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 Seeks a Quantum Leap in Computing — A global race is on to create quantum computers that could in seconds solve problems that today would take thousands of years. An experimental device from China’s Baidu marks the latest advance.
- U.N. Human Rights Council Rejects Holding Xinjiang Debate — Vote is a win for China’s efforts to counter condemnation of its policies after release of report citing possible crimes against humanity.
- TikTok Parent ByteDance Sees Losses Swell in Push for Growth — Social-media giant saw its operating losses more than triple last year to above $7 billion.
The Financial Times
- China’s Shein sheds up to one-third of its value in stake sales — Fast-fashion retailer popular with Gen-Z shoppers has been valued at $65bn-$85bn in private markets.
- UN rights council blocks debate on China’s Xinjiang abuses — Narrow vote marks diplomatic victory for Beijing after facing accusations of ‘crimes against humanity’.
- Sri Lanka debt talks with China a test of creditor appetite for bailout — Crisis-hit Colombo needs commitments from big lenders to unlock IMF rescue package.
The New York Times
- China Is the Wild Card in the Energy War With Russia — Slower growth in China has braked the rise in world energy prices and Russian riches, but Beijing has also stepped up its purchases of Russian fossil fuels.
- China’s ‘Zero Covid’ Pursuit Causes Mayhem Ahead of Party Conclave — Tourists are stranded, residents confined at home. Covid flare-ups and the accompanying lockdowns are causing disruptions ahead of a key Chinese Communist Party meeting.
- How Chinese Loans Hold Sway Over Countries’ Fates — The lender of choice for many nations over the past decade, Beijing now has the power to cut them off, lend more or forgive some of their debts.
Caixin
- China’s Gotion Plans $2.36 Billion Battery Material Plant in Michigan — VW-backed EV battery giant wins state funding amid U.S. push to expand new-energy vehicle sales under 2022 legislation.
- Covid Restrictions Tighten as Record Number of Chinese Cities Report Cases — A record number of Chinese cities reported Covid cases during the National Day holiday, prompting a new round of restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of the virus to other parts of the country, especially Beijing.
South China Morning Post
- Taiwan’s exports tumble for the first time in more than 2 years as mainland China demand slackens — Exports to mainland China, Taiwan’s largest trading partner, fell an annual 13.3 per cent to US$15.17 billion in September, after a 9.9 per cent contraction in August, in a sign of the continued economic problems there.
- As China’s cotton harvest begins, Xinjiang ‘forced labour’ law and global recession fears hobble demand — Extreme weather, US trade sanctions and global recession fears are disrupting the global market for cotton just as China’s Xinjiang region begins its harvest.
Nikkei Asia
- Luxury yacht owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch docked in Hong Kong — Superyacht belonging to steel tycoon Alexey Mordashov sailed from Vladivostok.
- Indonesia’s Satnusa taps manufacturing shift away from China — Contract smartphone builder woos new U.S. and European clients.
- U.N. rights council rejects debate on China’s treatment of Uyghurs — Motion to discuss Xinjiang suffers rare defeat as Indonesia and Pakistan oppose it.
Bloomberg
- Sanctioned Billionaire’s Superyacht Nord Sails From Russia to Hong Kong — A $500 million megayacht that’s connected to sanctioned Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov has mysteriously ended up in Hong Kong after a more than week-long voyage from the port of Vladivostok where it was last anchored.
- Hong Kong Cements Covid Testing With Centers a 15-Minute Walk for Most Residents — Hong Kong will make Covid PCR tests available within walking distance for about five million people, and slash prices, in a move that indicates it’s entrenching testing requirements on residents permanently like in mainland China.
- NYC Apartment That Housed Chinese Mogul Is Cut to $35 Million — Asking price for the 15-room apartment overlooking Central Park is about half what it sold for in 2015.
Reuters
- U.S. adds China’s BGI Genomics and drone maker DJI to investment ban — An initial tranche of about 50 Chinese companies that included telecoms equipment maker Huawei had been added to the U.S. list in June last year.
- Exclusive: Samsung, SK Hynix to be spared brunt of China chip crackdown by U.S. — The Commerce Department, which plans to release new curbs on exports of technology to China this week, will likely deny requests by U.S. suppliers to send equipment to Chinese firms like Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd (YMTC) and ChangXin Memory Technologies, Inc (CXMT) if they are making advanced DRAM or flash memory chips, the sources said.
- Analysis: As China party congress looms, signals sought on easing COVID policy — The mounting economic toll of China’s zero-COVID policy is raising investor hopes that Beijing may finally begin laying the groundwork for the tricky epidemiological and political task of shifting course following this month’s Communist Party congress.
Other Publications
- The Economist: How retired party officials make themselves heard in China — Under Xi Jinping, their influence is dwindling.
- The Economist: Han Chinese seek spiritual salve in Tibetan Buddhism — And the Communist Party tries to discourage them.
- The Washington Post: Hong Kong schools tread cautiously in push to make students love China — Interviews with 11 teachers and parents reveal concern that Hong Kongers will no longer be taught to critically examine their society and political system, even as many say the government is treading cautiously so far, adopting a less heavy-handed approach than elsewhere in China.
- Foreign Affairs: Can Xi Jinping Reopen China? — Ending the Havoc of Zero COVID—Without Causing a Crisis. By Yanzhong Huang
