1. Strictest New National Standard for Infant Formula Implemented On February 22, the new national standard for infant formula was officially implemented. According to Beijing Youth Daily reporters, the new standard, known as the "strictest in history," revises and supplements the minimum and maximum limits for nutrient content in infant formula, making nutrient additions more suitable for the needs of domestic infants. (Beijing Youth Daily) 2. January New Consumption Financing Reaches 1.5 Billion Yuan According to incomplete statistics from the Lianshang.com Retail Research Center, there were 26 financing events in the new consumption sector in January, with total financing of nearly 1.5 billion yuan. Overall, food and beverages remain the main track for financing, with many sub-sectors frequently favored by capital, giving rise to a large number of excellent brands. (Lianshang.com) 3. Bill Gates Spends 6.2 Billion Yuan to Acquire Heineken Shares According to a document from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), on February 17, Bill Gates purchased approximately 10.8 million shares of Heineken Holding from Mexican beverage retail company FEMSA, accounting for about 3.76% of the latter's total share capital. Based on last Friday's stock price, the value of these shares is approximately 848.2 million euros (about 6.2 billion yuan). (Financial Circle) 4. Lai Yifen Executive Change: Lin Yun Replaces Lu Shungang as Board Secretary On the afternoon of February 22, Lai Yifen announced an executive change. The announcement stated that the company's board of directors recently received a written report from Lu Shungang resigning as director and board secretary. Lu Shungang applied to no longer serve as director and board secretary due to the company's strategic development needs and adjustments in his responsibilities. After resigning, he will continue to serve as vice president of the company. (Lianshang.com) 5. Walmart China Q4 Net Sales Up 13.5% On February 21 local time, Walmart announced its Q4 and full-year results for fiscal year 2023, as well as guidance for Q1 and full-year fiscal 2024. For the full year, Walmart's revenue increased 6.7% year-over-year to $611.3 billion, with net profit of $11.7 billion, down 14.6% year-over-year. In Q4, Walmart China's net sales increased 13.5%, with comparable sales up 13.3%. (Lianshang.com) 6. Danone Group 2022 Sales Up 7.8% Year-on-Year On February 22, Danone released its 2022 financial report. The report showed that the company achieved full-year sales revenue of 27.7 billion euros, up 7.8% year-on-year, with price factors contributing 8.7% growth, while volume and mix declined slightly by 0.8%. Recurring operating profit was 3.4 billion euros, with a recurring operating margin of 12.2%, down 154 basis points year-on-year. In Q4, sales revenue was 7 billion euros, up 7.0% year-on-year. (China Economic News Network) 7. New World Department Store Records Loss of HK$166 Million in Half Year According to Gelonghui on February 22, New World Department Store China announced interim results. For the six months ended December 31, 2022, the company's revenue was HK$709 million, down 34.59% year-on-year; the loss for the period was HK$166 million, compared with a profit of HK$41.002 million in the same period last year. (Gelonghui) 8. Ele.me Xingxuan Ceases Operations According to China Economic Weekly, Ele.me's high-end food delivery app, Ele.me Xingxuan, has ceased operations. The business was renamed from Baidu Waimai after Ele.me acquired it. Staff said that servers were shut down as early as 2021, and related services were merged into the Ele.me app. (China Economic Net) 9. Gome Appliances' Frozen Equity Totals 611 Million Yuan Since February Recently, Gome Appliances added multiple equity freeze notices. Qichacha information shows that the companies whose equity was executed include Nanjing Pengze Investment Co., Ltd., Gome Communication (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd., Gome Supply Chain Technology Co., Ltd., etc., with a total frozen equity amount of 598 million yuan. In addition, Gome Appliances Co., Ltd. currently has a total of 17 equity freeze notices. Among them, 6 were added since February this year, with a total frozen equity amount of 611 million yuan. (Lianshang.com) 10. Inzone Group Lists Dezhou Inzone Tower for Sale at 401 Million Yuan On February 21, Inzone Group Co., Ltd. announced that its subsidiary, Inzone Group Dezhou Mall Co., Ltd., plans to transfer the Inzone Tower real estate and ancillary facilities, related equipment assets located at 588 Jiefang Middle Avenue, Dezhou, through public listing on the Shandong Property Rights