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
- Sichuan Earthquake Death Toll Climbs as Rescuers Work to Reach Survivors — A 6.8-magnitude quake in China’s Sichuan province slammed a region already hit by drought, a heat wave and Covid-19 outbreaks.
- China’s Chengdu Extends Covid-19 Stay-Home Order as Restrictions Test Economy — Authorities ordered more testing in the industrial city, while some virus-control measures were eased in the tech hub of Shenzhen.
- Shenzhen Tells Most Residents to Stay Home, as Covid-19 Controls Tighten Across China — Move follows similar curbs in Chengdu, with Omicron wave coming at politically sensitive time; ‘Everyone’s on edge’.
- Chinese Blackouts Could Power Up Grid Stocks — Power shortages in Sichuan—and a continuing renewable power build-out—highlight need for huge investment in China’s grid.
- China’s Economic Slump Bodes Ill for Birth Numbers — Some demographers expect China’s population to decline as soon as this year as young people delay starting families.
- China’s Central Bank Moves to Slow Yuan Depreciation — The People’s Bank of China is lowering the amount of foreign exchange banks must hold as reserves.
- A Slowing China Helps Rein In Inflation Around the World — China is a key factor in falling costs for energy and commodities, but domestic factors are still keeping U.S. inflation high.
- Chinese E-Commerce Companies Suffer as Economy Sours — Consumers cut back on apparel, cosmetics, while spending more on food, wellness and pet care.
- Christian Church That Fled China Seeks Refugee Status From United Nations — Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church members are seeking protections in Thailand after giving up on making a new home in South Korea.
- Video: Roads Deserted as China Extends Covid-19 Curbs in Chengdu — The Chinese megacity of Chengdu looked like a ghost town after authorities ordered its 21 million residents to stay home to halt the spread of Covid-19. City officials said on Sunday that mass testing would be extended.
The Financial Times
- Xi Jinping set to make first foreign trip since start of Covid pandemic — Chinese president expected to travel to central Asia and meet Vladimir Putin this month.
- KPMG sued for $830mn over ‘appalling’ Chinese audit — Liquidator of China Medical says Big Four firm failed to ask ‘obvious’ questions.
- China extends Covid lockdowns for tens of millions in Chengdu and Shenzhen — Restrictions spark panic buying over worries that measures could remain for weeks or longer.
- Global trade show industry’s struggle to recover without China — Numbers are rising at events but concerns remain over lack of crucial Chinese participants.
- Need for stability is behind Japanese investment spree, says US ambassador — Rahm Emanuel says supply chain upheaval and concern about China are pushing companies to America.
- South-east Asia warily navigates rising US-China tensions over Taiwan — Governments in the region seek to balance maintaining close relations with Washington and Beijing.
- US ‘blockade’ set to turbocharge Chinese chip development — Beijing expected to unleash new funding for its domestic semiconductor sector to come up with alternatives to US tech.
- Opinion: BYD: don’t fight Warren Buffett — Carmaker’s investors have ignored the good news and focused on whether Berkshire Hathaway will exit.
The New York Times
- Battling Violence and Censors, Women in China Become ‘Invisible and Absent’ — The Chinese Communist Party has long promoted gender equality as a core tenet, but as cases of gender abuse make headlines, Beijing has tried to squelch dissent and control the narrative.
- Strong Earthquake Shakes China’s Sichuan Province, Killing 65 — Government agencies said at least 65 people had died, but communications in the landslide-prone area were disrupted and the full extent of the damage was unclear.
- China Imposes More Covid Lockdowns, Stoking Anxiety — Nearly every province has recorded infections in recent days, leaving some 60 million residents locked down. Weariness is growing by the day as the restrictions go on seemingly without end.
- China Threatens Reaction After U.S. Announces Arms Sales to Taiwan — A $1.1 billion package would “severely jeopardize” ties, Chinese officials say in demanding that Washington revoke the deal.
- Biden Administration Releases Plan for $50 Billion Investment in Chips — The Commerce Department issued guidelines for companies angling to receive federal funding aimed at bolstering the domestic semiconductor industry.
- The People’s Republic of Shein — Shein continues its rise with American shoppers, who don’t mind the controversies.
Caixin
- Too Much State Investment Has a Downside, Investors Warn — Top private equity players warn that government funds backing startups may violate Chinese and WTO rules while hurting market-based private investment.
- How New U.S. Chip Restrictions Could Hit China’s Smart Car and Cloud Firms — Firms’ reliance on Nvidia and AMD chips leaves them exposed to Washington’s latest effort to prevent China accessing its semiconductor technology.
