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
- ‘Friends’ Is Back in China, but This Time With Some Changes — American sitcom returns to Chinese streaming services but several scenes have been edited or removed—upsetting some Chinese fans.
- Japan Calls for Tough Response on Ukraine, Saying China Is Watching — ‘We have to be very solid’ against using force to change the status quo, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says in interview.
Olympics Coverage
- At the Olympics, the Lovable Panda Mascot Can Smile and Wave. But Speak? — Bing Dwen Dwen is perhaps the first Olympic mascot in recent memory to win more plaudits than brickbats. But on one condition: Lawyers are watching to make sure the glassy-eyed panda remains sexless and mute.
- China Surpasses Previous Winter Olympic Medal Counts With Snowboarding Win — The host country has won six golds and 11 overall in Beijing so far, exceeding their previous high from the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
The Financial Times
- Winter Olympics speed skating spat stokes anti-China hostility in South Korea — More than half of Koreans believe their country’s biggest trading partner is ‘close to evil.’
- ‘Speed dating’ with Xi: China shows off its new friends at Winter Olympics — Beijing touts ‘solidarity’ with partners such as Moscow in face of US-led diplomatic boycott.
- TikTok poaches content moderators from Big Tech contractors in Europe — Short-form video app hires hundreds to help curb spread of harmful content.
- Pernod Ricard asks senior staff in Hong Kong to temporarily relocate — Move by maker of Jameson whiskey and Martell cognac comes as multinationals review risks of staying in city.
The New York Times
- A Succession Drama, Chinese Style, Starring Xi Jinping — As a party congress approaches, it’s increasingly clear that Xi Jinping plans another five-year term. But if he has ideas about a successor, he has hidden them well.
- China, Not SpaceX, May Be Source of Rocket Part Crashing Into Moon — The developer of astronomy software who said that Elon Musk’s company would cause a new crater on the moon says that he “had really gotten it wrong.”
Olympics Coverage
- For the Games, Xi Ordered Up a Snow Sports Fever. Will it Last? — China said it succeeded on a vow by Xi Jinping, the country’s top leader, to nurture millions of winter sports enthusiasts. But will the interest last after the Winter Games end?
- For China, Hosting the Olympics Is Worth Every Billion — For many cities, the Games make no economic sense. National pride and an enthusiasm for building transportation infrastructure change the equation for Beijing.
- Who Is the Real China? Eileen Gu or the Chained Woman? — The women’s starkly different circumstances — celebrated vs. silenced — reflect that to the Chinese state everyone is a tool that serves a purpose until it does not.
- Chinese Fans Create Unforgettable Nicknames for Olympic Athletes — The world’s most popular Olympians are household names. But to Chinese fans who delight in creating nicknames, they’re different characters entirely.
Caixin
- In Depth: Will Subsidized Housing Stabilize the Real Estate Industry? — Though authorities are making it a priority for the 14th Five-Year Plan, property market experts project a muted effect.
- Private Equity Giant Hillhouse Gobbles Up Shares in NEV-Makers, Ditches Alibaba, Bilibili — A unit of Beijing-based investment firm Hillhouse increased its exposure to two U.S.-listed Chinese new-energy vehicle (NEV) makers in the fourth quarter of 2021 while offloading shares in internet giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Bilibili Inc.
South China Morning Post
- China’s local governments, hit by property market slowdown, court foreign investment to steady growth — Competition is heating up between local governments in China to lure foreign investment in advanced technology, amid growing pressure on the economy and competition with the United States.
- New Zealand to lower barriers to Chinese investment under upgraded trade deal — China and New Zealand have ratified an upgrade of their long-standing trade deal, as Beijing pushes to expand its global trade network to fortify its economy during prolonged tensions with the US and other countries.
- Didi Chuxing starts companywide lay-offs amid unresolved cybersecurity probe, ongoing delisting in New York — Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has started companywide lay-offs as the company seeks to delist from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) amid an unresolved cybersecurity probe by Beijing, according to two employees familiar with the matter.
- China tech firm develops controversial IT system that can predict whether an employee is about to resign — A Shenzhen-listed company has stirred controversy by developing a system that can predict whether an employee is about to resign by spying on activities, such as browsing job recruitment pages and sending job application emails.
Nikkei Asia
- Malaysia eyes China 40 years after it ‘looked east’ to Japan — Nation faces COVID, 1MDB and value chain hurdles on path to high-income status.
- Construction of TSMC’s U.S. chip plant delayed by labor crunch, COVID — Taiwan chip titan faces fight for workers as Intel also builds in Arizona.
Bloomberg
- China’s Covid Zero Policy Has Limited Drag on Economy, ANZ Says — China’s “Covid-zero” policy has limited impact on the economy because measures are highly localized and targeted, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.
- Didi Said to Cut Up to 20% of Jobs Before Hong Kong Listing — Chinese ridehailing giant Didi Global Inc. plans to reduce its overall headcount by as much as 20% as the troubled tech firm pushes ahead with plans to transfer its stock-market listing to Hong Kong, people with knowledge of the matter said.
- Biden Team Sees Limited Ability to Press China in Trade Talks — The U.S. is continuing conversations with China despite Beijing’s failures to abide by a trade agreement reached during the Trump administration, but that process could soon come to an end, according to people familiar with the matter.
Reuters
- China approves use of Pfizer’s COVID drug Paxlovid — China’s medical products regulator said on Saturday it has given conditional approval for Pfizer’s COVID-19 drug Paxlovid, making it the first oral pill specifically developed to treat the disease cleared in the country.
- Analysis: Trump’s targeting of Chinese academics likely will not last after DOJ review — Former officials and stakeholders say they expect the Justice Department will shift away from prosecuting professors, cases that university faculty say have chilled research and scared Chinese American academics.
- China’s potential mRNA COVID vaccine weaker against Omicron – study — A Chinese mRNA vaccine candidate showed a sharp drop in neutralizing antibody activity against Omicron than against the non-mutated coronavirus in a small study, but a booster readily induced antibody production in animal tests, a research paper said.
