Links for Friday, July 24, 2020

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Alibaba offers a gateway through the firewall
  Alibaba Cloud helps Chinese students, foreign schools scale Great Firewall / Reuters
  “China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is seizing on a new business opportunity thrown up by the novel coronavirus: helping foreign universities skirt China’s stringent internet controls to keep classes going for their mainland Chinese students.”
• A “tough and scary” outlook for U.S.-China economic ties
  U.S.-China war of words will be ‘tough and scary’ through the election, Jim O’Neill says / CNBC
  “The world’s two largest economies appear set to dial up their exchange of sharp language ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, according to the former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.”
  U.S. stocks slide as China tensions flare / WSJ (paywall)
• Incoming bad loan crisis
  China warned to prepare for ‘big rise’ in bad loans as risks mount / SCMP
• Solar industry consolidation
  Solar industry data shines light on sector’s consolidation / Caixin
  Fresh data from China’s solar power industry association suggests the sector is consolidating… The nation’s ten largest photovoltaic companies by output accounted for some three quarters of China’s solar cell production in the first half of 2020, up from about 55% in January.
• TikTok pushes ahead with overseas investment
  TikTok unveils $200 million fund to help U.S.-based users make money amid ban threat / Caixin (paywall)
  “TikTok has announced the launch of a $200 million fund to encourage U.S.-based ‘influencers’ to create more content, even as the Trump administration threatens a ban.”
• Fintech is flourishing
  Ant Group ushers in wave of IPOs / Caixin (paywall)
  “Some of China’s most successful tech giants, such as ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, online-to-offline services giant Meituan Dianping, and e-commerce retailer JD.com, are eyeing the financial services market.”
• COVID spurs a milk consumption uptick
  Chinese kids are drinking more milk to boost immune system after COVID / The Print
  “One debate fueled by the virus is about whether to have steamed buns and congee (porridge) for breakfast, or milk and toast. It’s a serious question in China, where the government is pushing people to drink milk to get more protein, a vital ingredient in building the body’s immune system.”
  China’s millennials drink more milk to boost immune system / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Food delivery app gets social
  Meituan is testing a group buying feature for food deliveries / TechNode
  “The Chinese food delivery giant and services platform is taking a leaf out of Pinduoduo’s book by integrating social elements in its platform to boost user engagement for food delivery from restaurants.”
• The timeless Hermès look weathers COVID well
  Why is Hermès thriving in China despite COVID-19? / JingDaily
  “The desire for timeless, classic designs has become more than a fashion staple, but a must-have.”
• Apple’s China exit
  Not in China but Chennai. Apple starts manufacturing of iPhone 11 in India / LiveMint
  “In a major win for the govt’s Aatamnirbhar India initiative, Apple has started manufacturing of one of its flagship devices, the iPhone 11, at Chennai’s Foxconn plant. This is the first time Apple has manufactured a top-of-the-line model in India.”
• Cinemas resume operations
  Part of cinemas in Beijing resume operations / Xinhua
• Xi’s pipeline consolidation project
  Why China’s putting all its oil pipes in one company / Washington Post (paywall)
  “Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 has a plan to help meet the country’s growing energy needs and clear its dirty air: Spin off the tens of thousands of miles of pipelines held by three state-owned oil and gas giants and merge them into one new company. After multiple delays, the company’s launch was officially announced in December.”
• An incoming flood of bad loans
  China warned to prepare for ‘big rise’ in bad loans as financial system braces against coronavirus, rising global tensions / SCMP
  “China’s banking regulator has asked the country’s lenders to make preparations for a ‘big rise’ in non-performing loans as part of Beijing’s efforts to brace its financial system for shocks from the coronavirus at home and a hostile environment abroad.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Latest on the Mars mission
  China’s successful launch of Mars mission seals global era in deep-space exploration / Nature
  “A Chinese spacecraft is on its way to Mars after launching successfully from Hainan Island in southern China. The mission — named Tianwen-1, which means ‘questions to heaven’ — is the country’s first attempt to land on the red planet.”
  China launches global naming campaign for Mars rover / Xinhua
  “According to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA, the naming activity will be carried out in four stages, including name submission, top 10 proposed names selected by judges, top three names selected by public voting and the final selection.”
• Hong Kong’s “third wave”
  Hong Kong reports record-high cases and 16th death as top medic says gov’t quarantine exemptions to blame / HKFP
  “Hong Kong reported 123 new coronavirus cases on Friday — a new daily record, raising the city’s total case count to 2,372. Meanwhile, the city’s death toll reached 16 following the passing of a 74-year-old man on Friday at United Christian Hospital. He was a resident at an elderly care home.”
