan to pay” functions and peer-to-peer money transfers in 2014.

“It’s a bit late for UnionPay to enter the mobile payments market now, most consumers are used to Alipay and WeChat Pay,” said Wang Xiaofeng, senior analyst at Forrester Research. “But UnionPay is not going to just give up the market, they also want to fight for a piece of the pie.”

Alipay and WeChat Pay have also made their presence felt abroad. Both companies extended their payments services to hundreds of thousands of merchants in regions like Southeast Asia and Europe, targeting outbound Chinese travellers and encouraging them to settle their overseas shopping bills with the apps.

In the past year, both companies have also focused on rolling out local e-wallet services to other Asia Pacific markets. These apps can be linked to users’ bank accounts or topped up manually.

In Hong Kong, Tencent launched its WeChat Wallet feature in January 2016, allowing users to link their credit cards to the wallet, send digital red packets to family and friends, and purchase tickets for local attractions and travel insurance.

In a similar move, Ant Financial, the financial arm of Alibaba Group, pushed out a separate, local version of its wallet called AlipayHK for Hong Kong residents in May.

Both companies have moved quickly in an effort to encourage consumer adoption. Last month, both Alipay and WeChat Pay rolled out mobile payment services for Hong Kong taxis, an industry that has long been dominated by cash, introducing a host of incentives including no administration fees to encourage taxi drivers to adopt the system. Within a month, some 2,500 taxis out of the city’s fleet of 40,000 signed up.

In contrast, the operator of Hong Kong’s ubiquitous Octopus card, used by locals for everything from public transport to cashless payments, has struggled to woo the local taxi industry due to its administration fee charges.

Now WeChat Pay and Alipay have set their sights on the city’s MTR subway system, with new partnerships announced in late November that would enable travellers to pay for train tickets with mobile payment wallets at selected MTR stations, thus breaking the two-decade stronghold Octopus had as the main form of payment for MTR fares.

The two Chinese mobile payment wallets have spurred Octopus to take action. Earlier this week it announced it was joining forces with Samsung Pay to enable users to pay for purchases via the NFC function on smartphones.

“We believe Smart Octopus will become the new norm for smartphone users seeking greater convenience while carrying less,” said Octopus chief executive Sunny Cheung Yiu-tong, referring to the new system.

Octopus launched its own QR code-based payment service in October, targeted at small merchants and encouraging them to accept mobile payments.

Elsewhere in Asia, payment operators are also scrambling to launch mobile services to fend off competition from Alipay and WeChat Pay.

In Singapore, the two Chinese operators are already working with merchants and local third-party payments providers to let Chinese tourists pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay. In August, local media reports said Ant Financial was still “looking for partners” to potentially launch its wallet service in Singapore.

The same month, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote a tweet lamenting the country’s fragmented mobile payments system, which was “inconvenient for consumers and costly for businesses”.

The island-state already has a host of mobile payment systems from banks such as DBS, as well as from ride-hailing company Grab, which operates GrabPay.

Within weeks, local payment services company Nets announced its new NetsPay solution that lets users scan a QR code or go contactless with NFC technology on their mobile phone, with money debited directly from their bank accounts.

US-based hardware gaming firm Razer also jumped on the bandwagon, with Singapore-born chief executive Tan Min-liang promising to submit a proposal for a mobile payments system called RazerPay for the city. In an interview earlier this month, Tan said that plans for RazerPay were still under way and could be expected to roll out “in the short term”.

Forrester’s Wang said that while local payment operators are moving to innovate and roll out their own services, it could be difficult to compete with Alipay and WeChat Pay.

“If Alipay and WeChat Pay get licenses from regulators and roll out localised versions, they’re going to be a huge threat,” she said. “It’s going to be difficult to compete with them, because they are already so experienced, be it in the technology side or the go-to market strategy in encouraging adoption.

“The biggest difference between tech companies and payments incumbents is speed. When services like WeChat Pay or Alipay enter a market, they move very, very fast. Traditional payments operators or banks just simply do not have the same agility.”

At publication time UnionPay, Nets and Octopus had not responded to requests for comment.

This article first appeared in the South China Morning Post

Peter Uzoho

The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, (LSETF), has launched the ‘Lagos Innovates’, a series of programmes designed for technology and innovation-driven startups in Lagos State.

