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 Eastern Black Box Points to Intentional Nosedive — Flight data suggests someone in cockpit pushed Boeing 737-800 into near-vertical descent, according to a preliminary U.S. assessment.
- China’s Top Antigraft Body Probes a Senior Central Banker — Head of the monetary-policy department at the People’s Bank of China is removed from his position and investigated.
- Chinese Bonds Suffer Third Straight Month of Foreign Outflows — Continued drawdown pushes international holdings of Chinese debt to their lowest in nearly a year.
- Tencent’s Earnings Are a Bad Omen for Chinese Tech — China’s most valuable internet company is contending with a toxic mix of slowing consumption and regulatory overhang at home, and the same forces punishing other tech firms abroad.
- China Lockdown and Dye Shortage Lead Hospitals to Cancel Medical Scans — GE Healthcare plant in Shanghai stopped making the Omnipaque contrast agent for several weeks during Covid-19 lockdowns.
- China’s New Home Prices Fall for the First Time in More Than Six Years — The decline, though slight, marks the first such decrease since November 2015.
- North Korea Receives Aid From China as Covid Outbreak Spreads — Cargo planes flew medical supplies from Chinese city of Shenyang, diplomats say.
The Financial Times
- Casino mogul Steve Wynn accused by US of lobbying on behalf of China — Las Vegas magnate pressed Trump administration to deport Chinese asylum seeker, complaint says.
- Tencent’s revenue growth hit by tech crackdown and Covid curbs — Results come a day after China pledged ‘support’ for technology groups amid economic slump.
- China electric vehicles: fresh grants would provide a welcome recharge — Extension of subsidies likely to boost foreign automakers as well as homegrown manufacturers
- US rushes to catch up with China in supercomputer race — World’s biggest economies battle to dominate advanced processing power that will affect defence and climate modelling.
- International investors sell Chinese debt at record pace — Foreign fund managers have sold $35bn worth of renminbi-denominated bonds in 2022.
The New York Times
- China’s Internet Censors Try a New Trick: Revealing Users’ Locations — The rapidly expanding practice, which authorities say helps combat disinformation from abroad, has fueled a whole new type of online battle.
- North Korea Wants to Follow China’s Covid ‘Success.’ Its Plan May Backfire — As infections spread quickly, outside experts are warning that the country’s desire to mimic Beijing’s playbook could worsen a coming disaster.
Caixin
- Exclusive: China’s Corruption Cops Launch Probe Into Former Central Bank Official and His Wife — Sun Guofeng, the ex-head of the PBOC’s monetary policy department, and his wife are being investigated.
- China’s New Financial Stability Fund Raises $9.59 Billion From Big Banks — Systemically important banks make additional payments on top of deposit insurance levies as the government creates another measure for managing financial risks
- Three Tough-to-Crack Housing Markets Relax Homebuying Controls — Hangzhou, Chengdu and Haikou join more than 100 Chinese cities in easing policies as Beijing pushes to rescue the property market.
South China Morning Post
- UK to scrap US$16 million in foreign aid to China — Britain’s overseas development spending in China represented a small fraction of its US$14 billion in foreign aid in 2021.
- Atomic clocks put China’s BeiDou satnav system ahead of the rest, study finds — Analysis of data suggests uncertainty was kept to 1 femtosecond a day – equivalent to losing or gaining a second in 30 million years.
- China bets on open-source RISC-V for chip design to minimise potential damage from ‘being cut off’ by US sanctions — Experts say China’s adoption of open-source RISC-V architecture would not shield them from all US sanction risks, as US still dominates in EDA tools.
Nikkei Asia
- China Vice Premier Liu soothes tech firms, supports overseas listings — Stance marks break with crackdown that has shaved billions of dollars in valuations.
- China vaults back to No. 2 bitcoin miner on suspected covert activity — Report says global share went from zero to 20% despite Beijing’s ban.
- China lockdowns a ‘double killer’ of online, offline businesses: JD.com CEO — Latest outbreak hurts consumers and supply chains more severely, Xu Lei says.
- China’s Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo trim smartphone orders by 20% — Trio hit by lockdowns and inflation woes while Samsung and Google less impacted.
Bloomberg
- Oil Rises as Traders Focus on US Gasoline and China Demand — Oil rose as tight US product markets and the prospect for higher demand in China, the world’s top importer, add urgency to the hunt for barrels.
- China Has Enough Policy Room for Economic Challenges, Li Says — Premier Li Keqiang said China has enough policy room to deal with the growing challenges facing the economy, which indicators show has been weakening since March, state broadcaster CCTV reported Wednesday.
- Covid-Testing Unicorn Is Plotting Bets for Post-Virus World — In less than a decade, Prenetics Group Ltd. transformed itself from a DNA-kit maker to a major Hong Kong Covid-19 test provider. Now as the coronavirus ebbs in the city — and the rest of the world adjusts to living with it — Chief Executive Officer Danny Yeung is already planning its next pivot.
- Goldman Cuts China’s Growth Forecast to 4% on Covid Policy — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its economic growth forecast for China for this year to 4% as the government doubles down on a Covid Zero policy that’s forced major cities like Shanghai into lockdown for several weeks.
- Baidu’s Chip Affiliate Eyes Fundraise at $2.5 Billion Valuation — Baidu Inc.’s chip affiliate is looking to raise 2 billion yuan ($317 million) in a new funding round, people familiar with the matter said, as venture capitalists in China shift away from internet businesses and hone in on core technologies like semiconductors, favored by Beijing.
- US Military Chief Says Taiwan Must Strengthen Its Defenses c Taiwan must gird itself against potential Chinese aggression through military deterrence that includes acquiring the right weapons and proper training, the top US naval officer said on Tuesday.
Reuters
- China relaxes some COVID test rules for U.S., other travellers — China has removed certain COVID-19 test requirements for people flying in from countries like the United States and shortened the pre-departure quarantine period for some inbound travellers, as it finetunes its stringent measures to cope with the Omicron variant.
- China in talks with automakers on EV subsidy extension — China is in talks with automakers about extending costly subsidies for electric vehicles (EV) that were set to expire in 2022, aiming to keep a key market growing as the broader economy slows, three people familiar with the matter said.
- Yellen calls on U.S., European allies to confront China together — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stepped up her criticism of China’s economic and trade practices on Tuesday, calling on the United States and its allies in Europe to band together to challenge Beijing and diversify supply chains.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: The Collateral Damage in China’s Covid War — Are Beijing’s Harsh Measures Undermining Its Hold On Power?
- The Washington Post: China cut tech exports to Russia after U.S.-led sanctions hit — Chinese shipments of laptops, phones and other technology to Russia plummeted in March, U.S. Commerce secretary says.
- AP: Chinese tire maker cancels project in eastern North Carolina — A Chinese tire maker which announced a project five years ago to build a plant and bring at least 800 jobs to a North Carolina county has pulled out and returned the 400-acre site, officials said.