  Hong Kong third wave: As more sailors confirmed with COVID-19, experts call for suspension of unrestricted crew changes / SCMP
• Coal reports, a sign of real economic growth, are done
  China cancels coal reports amid economic doubts / RFA
  “China’s major power companies have stopped disclosing their daily coal consumption data after more than a decade of reports, shutting a widely-used window on the country’s actual economic growth.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Xi tours Jilin
  Xi Focus: Xi cares about employment of college graduates / Xinhua
  “Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has said that Party committees and governments at all levels are very concerned about the employment of the country’s college graduates and are creating conditions to help them find jobs.”
  习近平在吉林考察时强调 坚持新发展理念深入实施东北振兴战略 加快推动新时代吉林全面振兴全方位振兴-新华网 / Xinhua
  Chinese President Xi Jinping urges military to boost drone warfare capacity / SCMP
• Dissenting tycoon faces prosecution
  Chinese tycoon who criticised Chinese leadership facing prosecution / SCMP
  “Ren had been at odds with the party’s leadership on “issues of principles” and had published articles against “the Four Cardinal Principles,” a reference to the unchallenged leadership status of the CCP, according to an announcement by the Xicheng district committee of discipline inspection in Beijing.”
  Ren Zhiqiang, a Chinese tycoon, denounced Xi Jinping. Now he faces prosecution / NYT (porous paywall)
• Pompeo pops off, U.S.-China relations sour
  Pompeo’s speech slamming China will have the ‘opposite effect,’ says former U.S. diplomat / NBC
  “U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech slamming China was an ‘angry lament’ and ‘extended ideological rant’ that would do little to change Beijing’s behavior, said a former top American diplomat to Asia.”
  U.S.-China tensions heighten terror threat in Indonesia, experts warn / SCMP
  U.S. arrests Chinese researcher accused of hiding military ties / SCMP
• Chengdu consulate closure
  China’s decision to close U.S. consulate in Chengdu likely driven by size, observers say / SCMP
  “The US consulate in Chengdu is not the largest of America’s six missions in the country and that may be the reason Beijing selected it for closure, according to observers.”
  From aggressor to appeaser, China caught out in consulate reprisal game / Sydney Morning Herald
  Keith Zhai on Twitter: “In general, recently Beijing has been trying to soften its voice against the U.S. and trying to cool down its domestic nationalistic sentiment. The latest example, it didn’t mention the shutdown of U.S. Chengdu consulate in its daily newscast today.”
• Trump’s hypocrisy on the Uyghur crisis
  Trump vs. his Uyghur policy / Project Syndicate
  “A broad U.S.-led effort to hold the Chinese government to international account for its abuses of largely Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang would, at the very least, remind China that the world is watching. Sadly, President Donald Trump’s actions will likely convince Muslims only of the depths of his hypocrisy.”
• China-Laos railway tunnel
  China-Laos railway bores bottleneck project of Houay Phoulai Tunnel / Xinhua
  “The China Railway No. 8 Engineering Group (CREC-8) has drilled through Houay Phoulai Tunnel, a highly risky and a key bottleneck project along the China-Laos railway, on Thursday.”
• Vaccine loans
  China gives $1 billion loan for Latin America vaccine access / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “China will provide a $1 billion loan for Latin American and Caribbean countries to have access to its COVID-19 vaccine, Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅 told top regional diplomats in a meeting, according to the Mexican government.”
• India curbs China’s bids for state contracts
  India to curb Chinese bids for state contracts / FT (paywall)
  “India will restrict Chinese companies from bidding for government contracts, citing ‘national security’ concerns as New Delhi looks to loosen economic ties with its neighbour after a fatal border brawl.”
• Chinese military fires back after U.S. naval drills
  Chinese military plans live-fire exercise off southern coast / SCMP
  Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong–based military analyst, said while the live-fire drills starting on Saturday were routine exercises, it could also be seen as an effort by the People’s Liberation Army to step up its combat readiness in response to the increasing surveillance activities by the U.S.
• Tanking E.U. investment deal talks
  China insiders see ‘no progress’ on ending subsidies, as clock ticks on E.U. investment deal talks / SCMP
  “A tug of war is set to take place over competition rules for China’s heftily-subsidised state-owned enterprises to ensure European firms have a level playing field. On one side, China has signalled that solid commitments will not come easy, while on the other, Brussels is refusing to compromise on the substance of the deal.”
• Chinese tech firms face mounting opposition
  China’s tech juggernaut steams ahead / FT (paywall)
  “This dichotomy between technology and permission is crucial. China’s tech these days is often world-class, but its leading companies remain largely peripheral outside their home market. Now, as they embark upon global ambitions, the west is rapidly erecting a great wall of opposition.”
• DNA database
  Is China’s effort to mass collect DNA the future of policing? / NYT (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• TikTok satire on white people’s Chinese tattoos
  Via Marc W on Twitter: “I lol’d”