Through provision of access to high quality infrastructure, learning, capital and networks, the scheme hopes to cement Lagos’ position as the leading destination for startups in Africa, and is tailored towards supporting Lagos-resident founders and Lagos-based high impact, scale potential startups in smart ways.

The initiative was developed from the experience and successes of similar government-led initiatives like Startup Chile, Startup India and Startup Singapore.

The Lagos Innovates which was launched Monday, with three programmes designed to deliver value through numerous co-working facilities in Lagos, was informed by the recognition of collaboration and network-building as key to meaningful innovation and creativity.

From the day of launch , opportunities have been provided for Lagos-resident founders and operators of co-working spaces and innovation hubs to apply for one of the initiatives’ first three programmes: Workspace Vouchers, Hub Loans and Events Sponsorship, through open, merit-based, online applications processes.

Speaking at the launch, Executive Secretary, LSETF, Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, said that additional programmes which would include, a scale-up accelerator program, a co-investment scheme, and a second, learning-focused, voucher scheme, would follow in the first quarter of 2018.

“Lagos has perhaps the most exciting startup ecosystem of any city in Africa,” Oyebode said. According to him, the investment case is clear, and driven primarily by the size of the market and accessibility as an entry-point for Nigeria and a springboard for the rest of West Africa.

“If we get our model for innovation-driven enterprises right, Lagos State has the potential to exponentially increase opportunities and jobs for its residents in the medium – to long-term. This is the right government to execute on Lagos Innovates and the broader vision of a thriving startup ecosystem.

“Through Lagos Innovates, Governor Ambode is delivering on his January 2017 promise to support this community in smart ways”, Oyebode noted,

Commenting on the importance of the programme, Chief Executive Officer, Bluechip Technologies and member of the Lagos Innovates Advisory Board, Olumide Soyombo, said it was exciting seeing Lagos State Government show support for the startup community. “There’s always more that could be done, but these are a thoughtful set of programs. I am excited to serve on the advisory council for Lagos Innovates and look forward to working with LSETF to ensure that over time, we can point to real outcomes from these programs,” Soyombo said.

On his part, Chief Executive Officer, Amari, Eloho Omame, said: “Lagos Innovates is the first step on a journey for the Lagos State government, through LSETF, to show that it respects the achievements of Lagos’ vibrant tech startup community, understands that tech entrepreneurship is a different, new way of building companies, and that it is excited by the enthusiasm of Lagos’ community of startup founders.”

Asian markets rallied on Monday, tracking fresh records on Wall Street, while the dollar held gains as Donald Trump’s much-hyped tax cuts moved a step closer to being passed.

The controversial reforms look destined to become the US president’s first major congressional victory as two key Republican holdouts in the Senate decided to back the bill after their demands were met Friday. The news sent US stocks soaring on hopes the cuts will help fire the already healthy economy and boost company profits.

“The odds of the tax cut legislation getting passed within this year have grown,” Shoji Hirakawa, chief global strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, told Bloomberg News.

This “will benefit not only the US, but also economies around the globe … allowing investors to anticipate an increase in corporate earnings.”

Tokyo ended 1.6 percent higher as a weaker yen lifted exporters, while Hong Kong added 0.7 percent, Shanghai edged up 0.1 percent and Sydney put on 0.7 percent. Taipei, Manila and Bangkok also enjoyed gains.

But Seoul was marginally lower while Singapore shed 0.2 percent. On currency markets, the dollar benefitted from the tax hopes, with traders betting they will fan inflation and push the Federal Reserve to hike borrowing costs. The greenback was sharply up against its major peers compared with its levels in Asia on Friday.

However, Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA, warned the currency could face headwinds in the new year.

“With the messy situation in Washington and the president’s approval rating waning by the month, it’s difficult to envision the Republicans holding on to the House or the Senate majority, making it virtually impossible to get any Trump proposal passed,” he said. He added that without the passage of the president’s much-touted trillion-dollar infrastructure spending plan “the US dollar could be a dead duck in 2018”.

Bitcoin jumped almost 10 percent to $19,500 at one point, according to Bloomberg, before easing below $19,000 as the CME Group, which runs the world’s biggest futures exchange, began trading futures in the cryptocurrency Sunday.

