Links for Wednesday, November 25, 2020

WORTH THINKING ABOUT

Pieces of news or analysis that caught our eye:

Why haven’t Phase 3 vaccine trial results been released by Chinese companies yet? The Wall Street Journal reports:

Chinese vaccine makers kicked off late-stage clinical trials in July, around the same time as Western vaccine developers Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. One reason China is having to wait longer for results, public health experts say, is that the countries where Chinese researchers sought out volunteers — in places such as the United Arab Emirates and Brazil — haven’t seen COVID-19 spread as quickly of late as it has in the U.S., which is the key testing ground for leading Western vaccine makers.

Trials need to accumulate a certain number of infection cases before researchers can justify revealing which participants received vaccines versus a placebo to calculate efficacy rates.

Indonesia is reportedly “holding back from approving Chinese vaccines because of the lack of clinical evidence,” and is one of three countries — along with Mexico and Brazil — that have “engaged to buy AstraZeneca vaccines on their own.”

• AstraZeneca, the third European or American company to announce preliminary Phase 3 clinical trial results, says that its vaccine requires only traditional refrigeration temperatures for storage.
• That means it can compete with vaccines from China in ease of distribution (they also require only regular refrigeration), in contrast with the vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, which require specialized, extra-cold storage, making distribution challenging in developing countries.

Sinopharm applied today for approval for a public rollout of a vaccine, but “has yet to release any public data on the efficacy of its shots in Phase III trials, making it difficult to compare its vaccines to others, or estimate how quickly it is likely to receive approval,” Bloomberg reports. Sixth Tone points out further ambiguity with Sinopharm’s application: “The Beijing-based company has two vaccine candidates in late-stage human trials, and it’s unclear whether one or both has been submitted for approval.”

Related The China Project coverage: China has given experimental COVID-19 vaccines to one million people.

MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Yongcheng Coal under investigation for illegal behavior
  Interbank regulator finds signs of illegal behavior at SOE that roiled bond market / Caixin (paywall)
  “Knowledgeable sources told Caixin that possible wrongdoings include debt evasion, financial fraud, false ratings and false information disclosure.”
  Related The China Project coverage: Markets shiver as big Chinese state-owned firms defaulting on their debts.
• China splurged on American soybeans in leadup to U.S. election, but now backing off
  China’s imports of U.S. soybeans surge in October / Reuters
  “The world’s top buyer of soybeans, brought in 3.4 million tonnes of the oilseed from the United States in October, up 196.4% from 1.147 million tonnes a year ago, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.”
  Chinese buyers look to cancel U.S. soybean orders as processing margins shrink / Reuters
  “Some Chinese soybean importers and processors are looking to cancel deals signed for U.S. cargoes for December and January shipment, after crushing margins collapsed following a steep rally in Chicago futures.”
• Electric vehicle industry
  China state planner orders probes into new energy vehicle projects linked to Evergrande, Baoneng / Reuters via CNBC
  “Evergrande New Energy Vehicle’s shares in Hong Kong fell 7% on Wednesday, compared with a small gain for the broader benchmark index.”
  Tesla plans to produce electric car chargers in China, document shows / Reuters
  China’s Kaixin nears 1000% annual gain on electric vehicle rally / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  U.S.-listed Chinese electric scooter maker Niu rides to higher profits / Caixin
• New rules for $3 trillion trust industry go into effect January 1
  China tightens rules for scandal-hit trust sector amid campaign to contain risks / Caixin (paywall)
• Gay dating app merger
  Chinese LGBTQ dating app owner BlueCity acquires youth-focused Gay platform Finka / Caixin
• Antitrust regulation skimmed over at World Internet Conference
  At China’s premier internet conference, few address the regulatory elephant in the room / Reuters
• Guinea iron ore project stalls, again
  China-backed effort to create world’s largest iron mine is going nowhere / Caixin (paywall)
  “Efforts to develop the world’s largest known untapped iron ore reserve in West Africa have stalled once more, with a top engineering consultant on the project telling Caixin the Chinese-Singaporean consortium that bought into the Simandou project in June has not substantially invested in it.”
• Trade with North Korea plummets
  North Korea’s trade with China is in freefall, rapidly approaching zero: customs / NK Pro (paywall)
  “The once-booming trade between North Korea and China has crashed to a mere 11 items that crossed over the border in October, with a total value of $1.66 million in imports and exports. Of that, only four items were exported to the DPRK — electricity and textiles — totaling $250,000… The newly released trade data is a staggering sign of how tightly North Korea has blocked off its border since August 2020. Exports in particular are in rapid freefall, with October’s exports dropping 99% in value.”
• Face and image recognition in business
  Real estate firms secretly collecting client data via facial recognition / Sixth Tone
  The rise of facial recognition in China’s real estate market / What’s on Weibo
  Hangzhou court rules in landmark facial recognition case / Sixth Tone
  “A year after a Chinese law professor filed the country’s first legal case over facial recognition, a local court has determined that it was illegal and unnecessary for the defendant, a safari park operator [in Hangzhou], to collect visitors’ facial data without their consent.”
  Chinese startup transforms ads with AI-based technology / 36kr via Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “Markable’s mai solution allows search and purchase of items while watching video.”
• Digital currency
  Second digital yuan lottery to launch in Suzhou: report / TechNode

