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 Covid-19 Lockdowns Hit Factories, Ports in Latest Knock to Supply Chains — Toyota, Samsung and Volkswagen are among companies with production affected as economists warn of more challenging bottlenecks ahead.
- Hong Kong’s Strict Quarantine System Pushed to Limits by Omicron Cluster — More than 4,000 people have been sent into quarantine recently, and some question the zero-Covid approach.
The Financial Times
- Chinese port workers jailed in Dalian for Covid breaches — Sentences of up to almost 5 years handed down as Omicron restrictions threaten supply chains.
- US and China are not ready to talk about nuclear arms controls — China wants to tackle growing risk of nuclear conflict but is reluctant to curb its nuclear weapons programme.
- Didi struggles with Hong Kong IPO challenges — China’s leading ride-hailing app has begun negotiations — but obstacles are significant.
- Premier League wins $212m payout over pandemic-hit Chinese TV deal — High Court directs group backed by Inter Milan owner Suning to honour missed payments.
The New York Times
- The Army of Millions Who Enforce China’s Zero-Covid Policy — As the troubled lockdown in Xi’an has shown, many Chinese people remain willing to work diligently toward the government’s goal of eliminating the virus, no matter the consequences.
- Xi’an Is China’s Biggest Covid Challenge Since Wuhan — Xi’an, a city of 13 million people, has been on lockdown since Dec. 22, the longest in the country since the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan.
Caixin
- China’s New Payment Standards Could Shake Duopoly of Alipay and WeChat Pay, Industry Insiders Say — Central bank releases technical specifications for interoperability of different systems.
- Steelmakers Need Seismic Change to Keep Up With China’s Emissions Plans, Official Says — Hundreds of millions of tons of crude steel capacity needs to cut pollutant output this year, environment ministry official tells industry forum.
- In Depth: The Uncertain Future of NFTs in China — The market for the blockchain-tracked tokens has seen explosive growth, but lack of regulation raises questions about its long-term future.
South China Morning Post
- BioNTech ‘committed’ as wait goes on for China to approve its Covid-19 vaccine — German company BioNTech has said it still hopes to have its Covid-19 vaccine approved in China, despite the process having been stalled for months.
- Chinese medical laboratory boss detained on suspicion of ‘causing spread of coronavirus’ — A medical laboratory manager in Henan has been detained for “suspected criminal offences” that caused the coronavirus to spread, police said, as the central Chinese province battles its worst outbreak since the early months of the pandemic.
- Kerry Properties becomes latest Hong Kong developer to make huge land acquisition in China — Hong Kong’s biggest developers continue to buy prime land sites in top-tier cities in mainland China, as they take advantage of the general malaise among competitors that are struggling to survive an unprecedented debt load in the industry.
- Didi in talks for a second-quarter IPO in Hong Kong on its way to delisting from New York, sources say — Didi Global is in talks to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong in the second quarter, as China’s dominant ride-hailing company prepares to exit the New York Stock Exchange, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg
- China Reopens Border Gates With Northern Vietnam Province — China’s Guangxi region resumed customs clearance Jan. 10 at three border crossings with Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh after thousands of transport trucks were stranded for weeks.
- StanChart Mulls Wealth Management Unit in China Expansion — Standard Chartered Plc is considering a standalone wealth management unit in China to sell mutual funds to retail investors, in a move that would make it the first foreign bank to fully own a wealth manager in the country.
- China Crackdown Spells Trouble for Macau Casinos, the World’s Largest Gaming Hub — Expiring licenses and pandemic restrictions add to the risks for casino operators in Macau.
Reuters
- Dutch athletes warned to keep phones and laptops out of China – media — Dutch athletes competing in next month’s Beijing Winter Olympics will need to leave their phones and laptops at home in an unprecedented move to avoid Chinese espionage, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported on Tuesday.
- China’s cabinet says it will promote transformation of digital economy — China’s cabinet issued a plan on Wednesday for the development of the country’s digital economy, aiming to increase this sector’s share of national GDP by pushing technologies like 6G and big data centers.
- Cathay Pacific to comply with Hong Kong probes into COVID-19 outbreak — Cathay will operate about 20% of its pre-pandemic cargo capacity and around 2% of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity this month.
Other Publications
- The Guardian: ‘We fought the good fight’: journalists in Hong Kong reel from assault on media — Newsroom closures and exodus from territory are result of ‘draconian’ national security law introduced in 2020.
- Nikkei Asia: Too big to fail: China eyes Afghanistan investment amid fears of state collapse — Allies China and Pakistan keen to maintain regional stability after U.S. withdrawal.
- Associated Press: US airlines say China is forcing them to cancel some flights — China ordered the cancellations after some passengers tested positive for COVID-19 on flights that arrived in China in late December, according to industry officials.
