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 Props Up Belt-and-Road Borrowers Via Unusual Channel — People’s Bank of China uses currency-swap lines to support governments that borrowed heavily from Chinese banks.
- China Halts Location Tracking App as Covid Restrictions Fall — Some residents say they have seen a surge in Covid cases even as official daily tallies drop.
- Rise of Open-Source Intelligence Tests U.S. Spies — China outpaces efforts by U.S. intelligence agencies to harness power of publicly available data.
- Fast-Fashion Giant Shein Explores Becoming Online Marketplace — The fast-growing company founded in China has also begun diversifying its supply chain to Europe, according to memo to investors.
- Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Gets Another Jail Term After Fraud Conviction — The case is the latest in a legal campaign against Mr. Lai, whose now-closed Apple Daily newspaper was once one of Beijing’s fiercest critics.
- Approaching Covid Wave Tests China’s Embrace of Herbal Remedies — Loosening of zero-tolerance pandemic controls revives debate over government’s promotion of traditional Chinese medicine.
The Financial Times
- China warned to accelerate approval of updated jabs to tackle Covid ‘tsunami’ — Authorities have relied on vaccines made using original strain found in Wuhan.
- Can India build a military strong enough to deter China? — Violent clashes in Ladakh in 2020 acted as a wake-up call for New Delhi. But some say India is still not doing or spending enough as tensions rise.
- Decoupling spells an end to corporate opacity — As global supply chains shift, an avalanche of information could be used to hold companies to account.
- Geely/luxury EVs: Zeekr sub-brand should find US investor appetite — Electric cars are hotter than ever.
- Booming Chinese family offices recruit top bankers in Singapore — Financial institutions expect to lose ‘whole teams’ to private funds that will increasingly resemble hedge funds.
- Beijing eases zero-Covid restrictions on transport to revive economy — Epidemiologists stress milder nature of Omicron variant as government reverses elimination policy.
- China’s internet darlings seek growth after zero-Covid — Meituan and Pinduoduo, winners in the pandemic, adapt to renewed competition as curbs are relaxed.
- China faces an uncertain future in the zero-Covid endgame — Despite official triumphalism, rolling back the policy could see the health system overwhelmed.
- Japanese tech leaders warn Beijing will ride out US chip sanctions — Sony and NEC executives say progress may be slowed but China will remain a force in AI and other areas.
- ‘You become creative’: the art of protest in Xi’s China — ‘Toad worship’ of the late premier Jiang Zemin has turned into nostalgia for a freer, more liberal era.
- US puts sanctions on 2 Chinese companies over alleged illegal fishing — ‘Global Magnitsky’ act used for first time on Nasdaq-listed group to give investors time to unwind holdings.
The New York Times
- In China’s New Covid Strategy, Vaccines Matter — As the government drops its restrictions, it not only needs to convince people that the virus is nothing to fear, but also that inoculations are essential.
- In Hostage Diplomacy, It’s Often the Hostage-Takers Who Pay — Detaining foreigners to wring concessions from their home country’s government holds perils for both sides, but especially, perhaps surprisingly, for the hostage takers.
- China’s Youths, Stung by Years of Covid Rules, Fear Grim Job Future — A sluggish economy continues to leave many young people unemployed, with few job prospects or hopes to tap into the rising incomes their parents enjoyed during boom times.
- China’s Looming ‘Tsunami’ of Covid Cases Will Test Its Hospitals — To conserve resources for the severely ill, the government is urging residents not to seek help unless necessary. But the pivot has left many confused and anxious.
- China to Cooperate With Gulf Nations on Nuclear Energy and Space, Xi Says — The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, says that he is eager to work with the Middle Eastern countries, longstanding U.S. allies, in a series of sensitive fields.
Caixin
- Cover Story: Covid Chaos at China’s Hospitals as Stringent Control Policy Eases — As Chinese authorities move to ease the burdens of sweeping pandemic lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and regular mass testing, the country’s hospitals are feeling the first shock of a giant wave of infections and shortage of health workers.
- India’s Market Allure Comes With Host of Challenges for Foxconn, Analysts Say — Foxconn Technology Group is facing challenges including supply chain and worker competency issues in India as it invests more in the country, which has its sights set on becoming one of the world’s top electronics manufacturers, analysts said.
- Fraudsters Get Life in Prison for $1 Billion Fake-SOE Fundraising Scam — A court in Shanghai sentenced two senior executives of a self-described supply chain company to life in prison for their leading roles in a fundraising scam that peddled fund products worth more than $1 billion under the guise of a guarantee by a fake state-owned enterprise (SOE).
South China Morning Post
- China’s army of retirees seek return to work as economic toll on their families mounts — Mandatory retirement ages in China are among the world’s lowest, and demographers say Beijing’s plans to revise the 70-year-old rules cannot come soon enough as the nation’s workforce rapidly gets older.
- Britain defends China actions over consulate brawl involving Hong Kong protester — Anti-China hardliners in the Conservative Party have demanded expulsions of the diplomats involved, accusing government of appeasing Beijing.
- Hong Kong security chief accuses Google of ‘double standards’ for refusing to correct national anthem search results — Secretary for Security Chris Tang says tech giant cited search engine algorithm in explaining why it could not alter results for Hong Kong and national anthem.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s COVID shifts take investors on a wild ride — Caution remains over potentially volatile exit from past pandemic strategy.
- Manufacturers in China on edge as zero-COVID eases — Factories working out how to keep production running if infections surge.
- Why an unstable China concerns the rest of the world — Beijing may get tough on foreign front to distract from zero-COVID debacle.
Bloomberg
- Chinese Property Tycoon to Sell Stake as Share Sales Ramp Up — The controlling shareholder of Country Garden Holdings Co. is selling a roughly $650 million stake in a unit amid a flurry of share sales by cash-strapped Chinese developers.
- China May Partly Open HK Border by Late January, Reports Say — China may drop quarantine for Hong Kong residents traveling into the mainland next month, according to local media reports, as the country speeds up its shift away from strict Covid control.
Reuters
- China tackles medical-supply snags, price gouging amid COVID fears — China said on Saturday it would stop checking truck drivers and ship crew transporting goods domestically for COVID-19, removing a key bottleneck from its supply chain network as a dismantling of the country’s zero-COVID policy gathers speed.
- Senior U.S. delegation to visit China in coming days — Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Laura Rosenberger will travel to China, South Korea and Japan from December 11-14, the State Department said in a statement.
- Newsmaker: China’s Wang Huning, a backstage ideologue and political survivor — Wang Huning, one of just two top officials reappointed to join President Xi Jinping on the elite seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, has carved an unusual career path as the party’s top theoretician.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: The painter in Italy who informed the world about China’s protests — As censors on Chinese social media platforms deleted footage and domestic news outlets made no mention of the unrest, Li’s Twitter account became the single most important clearinghouse for information about the protests.
- The New Yorker: The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer — Such a device could help address climate change and food scarcity, or break the Internet. Will the U.S. or China get there first?
- Foreign Affairs: Taiwan Is Already Independent — Why Most of the Island’s People Don’t Desire a Formal Declaration. By Nathan F. Batto
- Foreign Policy: On the Front Lines of the China-Taiwan Food Fight — A Brooklyn start-up hits back against Beijing’s pressure campaign.
