Links for Wednesday, August 25, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Pinduoduo posts huge profits, makes pledge to Chinese farmers
Pinduoduo posts 2Q results, unveils “10 Billion Agriculture Initiative” / Pinduoduo
Pinduoduo, China’s largest online retailer, posted its first-ever quarterly net profit Tuesday and pledged to donate 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) to revitalize agriculture.

• The “10 billion agriculture initiative” will “address critical needs in the agricultural sector and rural areas,” the statement read.
• Sales jumped 89% to $3.5 billion in the June quarter.
• Pinduoduo’s shares in the U.S. surged 15% as the market opened, along with other Chinese stocks, which rebounded after a regulatory crackdown.

China’s new Big Tech philanthropy
Country now comes before profit for companies in Xi’s China / Bloomberg (paywall)
Sensing the political winds, tech companies have made huge philanthropic pledges in recent months:

August: Colin Huang (黄峥 Huáng Zhēng), Pinduoduo

Company pledges $1.5 billion in profit to help agriculture development;

In March, Huang’s foundation donated $100 million to Zhejiang University;

In July 2020, Huang and Pinduoduo’s founding team transferred shares worth $2.4 billion to a charitable trust.

July: Léi Jūn 雷军, Xiaomi

$2.2 billion in shares

June: Zhāng Yīmíng 张一鸣 ., ByteDance

$77.3 million of personal wealth

June: Wáng Xìng 王兴, Meituan

$2.3 billion in shares

April: Pony Ma (马化腾 Mǎ Huàténg), Tencent

About $7.5 billion of company money set aside (In August, Tencent doubled the pledged amount to roughly $15 billion)

China signals cooperation on U.S. audits
In a gesture of goodwill, China’s top government body, the State Council, issued guidelines on Monday saying it would enhance cooperation with U.S. audit requirements while emphasizing information security, per Bloomberg.

• The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, passed last year, would delist any business from New York bourses that do not comply with audit requirements. In March, the SEC began taking initial steps to implement the law.
• That forced a protracted standoff between the U.S. and China, where broad state secrecy laws prevent companies from handing over some data.
• The news is a sign that the U.S. and China may come to an agreement — the stakes are quite high: Alibaba as well as Baidu are among the Chinese companies listed in the U.S. whose audit firms aren’t complying with U.S. demands.

Beijing to rotate teachers in the name of fairness
​​Beijing is testing a job rotation program for teachers in the capital’s schools to make education more equitable, per Yicai Global.

• School presidents and teachers who are more than five years away from retirement and have served at a school for six years will be moved to other local schools, said a spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Education Commission.
• The job rotation scheme will be piloted in Dongcheng and Miyun districts and will expand to six other districts by the end of this year.
• The news is part of a raft of education policies that began last month with China’s high-profile ban on for-profit tutoring.
• In one view, the policies are all geared toward more equity: the tutoring industry succeeded in part by selling the illusion of equity to parents who wanted to give their kids the same chance as kids from better schools.

Can an American movie studio make money off a new theme park in post-COVID China?
Universal Beijing Resort expands trial to let competition winners take a spin on rides / Caixin (paywall)
The Universal Studios Beijing theme park, the Universal CityWalk Beijing entertainment complex and two hotels will be open to “invited-only guests only including resort partners and selected winners from marketing activities,” the resort said in a press release.

Nobody wants to work in a factory any more
Chinese factories are having labor pains — ‘we can hardly find any workers’ / WSJ (paywall)
“Labor shortages are materializing across China as young people shun factory jobs and more migrant workers stay home, offering a possible preview of larger challenges ahead as the workforce ages and shrinks.”

Volvo buys wholly owned truck factory
Volvo to buy Chinese Truck manufacturer to capitalize on delivery boom / Caixin (paywall)
To “capitalize on a boom in China’s logistics industry,” Sweden’s AB Volvo will buy JMC Heavy Duty Vehicle Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned carmaker Jiangling Motors Co. Ltd. (JMC), and its factory in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, for about 800 million yuan ($123 million).”
See company statement.

