Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- China Appears to Block Social-Media Platform Clubhouse After Brief Flourishing of Debate — The hit chat app had attracted thousands of users in China, who used it to discuss taboo topics including Xinjiang and human rights.
- Biden, India’s Modi Discuss Myanmar, Security Challenges Posed by China — U.S. president has yet to speak with China’s leader, but phone calls with allies have set the stage.
- Third Chinese Covid-19 Vaccine Was 66% Effective in Late-Stage Study — A vaccine being used by the Chinese military proved effective and is headed for countries outside China.
- China Scandals Put Crown Resorts’ Sydney Casino License at Risk — Inquiry report alleges company allowed money laundering and disregarded employees’ welfare.
The Financial Times
- WHO dismisses coronavirus lab leak theory as ‘extremely unlikely’ — Scientists visiting Chinese city of Wuhan conclude that bats were most plausible source of virus.
- Taiwan in drive to sign trade deal with US — Taipei hopes to emerge from isolation by restarting bilateral talks with Biden administration.
- Truth and daring in retelling Mao’s China — Yang Jisheng’s formidable investigation of the Cultural Revolution is a work of breathtaking courage.
- Number of registered newborns in China drops 15% in 2020 — Steep decline highlights demographic challenges facing the country.
- Taiwan looks for signs of US watering down bilateral relations — National security team on alert after subtle shifts in tone from Biden administration.
- BlackRock’s new Asia-Pacific chief sees Hong Kong retaining power — Rising star Rachel Lord appointed to steer asset manager’s expansion in China.
- New Balance wins $3.9m in damages from China logo copycats — Payout is among biggest ever awarded to a foreign brand in a trademark battle in the country.
- Hong Kong biotech sector booms on buoyant markets and pandemic — Groups sell equity at record pace as city seeks to challenge Nasdaq’s dominance.
- Europe pivots to Indo-Pacific with ‘multipolar’ ambitions — Asean and others welcome hedge against US-China rivalry.
- Beijing moves to block access to chat app Clubhouse — Disruption likely to spell end of rare space for free discussion of sensitive topics in China.
- Why the Anglosphere sees eye to eye on China — A group of English-speaking nations is taking a more confrontational approach to Beijing.
The New York Times
- With Mission to China, W.H.O. Tries to Rehabilitate Its Image — A lead scientist said the research showed that the virus most likely spread naturally from animals to humans, playing down the possibility that it emerged from a laboratory.
- Clubhouse Cracked China’s Firewall. A People Shined Through. — China’s censors finally blocked Clubhouse, but not before users were able to bypass the caricatures painted by government-controlled media and freely discuss their hopes and fears.
Caixin
- In Depth: Huawei and Tencent Aren’t Playing Around Over Mobile Gaming Revenue — Public New Year’s Day quarrel is just tip of the iceberg for souring relations between China’s game and phone makers.
- Chinese Regulators Tell Tesla to Improve Internal Management — Five government agencies summon electric-car maker’s China management for discussion of safety issues following several incidents.
- Baidu To See in Chinese New Year With Self-Driving Car Launch in Guangzhou — Baidu has set up a multipurpose smart mobility service platform in Guangzhou that will make five types of autonomous vehicles available on various applications.
- Are the Boom Times Over for China’s Payment Giants? — It’s hard to imagine living in China today without Alipay (支付宝) and WeChat Pay (微信支付). From small beginnings providing payment systems for online shopping transactions, WeChat Pay and Alipay have become the goliaths of China’s payment industry and have spread their tentacles into just about everything, even digitizing the Lunar New Year tradition of giving cash-filled red packets.
South China Morning Post
- China’s central bank downplays draining funds from banking system after worst cash crunch in six years — China’s central bank has downplayed its decision in January to reduce liquidity in the banking system that caused the country’s worst cash crunch in nearly six years, while fueling worries about a gradual tightening of monetary policy to curb speculation and asset bubbles.
- US-China tech war: Qualcomm teams up with ZTE, China Mobile for 5G positioning — US semiconductor and wireless tech giant Qualcomm is collaborating with China Mobile and ZTE Corp to conduct 5G positioning tests, an initiative that aims to help widen industrial adoption of the next-generation mobile system in the world’s second-largest economy.
Bloomberg
- Pakistan to Seek Debt Relief From China Belt and Road Loan — Pakistan plans to ask China for relief on payments for power projects Beijing financed over the past eight years, the latest developing nation that’s struggling to repay debt under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
- U.K. Intelligence Agencies Flag Fears Over University China Ties — The U.K.’s intelligence agencies have raised concerns over links between British universities and the Chinese government amid claims sensitive defense technology is being passed to Beijing.
- Forget 5G, the U.S. and China Are Already Fighting for 6G Dominance — A contest to deliver the kind of technology that’s long been the stuff of science fiction is underway.
- U.K. Informed That Hong Kong Doesn’t Recognize Dual Nationality — The British Consulate-General has been informed that “Hong Kong, like other parts of China, does not recognize dual nationality,” according to a statement on a U.K. government website.
Reuters
- Column: Surging shipments, China sales support higher U.S. corn exports from USDA — The slow start to the marketing year for U.S. corn exports had many industry participants doubting whether U.S. exporters could hit the record U.S. government prediction, especially after a massive string of sales to China at the end of January.
- China urges chipmakers to allocate more capacity to China auto market — China’s industry ministry said on Tuesday it met with automotive and chip companies and asked them to help ease a supply shortage which has forced many automakers across the world to halt production.
- Tencent hit with fresh anti-monopoly complaint, this time from GM China venture — Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd has become the target of a fresh anti-monopoly complaint to regulators, this time from a supplier of smart vehicle technology and a General Motors Co China venture.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: China Will Run Out of Growth if It Doesn’t Fix Its Rural Crisis — No country with China’s vast education and public health problems has ever broken out of the ranks of middle-income countries.
- Axios: New geopolitical fears surround 2022 Beijing Olympics — Global fears of China’s authoritarian rise are overshadowing the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and sparking calls for a boycott.
- Global Times: Ministry of Commerce issues guidelines to boost NEV consumption — The ministry has called for optimized vehicle purchase restrictions to tilt the available slots for car plates toward NEVs, and to support families that do not have a car so they can purchase their first NEV.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Bo Xilai rumors linger over US-China ties 9 years after purge — Nikkei’s China bureau chief offers snapshots of politics amid the pandemic.
