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.
Paid subscribers automatically have this list emailed directly to their inboxes every day by 10 a.m. EST. Subscribe here.
The Wall Street Journal
- Two Chinese Startups Tried to Catch Up to Makers of Advanced Computer Chips—and Failed — Foundries with ties to a little-known Chinese entrepreneur set out to match TSMC and Samsung, but never commercially produced an advanced semiconductor.
- Hungry for Chips, Huawei Invests in Chinese Companies That Make Them — Tech giant operates an investment fund that is trying to build up China’s semiconductor industry as U.S. bans weigh on company.
- Intel Erases Reference to China’s Xinjiang After Social-Media Backlash — In letter to suppliers, U.S. chip maker previously called on business partners to avoid sourcing from northwestern region where the U.S. has human-rights concerns.
- Omicron Comes to China, Prompting Mass Testing and Quarantines — At least two confirmed cases of new variant reported in port city of Tianjin, weeks ahead of the Winter Olympics in neighboring Beijing.
- China Names Former Xinjiang Commander to Lead Troops in Hong Kong — Appointment of Peng Jingtang signals Beijing’s continuing national-security crackdown in the territory.
- China’s Star Skier Was Born in the USA—And Still Lives There — Eileen Gu, a top contender in halfpipe, slopestyle and big-air events, competed as an American until switching affiliations in 2019.
- Top Chinese Tutoring Company Laid Off 60,000 Workers After Crackdown — New Oriental pivots to live-streaming sales of farm products and to other kinds of teaching.
- Beijing Watches Civil Unrest in Kazakhstan With Wary Eye — Security risks flare anew on China’s western frontier, testing closer Sino-Russian ties.
The Financial Times
- Pro-Beijing media and politicians call for Cathay Pacific to be punished over Omicron — Pressure comes as Hong Kong government faces criticism after officials attended birthday bash.
- China tightens restrictions in city of 14m after first local Omicron cases — Outbreak in Tianjin just weeks ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics tests zero-Covid strategy.
- China renewables: the stretched ethics of solar panels from Xinjiang — Dual drumbeat of disapproval towards coal and products from Xinjiang means decision time for investors.
- ‘People are scared’: Xi’an residents struggle to find food and medical help — Beijing’s zero-Covid strategy means outbreak must be treated as a crisis.
- Flight ban leaves Hong Kong executives stranded outside territory — Fitch warns foreign travel restrictions threaten city’s status as Asia’s premier business hub.
- Roblox to rebuild China app after going offline — Gaming company plans relaunch after facing stiff competition and regulatory barriers.
The New York Times
- Chinese Activists Face Subversion Charges for Weekend Gathering — A weekend get-together in 2019 offered Beijing a chance to deliver a blow to the “rights defense” movement. Now, two key participants face the prospect of years in prison.
- Tianjin, a city of 14 million near Beijing, starts testing all residents after Omicron surfaces. — The city also announced a raft of restrictions in an effort to contain the outbreak and trace its source.
- Chinese Rover Finds Moon Cube Is Just Rabbit-Like Rock — A blurry image that China’s space program had called the “mystery hut” was a result of camera angle, light and shadow.
- Party for Hong Kong’s Elite Angers a City Under Covid Controls — Just as new restrictions were being imposed, top politicians were found to have attended a large gathering where at least one person had Covid.
Caixin
- Cover Story: How the Global Semiconductor Industry Turned Into a Free-for-All — Newcomers pour in from all fronts seeking to gain a foothold in advanced chips to power new technologies.
- Corruption Probe of China Life’s Chairman Was No Surprise, Sources Say — Wang Bin, China Life’s chairman and Communist Party committee secretary, is under investigation on suspicion of serious violations of law and party discipline.
- Huawei’s Latest Executive Reshuffle Sees Carrier Chief Also Take Over Enterprise Group — Ding Yun, 53, will replace Peng Zhongyang as head of the enterprise business group, according to an internal announcement on Huawei’s bulletin system.
- In depth: New Zealand fruit giant’s kiwi battle in China — Zespri Group owns the rights to the SunGold kiwifruit, a yellow variety that the company began cultivating in the 2010s. But there are also more than 5,000 hectares of unauthorized SunGold plantations in China, undermining Zespri’s business, the company said.
South China Morning Post
- Taiwan’s exports to mainland China, Hong Kong hit record high as semiconductor demand fuels cross-strait trade — The value of Taiwan’s exports to mainland China and Hong Kong hit an all-time high of US$188.9 billion in 2021, thanks to the resilient demand for the island’s computer chips, according to the latest data released by the island.
- Beijing sends former Xinjiang paramilitary chief to take command of Hong Kong garrison — Beijing has sent a senior paramilitary police chief from Xinjiang to head the PLA’s Hong Kong garrison, a move indicating the role of armed forces stationed in the Asian financial hub had changed and would extend to countering riots, observers said.
- China’s digital yuan: e-CNY wallet tops download charts in Apple and Xiaomi app stores ahead of Lunar New Year — China’s digital yuan wallet app has become one of the country’s most downloaded apps within just a week of launching, a development that could disrupt a consumer payment market dominated by Alipay and WeChat Pay.
- Alibaba’s auto driving lab chief Wang Gang leaves to start his own business — Wang Gang, a former vice-president with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and head of its autonomous driving lab in the DAMO Academy, has quit to start his own business, becoming the latest top scientist to leave a Chinese Big Tech firm.
Bloomberg
- China Vows to Speed Up Investment in Effort to Stabilize Growth — China will accelerate investment in key projects and boost domestic consumption to help stabilize economic growth amid renewed downward pressures, according to a cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, China Central Television reported.
- EdTech Firm Fires 60,000 in Worst Cuts Since China Crackdown — New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. fired tens of thousands of employees, the biggest layoffs disclosed since China embarked on a wide-ranging crackdown on private enterprises more than a year ago.
- China Probes Head of Top Life Insurer in Anti-Graft Campaign — China’s top anti-graft watchdog placed the chairman of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. under investigation, sending the shares of one of the country’s largest insurers down the most in almost 4 weeks.
- Hong Kong Faces Worst of Both Worlds as Omicron Ruins Covid Zero — Hong Kong is at a Covid-19 tipping point.
Reuters
- China Evergrande moves from Shenzhen HQ building to cut costs — Heavily indebted property firm China Evergrande Group said on Monday that it has moved out of its headquarters in Shenzhen to another property in the city to cut costs and was still registered in the southern Chinese city.
- Iran foreign minister to discuss strategic agreement with China — Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian will visit China by the end of the week to discuss the 25-year cooperation agreement signed by the two countries.
- Sri Lanka’s president asks China to restructure debt repayments — Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked China to help restructure debt repayments as part of efforts to help the South Asian country weather a worsening financial crisis, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
Other Publications
- The New Yorker: How the Chinese Language Got Modernized — Faced with technological and political upheaval, reformers decided that Chinese would need to change in order to survive.
- Quartz: China’s private tutoring giant disclosed the huge toll of Beijing’s education crackdown — In a post published on his public account on the Chinese messaging app WeChat on Saturday, Yu said the company faced “too many changes” in 2021.
- Protocol: Is China killing its social commerce golden goose? — No. But Beijing makes sure livestreamers are in check.