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 Starts Probe Into Meituan as Internet-Industry Crackdown Widens — Investigation of delivery giant for suspected monopolistic practices.
- How Bytedance Could Take a Bite Out of Tencent — The Tiktok owner has already laid former rivals like Baidu and Weibo low; Tencent could be next.
- China’s Economic Blackmail Backfires — By The Editorial Page. After Beijing’s trade bullying, Australia tears up two investment deals.
- How to Add Gas to U.S.-China Climate Cooperation — China has been making steady if slow progress on reducing coal as a percentage of its energy mix.
- China Censors ‘Nomadland’ Director Chloe Zhao’s Oscar Win — Ms. Zhao is first Chinese woman to win best director, yet search engines erased the news.
The Financial Times
- Meituan becomes second Chinese tech giant to be hit with antitrust probe — Investigation into food delivery platform comes 2 weeks after Alibaba was fined $2.8bn.
- Steelmakers: it isn’t easy going green for China’s smokestack cities — Why higher-quality South Korean and Japanese producers have an advantage.
- US to launch key offshore wind project, the rise of Germany’s Greens — Chinese companies raised a record $11bn on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq this year.
- China stock sales in US surge to record despite delisting threat — Equity fundraising by Chinese groups on Wall Street has jumped 440% this year.
- China private jet use soars as economy hits pre-pandemic levels — Flights in country almost double for first three months of 2021 compared to same period two years earlier.
- China tightens credit conditions in bid to balance growth and debt — Policymakers seek to shore up patchy economic recovery while avoiding the risks of overheating.
- Creating alternatives to China’s Belt and Road — EU-India partnership may become part of a kaleidoscope of schemes.
- Europe attempts to take leading role in regulating uses of AI — New rules would curb excesses while encouraging innovation with goal of a middle way between China and US policy.
- The spy who Liked me — China vs Hollywood, Snap’s bumper quarter, Sony X-series speakers.
The New York Times
- China opens an inquiry into Meituan, a takeout-delivery titan. — The inquiry, announced with a terse, one-line statement, is the latest move in China’s fast-moving campaign to rein in its internet giants.
- Women Are Battling China’s Angry Trolls. The Trolls Are Winning. — As online attacks against Chinese feminists intensify, popular social media companies are responding by removing the women — not the abusers — from their platforms.
- China Reveals Charges Against Outspoken Businessman Sun Dawu — Sun Dawu, a rural tycoon who has been a thorn in the Communist Party’s side, was detained in November as the party moved to silence critics and keep the private sector in line.
- The White House Says the U.S. Lags Behind China on Clean Technology — A new report warns that, without a significant investment in research and development, America could become dependent on its competitors.
- Krugman Wonks Out: The China Shock and the Climate Shock — Change is inevitable, but can we cushion the impact on communities?
Caixin
- Mainland Investors May Be Able to Soon Start Trading Bonds in Hong Kong — Mainlanders will likely be allowed to buy and sell specific offshore bonds under certain quotas, local media reported.
- Cover Story: China Gets Serious About Antitrust in Cyberspace — Record Alibaba fine is only part of a sweeping government crackdown on anti-competitive practices by China’s freewheeling internet giants.
- As Debt Mounts, Beijing Puts Brakes on Two High-Speed Rail Projects — Move affects $20 billion in planned investment, as policymakers worry about excessive local government borrowing.
- Hello Inc. Becomes First Major Chinese Bike-Sharing Player to Seek IPO — Courting investors for a Nasdaq debut, company emerges as survivor of the now-burst bike-sharing bubble as annual losses continued to narrow in 2020.
- Tsinghua Sets Up School to Support Semiconductor Self-Sufficiency in China — China’s Tsinghua University has set up the school of integrated circuits to nurture microchip professionals as Beijing seeks self-sufficiency in semiconductor production amid a tech war with Washington.