- In World’s First, CanSino’s Inhalable Covid Vaccine Gets Beijing’s Green Light — Company’s shares jump after National Medical Products Administration says Convidecia Air can be used as a booster.
- Cover Story: China’s Steel Industry at a Crossroads as Long Winter Looms — Property market crisis and slowing economic growth have slashed demand and turned profits into mounting losses.
South China Morning Post
- China looks for silver lining in latest US restrictions on artificial intelligence chips — Shock and anger have given way to calls for more efforts to find domestic substitutes after Washington restricted some advanced graphic processing unit chips from being exported to China.
- TikTok data breach claims put ByteDance’s short video app back in spotlight amid controversy over Chinese ownership — Cybersecurity analysts tweeted about the discovery of an insecure server on Monday, but claims of leaked personal data are inconclusive.
- Chinese state media chief vows to toe the line for Communist Party’s national congress — Fu Hua says ‘primary political task’ is to propagate Xi Jinping’s political thoughts and party control of the internet.
- China slams US over alleged Trojan horse attack on university servers — Joint university and Qihoo 360 task force concludes the source to be cyber spying arm of US National Security Agency.
- UK relations with China unlikely to improve under new PM Liz Truss, analysts say — Analysts expect Britain to follow US lead on China policy, despite leadership change.
Nikkei Asia
- China steps up Tibet DNA collection in ‘rights violation’: report — Human Rights Watch says genetic samples include taking blood from kindergartners.
- Liz Truss to ramp up anti-China rhetoric as U.K.’s new PM — Analysts say she may be hampered by Britain’s economic crisis.
- Laos’ debt pressure raises specter of a China vassal state — Echoes of Sri Lanka on the Mekong as muzzled public seethes over economic woes.
Bloomberg
- China ‘Round Tripping’ Inflates Foreign Investment Data — China’s government data show foreign investment into the economy grew by almost a fifth this year, a feat highlighted by officials as evidence global companies are resisting calls from US and European politicians to decouple from the country.
- China Says US Hacked Aeronautics, Space Research University — China accused a US spy agency of hacking a government-funded university with aeronautics and space research programs, in Beijing’s latest effort to hit back at Washington’s complaints of cybersnooping.
- Jailed Chinese Billionaire Xiao Jianhua’s Family Fortune Survives In Exile — The relatives of mogul Xiao Jianhua, convicted in China after his 2017 abduction in Hong Kong, have quietly built an enigmatic family office involved in deals worth billions.
- A New Chinese EV Battery Giant, CALB, Has Emerged — The military-linked company is expanding fast, further cementing Beijing’s dominance of the supply chain and pushing past any geopolitical concerns.
- Boris Johnson’s Father Halts Xinjiang Trip After Covid Lockdown — Stanley Johnson, the father of the UK’s outgoing prime minister, has left China after being caught in a Covid lockdown that spoiled his plans to shoot a travel film in Xinjiang, where London has accused Beijing of widespread rights abuses.
Reuters
- Biden administration to maintain China tariffs while review continues — The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in a federal notice that it received requests from companies and other interested parties to maintain the “Section 301” tariffs imposed in 2018 and 2019.
- CanSino’s inhaled COVID-19 vaccine gets emergency use approval in China — The company cautioned, however, that it will face fierce competition from other vaccines in China that have also obtained government approval or are in clinical trials.
- Analysis: Banned U.S. AI chips in high demand at Chinese state institutes — High-profile universities and state-run research institutes in China have been relying on a U.S. computing chip to power their artificial intelligence (AI) technology but whose export to the country Washington has now restricted, a Reuters review showed.
Other Publications
- Associated Press: China accuses Washington of cyberspying on university — Northwestern Polytechnical University reported computer break-ins in June, the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center announced.
- Associated Press: China’s Chengdu enforces strict lockdown despite earthquake — Footage circulating online Tuesday showed workers wearing top-to-bottom protective gear preventing residents of apartment buildings from exiting through locked lobby doors following Monday’s 6.8 magnitude quake centered in the surrounding province of Sichuan.
- Foreign Policy: The Chinese Public Doesn’t Know What the Rules Are Anymore — Reckless policies have knocked out established norms.
- The Washington Post: China vastly expands use of house arrests under Xi, report finds — Safeguard Defenders’ estimates suggest over a quarter of a million officially approved instances of house arrest take place each year, up from fewer than 10,000 in 2013.
- The Verge: TikTok denies reports that it’s been hacked — A hacking group claims it exposed TikTok’s source code and user data.
