Links for Wednesday, February 3, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Ant Group looks like a bank, will be regulated like a bank
  Ant reaches agreement with China regulators on overhaul / Bloomberg (porous paywall) Although tensions between Alibaba founder Jack Ma and the Chinese government are “casting a shadow” over the future of Alibaba, Ant has agreed with regulators “on a restructuring plan that will turn Jack Ma’s fintech giant into a financial holding company, making it subject to capital requirements similar to those for banks,” per Bloomberg.

• See also:
  Alibaba, amid antitrust pressure, is conducting internal review / WSJ (paywall)
  Jack Ma tension with Beijing casts shadow over Alibaba’s future / CNBC
  Alibaba to raise up to $5bn in dollar bond / FT (paywall)
  The man taking on Jack Ma cements his status as a rising star / FT (paywall)
  “Chinese regulator Guō Shùqīng 郭树清 gains influence as he leads campaign against Ant Group.”  

• Who is selling shovels in the retail-investing gold rush?
  Founders of China’s Robinhood apps make billions on retail mania / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Robinhood-type apps and their creators in China are surfing Robinhood’s wave of global fame: 

• • • Futu Holdings Ltd.’s Leaf Lǐ Huá 李华 is now worth $5.3 billion, up $3 billion this year alone.
    • With a fortune estimated at $11.9 billion, Qí Shí 其实 of East Money Information Co. has become wealthier than Charles Schwab, the founder of the namesake discount brokerage.
    • Chinese peer Up Fintech Holding Ltd. has surged 136% in 2021.
    • Privately owned Webull Financial, created by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. alumnus Wáng Ānquán 王安全, recorded a 16-fold increase in new trading accounts in a single day last week.

• Luxury still in demand in China
  China, once again, to the rescue for Capri Holdings / Jing Daily
  Capri Holdings, which owns the Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, and Versace brands, announced quarterly results — China was the only bright spot.  

• More money for private space industry
  Commsat secures investment from China Internet Investment Fund / PingWest
  “Beijing Commsat Technology Development, a Chinese commercial satellite company, announced on Wednesday that it secured investment from China Internet Investment Fund, [a] government-backed 100 billion yuan ($15.48 billion) fund.”

• Hong Kong billionaire clan takes over major newspaper
  Chinese tycoon’s daughter buys Hong Kong newspaper control / Bloomberg via Straits Times
  Kwok Hiu-ting (郭曉亭 Guō Xiǎotíng), the daughter of Kaisa Group Holdings chairman Robert Kuok (郭鶴年 Guō Hènián), “has agreed to buy the controlling stake in major Hong Kong media firm Sing Tao News for about HK$370 million ($47.7 million).” 
  The Kuok family, who formerly owned the South China Morning Post, is, like the current owner of Sing Tao, Beijing-friendly, and not likely to change the newspaper’s editorial policies. 

• Silicon self-sufficiency
  China stockpiles chips and chip-making machines to resist U.S. / Bloomberg via Yahoo

• Imported pork demand to stay steady?
  Winter disease surge hampers China’s hog production recovery / Reuters via Successful Farming 

• Meituan is China’s third-biggest internet company
  Groceries help Meituan grow into one of China’s biggest tech companies / WSJ (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: 

• COVID vaccinations
  China to send 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses abroad / AP via ABC
  “China has announced a plan to provide 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses to developing nations through the global COVAX initiative.”
  China’s COVID vaccine campaign is rolling out slower than anticipated / NPR
  Fake COVID vaccines: China arrests 80 for making, selling bad shots / Bloomberg (porous paywall)  

• WHO investigation
  WHO team in China visits Wuhan virology lab at centre of COVID-19 speculation / ABC (Australia) 

• U.S.-China collaboration on COVID-19?
  Top Chinese expert Zhong Nanshan and US counterpart Anthony Fauci to discuss pandemic in public for first time / SCMP (porous paywall)

• Pandas
  China reserve shows off 10 panda cubs to mark Lunar New Year / AP via WKOW

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Further evidence of atrocities in Xinjiang
  ‘Their goal is to destroy everyone’: Uyghur camp detainees allege systematic rape / BBC 
  “Women in China’s ‘re-education’ camps for Uyghurs have been systematically raped, sexually abused, and tortured, according to detailed new accounts obtained by the BBC.”
  Inside China’s police state tactics against muslims / The Intercept 
  “A massive police database obtained by The Intercept provides groundbreaking insight into the pervasive surveillance state operated by the Chinese government to repress Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.”

• Myanmar coup
  China rejects suggestion that it supported coup in Myanmar / Reuters 

• Biden’s China policies
  Biden plans supply chain review after virus caused shortages / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “President Joe Biden will order a government-wide review of critical supply chains, in an effort to reduce U.S. reliance on countries such as China for essential medical supplies and minerals.”
  Biden’s China policy to be steered by team of rivals / WSJ (paywall)
  “President Biden has stocked his China team with high-powered officials who have longstanding ties to one another but differing objectives.”
  Joe Biden looks to be in ‘lockstep’ with allies on Beijing, says Ned Price / CNN
  U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said it was “no coincidence” that President  Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s “initial interactions were with partners in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.”
  Why Biden wants to be more Trump than Obama on China / Nikkei (porous paywall) 
  Biden administration eyes Rahm Emanuel for ambassadorship / NBC News

• SolarWinds hack
  Suspected Chinese hackers used SolarWinds bug to spy on U.S. payroll agency — sources / Reuters

• Hong Kong national security law fallout
  China’s defense lawyers run into a brick wall after ‘Hong Kong 12’ case / Washington Post 
  Hong Kong to ‘reform’ critical thinking program with China-focused content / RFA
  Hong Kongers move to Taiwan in record numbers / Bloomberg via Straits Times

• A message for Taiwan
  Beijing lays down a marker in South China Sea / FT (paywall)
  “When a group of Chinese warplanes simulated an attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier last week, Beijing was delivering a warning…’That maneuver killed three birds with one stone: they signaled to the Americans that they regard the US military as a destabilizing force here; they intimidated Taiwan; and they got some valuable practice at the same time,’ said a Taiwanese former senior military commander.”

• Indian Ocean influence
  Beijing expands Indian Ocean FTAs westward with Mauritius / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

• Chinese propaganda in Africa
  Pay-TV giant StarTimes increasingly becomes vehicle for official Chinese propaganda / China-Africa Project

• Demographic time bomb
  Tumbling regional birth rates signal scale of country’s aging crisis / SCMP (porous paywall)
  “Despite the delayed publication of national population data, a slew of local birth statistics in China has hinted at a growing population crisis in the world’s most populous country.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Help us teach Chinese says U.S. top diplomat in Taiwan
  U.S. asks Taiwan to fill void as Confucius Institutes close / Nikkei Asia (porous paywall)
• Food
  Chronicles of a bubble-tea addict / New Yorker (porous paywall)
  Uyghurs in America want to share food and culture. For them, it’s a matter of survival. / Resy.com
  Chinese American food is its own great cuisine. Time to love it that way. / Resy.com