Highlighted Links for Thursday, July 7, 2022

Below are links to other noteworthy reports published in the last 24 hours from and about China. Click through to our China NewsBase to see all the other stories we collected today.

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

China’s steel industry faces weak demand and low margins
China’s steel industry sounds the alarm over crisis conditions / Bloomberg (paywall)
“The starkest warning yet has come from Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group, which met this week to discuss the rapid downturn in the sector and the measures it needs to take to ensure the company’s survival, including halting unprofitable production.”

Robot company cuts human staff
Chinese robot startup Pudu Technology starts mass job cuts / Caixin (paywall)
“The Shenzhen-based company, known for selling meal delivery by robots to hospitals during the pandemic, will reduce its workforce to about 500 from a peak of nearly 3,000 as of the end of 2021.”
China robotics industry cools down as top maker of robot waiting staff slashes jobs / SCMP (paywall)

China’s leading chip maker denies having Russian clients to prevent U.S. sanctions
China’s top chip maker SMIC says it has never had any Russian clients, allaying concerns over potential new U.S. sanctions / SCMP (paywall)
“Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) on Wednesday said that it has never had any customers in Russia, assuaging investor concerns that the Chinese contract chip maker could be punished by Washington over potential violations of US economic sanctions on the country for invading Ukraine.”

China’s zero-COVID policies push private hospitals into bankruptcy
COVID and bust: China’s private health system hurt by tough coronavirus controls / Reuters
“On March 24, a court…announced that a $1.5 billion hospital built just four years earlier had filed for bankruptcy because it was unable to pay its debts…[This hospital] is just one of dozens of private hospitals that have declared bankruptcy in China during the past two years, pushed over the edge by the cost of complying with the country’s zero-COVID policies.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

COVID: Shanghai and Beijing mandate new rounds of testing, Xi’an locks down
Shanghai, Beijing order new round of mass COVID-19 testing / AP
“Residents of parts of Shanghai and Beijing have been ordered to undergo further rounds of COVID-19 testing following the discovery of new cases in the two cities, while tight restrictions remain in place in Hong Kong, Macao and other Chinese cities.”
New Omicron variant triggers weeklong lockdown in Xi’an / Sixth Tone

Northeastern China pummeled by rainstorms
Rainstorms lash northeast China, trapping cars, buses in floods / Reuters
“Heavy rain battered China’s northeastern rust belt on Thursday, triggering floods that trapped buses, swamped roads and disrupted commuters in cities, with more storms forecast for coming days.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

New Zealand’s growing tensions with China
‘The world is bloody messy’: Jacinda Ardern urges end to ‘black-and-white’ view of global conflict / Guardian
“The world is ‘bloody messy; but must take a step back from polarization and black-and-white approaches to conflict, Jacinda Ardern has said in a wide-ranging speech in which she addressed the war in Ukraine and rising tensions with China.”
Jacinda Ardern warns against ‘self-fulfilling prophesy’ of war in Pacific / FT (paywall)
NZ’s Ardern urges diplomacy with China over Pacific tensions / Bloomberg (paywall)
China asks New Zealand waste water pipe to be diverted due to security fears / SCMP (paywall)
“China is insisting one of the main waste water pipes beneath the New Zealand capital Wellington be diverted to ease security concerns for its new embassy, a city official confirmed on Thursday.”

Tensions about Ukraine between Russian and U.S. ambassadors in China
Russian diplomat in China clashes with Western counterparts on Ukraine / Caixin (paywall)
U.S. and Russian ambassadors to China clash over Ukraine war at Beijing forum / SCMP (paywall)
“The U.S. and Russian ambassadors clashed over Ukraine in a rare joint appearance in Beijing on Monday. Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador, told the World Peace Forum in Beijing that Russia’s ‘unprovoked’ invasion was ‘the greatest threat to the world order.’”

China sees search engines as crucial propaganda tools
How China uses search engines to spread propaganda / Brookings
“On a wide range of issues — from personal health, to finance, to news — search engines are often the first stop for those looking to get information online. But as authoritarian states like China increasingly use online platforms to disseminate narratives aimed at weakening their democratic competitors, these search engines represent a crucial battleground in their information war with rivals.”

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sogavare thanks China for support
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare thanks China, refuses to answer questions from Australian press / ABC
“Today, in a speech in Honiara, Mr Sogavare said the People’s Republic of China was a ‘new addition; to the Solomon Islands, with the relationship between the two nations ‘less than three years old.’”

China’s tensions with the West ahead of G20
Ahead of G20 ministers’ meeting, China slams U.S., NATO / AP
Australia, China foreign ministers to meet at G20 to reset ties / Bloomberg (paywall)
Penny Wong to meet Chinese minister in sign of thawing relations between Australia and China / Guardian

Never-ending U.S.-China trade talks
China, U.S. trade teams agree to maintain close communication: China commerce ministry / Reuters
“The trade and economic teams of China and the United States agreed to maintain close communication following virtual talks between Chinese Vice Premier Liú Hè 刘鹤 and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday.”
U.S. weighs fate of China tariffs as trade war hits 4-year mark / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

COVID-cursed examinations
Anxiety abounds as Shanghai ‘gaokao’ starts a month late / Sixth Tone
This Thursday morning, over 50,000 Shanghai students are taking the gaokao college entrance exam — nearly a month after it was postponed due to COVID.

Stranded in China during the Cultural Revolution
Stranded in Chairman Mao’s China / Sixth Tone
Jaime FlorCruz, a young Filipino man, set off to spend a few weeks in China studying the Cultural Revolution. Soon after his arrival, he found himself on a blacklist by Ferdinand Marcos’s government, leaving him exiled and stuck living in China. In his new memoir, Class of ’77: How My Classmates Changed China, he recounts his exile and decade-long journey living under the governance of Dèng Xiǎopíng 邓小平 and the Cultural Revolution.