Auto Stake Acquisition

Chinese auto company Geely has become the largest single shareholder of German automotive manufacturer Daimler, German news agency DPA reported on February 23, citing a notification of voting rights.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, headquartered in Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province, has bought a 9.7-percent stake in Daimler.

Already known for its ownership of Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, at the end of last year Geely also became the largest shareholder of commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo Trucks.

As a constituent of the Frankfurtbased blue-chip index DAX, Stuttgart-based Daimler’s market value recently reached over 75 billion euros ($92 billion) as the news of impending investment from China drove up the price of its shares.

NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe described the decline of the manufacturing PMI as “normal fluctuation” as the index tends to fall during the Spring Festival holiday (February 15-21).

Sub-indices for production and new orders went down slightly to 50.7 and 51, respectively, while sub-indices on raw material stock, employees and supplier delivery times were still lower than 50.

China’s non-manufacturing sector also expanded at a slower pace last month. The non-manufacturing PMI came in at 54.4 in February, down from 55.3 in January.