Links for Thursday, January 7, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Online learning and edutech bubble?
  Online learning specialists burning cash as fast as they can raise it / Caixin (paywall)

Yuanfudao told Caixin it had secured $300 million in a December financing round… The company’s U.S.-listed rivals such as GSX Techedu Inc. and TAL Education Group are also rushing to raise fresh cash, even as the requirement to spend big on marketing means any chance of a profit remains remote — indeed losses are widening.

• On-again off-again bans on Chinese apps and stocks
  NYSE reverses again with plan to delist China telecom firms / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “The New York Stock Exchange is proceeding with a plan to delist three major Chinese telecommunications firms, its second about-face this week, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin disagreed with its shock decision to give the companies a reprieve.”
  Trump’s ban on Chinese apps falls to Biden to execute — or not / WSJ (paywall)
  “The Biden transition team declined to comment Wednesday about whether the new executive order concerning Chinese apps would be among the Trump initiatives likely to be sidelined.”
  U.S. weighs adding Alibaba, Tencent to China stock ban / WSJ (paywall)
  Chinese censorship for U.S. WeChat users pushes some in favor of banning the app / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  Trump’s rules on China investment spark confusion across global finance / FT (paywall)
• Another shot fired at Chinese Big Tech
  Chinese web firms ‘bullying’ customers with data, algorithms – consumer watchdog / Reuters
  “The statement from the China Consumers Association (CCA) did not name any companies, but comes as Beijing has ramped up scrutiny of technology giants, reversing a once laissez-faire approach.”
• Baidu to raise new war chest
  Baidu picks CLSA, Goldman for a Hong Kong secondary listing that may raise at least $3.5 billion, sources say / SCMP (porous paywall)
• Alibaba to raise new, even bigger war chest
  Alibaba plans to raise up to $8 billion in dollar bond sale / FT (paywall)
• Artificial meat and eggs
  KFC rival in China Dicos adds faux eggs to its menus / Caixin
• Electric car sales booming
  China’s homegrown electric vehicle makers sales surge while Tesla cuts prices / Caixin
  Baidu plans smart EV company, to make cars at Geely plant / Reuters via CNA
• The fall and fall of Luckin Coffee
  Group of Luckin Coffee executives demands CEO’s termination / Caixin (paywall)
  Context on The China Project: Luckin to be delisted from Nasdaq after fraud scandal.
• Too expensive to ship?
  Soaring shipping costs could curb China’s export boom / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Global demand for Chinese goods has been so strong recently it’s creating a shortage of containers and driving up shipping costs.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Hebei COVID-19 outbreak
  China’s Hebei province reports 120 new local cases as millions tested / SCMP (porous paywall)
• Brazil results: Sinovac COVID shot is 78 percent effective
  A second Chinese coronavirus vaccine is said to be effective / NYT (porous paywall)  
  “Officials in the state of São Paulo, where a prominent medical research institute carried out a large study of the vaccine made by the Beijing-based Sinovac, said the inoculation had an efficacy rate of 78 percent.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Hong Kong national security law: Imprisoned activist “further arrested” while behind bars
  Jailed Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong suspected of violating city’s new security law / Reuters
• EU-China deal satisfies no one?
  Cynicism explains a flawed new EU-China commercial pact / Economist

Ask European envoys if the EU erred by agreeing to a deal now, and they are divided. Some insist that Europe risked irrelevance if it had waited for a new American president. They add that this modest accord does not preclude co-ordinated action later. Others regret the decision to hand China a political win at Mr Biden’s expense. Not one of the diplomats argues that Europe underestimated its leverage, and could have struck a better deal.

• Belt and Road’s not dead yet
  China’s Belt and Road: Down but not out / Rhodium Group

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• #MeToo journalists convicted for libel
  Two convicted of defamation in blow to China’s #MeToo movement / AP
  “In a potential blow to the #MeToo movement in China, two former journalists were convicted of defaming [诽谤 fěibàng] a third journalist by publishing an account accusing him of sexual misconduct.”