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’s Economy Grew 4.8% in First Quarter, Beating Expectations — Beijing faces major test to keep the economy firing as challenges bearing down on growth proliferate.
- China Eastern Resumes Flights of Boeing 737 Model Involved in Crash — Airline says it is still inspecting 737-800 aircraft that were manufactured around the time as the plane involved in the disaster.
- Beijing Wants European Companies to List in China. It Remains a Tough Sell. — A trading link between Chinese and European exchanges has so far attracted only companies from China.
- Didi Global’s Revenue Falls 12.7% Amid Preparations for U.S. Delisting — Chinese ride-hailing firm will hold a shareholders meeting in May to vote on its delisting from NYSE.
- Shanghai Reports First Covid-19 Deaths Since Start of Lockdown — The three elderly, unvaccinated patients who died had severe underlying conditions, health authorities said.
- Shanghai’s Lockdown Knocks Out E-Commerce, Leaving Group Buying and Bartering — As grocery delivery is thrown into disarray, one neighbor gets three oranges in return for lending out his cat.
The Financial Times
- ‘Voting with their feet’: China’s wealthy look to leave after Shanghai lockdown — Emigration inquiries surge as harsh Covid restrictions cause food and medicine shortages.
- China GDP growth beats forecasts but lockdowns weigh on outlook — Gross domestic product expands 4.8% while retail sales record first contraction since 2020.
- M&A law/Newport Wafer: efforts of enforcers are far from fab — The danger with new legislation regulating foreign takeovers is that deals could be vetoed for political reasons.
- Xiaomi battles to reinvent itself as China’s Apple — Push into the premium smartphone market is a ‘life or death’ battle for budget brand.
- China views Russian invasion as a ‘strategic utility’, says ex-Australia PM — Kevin Rudd believes Ukraine conflict serves as a distraction that allows Beijing to focus on US.
- China’s Covid death data obscure true impact of Omicron, experts say — Official statistics show only two people have died since March despite tens of thousands of cases.
- China first-quarter GDP: five things to watch — Economic outlook was darkening even before lockdown of most important financial centre.
The New York Times
- China’s GDP Data Hint at Heavy Cost of its Zero Covid Strategy — The country’s lockdowns have trapped truck drivers on highways, halted production lines and forced some importers to source goods from outside China.
- Peng Ming-min, Fighter for Democracy in Taiwan, Dies at 98 — He endured Japanese imperial rule, a lost limb in World War II, Chinese martial law and decades in exile to become a leading force for Taiwanese self-determination.
Caixin
- Exclusive: ICBC Replaces Would-Be Head of Venture With Goldman — Yin Zhongjie takes over long-delayed wealth management project from Gu Jiangang, whose former subordinates were caught up in a probe.
- Cover Story: The Disrupted Lifelines of the Shanghai Outbreak — Shanghai is fighting a losing two-front war: the battle to contain its worst Covid-19 upsurge and the struggle to meet the basic needs of the city’s 25 million people.
South China Morning Post
- Guinea’s military rulers pressure Chinese and other foreign companies to pay more mining royalties — Chinese companies have large investments in Guinea, and about half of China’s imports of bauxite – a mineral used to make aluminium – are from the West African nation.
- Didi Global to vote on US delisting next month, says no new listing plan before NYSE exit — Didi Global, the Chinese ride-hailing giant being investigated by Beijing, said it will hold a special shareholder meeting on May 23 to vote on its “voluntary” delisting in the United States.
- Chinese social media to display user locations based on IP address, including platforms from ByteDance and Zhihu — Several Chinese platforms such as Quora-like Zhihu and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, will start displaying user provinces amid increasing crackdowns on internet content.
Bloomberg
- China’s Surprisingly Strong Growth Invites Analysts’ Skepticism — China’s better-than-expected economic data on Monday prompted questions from analysts who pointed to inconsistencies with alternative statistics that paint a grimmer picture of the economy.
- China Home Sales Slump Most Since July as Lockdowns Hit — China’s housing slowdown deepened last month, with new-home sales falling the most since the downturn began in July as the country’s latest Covid-19 outbreak took hold.
- Alibaba Loses Sight of Amazon-Size Profits in China’s Cloud Service Crackdown — The company’s aspirations to become a giant in cloud services are increasingly under threat.
- Hong Kong Confirms John Lee as Sole Chief Executive Candidate — The Hong Kong government confirmed that John Lee was only candidate nominated for chief executive, clearing the way for him to take power after an uncontested leadership election next month.
Reuters
- Senior U.S. officials to visit the Solomon Islands amid China security concerns — White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell and the State Department’s top official for Asia will travel this week to the Solomon Islands, the White House said on Monday, amid concerns that the Pacific Island country is making a security pact with China.
- Taiwan says COVID vaccine talks held up on China sales deal — Talks on Taiwan buying the child version of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have stalled as Pfizer does not have the right to sell it, and BioNTech and its Chinese partner do not make it, a Taiwan minister said on Monday.
- COVID-shaming pits neighbour against neighbour in locked-down Shanghai — The tensions of lockdown have exposed divisions among Shanghai residents, pitting young against old, locals against outsiders, and above all, COVID-negative against COVID-positive people.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: China tries to cover lockdown strains on Shanghai’s front-line workers — Central to the debate over how the virus is being handled is the pressure faced by volunteers and low-level officials on the front line of China’s “zero covid” effort.
