Urban rail transit passenger trips plummet CHINA saw a drastic fall in passenger trips from its urban rail transit networks last month, official data showed. The country’s rail transit lines in the urban areas reported 1.29 billion passenger trips in April, nosediving 41.1% year on year, data from the Ministry of Transport showed. On a monthly basis, the volume decreased by 19.4%, or 310 million passenger trips. By April, China had put 275 urban rail transit lines into operation in 51 cities, with the total length of rail transit networks in urban areas reaching 8,904 kilometers, the ministry said. Export container shipping index declines CHINA’S index of export container transport declined in April, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. The average China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) decreased 6% month on month to 3,131.53 in the period, said the exchange. The sub-reading for the Persian Gulf/Red Sea service led the drop with a month-on-month decline of 15.8%, followed by the South America service, which went down 14.3% from the previous month. The sub-reading for the Japan service rose 6.3% from that of March. The CCFI tracks spot and contractual freight rates from Chinese container ports for 12 shipping routes across the globe, based on data from 22 international carriers. The index was set at 1,000 Jan. 1, 1998. Firms on STAR board report striking profit growth FIRMS listed on China’s Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board, known as the STAR Market, reported staggering profit growth for 2021 and the first quarter of the year. Despite multiple challenges, the firms saw their combined net profits soar 75.89% year on year in 2021, and surge 62.42% in the first three months. Combined revenues jumped 36.86% from a year ago in 2021, and climbed 45.6% in the first quarter. NEV battery output hikes more than 180% CHINA’S output of new energy vehicles (NEV) batteries surged 183.5% year on year to 129.6 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the first four months of the year, industrial data showed. In the January-April period, the country produced 81 GWh of lithium iron phosphate batteries, soaring 283.1% from a year ago, data from China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance showed. The output of ternary lithium batteries stood at 48.3 GWh, up 97.2% year on year, the data showed. A total of 64.5 GWh of batteries were installed in China’s electric vehicles. | 