South China Morning Post
- IPO plan of TikTok maker ByteDance is set back by US-China tensions, sources say — ByteDance, the developer of TikTok and its Chinese sibling app Douyin, has put its initial public offering plan on the back burner for now, as it has difficulties coming up with a business structure that can please both Beijing and Washington, according to two people familiar with the matter.
- China population: what’s driving central bank concern about the nation’s ageing workforce? — A pension deficit and looming debt crisis driven by a rapidly greying population. That’s the nightmare scenario for Chinese authorities, including the nation’s central bank, who are increasingly worried about the financial implications of the country’s demographic challenges.
- China’s carbon-neutrality push prompts major coal-production region to beg banks for financing — China’s ambitious carbon-neutrality goals do not bode well for miners in the coal-producing province of Shanxi, which is already facing financing difficulties after a series of high-profile domestic bond defaults last year.
Bloomberg
- China Stokes U.S.-India Tensions Over Biden’s Slow Virus Aid — With the U.S. dragging its feet in offering India help to combat the world’s worst virus crisis, China is moving to drive a wedge between the democratic security partners.
- China’s Swine Fever Barricade to Reshape $300 Billion Industry — China’s plan to control the transport of live hogs to rein in the spread of African swine fever is set to reshape the market and create regional price differences in the world’s biggest consumer and producer of pork.
- Anti-Asian Atmosphere Chills Chinese Scientists Working in U.S. — As universities such as Harvard and NYU put researchers under scrutiny, some schools seek to avoid a “loyalty oath.”
- China’s Biggest IPO This Year Looks to Be in Renewable Power — China Three Gorges Renewables Group Co. is set for an initial public offering that could be the biggest in the country this year after securing regulatory approval.
- China’s Economy Continues Booming After Record First Quarter — China’s economy continued to boom in April from the record growth in the first quarter, with strong exports and rising business confidence supporting the recovery.
- One of China’s First Carbon Market Believers Awaits First Trade — Qian Guoqiang has been waiting more than a decade for the world’s biggest polluter to launch a national cap-and-trade system. He hasn’t lost faith.
Reuters
- Tesla to add EV components recycling facilities at Shanghai factory — U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc plans to add facilities at its Shanghai factory to repair and reproduce key components such as electric motors and battery cells, a document submitted by Tesla to Shanghai authorities shows.
- Analysis: China digital currency trials show threat to Alipay, WeChat duopoly — Shanghai – In China’s commercial hub Shanghai, six big state banks are quietly promoting digital yuan ahead of a May 5 shopping festival, carrying out a political mandate to provide consumers with a payment alternative to Alipay and WeChat Pay.
- Syria gets donation of 150,000 COVID shots from China — A donation by China of 150,000 doses of its Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Damascus on Saturday, with another batch of the same size planned, Syrian officials said.
- Exclusive: Biden will push allies to act on China forced labor at G7 – adviser — The United States will urge its Group of Seven allies to increase pressure on China over the use of forced labor in its northwestern Xinjiang province, home to the Muslim Uighur minority, a top White House official said on Friday.
Other Publications
- Insider: INTERVIEW: Henry Kissinger on the political consequences of the pandemic, China’s rise, and the future of the European Union — “The administration is trying hard to keep the relationship within traditionally accepted limits. But it faces the situation now where public opinion has become convinced that China is not only a rapidly growing country, which is true, but also that China is an inherent enemy, and that therefore our main task is to confront it and to reduce its capacity to be a major country.”
- Axios: Scoop: Biden close to naming ambassadors for EU and NATO — President Biden is leaning toward nominating Mark Gitenstein to be his ambassador to the European Union and Julie Smith as his envoy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
- Nikkei Asian Review: For China, Japan looks to be leaving Asia to side with US — Tokyo’s policies remind Beijing of 1895 war in which it lost Taiwan.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Five Eyes glare at New Zealand over independent China stance — Ardern and Mahuta walk fine line amid pressure to speak out on human rights.
- AP News: German contender wants tougher stance on China, Russia — A leading contender to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor this fall has called for “dialogue and toughness” toward China when it comes to defending democratic values and human rights.
