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 Growth Numbers Betray Waning Momentum — Underneath the first quarter’s record year-over-year expansion, GDP compared with the quarter before was up a sluggish 0.6%.
- Chinese Economy Grew More Than 18% in First Quarter — The year-over-year GDP growth rate will almost certainly trend lower in coming quarters.
- Chinese Asset Manager Suffers Bond Selloff After Delaying Results — Investors send some prices to as low as 60 cents on the dollar, indicating they see high likelihood of default.
- China Plans to Approve First Foreign Covid-19 Vaccine by July — The final timing of Beijing’s decision to green light the BioNTech shot will depend in part on approval of Chinese vaccines abroad.
- China’s Luckin Coffee Nets $260 Million Private-Equity Investment — Investment from current shareholders Centurium Capital and Joy Capital will help facilitate a debt restructuring and pay an SEC settlement, Luckin says.
- Hong Kong’s Police Debut the Goose Step as City Marches to Beijing’s Tune — In events promoting China’s national security crackdown, officials issue warnings to local and foreign opponents.
- Hong Kong Newspaper Tycoon Jimmy Lai Jailed Over Role in Peaceful Protests — Prosecutions of nine prominent pro-democracy campaigners carry symbolic weight for China’s sweeping crackdown on former British colony.
The Financial Times
- China’s economy springs back from pandemic hit with record growth — Headline figures mask continued difficulties in manufacturing sector.
- TSMC faces pressure to choose a side in US-China tech war — Washington attempts to draw chipmaker crucial to global supply chain closer into its orbit.
The New York Times
- Hong Kong Sentences Jimmy Lai, Other Pro-Democracy Figures, to Prison — The punishments for Mr. Lai, a media tycoon, and other leaders over an unauthorized peaceful protest point to what critics say is the shrinking space for dissent in Hong Kong.
- Paraguay’s ‘Life and Death’ Covid Crisis Gives China Diplomatic Opening — Paraguay desperately needs Covid-19 vaccines, which China could supply. That has led the South American nation to reconsider its relationship with Taiwan, which precludes it from dealing with Beijing.
- China’s First-Quarter Growth Is Expected to Boom on Paper — The world’s traditional growth engine reported an 18.3 percent leap in the first quarter. But consumers and small businesses aren’t fully sharing in the spoils.
Caixin
- China’s Carbon Market Will Play Key Role in Climate Change Fight, PBOC Chief Says — Governor Yi Gang says the new emissions trading system must be a financial market that incentivizes the reduction of emissions.
- Citigroup Exits Consumer Banking in China as Part of Global Pullback — Bank says it remains committed to the country, with plans to set up brokerage and futures companies.
- Electric-Car Maker Nio to Put Battery Changing Points in China’s Largest Gas Station Network — Deal will boost the company’s number of such points to 500, as the state looks to support ‘new infrastructure’.
- Losses Mount for Chinese Companies as Egypt Seizes Suez Tanker — More than 80% of goods aboard the Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week, are estimated to be from Chinese companies.
South China Morning Post
- China’s aviation capabilities stuck at ‘low-end’ as military-civil fusion weighs on innovation: official report — China’s commercial aviation industry is lagging behind international competitors, with the country’s military-civil fusion strategy stifling innovation and state dominance of the sector hampering efficiency, according to a report from the Shanghai government.
Bloomberg
- Don’t Write Off China’s Vaccines. The World Needs the Sinovac Shot, Too — Beijing’s shots appear less effective than most Western alternatives but are absolutely necessary to contain Covid-19.
- China Huarong’s Silence on Overhaul Plan Frays Investor Nerves — Investors troubled by China Huarong Asset Management Co.’s public silence on details of its overhaul plan are looking ahead to key events that could provide clarity about the state of its finances.
- Republicans Seek Broader Curbs on Exports of Chip Tools to China — Two Republican lawmakers called for broader American restrictions on the sale of chip-making tools after the U.S. government placed several Chinese supercomputing firms on an export blacklist, saying even tougher rules are needed to prevent the People’s Liberation Army from using sensitive technologies.
- Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal Is a Blow for China — The prospect of civil war between the Taliban and the Kabul government bodes ill for Beijing’s interests.
Reuters
- Leaders of Germany, France discuss climate policies with China’s Xi: statement — The leaders of Germany and France welcomed Beijing’s aim to reach climate neutrality in its carbon dioxide emissions before 2060 in a video conference with China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday, according to a statement.
- Exclusive: China asks banks not to withhold loans to asset manager Huarong – sources — Chinese regulators have asked some banks not to withhold loans to embattled asset management giant China Huarong Asset Management Co, as part of support measures to stabilize its cash flow and reduce the risk of market contagion, sources told Reuters.
- Biden, Suga poised to present united front on Taiwan as China steps up pressure — WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will present a united front on Taiwan, China’s most sensitive territorial issue, in a summit meeting on Friday, according to a senior U.S. administration official.
- China’s first quarter coal output rises 16% on strong demand for winter heating — China’s coal output rose 16% in the first quarter from the same period last year, bolstered by strong demand for winter heating and robust industrial activity.
- Romania approves bill to bar China, Huawei from 5G networks — Romania’s centrist government on Thursday approved a United States-backed bill that effectively bars China and Huawei from taking part in development of its 5G network, a member of the IT&C and National Security Committee told Reuters.
Other Publications
- Axios: Scoop: Biden close to picking Nick Burns as China ambassador — Nicholas Burns, a career diplomat, is in the final stages of vetting to serve as President Biden’s ambassador to China, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
- POLITICO: China scolds Canada over Parliament’s support of Halifax Security Forum award to Taiwan — The development came a few days after POLITICO reported that Canadian officials told organizers of the forum that Canada would withdraw its support for the event if its flagship John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service went to Tsai.
- Economist: Is growth in China soaring or slowing? — The answer depends on how you calculate growth.
- Economist: China presses Hong Kongers to accept a Chinese vaccine — Many would prefer a better one, or distrust the whole process.
- Economist: China’s tomb raiders are growing more professional — The government is digging deep to stop them.
- Economist: Mao’s revolution becomes a lesson about conformity — China’s Communist Party builds a propaganda festival around its 100th birthday.
- Nikkei Asian Review: EU and China tussle for clout in Montenegro over road project — Brussels rejects Balkan nation’s plea to take over $1bn Chinese debt.