Exchange Center. The listing price is 401.4658 million yuan. The final counterparty and transaction price will be determined and generated market-based according to the trading rules of the property rights exchange center. (Viewpoint) 11. Chairman of Golden Seed Wine Jia Guangming Leaves On February 22, Anhui Golden Seed Wine Co., Ltd. announced that Chairman Jia Guangming will no longer serve as director, chairman, and corresponding positions on the board's special committees due to work adjustments, and will no longer hold any other positions in the company. (China Fund News) 12. CapitaLand Group Acquires Beijing Suning Life Plaza for 2.81 Billion Yuan On February 23, according to CapitaLand Group's official WeChat, CapitaLand Investment established the CapitaLand China Special Opportunities Partners Program ("CCOP Program"), with total committed equity of S$1.1 billion, to invest in special opportunity projects in China. The CCOP Program includes a single-asset fund with a scale of S$291 million and a planned joint venture company of S$824 million. The single-asset fund acquired Beijing Suning Life Plaza for S$553 million (2.81 billion yuan). (Lianshang.com) 13. "Konjac First Stock" Lists on Beijing Stock Exchange On the morning of February 21, Hubei Yizhi Konjac Biotechnology Co., Ltd. officially listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange, making its initial public offering of A-shares, with stock abbreviation "Yizhi Konjac" and stock code "839273". This is the "first konjac stock" on the A-share market, the second listed company from Changyang Mountain, and the second new listed company in Hubei in 2023 after Jianghan New Materials listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. (Hubei Daily) 14. Shiyue Yanxuan Completes 30 Million Yuan Financing New retail operator Shiyue Yanxuan completed a 30 million yuan Series A financing, with investors undisclosed. Shiyue Yanxuan is a 24-hour unmanned supermarket operator with 2,800 stores nationwide. Unmanned retail has seen multiple financing events this year; previously, Mise Brand, Haitihui, and Sanfen Redu all received financing amounts in the tens of millions. (IT Juzi) 15. RGE Group Acquires Tissue Paper Brand "Kexinrou" According to 36Kr, RGE Group China has strategically acquired Kexinrou (Zhejiang) Personal Care Products Co., Ltd. and completed the transaction. The target is the parent company of the domestic high-end tissue paper brand "Kexinrou". China Investment Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the seller. This is the largest known equity transaction in China's paper industry in 2022. (36Kr) 16. CDFG Plans to Invest 2.5 Billion Yuan to Set Up Large City Duty-Free Store in Fuzhou According to Viewpoint on February 21, China Duty Free Group (CDFG) intends to set up a downtown duty-free store in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and signed a cooperation agreement with the Provincial Tourism Development Group, planning a total investment of 2.5 billion yuan to establish a large city duty-free store in the urban area of Fuzhou. The two parties will take the Fuzhou downtown duty-free store project as a starting point to fully carry out cooperation in downtown duty-free retail and travel retail business in Fuzhou. (Viewpoint) 17. Retail Commercial Market Gets Off to a Good Start According to incomplete statistics from Viewpoint Index, during the reporting period, a total of 47 retail commercial projects opened nationwide, with new market supply exceeding 4.1 million square meters, distributed across 39 cities. Among them, a total of 8 cities, including first-tier cities Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, had more than one project entering the market. (Viewpoint Index) 18. China Resources Mixc Lifestyle to Operate 12 Commercial Projects This Year According to statistics from the Lianshang.com Retail Research Center, China Resources Mixc Lifestyle opened 15 new commercial projects in 2022. In terms of supply in 2023, China Resources Mixc Lifestyle will operate 12 commercial projects, including Lanzhou Mixc, Beijing Xisanqi Mixc, Chongqing Mixc Phase II, Changchun Mixc, Beijing Xibeiwang Mixc, Yibin Mixc, etc. (Lianshang.com) 19. Walmart E-commerce Completely Removes GMV Threshold for Merchants According to exclusive information from 36Kr, Walmart's e-commerce platform has lifted the annual GMV threshold for Chinese sellers. According to many cross-border sellers, when Walmart e-commerce first entered the Chinese market in 2021, it preferred large sellers with annual GMV of 3 million yuan or more. Later, it relaxed to 300,000 yuan GMV, and this year it completely removed the GMV threshold. (36Kr)