The listing came a week after Bitcoin started on the Cboe, the first time it had appeared on a major exchange and marking a watershed for the unit, despite warnings about its extreme volatility and a possible bubble explosion.

Bitcoin has soared in recent weeks, breaking numerous records, and has risen more than 20-fold since the start of the year.

In early European trade London rose 0.5 percent, Paris rallied 0.7 percent and Frankfurt was up 0.8 percent.

Key figures

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.6 percent at 22,901.77 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.7 percent at 29,050.41 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,267.92 (close)

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,525.90

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1768 from $1.1755 at 2200 GMT on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3338 from $1.3323

Dollar/yen: UP at 112.69 yen from 112.63 yen

Oil – West Texas Intermediate: UP 37 cents at $57.67 per barrel

Oil – Brent North Sea: UP 36 cents at $63.59 per barrel

New York – DOW: UP 0.6 percent at 24,651.74 (close).

Published in Daily Times, December 19^th 2017.

SHANGHAI, Dec. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — More than 70,000 players in the electronics manufacturing industry are expected to descend upon SEMICON China for technology and innovation insights to accelerate already strong industry growth. March 14-16, 2018…

image used for representational purposes.MUMBAI: Delhi has emerged as the world’s seventh most expensive location for premium office rents, a recent survey said.According to a study by JLL, Delhi’s rents are more expensive than San Francisco, Dubai and…

Delegates at IBIA’s Annual Convention in Singapore in November put supply infrastructure at major ports and attractive pricing at the top of a list of factors that will drive demand for LNG as a marine fuel.

The question was put to by Goh Tiak Boon, Head LNG New Business, Pavilion Gas, during his presentation on the drivers and challenges of LNG.

He put the question and multiple response options to the audience, with results as follows:

Which of the following factors will be most critical in driving the use of LNG as a marine fuel?
Green advocacy for cleaner marine fuels – 13%
Clear emission regulations and enforcement regimes – 11%
Ready and abundant supply of LNG – 5.5%
Attractive LNG pricing vs alternatives – 29.5%
Infrastructure readiness at major ports – 41%

Outlining the current market, Boon noted that LNG supply infrastructure is concentrated in North West Europe, and so far almost entirely dominated by truck to ship supply.

Price-wise, he claimed that the price of LNG versus marine gas oil when supplied ship-to-ship (STS), even taking delivery cost into account, makes LNG a viable alternative.

We also heard from Alan Lim, Deputy Director (Port Services) at Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, about how Singapore is part of a global network LNG bunker-ready ports across East-West and Transpacific trade. Several ports in Asia and North West Europe are already part of this network, along with two ports in North America. He said Singapore intends to have STS LNG bunkering capacity in place as early as 2020.

It seems, then, that two of the most important factors for driving the use of LNG as a marine fuel could be in place by 2020.
Source: IBIA

Iron ore’s in the ascendant as an environmental cleanup in China tightens the supply of higher-grade material that’s less polluting and allows steelmakers to maximize production.

Futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange surged 5.5 percent, the most in a month, while the most active SGX AsiaClear contract headed for a three-month high, rising 3.8 percent to $71.85 a metric ton by 4:18 p.m. in Singapore. The benchmark price for spot ore with 62 percent content delivered to Qingdao increased 3.1 percent last week to $71.50, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd.

The commodity has rebounded since the start of November. While China’s bid to curb pollution by cutting steel supply this winter is hurting overall consumption of ore, it’s supporting demand for higher-quality material because the variety is more efficient to use. Demand for ore could also expand next year as rising profits encourage steel mills to increase production and furnaces in the top supplier ramp up after the end of winter curbs.

“Tighter supply of some material has bolstered prices in the short term,” Chinese brokerage Shanghai Cifco Futures Co. said in a note on Monday. “As traders’ bids to purchase the raw material have remained steady, some suppliers are seeing more bargaining power.”

Miners’ shares benefited from the rally. Rio Tinto Group’s stock added 1.2 percent in Sydney, while BHP Billiton Ltd. climbed 2 percent. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., which tends to produce lower-quality ore, was up less than 1 percent. Steel reinforcement bar futures rose 1.3 percent in Shanghai after two weeks of losses, while hot-rolled coil added 0.4 percent.
Source: Bloomberg