Police act on private equity billionaire’s complaint
Man detained for spreading rumor that Hillhouse founder was banned from leaving China / Caixin (paywall)
“Beijing police said they have detained a man for spreading the false rumor that Zhāng Lěi 张磊, billionaire founder of private equity giant Hillhouse Capital Group, had been banned from leaving the Chinese mainland” Hillhouse apparently reported the man for damaging Zhang’s reputation.

China bulls and bears
Nasdaq Golden Dragon (HXC) Index 50% drop paves way for brave China bulls / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China’s regulatory crackdown sent the 98-member [Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index ] down 46% in the past six months. The index jumped 8% Tuesday, rising for a third day.”
Ray Dalio is wrong about China’s tech crackdown, economist says / CNBC
Podcast: Cathie Wood’s Ark jumps back into China / Bloomberg (or see paywalled summary: Cathie Wood is more optimistic than pessimistic about China)
Former Cisco CEO says he is ‘not investing in China’ / Yahoo Finance

The end of luxury brand paradise in China?
Delta, Xi Jinping may cut short china’s luxury revenge shopping / Bloomberg (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Fighting mosquito-borne disease
Millions of lab-grown mosquitoes are being released in Guangzhou / Sixth Tone
The lab “can produce some 50 million” aedes albopictus mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria weekly which stops them from reproducing offspring that can carry diseases including dengue and chikungunya.

COVID-19 vaccines
Taiwan to get BioNTech shots early as China delays approval-source / Reuters
“Taiwan could get its first delivery of BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccines one month ahead of schedule as a delay in regulatory approval of the shot for use in mainland China made a surplus available for the island.”

More science, health, and environment links:

• China to step up tree planting campaign to help reach net zero / Reuters
• China to send environmental inspectors to five provinces, two metal firms / Reuters

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Xi Jinping in the classroom
China schools: ‘Xi Jinping Thought’ introduced into curriculum / BBC
“Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 thought’ will help ‘teenagers establish Marxist beliefs,’ said the Ministry of Education (MOE) in new guidelines [in Chinese] . The ideology will be integrated from primary school up to university.

U.S. financiers want better U.S-China relations
Wall Street’s John Thornton meets China officials to help restart U.S. Talks / Bloomberg (paywall)
“A contingent of Wall Street veterans and high-level Chinese government officials are preparing for talks again, as business leaders work outside of the Biden administration for greater access to the world’s most populous country.”
U.S.-China group seeking to bolster financial ties to meet in autumn / Reuters

China slams American COVID finger pointing, fights back with conspiracy theories
Rejecting COVID Inquiry, China peddles conspiracy theories blaming the U.S. / NYT (paywall)
“A new wave of disinformation follows President Biden’s order for the United States to investigate the origin of the pandemic, including the possibility of a lab leak in Wuhan.”
China slams U.S. ‘scapegoating’ before COVID origin report release / Al Jazeera

Muzzling citizen journalists who covered COVID
Chinese citizen who documented Wuhan outbreak falls ill in prison hunger strike / NYT (paywall)
Zhāng Zhǎn 张展 “was sentenced to four years for videos about failures in handling the virus. She now weighs less than 90 pounds, her former lawyer says…She was the first citizen journalist [of at least four] tried for challenging the official narrative of China’s pandemic response.”

Mining abuses in Papua New Guinea
China-backed mining deepens Papua New Guinea’s golden dilemma / Nikkei (paywall)
“Special rapporteurs wrote to multiple governments including PNG’s and China’s, as well as the developers, expressing ‘concern that the project and its implementation so far appears to disregard the human rights of those affected.’”

More politics and foreign affairs links:

• Kamala Harris kicks off Vietnam visit by calling out China’s ‘bullying’ tactics / CNBC
• Tibetans chafe at repression as china celebrates 70 years of rule over Tibet / Radio Free Asia

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Celebrity rankings
Singer-actor Jackson Yee tops Forbes China Celebrity List for 2nd straight year / The Star (Malaysia)

Singer-actor Jackson Yee [易烊千玺 Yì Yángqiānxǐ has topped the Forbes China Celebrity List for the second year running, while actor Wáng Yībó 王一博 in second and actress Jiǎ Líng 贾玲 made a big leap from 93rd last year to third this year after a wildly successful directorial debut.

No one wants a third child?
China wants families to have three children. But many women aren’t convinced / CNN