Links for Friday, October 23, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

“Proposals for the five-year plan (FYP) covering 2021-2025 will be discussed at the fifth plenary session of the Communist Party’s 19th Central Committee from Oct. 26 to 29, the highest-level policy-setting event since the outbreak of COVID-19,” Caixin reports. It will be the 14th FYP since 1953. Caixin lists four things to watch for:

• New buzzwords, “especially dual circulation, factor market reform and governance, along with older ones such as supply-side structural reform which first emerged in late 2015.”
• Whether the government continues to eschew GDP targets, as it started doing earlier this year.
• More focus on consumption.
• “Prioritizing technology self-sufficiency and innovation.”

See also:

• Minitrue: Propaganda directives for the Fifth Plenum / China Digital Times
• Now on Beijing’s wishlist: quantum technology / TechNode

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Italy blocks Huawei deal
  Italy vetoes 5G deal between Fastweb and China’s Huawei: sources / Reuters
• TikTok court case on November 12 ban to hear oral arguments on November 4
  TikTok deal makers await court ruling on U.S. ban / WSJ (paywall)
  “Plans to turn Chinese-owned TikTok into a U.S. company are in a holding pattern as a federal judge considers blocking Trump administration action that would effectively force a sale of the video-sharing app to U.S. investors.”
• S&P Ratings (China) now officially registered with securities regulator
  S&P becomes China’s first wholly foreign-owned ratings agency for exchange-traded bonds / Caixin (paywall)
  “The latest registration with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) allows S&P Ratings (China) to rate bonds and asset-backed securities registered with the regulator that are traded or listed for transfer on the country’s exchange-traded bond market, with the exception of government bonds.”
• Will the Shanghai STAR market be connected to Hong Kong?
  China, HK exchanges discussing adding hot STAR shares to Stock Connect / Reuters
• ByteDance looks into cross-border ecommerce with “Fuxiang Haigou” mini program
  ByteDance tests the waters of cross-border e-commerce / PingWest
  Related The China Project coverage: The next target for TikTok’s parent company: Payments.
• Agriculture ministry reassures public: There is no corn shortage
  There’s no lasting shortage behind China’s surging corn prices, official says / Caixin (paywall)
  A few days ago, Xinhua was also featuring stories (English, Chinese) about a “bumper harvest” of corn in Qingdao.
  Exclusive: China likely to issue more corn import quotas, buy millions of tonnes of crops / Reuters
• Lufax IPO in New York
  Chinese fintech giant Lufax aims to raise $2.36 billion in New York IPO / Caixin (paywall)
  Related The China Project coverage: Chinese fintech giant Lufax aims for $3 billion New York listing.
• Over 500,000 5G base stations built
  China meets 5G base station target 3 months early / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
• China’s fifth futures exchange to open in Guangzhou in mid-December
  Exclusive: Guangzhou to set up futures exchange by year-end, sources say / Caixin (paywall)
• China’s digital currency will work offline
  China to trial digital currency and it doesn’t matter if you’re online / Caixin (paywall)
• Huawei under pressure, but welcomed in South Africa
  Huawei revenue growth, profit margin drop sharply in third quarter / Caixin (paywall)
  TCL sees panel orders from Huawei rivals balloon as giant flounders / Caixin (paywall)
  South Africa’s largest mobile telcos brush aside U.S. concerns about Huawei 5G equipment / China-Africa Project
• iPhone 12 arrives in China
  Few lines but plenty of excitement as the iPhone 12 arrives in China / CNN
  Scalpers take advantage of lack of new iPhone 12s in stock in China / Caixin (paywall)
• Auto industry
  Tesla is recalling about 30,000 imported vehicles in China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Daimler lifts profit forecast as China snaps up luxury cars / Reuters

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Beijing tells Britain to stop helping Hongkongers to emigrate
  UK gives details of new visa offering many Hongkongers pathway to citizenship / HKFP
  “Britain has announced details of a new visa for Hong Kong people who hold British National (Overseas) passports and close family members, confirming their right to work or study in the UK for up to five years as a pathway to full citizenship.”
  China urges Britain to ‘correct its mistakes’ on Hong Kong visas / Reuters
  China may not recognize British-issued Hong Kong passports / AP
• Beijing remains tight-lipped on Zambian debt relief
  Bloomberg asks Zhao Lijian the $4 billion question about its Zambian loans: “Will China open its books?” / China-Africa Project
  Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚 “echoed a brief comment published on Twitter earlier this week by Wú Péng 吴鹏, China’s top diplomat for sub-Saharan Africa, that committed Beijing to adhering to the principle of ‘equal treatment’ of all creditors.”
  Related on The China Project: An op-ed by Simon Wolfe: China must save Zambia from imminent default. No one else can.
• U.S.-China accusations on North Korea
  Senior U.S. official accuses China of aiding North Korea cyber thefts / Reuters
  China says honours its obligations over North Korea sanctions / Reuters
• U.S.-China accusations on making other countries pick sides
  U.S. urges Sri Lanka to make ‘difficult’ choices over China ties / Reuters
  China says U.S. bullying countries to pick sides, attempt will not succeed / Reuters
• Trump calls India “filthy” as Pompeo travels to New Delhi
  Trump calls India, China air ‘filthy’; social media weighs in / Al Jazeera
  Pompeo, Esper to visit India to bolster ties, counter China / WSJ (paywall)
• Protest against Chinese presence in Cambodia
  Cambodia breaks up protest over alleged China military base / Reuters
• The current status of the murder suspect tied to Hong Kong extradition law
  Hong Kong murder suspect can’t get visa to return to Taiwan to face justice, says priest / HKFP
  Related The China Project coverage: One murder, two storms.
• Matt Pottinger criticizes Uyghur camps in Mandarin
  U.S. says no justification for ‘concentration camps’ in China / Reuters

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• LGBT+ community campaigns for official recognition in census
  Campaign encourages China’s queer comrades to be counted / Sixth Tone
• Daughter of Chinese immigrants to America reflects on her roots
  The complexity in ‘where are you from?’ / NYT (porous paywall)
  Vanessa Hua writes, “Just as my father couldn’t readily tell me where he was born, neither of my parents could say exactly where they were from because they’d moved around so much during their childhood, amid conflicts with Japanese forces in the years before and during World War II.”
• Self-deprecating youth stuck in 9-5 grind
  Young Chinese bemoan rat race with tongue-in-cheek memes / Sixth Tone
  Finding pleasure in the pain of everyday life – China’s youth mock their own reality / Caixin
• Longing for one’s hometown — 乡愁 xiāng chóu
  Rural remembrance / World of Chinese