Links for Thursday, April 1, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Bubble tea is a $15 billion market
  奈雪的茶发布《2020新式茶饮白皮书》 预测年底市场规模破1000亿 / Sina Finance
  Boba, or bubble tea, is a drink made from tea, milk, and tapioca balls that is popular all over East Asia. China’s biggest bubble tea chains, mainly Naixue and HEYTEA, are consolidating power in a $15 billion “new-age tea” market (in Chinese).
  • Fierce competition and low margins destroyed 150,000 bubble tea stores — 43% of the market — during the pandemic, according to a new report (in Chinese).
  • Only one out of every five stores turns a profit.
  • 70% of bubble tea drinkers are born after 1990, and a third of them shell out over $70 a month on the beverage.
• Didi Chuxing dives into consumer finance
  Didi Chuxing drives deeper into consumer finance / Caixin (paywall)
  Didi, the ride-hailing giant that ate Uber alive in China, has won regulatory approval to own 33.3% of a consumer finance company:
  • Dirun, a Didi subsidiary, is buying 850 million shares of Bank of Hangzhou Consumer Finance Co., according to a statement (in Chinese).
  • The company is now worth $400 million.
  • What does it all mean? As the state seeks to break up the power of China’s fintech duopoly — Tencent and Alibaba’s Ant — other tech players see opportunity, and Didi is well placed to become a serious fintech player.
• China’s Ministry of Education clamps down on after-school tutoring
  China tightens supervision of after-school tutoring sector / Caixin (paywall)
  President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 is leading a crackdown on China’s booming tutoring industry amid concerns that seven-days-a-week extracurricular classes hurt children’s physical and mental health.
  • A senior official at the Ministry of Education said that they will regulate after-school tutoring institutions for “illegal training activities,” without further specification.
  • In the “Two Sessions,” China’s annual legislative meeting in March, Xi called the disorder in the tutoring industry “a stubborn malady.”
  • Counterpoint: This crackdown will scare some companies, but China’s hyper-competitive education system will ensure that after-school tutoring, currently a $120 billion industry, continues to flourish.
• Shanghai Pudong airport back to pre-pandemic traffic levels
  日均航班“重回2019”，疫情前国际客流最多的浦东做对了什么？ / CAAC News
  The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) says that average daily flight volumes at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the main aviation hub in the sprawling metropolis, is back to 2019 levels with more than 1,500 daily flights.
  CAAC says that Pudong reached this level of traffic by encouraging domestic tourism and travel, and using time slots and resources previously allotted to international airlines for domestic carriers.
• Can Tencent make money for American online novelists?
  Tencent-backed online publisher doubles down in North America / Caixin
  “China Literature, the online reading company controlled by internet giant Tencent, reportedly plans to double the number of North America-based writers to 100,000 by the end of this year for its Webnovel platform…Webnovel, which hosts English language novels, is betting that English works written by native authors will help it reach more international readers.”
  Tencent’s ebook spinoff eyes North American expansion / Reuters
• Ericsson and Arm extend hand to Huawei
  Who’s coming to Huawei’s support? Its biggest European competitor. / WSJ (paywall)
  “Even though Ericsson is benefiting from sanctions, CEO Börje Ekholm felt moved to lobby for Chinese rival to ward off a backlash from Beijing.”
  Arm says its latest chip architecture could be made available to Huawei / Caixin (paywall)
  “U.K. semiconductor design giant says its new v9 design wouldn’t be subject to U.S. export restrictions.”
• Volkswagen to buy green credits from Tesla
  Volkswagen to buy credits from Tesla in China to comply with environmental rules – sources / Reuters
  “The deal, the first of its kind to be reported between the two companies in China, highlights the scale of the task Volkswagen faces in transforming its huge petrol carmaking business into a leader in electric vehicles to rival Tesla.”
• Pakistan lifts its second short-lived ban on TikTok
  Pakistan lifts weekslong ban on TikTok over racy content / AP
  “The court in Peshawar had issued the ban on March 11 following complaints about the alleged presence of ‘immoral and indecent content’…Last year, Pakistan had also blocked TikTok for 10 days over the same issue.”
• JD expands fintech unit to include industries encouraged by government
  JD.com spins off cloud and AI assets to fintech unit / Caixin
• IPOs
  China’s Energy Monster shares jump nearly 18% in U.S. debut / Reuters
  China’s Trip.com plans $1 billion Hong Kong secondary listing / Nikkei (paywall)
• South American electricity
  Chile regulator approves $3 billion Chinese takeover of Naturgy unit / Reuters

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• U.S. and China coordinate to avoid Mars probe collisions
  China and U.S. exchange Mars probes’ data despite frosty political relations / Caixin
• Invasive ant species “moving northward and westward” in China
  China’s farmers battle surging invasions of crop-munching fire ants / Caixin
  “The South American insect has spread to at least 435 counties in 12 provinces, around double the number of counties where it was found in 2016.”
