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
- U.S. Accuses China of Lax Intellectual Property Protection — In annual report, Biden administration says Beijing still needs to make a range of fundamental changes.
- China’s BYD Widens Lead on Chinese EV Rivals — Auto maker sold nearly three times as many cars in latest quarter as a year earlier while EV sales in China continued to boom.
- Iran Ramps Up Oil Exports as China Pulls Back on Russian Crude — Increase was fastest of any Middle Eastern nation and highest since President Trump reinstated oil embargo after pulling out of 2015 nuclear pact.
The Financial Times
- Beijing grants first driverless robotaxi licenses to Baidu and Pony.ai — Chinese capital shows its preference for nurturing high tech and hardware groups over ecommerce outfits.
- Arm China head attacks latest plan to oust him from joint venture — Allen Wu says plans by the UK chip designer and its owner SoftBank Group to remove him are illegal.
- China in ‘deep crisis’, says Hong Kong private equity chief — PAG founder Weijian Shan decries Beijing’s Covid-19 policies as country’s growth slows.
- Volvo looks beyond China for car parts as lockdowns spread — Auto manufacturer starts to double source components to try to limit disruption from Covid-19 restrictions.
- Half of Apple suppliers operating in China’s lockdown-hit areas — Executives warn curbs are likely to have global impact, disrupting logistics and denting company’s sales.
- Truss warns China to ‘play by the rules’ or face consequences — UK foreign secretary says Russia sanctions show west could use economic power against Beijing.
- Will the renminbi depreciation actually boost Chinese growth? — Probably not. Here’s why.
The New York Times
- China Falls Short of Promises to Protect Intellectual Property, U.S. Says — American officials said that they were monitoring China’s progress in meeting the terms of a 2020 trade deal, but that intellectual property owners had expressed concerns.
- Beijing Has 138 Covid Cases. It Musters 139,000 Workers to Test Residents. — Residents of the Chinese capital face mandatory P.C.R. tests but no mass lockdown yet, while large inland cities may be closed down in response to as few as two infections.
Caixin
- China’s RCEP Trade Gets Off to a Good Start — China’s trade with other countries in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) rose 9.5% year-on-year in the first quarter.
- Omicron Drives Strong Profits for China’s Covid Testing Companies — More than one firm saw triple digit growth in the first quarter.
- Chinese Metals Firm Reports Sharp Rise in Paper Losses on Nickel Futures Bet — Huayou Cobalt sees a 14-fold surge in current liabilities after shorting the metal.
South China Morning Post
- Liberal Chinese social media site Douban tightens verification of overseas users as censorship intensifies — Douban, a Chinese social media platform once known as a haven for relatively liberal discussions, now requires overseas users to provide a mainland mobile phone number or an official identity document.
- Huawei revenues extend decline in first quarter as telecoms giant struggles under US sanctions — Huawei’s revenues slumped 13.9 per cent year on year in the first quarter as US sanctions continued to bite, although the decline marked a deceleration from the 28.6 per cent full-year decrease for 2021.
- China’s big new infrastructure plan prioritises national security in face of ‘extreme conditions’ at home, abroad — The top-level plan is seen as a departure from when Beijing underscored financial risk controls last year, and it comes just ahead of a Politburo meeting that will lay out priorities to tackle mounting risks.
Nikkei Asia
- Analysis: Xi floats ‘global security initiative’ with eye on Pacific — With Belt and Road infrastructure plan stalled over Ukraine, president looks east.
Bloomberg
- Xi in a Bind Over Who to Blame for Shanghai’s Covid Outbreak — Who pays the price for China’s current Covid crisis will show the strength of President Xi Jinping’s grip over the Communist Party heading into a crucial leadership reshuffle.
- Some Funds Refuse to Give Up on China’s Stocks as World Flees — Sticking with Chinese stocks after some of the world’s worst losses is not an easy strategy to commit to, but that’s exactly what a few global money managers are planning to do.
- Huawei’s Profit Dives 67% After U.S. Sanctions Wallop Phone Arm — Huawei Technologies Co. profit fell about 67% in the first quarter as the Chinese telecom-equipment giant continued to battle crippling U.S. trade and investment sanctions.
- China Solar Giant Says U.S. Detainments Create Major Disruption — The world’s largest solar manufacturer said exports to American customers have faced significant disruptions as nearly all shipments are detained at the U.S. border.
Other Publications
- The Economist: China should worry less about its currency — …and more about its economy.
- Grid News: China’s promise to stop building coal plants overseas is full of caveats and loopholes — China announced the ban last year, but Chinese companies are still pursuing carbon-intensive coal projects abroad.
