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
- New Covid Wave in China Hits Sellers of ‘Quarantine Insurance’ — Policies that pay claimants who are forced to lock down are disappearing as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads rapidly across the country.
- Chinese Agent Proposed Violent Means to End Dissident’s Congress Run, DOJ Says — Prosecutors unseal complaints accusing Chinese government agents of targeting dissidents in U.S., including father of U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu.
- China Launches Investigation Into Official Who Promoted Respect for Islam — Probe of Wang Zhengwei, a former top official in charge of ethnic policy, helps Communist Party clear a path to fully embrace new assimilation campaign.
- On China’s Internet, Rare Flash of Anger at Beijing’s Position on Ukraine — An editorial by China’s ambassador to Washington, later posted on Chinese social media, became the unlikely venue for a torrent of Chinese public anger against Beijing’s perceived support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- China’s Housing Market Needs More Than Talk From Beijing — Forceful, if vague, language from Beijing has boosted developer shares and the broader stock market. But turning around the real economy will be tougher.
- Chinese President Vows to Control Covid Outbreak With Smallest Cost — Xi Jinping says leaders must ‘minimize the impact of the Covid situation on economic and social development.’
The Financial Times
- Ping An profits tumble due to Covid and property woes — Insurer’s net profit in 2021 fell 29 per cent to $16bn, its worst drop since 2008.
- China Inc unconvinced Xi Jinping’s regulatory storm is over — Beijing’s business elite wait to see if powerful agencies heed economy tsar’s warning.
- Dissidents targeted on behalf of China’s secret police, US prosecutors allege — Five people charged with stalking and harassing a congressional candidate and other individuals.
- China intervenes to reassure nervous investors — First US interest rate rise since 2018, biggest energy supply shock in a generation, ‘colossal cock-up’ with UK Covid loans.
- China plans audit concession in face of US delisting threat — Impasse on financial disclosure rules threatened more than $2tn of shares in US-listed Chinese companies.
- China lockdowns create latest supply chain shock to global tech — Foxconn warns of revenue contraction, while tech company says transport between Hong Kong and mainland in ‘semi-meltdown.’
The New York Times
- Federal Reserve Walks a Tightrope Between Inflation and Recession — American consumers already have high inflation. Because of the oil price shock and Russia’s war, the odds of a recession have increased, too.
- Chinese Officer Charged With Harassing N.Y. Congressional Candidate — Yan Xiong, a Chinese dissident who immigrated to America and is now a political candidate in New York, was targeted by an agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors said.
- U.S. Casts a Global Net to Stop Shipments to Russia — To try to halt the war in Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies have imposed the most sweeping export controls seen in decades on Russia. Now they have to enforce them.
Caixin
- HNA Aviation Chairman Bao Qifa Taken Away by Police — Parent company HNA Group’s chairman and its CEO were also taken into custody last September in a probe of suspected criminal offenses.
- After Battling Power Shortages, China Reignites Mothballed Coal Plants — The two Gansu province plants will generate during ‘peak load’ periods, state-owned giant Huaneng says.
- Tencent to Trim Workforce for Online Content and Cloud Business — Tech giant plans undisclosed job cuts in two of six major divisions, reflecting their slowing growth momentum.
South China Morning Post
- Olympian Alysa Liu and father targeted in Chinese spy operation, says US Justice Department — US Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu and her father Arthur Liu – a former political refugee – were among those targeted in a spying operation that the US Justice Department alleges was ordered by the Chinese government, the elder Liu said.
- Regulator chimes in with market-friendly policies to cheer beleaguered stock investors — China will encourage publicly traded companies to buy back their shares and money managers to invest in their own funds, offering investor-friendly policies to bolster the world’s second-largest capital market amid an unprecedented rout.
- Hong Kong records more than 50,000 departures in first half of March as exodus shows no sign of abating — Hong Kong recorded a total of 50,505 departures in the first half of March in an indication a current exodus is showing no sign of abating, even as the city’s leader promised a review of tough social-distancing restrictions.
Nikkei Asia
- Analysis: China needs to drop Putin now, scholar insists — Government adviser says Beijing needs to be on the right side of history.
- Despite incentives, Chinese demand for homes not recovering — Condo sales slow to rebound amid resurgence of COVID-19.
- FCC revokes U.S. authorization of China telecom Pacific Networks — National security concerns cited in action against a fourth Chinese provider.
Bloomberg
- Ping An Profit Falls on Impairments, Life Business Decline — Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., China’s largest insurer by market value, said profit fell 29% last year as troubled property investments and a slowdown in its key life business weighed on revenue.
- China Affirms Ukraine Friendship, Promises to ‘Never Attack’ — China’s foreign ministry endorsed remarks by its envoy to Ukraine, in which Beijing delivered some of its most supportive comments yet toward the war-torn country.
- China Regulator Weighs Letting U.S. Inspect Some Company Audits — China’s securities watchdog is weighing a proposal that would allow U.S. regulators to inspect auditors’ working papers for some companies as soon as this year, people familiar with the matter said, in a bid to prevent Chinese firms from being forced to delist en masse from U.S. exchanges.
- Chinese Tycoons Claw Back $71 Billion From Market Rebound — The strength of the rebound in Chinese and Hong Kong shares on Wednesday added $71 billion to the combined fortune of the richest people from the mainland. With the surge continuing on Thursday, that amount is set to rise further.
Reuters
- Analysis: U.S. gamble on China over Ukraine raises tensions with rival superpower — The Biden administration made a carefully orchestrated gamble this week, issuing a series of public and private threats to Beijing that it will face consequences if it supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Analysis: After China avows market stability, investors want proof — China’s top financial policymaker rescued stock markets from a bloodbath this week with a promise of stability, but plenty of investors reckon mere words will not restore lasting calm in an economy beset with multiple large risks.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Omicron is changing China’s covid strategy — Beating the latest variant will require more vaccinations and less fear.
- The Economist: The war in Ukraine will determine how China sees the world — And how threatening it becomes.
- The Economist: The friendship between China and Russia has boundaries — Despite what their rulers say.
- The Atlantic: What Happened to Hong Kong? — The city was once lauded for controlling the coronavirus’s spread. But this month, it recorded one of the highest death rates in the world.
- Protocol: What Chinese tech CEOs are telling Beijing — The Chinese style of lobbying, in the form of “two sessions” proposals, is more open but less effective and helpful in deciphering what tech companies and Beijing want.