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’s Chip Equipment Imports Plunge After U.S. Export Controls — The drop followed new restrictions imposed in October by Washington on the export of advanced semiconductors and chip-manufacturing equipment to China.
- The Reckoning Ahead for China’s Zero-Covid Policy – Harsh short-term Covid measures were the logical product of China’s political pressures. So is the viral tsunami soon to come.
- Sour U.S.-China Relations Feed the Fentanyl Crisis – Beijing has stopped cooperating in restricting the flow of Chinese-made chemicals that Mexican cartels use to make the deadly drug.
- Chinese Pharmacies Struggle to Stock Medication as Covid Spreads — A surge in Covid infections has triggered shortages of ibuprofen, paracetamol and other fever medication, weeks after Beijing abandoned its three-year effort to contain the virus.
- Taiwan to Get Loans, Not Grants, to Buy U.S. Weapons — Left out of the massive spending bill that Congress raced to finish are hefty grants for weapons transfers to Taiwan, setting back efforts by some lawmakers to bolster a front-line U.S. partner against China.
- Tesla, GM Among Car Makers Facing Senate Inquiry Into Possible Links to Uyghur Forced Labor – Lawmakers ask companies for information on their supply chains to help find any connections to China’s Xinjiang region.
- Opinion: China’s Let-It-Rip Covid Reopening – Xi Jinping compounds his zero-Covid mistake with a 180-degree reversal that endangers everyone. By Ezekiel J. Emanuel
The Financial Times
- China estimates 250mn people have caught Covid in 20 days — Figures presented at closed-door meeting are in stark contrast to low official case count.
- Three Xiaomi executives to step down as smartphone demand weakens — China’s leading handset maker has suffered Covid disruption at home and regulatory woes abroad.
- US urges China to be transparent about Covid outbreak — International concern mounts about dearth of data on huge surge in cases.
- ‘We have no beds, we have no oxygen’: Covid overwhelms Beijing’s hospitals — China’s coronavirus exit wave overwhelms one of the country’s best healthcare systems.
- Opinion: A fake baby bump shows the limits of US chip sanctions on China — Smuggling boom suggests ban will complicate but not halt the flow of technology, while raising prices for all. By June Yoon
- Opinion: America should be wary of singling out TikTok — There are wider concerns about Chinese-exposed tech that ought to be preoccupying policymakers and investors. By Gillian Tett
The New York Times
- ByteDance Inquiry Finds Employees Obtained User Data of 2 Journalists — The company’s internal investigation showed that workers also obtained data on a small number of other U.S. users.
- As Cases Explode, China’s Low Covid Death Toll Convinces No One — China’s murky statistics are fueling widespread public distrust. Its narrow definition of Covid deaths “will very much underestimate the true death toll,” the W.H.O. says.
- Opinion: China’s Future Isn’t What It Used to Be – Beyond the imminent prospect of carnage, China’s long-running macroeconomic problems seem to be reaching a tipping point. By Paul Krugman
Caixin
- Five Things to Know About Lifting the Ban on Chinese Developers’ Share Sales — Top securities regulator has offered a range of options for cash-strapped property companies to raise money.
- Evergrande Reports Narrowing Differences in Debt Restructuring Talks — Debt-laden property giant says negotiations with creditors continue almost a half-year after missed deadline for a deal.
- TuSimple Slashes Workforce 25% in Sweeping Restructuring — Driverless truck startup will focus on R&D and on providing self-driving technologies to other transport companies.
South China Morning Post
- China asks people to sign up as delivery riders after zero-Covid pivot unleashed a wave of infections — Local authorities in Beijing, Shanghai and other municipalities have called on healthy citizens to help deliver food takeouts, as more riders call in sick.
- US moves to strengthen Taiwan military ties ‘a sign of malice’, says Chinese analyst — The National Defence Authorisation Act, which has passed the Senate, includes provisions for a training programme with the island and a military presence.
- Top Shanghai pandemic expert slammed as ‘irresponsible’ for saying Covid is on its way out of China — ‘Nobody can rule out the possibility that the virus will be with us forever,’ noted neurobiologist Rao Yi says in scathing WeChat post.
- Tencent joins open-source chip design community RISC-V as China seeks to mitigate impact from US sanctions — Tencent has joined RISC-V International, an open-source processor architecture group, in the latest move by a Chinese tech firm to try and mitigate the impact of US exports restrictions.
Nikkei Asia
- Chinese cooking robot startup reaches Japan and Southeast Asia – Botinkit’s all-in-one cyborg chefs digitize and reproduce recipes.
- Huawei licenses key tech to major European automakers – Deals with Audi, BMW and others help Chinese company withstand U.S. clampdown.
- Opinion: ‘White-paper’ protests carry many echoes of China’s past – Too early to conclude today’s youth are done demonstrating. By John Delury and Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Bloomberg
- US Scales Back Pandemic Response as Covid Explodes in China — The US government is preparing to drastically reduce its role in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic even as an explosion of cases in China is raising fresh concern about the virus within the Biden administration.
- China Estimates Covid Surge Is Infecting 37 Million People a Day — Nearly 37 million people in China may have been infected with Covid-19 on a single day this week, according to estimates from the government’s top health authority, making the country’s outbreak by far the world’s largest.
- China Startup Builds $140,000 Car That Can Fly Over Traffic Jams — The crowd of hundreds roared in Mandarin as the gull-winged two-seater aircraft rose and hovered roughly 30 meters (100 feet) above their heads, before smoothly lowering back down to earth. “Make us Chinese proud in Dubai!” several of the more enthusiastic shouted in unison.
- After AIG, Greenbergs Build a $6 Billion Fortune and Push Into China — Evan Greenberg is stepping into his father’s shoes as the family’s next China hand, as made clear by well wishes from Xi Jinping.
Reuters
- U.S. must stop ‘bullying’, suppressing China’s development, foreign minister says – In the latest phone correspondence between the two leaders, Wang said the United States must pay attention to China’s legitimate concerns.
- China’s stretched health system braces for peak in COVID infections – Authorities predict extra strain on the country’s health system even as they downplay the disease’s severity and continue to report no new deaths.
- China lacked a ‘zero COVID’ exit plan. Its people are paying the price – President Xi Jinping’s abrupt abandonment of zero-COVID in the face of protests and a widening outbreak has left China scrambling to avert a collapse of its public health system.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: What to Expect From China in 2023 – Three experts predict how Beijing will manage China’s economy, the pandemic, protests, Taiwan, and relations with Washington.
- AP News: China sanctions 2 US citizens over action on Tibet – The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Todd Stein and Miles Yu Maochun, along with their close family members, would be banned from entering China.
- The Atlantic: Breaking China’s Hold – As Beijing’s ambition of overtaking the American economy stalls, its strategy is shifting to economic coercion. The U.S. must be prepared.
- The Intercept: Chipped Away – Federal intelligence agencies ran a sting and dug through the trash of a Chinese American engineer they envisioned as a sophisticated technological spy.
