Links for Tuesday, February 2, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• HSBC seeks to “capture opportunities” on mainland
  HSBC doubles down on China with new Greater Bay Area office / Bloomberg via Caixin

• Tencent sued for $14 million for restricting sharing of Douyin videos
  ByteDance’s Douyin sues Tencent for monopolistic behavior / Reuters
  “Tencent restricts users from sharing Douyin content on its instant messaging apps WeChat and QQ, which should be prohibited by anti-monopoly law, ByteDance said, adding that it has asked the court to order Tencent to stop such behavior.”

• $821 million default by property developer
  Developer China Fortune defaults on 5.3 billion yuan in debt / Caixin (paywall)

• Car Inc. sets delisting timeline from Hong Kong
  Luckin-tainted former car rental superstar to drive off Hong Kong exchange / Caixin (paywall)
  “The company said the offer, which was formally made by an MBK investment vehicle called Indigo Glamour Co. Ltd., was effective from Monday, and would run through Feb. 22. The company would be delisted after that if enough investors tendered their shares.”

• Fallout of HNA Group crisis
  HNA-backed Hong Kong Airlines in danger of getting wings clipped / Caixin (paywall)
  Yesterday on The China Project: HNA Group, already facing bankruptcy, reveals nearly $10 billion was embezzled.

• Another snub of Jack Ma
  Chinese state newspaper omits Jack Ma from list of entrepreneurial leaders / Reuters
  “China’s best known businessman was not mentioned in a front-page article published by the Shanghai Securities News. Instead Huawei Technologies’ Rén Zhèngfēi 任正非, Xiaomi Corp’s Léi Jūn 雷军 and BYD’s Wáng Chuánfú 王传福 were lauded for their contributions.”
  But see also: Alibaba Q3 earnings: Company’s sales surge, even as crackdown in China intensifies / CNN

• Auto industry false starts
  Xpeng recalls 13,399 G3 electric SUVs over possibly losing power while running / Caixin
  Chinese car rental startup Pand Auto suspends business due to operational issues / Caixin
  Tesla says sorry to China’s state grid for employee video / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

• Second year of recession in Hong Kong
  Hong Kong economy shrank a record 6.1 percent in 2020 / AFP via HKFP

• China’s crypto kid puts chips on Clubhouse clone
  Tech entrepreneur Justin Sun just launched a China version of Clubhouse / Radii China

• Fears of a bubble and moves to deflate it
  China regulator shakes up credit ratings rules in wake of confidence blows to investors / Caixin (paywall)
  “Mandatory registration requirements of credit ratings for interbank bonds removed in bid to improve quality and reduce reliance on external ratings by issuers and investors.”
  Big Chinese cities clamp down on illicit loans used to buy property / Caixin (paywall)
  “Banking supervisors in Beijing and Shanghai will investigate whether borrowers used consumer or business loans to purchase real estate.”
  At least one central bank is worried about speculation: China’s / WSJ (paywall)
  “China’s short-term lending rates shot up to their highest levels in two years last week.”
  Bubble fears grow as China fund launches attract huge inflows / FT (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: 

• COVID containment working ahead of Spring Festival?
  China sees new COVID-19 cases drop to lowest in a month / Reuters
  “Thirty cases were reported in the mainland on Feb. 1, the National Health Commission said in a statement, down from 42 cases a day earlier and marking lowest total since 24 cases were reported on Jan. 2.”

• Vaccine distribution difficulties
  Chinese syringe producers under pressure as vaccination programmes drive order surge / Reuters
  “Chinese syringe makers are warning that they may only be able to fulfil some orders as late as June.”
  China cracks down on fake COVID-19 vaccines / Sixth Tone
  “Chinese police have arrested more than 80 suspects who allegedly manufactured and sold fake COVID-19 vaccines…Authorities said the suspects had made more than 3,000 doses of the fake COVID-19 vaccines since September. They have not disclosed where the fake products were sold.”
  Coronavirus: As millions are vaccinated, foreigners in China seek clarity over how and when to get the jab / SCMP

• Vaccine production and distribution progress
  AstraZeneca’s China partner expects to be able to make 400 million COVID-19 vaccine doses a year / Reuters
  Zimbabwe will have access to Chinese COVID-19 vaccine soon, ambassador says / Reuters
  Balkan nations turn to China and Russia for jabs / FT (paywall)
  “Although the EU has provided €70m [$84 million] to the six Balkan aspiring members to purchase vaccines, procurement problems in Europe mean that four of them have yet to receive any shots months after inoculation began in other countries. Frustrated, some are now looking east to Russia and China to secure scarce supplies.”

• Bird flu at the Old Summer Palace
  China’s capital Beijing detects bird flu in wild swans at tourist site / Reuters
  “15 wild birds had inhabited the affected site and that three of them had fallen sick and had died.”

• Carbon trading: Pricing and penalties “too low to make a difference, at least initially”
  Coal-reliant China wades into nationwide carbon trading / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• More reactions to Myanmar coup
  How India and China are looking at Myanmar / The India China Newsletter
  Myanmar coup just a ‘Cabinet reshuffle’: Chinese state media / AFP via Straits Times
  China says world should contribute to Myanmar stability / Reuters
  Myanmar coup does China more harm than good / Reuters

• Disappearing activist
  China rights activist missing after being stopped at airport / AP
  “Authorities have given no word on the status of Chinese legal rights activist Guo Feixiong after he was blocked from leaving the country last week to join his family in the United States, his sister said Tuesday.”
  A Chinese dissident tried to fly to his sick wife in the U.S. Then he vanished. / NYT (porous paywall)
  “Best known by his pen name, Guō Fēixióng 郭飞雄, he took part in the pro-democracy protests of 1989, and made a living as a small-time publisher and novelist before pouring his energies into grass-roots campaigns and debating China’s political future.”

• Information controls on individual publishers
  New rule reins in China’s flourishing self-publishing space / TechCrunch
  China signals further clampdown on citizen journalism with license scheme / Radio Free Asia
  For Party centenary, China wants more ‘positive energy’ online / Sixth Tone

• Hong Kong repression
  Hong Kong police have arrested 97 under national security law, as commissioner rejects complaints of ‘white terror’ / HKFP
  Hong Kong’s ‘Father of Democracy’ Martin Lee nominated for Nobel Peace Prize / HKFP
  Hong Kong migration agents report rush of inquiries for UK visas / Guardian
  China strips license from second lawyer for HK activists / AP

• Defamation case in Australia
  Australian judge: Suggested China links defamed billionaire / AP
  Chau Chak Wing: Chinese-Australian businessman wins media defamation case / BBC

• Tiny African country backtracks on Chinese telecom bans
  Eswatini decides not to block Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE / SCMP

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Photoshop composite art by Tommy Fung
  Surreal Hong Kong / Neocha
• Knowledge-sharing site announces sci-fi show
  Next in innovation for Q&A site Zhihu: Sci-fi television / Sixth Tone
  “During a live broadcast of its 10th anniversary gala event Friday, the Q&A site on steroids aired a cryptic 60-second teaser video for ‘Hanmei Project 2021,’ a cerebral sci-fi thriller and the platform’s first foray into television and film. While details about ‘Hanmei Project 2021’ remain scant, it will reportedly be based on “Sad People,” a 2015 novel by sci-fi writer He Xi.”