Editor’s note for Wednesday, September 8, 2021

My thoughts today:

The capitalists are frightened by China’s crackdowns on all kinds of companies. But the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Daily, seeks to reassure them.

A front page editorial published today (in Chinese) promises that the government will continue with its support for “the development of the private economy, the creation of a good legal environment and business environment for the development of private enterprises, and for further enhancing the vitality of the development of private enterprises.”

BlackRock will lap it up. George Soros, perhaps not. (See our top story today for details.)

Our word of the day is the Chinese name of the asset management firm BlackRock (贝莱德 bèi lái dé, not 黑石 hēi shí, which would be a literal translation).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief