Highlighted links for Thursday, August 4, 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:

Pre-cooked food boom
China’s booming ready-meals industry shows how pre-cooked food options are here to stay / SCMP (paywall)
“In the world’s second-largest economy, the market for pre-prepared dishes has been mainly driven by caterers. But a shift from restaurants to family dining tables in the past two years, with so many people staying home in the era of stringent zero-COVID mobility restrictions and lockdowns, has rapidly brought pre-made food to the mass consumer market.”

BYD’s summer electric car sale boom
BYD’s July new energy vehicle sales more than triple to record / Bloomberg (paywall)
“The company, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., sold 162,530 units last month compared with 50,492 a year ago. Earlier this week, BYD signed agreements to start selling its electric vehicles in the coming months in Germany, Sweden and Israel as it extends its footprint beyond China.”
BYD records over 162,000 deliveries in July / TechNode

Chinese government hands smaller banks $47 billion of liquidity
China shores up smaller banks with fresh $47bn injection / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“The Chinese government is injecting 320 billion yuan ($47 billion) in public funds into small and midsized banks in a bid to help regional lenders reeling from the economic slowdown. The capital injections are financed by funds raised with infrastructure bonds.”

China’s electric utility to spend $44 billion to spur economy
China’s State Grid plans $44 billion of investment in second half to give economy a jolt / Caixin (paywall)
“The investment, which will drive demand for commodities like conductive metals, will raise the total funding of projects under construction to a record high of 1.3 trillion yuan [$192.61 billion] by the end of 2022, according to a company statement (link in Chinese) on Wednesday.”

200,000 tons of copper goes missing in China:
Copper worth nearly half a billion dollars goes missing in China / Bloomberg (paywall)
“A group of Chinese companies are investigating why a commodities storage site in northern China is holding only one third of the copper concentrate they were financing.”

India accuses Chinese mobile phone company of massive tax evasion
Indian agency accuses Vivo of $280 million tax evasion / Reuters

Smartphones just aren’t selling like they used to
China smartphone shipments slump toward 10-year low / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

China is heating up faster than the rest of the world
China warns that its temperatures are rising faster than global average / Reuters
“China’s average ground temperatures have risen much more quickly than the global average over the past 70 years and will remain ‘significantly higher’ in the future as the challenges of climate change mount, a government official said.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Public responses to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit
Perils of preaching nationalism play out on Chinese social media / NYT (paywall)
“Many users mocked the government for not taking military action to stop Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip, saying it hadn’t lived up to its tough rhetoric.”
‘Take down Pelosi’s plane’: Chinese social media users react to Taiwan visit / FT (paywall)
Reactions to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan / China Global South Project (paywall)
On China’s internet, fury at Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan turns to frustration / WSJ (paywall)

U.K. Parliament shuts down TikTok account over data fears
UK Parliament closes TikTok account after China data warning / BBC
“The UK Parliament has closed down its TikTok account after MPs raised concerns about the risk of data being passed to the Chinese government.”
No 10 should follow parliament and ditch TikTok, says Tory MP / Guardian
UK parliament closes TikTok account a week after launch / FT (paywall)

Tensions continue rising between China and Europe
Relations between China and Europe grow more tense / Economist (paywall)
“European countries had been getting uneasy about China long before the war in Ukraine. Several had imposed curbs on its investment in critical infrastructure, such as telecoms networks. In 2019 the European Union began calling China a ‘systemic rival’ (as well as a ‘partner’ and ‘economic competitor’).”

Beijing courts Southeast Asia
China emphasizes ties with Southeast Asia in Cambodia meet / AP
“Chinese Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅 stressed his country’s efforts to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian countries at a meeting Thursday with their foreign ministers, which came as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region.”

Beijing courts Africa
China to deepen Africa ties over next decade with focus on trade / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China will deepen its ties with Africa over the next decade by focusing on trade and is unlikely to be dislodged by U.S. and European Union attempts to re-engage with the continent, the Economist Intelligence Unit said.”

China’s netizens ditch mainstream social platforms over privacy issues
As China tightens controls on social media, some users seek refuge under the radar / WSJ (paywall)
“Many quit the country’s dominant sites, citing new requirements to confirm their identities and display their IP locations.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Artist’s collection of terracotta molds shows Song dynasty history
Song dynasty history seen through terracotta molds / Shanghai Daily
“More than 100 terracotta molds made and collected by contemporary artist Shí Hónglǐng 石洪岭 are on display at Hangzhou’s Museum of Seawall Site through August 31.”

The youth now like UV protective clothing
Sun protection clothing in China goes from laughable to fashionable / Radii
“Chinese Zoomers who once shunned comical sun protection clothing are embracing more stylish options by local brands.”

Western-style weddings no longer fashionable?
Looking for tradition in a modern Chinese wedding / Sixth Tone
“Alongside the rising popularity of hanfu, or traditional Chinese clothing, young Chinese are increasingly eschewing the Western-style weddings popular in recent decades for more classically inspired affairs.”