Links for Wednesday, March 17, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Pinduoduo has more users than Alibaba
  Pinduoduo active users beat Alibaba, sales jump; takes lead in China ecommerce / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Pinduoduo overtakes Alibaba to become China’s largest ecommerce company / WSJ (paywall)
  拼多多董事长黄峥辞任 陈磊接棒 / Sina
  The chairman of the Nasdaq-listed ecommerce company Pinduoduo has stepped down from the board, the same day that the company announced annual results that show its user base has overtaken Alibaba’s.
  • Pinduoduo’s founder and former chairman, Colin Huang, or Huáng Zhēng 黄峥, will be replaced by its current CEO, Chén Lěi 陈磊.
  • Pinduoduo, famous for selling bargain products and popular in less-developed cities, reported 788 million users as of the end of 2020. Sales increased 146% to 26.5 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) compared with 2019, thanks to surging demand for online groceries.
• Leading video app Bilibili clears way for Hong Kong listing
  Bilibili Hong Kong second listing looks to raise up to $3.2 billion / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Bilibili wins approval for Hong Kong secondary listing / Caixin (paywall)
  Nasdaq-listed video app Bilibili received approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for its second listing. The company could raise up to $3.2 billion from the listing, and the shares are expected to start trading on March 29, according to Bloomberg.
• AstraZeneca to market Chinese colorectal cancer test kits
  解药|阿斯利康接单，高价肠癌早筛试剂盒要进医院 / Caixin (paywall)
  Multinational pharma giant AstraZeneca signed a deal with cancer early screening startup New Horizon to market the Chinese biotech company’s colorectal cancer test kit — ColoClear 常卫清 — in China.
  Related, on The China Project last month: Cancer screening firm New Horizon raises $263 million in Hong Kong IPO.
• New internet broadcast rules
  China unveils new broadcast law for internet era / Caixin (paywall)
  “China has released a new draft law governing a broadcast industry that includes private online services as some of its largest players, replacing the current law that was first unveiled 24 years ago when the nation’s internet was in its infancy.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Coal plants and climate goals
  China must shut 100 GW coal-fired power capacity to meet climate goals – research / Reuters
  China’s climate ambitions collide with its coal addiction / NYT (porous paywall)
• What if India sets a more ambitious climate goal than China?
  India considers 2050 net-zero target, a decade before China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Vaccine diplomacy
  Pakistan receives 500,000 vaccine doses from China, doubling available supply / Reuters
  Chinese President Xi Jinping offers more vaccine support to Caribbean countries / SCMP (porous paywall)

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Detained Canadians’ trials begin Friday
  Trials for Canadians Kovrig, Spavor to begin in China this week / Global News

The court proceedings for two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, detained in China are scheduled to begin this week, Canada’s foreign affairs minister has confirmed.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Marc Garneau said the Canadian Embassy in Beijing has been notified that the court hearings for Spavor and Kovrig are scheduled to take place on March 19 and March 22, respectively.

• Nonprofit media investigation on China’s influence in Hungary
  Chinese spy games in Orbán’s Hungary / Direkt36
  “Direkt36 explored, through lengthy research, documents and databases, as well as more than sixty interviews and on background conversations, how China’s influence in Hungary has strengthened over the past ten years supported by the Hungarian government itself, and what the unexpected consequences have been.”
• Censorship in and about Hong Kong
  Hong Kong’s Lam vows ‘full alert’ against artworks endangering national security, as artist warns of ‘devastating’ crackdown / HKFP
  Hong Kong ‘extra cautious’ over museum set to show Ai Weiwei’s work / FT (paywall)
  Norwegian short film about Hong Kong protests nominated for Oscar / HKFP
  China tells media to downplay Oscars with protest film nominated / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Police intimidation of foreign students in Shanghai?
  American students say they were wrongfully detained and roughed up by plainclothes police in China / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  “Nine students, including six Americans, who attend New York University in Shanghai were detained by Chinese police in two separate incidents on the same night last week, university personnel and U.S. officials told The Washington Post…It is unclear whether the students were arrested as part of China’s increasingly aggressive anti-drug enforcement policies or targeted for political reasons amid worsening relations with the United States.”
• China did not interfere in the American election
  U.S. spy agencies reject Trump claim of China election meddling / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
• Xinjiang and Uyghurs
  China scrubs evidence of Xinjiang clampdown amid ‘genocide’ debate / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  U.K. must fix modern slavery laws to help protect Uyghurs in China, say MPs / Guardian
• Urging more steps to protect Chinese in Myanmar, denying ordering evacuations
  Beijing urges ‘more vigorous’ steps by Myanmar to protect Chinese interests / Reuters
  Chinese enterprises in Myanmar receive no order to evacuate after attacks, deny such reports / Global Times
  Related:
  Beijing ‘deeply concerned’ for safety of Chinese in Myanmar after factories set ablaze / The China Project
  China tells state firms in Myanmar to evacuate non-essential staff / SCMP (porous paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Increasing prosecution of “medical violence” cases
  Xiamen man sentenced to 3 years for relentlessly slandering hospital / Sixth Tone
• Man Lin and Sanmi Congee chains maybe not as healthy as advertised
  Congee chain restaurant staff in China caught by undercover news program reusing leftover food and not washing dirty hands / SCMP (porous paywall)
• Elitism in HR at a Hangzhou-based big data company
  Are people without degrees ‘intellectually challenged’? HR statement sparks outrage / Caixin