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• WHO investigation into COVID origins
  WHO names line-up for international team looking into coronavirus origins / SCMP
  “The 10-person team includes public health experts, animal health specialists and virus hunters from Japan, Qatar, Germany, Vietnam, Russia, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States.”
• China’s claims on COVID-19 origins
  “COVID-19 did not start in central China’s Wuhan but may come through imported frozen food and packaging,” according to the People’s Daily’s Facebook page, which also says that “all available evidence suggests that the coronavirus…did not start in central China’s Wuhan.” This is a continuation of messaging that started — or resumed — last week.
  China stepping up virus testing on imported food packaging / AP
  China reports 22 new coronavirus cases as Tianjin flags ‘pig head’ link / Reuters
  Explainer: China’s claims of coronavirus on frozen foods / AP
  COVID-19 risk to consumers from cold chain products ‘very low,’ says Chinese official / Reuters via CNA
• Vaccines
  BioNTech, Fosun start Phase II trial of COVID-19 vaccine in China / Reuters

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• $500 million worth of Australian coal stranded off Chinese ports
  China blacklist strands more than 50 ships with Australian coal / Bloomberg via Caixin (paywall)
  China says coal imports failed environmental standards amid stalled Australian shipments / Reuters
• East Asia diplomacy
  Chinese foreign minister arrives in South Korea amid talk about Xi visit / Reuters
  Japan’s Suga calls for stable ties with China in first high-level meeting / Reuters
  Japan protests China’s island incursions during FM visit / AP via Washington Post
• Pressure on Taiwan
  China weighs legal steps against ‘diehard’ supporters of Taiwan independence / Reuters
  “China is considering drawing up a blacklist of ‘diehard’ supporters of Taiwan’s independence, the government said [in Chinese] on Wednesday.”
  First of four accused Taiwanese spies sentenced to prison in China / SCMP
• Hong Kong after the national security law
  ‘Remarkably effective’: Carrie Lam praises Hong Kong national security law / Guardian
  Hong Kong leader vows to deepen ties with Beijing / FT (paywall)
  Third man charged under Hong Kong’s national security law, remanded in custody after bail denied / HKFP
  Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong ‘held in solitary confinement’ / HKFP
  Policy Address 2020: Hong Kong education to instil Chinese belonging and identity; quality of teachers to be ‘enhanced’ / HKFP
  Policy Address 2020: Hong Kong gov’t to introduce new bill setting out legal consequences for oath-breaching / HKFP
• Integrating Hong Kong into the mainland economy
  Policy Address 2020: Details of HK$60 billion Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint innovation zone unveiled / HKFP
  Policy Address 2020: Salary subsidies for 2,000 recent Hong Kong graduates to work in the mainland / HKFP
• Zhang Yimou’s film is censored, again
  Zhang Yimou’s ‘One Second’ pulled from China’s Golden Rooster Festival / Variety
  Amy Qin on Twitter: “Incredible. What does it say when China’s most prominent living director, who knows the censorship system inside and out, gets his film yanked not once but twice — even after reshoots that significantly diminished the movie’s Cultural Revolution elements?”
• Draft rules on how foreigners can practice religion in China
  China mulls new rules on foreigners to ‘prohibit religious extremism’ / CNN
  “In particular, the draft rules include a list of activities that foreigners should not conduct within China, such as ‘interfering with or dominating the affairs of Chinese religious groups,’ advocating ‘extremist religious thoughts,’ using religion to conduct terrorist activities, or ‘interfering with the appointment or management of Chinese clergy members.’”
• Bolsonaro Jr. causes another row with China
  China says Brazil president’s son hurts relationship with comments critical of Huawei / Reuters
  “Eduardo Bolsonaro on Monday referred in a tweet to Huawei technology as ‘Chinese espionage’ before deleting the post.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Sexual services advertised on Boss Zhipin
  Escort services advertised on top Chinese job-hunting site, investigation finds / Sixth Tone
  “After a number of job postings were found to require sexual services, many online are sympathetic toward Boss Zhipin, saying it’s the people — not the platform — who should be blamed.”
• The electro-inspired music of Shanghai-based artist Gāo Jiāfēng 高嘉丰
  Sounds of the Y2K / Neocha
• The social status of domestic workers
  How agents keep China’s housekeepers grateful — and dependent / Sixth Tone