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 Portrayal of Smooth Covid Exit Leaves Scientists Wanting More Data — Some public-health experts agree with Beijing’s assessment that its outbreak has peaked—but few have any trust in the numbers behind the claim.
- Chinese Education Stocks Gain After Post-Crackdown Business Overhauls — The companies have ventured into selling fresh produce and more nonacademic tutoring.
- Biden Extends Protections for Hong Kong Residents in U.S. — President allows two-year stays, criticizes China’s ‘assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy’.
- Louis Vuitton’s Owner Is Still Reading China’s Tea Leaves — American spending led to record sales in 2022, but it’s too early to say if China will follow.
The Financial Times
- Semiconductor manufacturing equipment: Japanese makers weigh up cost of export controls — China is vital market for lower-tech chip machinery makers such as Nikon and Tokyo Electron.
- Demand for mourning flowers rises in Covid-hit Chinese province — Chrysanthemum prices jump as China grapples with wave of coronavirus deaths.
- China’s singles fight family pressure to get married as population declines — Youth share tips on parrying pushy parental inquiries about having children during lunar new year.
- Biden to allow Hong Kong citizens facing Chinese repression to remain in US — Decision to extend programme follows pressure from progressive lawmakers and human rights groups.
- China’s renewed embrace of the private sector — Beijing has more work ahead to rebuild the trust of investors and business.
The New York Times
- China Arrests ‘Zero Covid’ Protesters in Quiet Crackdown — The protests against “zero Covid” were a rare rebuke of Xi Jinping’s rule, and Beijing apparently seeks to deter those who might have been emboldened by them.
Caixin
- In Depth: What’s in Store for Yuan Internationalization in 2023? — A program to encourage yuan-denominated share issuance in Hong Kong and the launch of a Swap Connect scheme for offshore institutional investors should help boost the currency’s popularity.
- U.K. Court Clears Way for China Fortune Land’s Offshore Bond Restructuring — The developer’s plan to renegotiate nearly $5 billion in debt, which was agreed with creditors earlier in January, was sanctioned by the London High Court, paving the way for its implementation.
- China Weighs on U.S. Chipmaking Gear Specialist Lam Research — U.S. chipmaking equipment specialist Lam Research Corp. reported shrinking quarterly revenue from its largest market — the Chinese mainland — due to declining demand in the industry’s memory segment and Washington’s controls on tech exports to the Asian country.
South China Morning Post
- Alibaba denies reports it is building a global headquarters in Singapore, saying development is for its Lazada subsidiary — Lazada, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Singapore, is one of Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce platforms.
- Chinese lending dips to new low in the Pacific Islands: report — As government revenues decline, China has reined in development financing to reduce risk and increase returns, experts say.
- Pro-China propaganda network floods Google’s YouTube with spam, political messages about Taiwan, US, Ukraine — While most of the content failed to draw viewers or readers, the China-linked influence network has been persistently experimenting with new tactics, posing a continuous threat, researchers say.
Nikkei Asia
- Macao gambles on diversification after crackdown on high rollers — VIP rooms out, vanilla tourism in as city seeks to steer economy in new direction.
Bloomberg
- Japan, Netherlands to Join US in Chip Controls on China — Japan and the Netherlands are poised to join the US in limiting China’s access to advanced semiconductor machinery, forging a powerful alliance that will undercut Beijing’s ambitions to build its own domestic chip capabilities, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
- China Sure to Hit Back Over Chip Controls, Japan Lawmaker Says — China is “100% sure” to retaliate over Japanese backing for Biden administration restrictions on semiconductor exports, and firms facing the fallout should look for markets elsewhere, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker said.
- China Mulls Protecting Solar Tech Dominance With Export Ban — Wafers are ultra-thin silicon squares that are pieced together into solar panels, and China accounts for 97% of global output.
- Hong Kong Dollar Bears Stage a Comeback as Funding Costs Slide — Bearish bets on the Hong Kong dollar are gaining traction as a slump in local borrowing costs dulls the appeal of the currency versus the greenback.
Reuters
- New Fiji govt suspends police commissioner, scraps China policing arrangement — Fiji’s president on Friday suspended the commissioner of police after a general election saw the first change in government in the Pacific island nation in 16 years, after the military earlier warned against “sweeping changes”.
- Five Chinese citizens killed in California shooting – consulate — Five Chinese citizens were among the victims in a shooting in the California town of Half Moon Bay, the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco said.
The Economist
- What a new drama series reveals about China — The propaganda machine creates a virtuous, village-born Communist Party chief.
- China’s property slump is easing, but the relief will be short-lived — Without reforms, the sector is doomed to cycles of boom and bust.
- Does China’s softer tone extend to Taiwan? — The mainland’s military movements suggest not.
Other Publications
- New York Magazine: The Radical, Lonely, Suddenly Shocking Life of Wang Juntao — After years of resisting China’s regime, an exile confronts murder and espionage in Queens.
In Case You Missed It
- The Wire China: Solar Suppliers — A look at the current leaders of the solar manufacturing race: who they are, how they got so big, and their prospects of staying at the top.