• Hog farms continue to be ravaged by swine fever
  Analysis: African swine fever inflicts renewed toll on northern China’s hog herd / Reuters
  “A wave of African swine fever outbreaks this year has wiped out at least 20% of the breeding herd in northern China, industry sources and analysts said, exceeding expected losses and raising fears about the potential for further impact in the south.”
• Whither U.S.-China climate co-op?
  China still weighs climate summit RSVP a week after Joe Biden’s invitation / SCMP (porous paywall)
• More details on upcoming carbon-trading system
  In draft rules, China promises cap for emission-trading scheme / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee, and other activists convicted in Hong Kong
  7 Hong Kong veteran pro-democracy activists guilty of unauthorized assembly during peaceful 2019 demo / HKFP
  “Jimmy Lai and Martin Lee were among nine high profile activists accused of organizing and taking part in a march against perceived abuses of police power in August 2019.”
  Godfather of Hong Kong democracy movement convicted for big 2019 protest / WSJ (paywall)
  “Many of the activists found guilty on Thursday are facing additional illegal assembly charges in coming trials stemming from other days of protest.”
• Foreign Ministry escalates war of words on Western journalists
  China takes aim at ‘illegal’ club for foreign correspondents / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “China slammed [the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China] as an “illegal organization” in a move that broadens its attack on journalists whose reports differ from the government’s official line.”
• U.S.-China trade tension continues
  Report calls out China over ‘harmful trade practices’ / Politico
  “The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative made the statement as part of its mammoth annual National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. The section on China runs more than 30 pages, second only to [the] chapter on the European Union.”
• WHO inquiry continues
  Follow-up probe of virus origins expected – WHO’s Tedros / Reuters
  Yesterday on The China Project: After inconclusive WHO report, China says next step of COVID origins search should include U.S. military lab.
• The New Zealand way
  New Zealand defends absence from joint statement on WHO coronavirus report / Reuters
  “New Zealand said on Thursday it wants to independently analyse the World Health Organization’s (WHO) report on the origins of the novel coronavirus before it commented, explaining its reluctance to join others in expressing concern.”
  Previously on The China Project: New Zealand upgrades free trade agreement with China, wiping away nearly all tariffs; Will New Zealand become more hawkish toward China?
• Xinjiang cotton nationalism
  ‘Xinjiang cotton is my love’: Patriots on show at China Fashion Week / Reuters
  Zhou Li, “chief designer and founder of Chinese fashion brand Sun-Bird, is a patriotic supporter of a boycott targeting several major western apparel brands in China that have expressed concern over alleged rights abuses in Xinjiang.”
• South China Sea
  U.S., Philippines officials discuss Chinese activities in South China Sea / Reuters
  Philippines demands China remove vessels at 6 islands, reefs / AP
  Philippines says illegal structures found on reefs near where Chinese boats swarmed / CNN
  “The military said the structures were spotted during maritime patrols conducted on Tuesday, but it did not give the precise location of the structures or more details as to who erected them or as to their construction, saying only their presence violated international law.”
• Might Paraguay be the next Taiwan ally to switch recognition to Beijing?
  One of Taiwan’s allies weighs embracing China for vaccines / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Over the past year, left-wing and conservative opposition parties have sponsored two non-binding resolutions to establish diplomatic relations or directly negotiate the purchase of medical supplies and vaccines with China. While the ruling Colorado Party voted down or heavily amended the resolutions, some of its lawmakers are starting to question the party’s long-standing support of Taiwan.”
• Uyghur activism in Japan
  Japan is finding it harder to stay quiet on China’s abuse of Uyghurs / NYT (porous paywall)
  “The Uyghur community in Japan, though estimated to be fewer than 3,000 people, has become more visible in the past year as it presses the government to act.”
• Assimilation of Chinese Christians
  China wants to make its Christians more Chinese / Economist (porous paywall)
  Chinese Christians held in secretive brainwashing camps: Sources / Radio Free Asia
• Dog-related political insults have a long history in the Chinese Communist Party
  “Mad dogs” and wolves: A history / China Media Project
  “In its earliest appearances in the People’s Daily, dating back to the Chinese Civil War, the phrase ‘mad dog’ spoke to the depravity of the Kuomintang and its soldiers and officers.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Reactions to anti-Asian hate in the U.S.
  Fact sheet: President Biden announces additional actions to respond to anti-Asian violence, xenophobia and bias / White House
  In a role reversal, Asian-Americans aim to protect their parents from hate / NYT (porous paywall)
  NYPD turns to undercover tactics to fight anti-Asian hate crimes / WSJ (paywall)
  Why some Chinese deny the existence of anti-Asian hate / Sixth Tone
  “Despite a string of recent, high-profile attacks on Asians, a vocal contingent of Chinese in the U.S. continue to deny there’s a problem.”
• Documenting the recent sandstorm in northern China
  What it was like photographing China’s extreme sandstorm / PetaPixel