Highlighted links for Monday, August 22, 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 tries to revive its economy, cuts mortgage rate
China cuts mortgage rate as property crisis deepens / BBC
China slashes 5-year mortgage rate as property crisis deepens / FT (paywall)
China cuts rates again to shore up stumbling economy / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
China steps up easing, cuts lending benchmarks to revive faltering economy / Reuters

China offers massive loans to contain property crisis
China plans $29 billion in special loans to troubled developers / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China will offer 200 billion yuan ($29.3 billion) in special loans to ensure stalled housing projects are delivered to buyers, people familiar with the matter said, ramping up financing support for its beleaguered property sector.”

Global retailers reeling from repeated lockdowns
Starbucks to Nike report steep China sales drop on lockdowns / Bloomberg (paywall)

Tourists and air crew suffer from COVID curbs
Cathay pilots being offered extra pay for flights to China / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is dangling allowances of up to HK$5,000 ($640) a flight as a sweetener for pilots rostered on to fly in and out of mainland China, with ongoing COVID-19 curbs making it less appealing to work those routes.”
‘You are not safe anywhere’: Tourist woes dent China’s rebound / FT (paywall)
COVID outbreak in Tibet leaves thousands of Chinese tourists stranded / Guardian
China COVID cases jump by 2,200 on tourist-spot flare ups / Bloomberg (paywall)

U.K.’s growing suspicion of China business
Fears over China’s access to genetic data of UK citizens / Guardian
“Rising political and security tensions between Beijing and the west have prompted calls for a review of the transfer of genetic data to China from a biomedical database containing the DNA of half a million UK citizens.”
The UK declines Chinese firm’s acquisition of EDA company Pulsic / TechNode
“The UK government declined a Chinese firm’s acquisition of electronic design automation (EDA) software company Pulsic on August 17, citing potential threats and the violation of the National Security and Investment Act 2021.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Weather manipulation and climate change
China plans cloud seeding to protect grain crop from drought / AP
:The coming 10 days are a ‘key period of damage resistance’ for southern China’s rice crop, said Agriculture Minister Táng Rénjiàn 唐仁健…Authorities will take emergency steps to ‘ensure the autumn grain harvest,’ which is 75% of China’s annual total.”

Pfizer’s COVID pills to be produced in China
Pfizer signs China partnership to make Paxlovid COVID pills locally / Caixin (paywall)
“Chinese drugmaker Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical has entered an agreement with Pfizer to manufacture the U.S. giant’s COVID-19 pill Paxlovid in China.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Huawei moves into Solomon Islands after security deal with China
China funds Solomon Islands’ telecoms deal after signing security pact / FT (paywall)
“China’s Huawei has signed a deal to build 161 telecoms towers across the Solomon Islands in a sign of strengthening ties between the Pacific nation and Beijing just months after they agreed to a controversial security deal.”
Earlier on The China Project (formerly The China Project): Pacific islands decline to join China’s security pact.
Also earlier: China strengthens ties in the Solomon Islands.

Hong Kong “national security” prosecutions grind on
Veteran Hong Kong democrat granted bail in major national security case / Reuters
“A Hong Kong court granted bail on Monday to veteran pro-democracy politician Albert Ho [何俊仁 Hé Jùnrén] after more than a year in detention on charges linked to a national security case.”
Last Thursday on The China Project (formerly The China Project): Joshua Wong pleads guilty under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.

China shifts its loan policy in Africa
Kenya’s new highway signals shift in China’s lending blitz in Africa / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Instead of giving loan[s], [the] Beijing-backed operator will collect tolls for 27 years.”
Close ties with Africa reaffirmed, consensus on issues reached / China Daily
“Wang said that China will waive 23 interest-free loans for 17 African countries that had matured by the end of 2021.”

CCP asserting its control over school textbooks
China punishes 27 officials over ‘ugly’ school textbook drawings / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China has punished more than two dozen education officials over a series of math textbooks drawings that an investigation found portrayed the nation’s children as ‘ugly.’”
Follow-up to China’s ugly math textbook controversy: 27 people punished / What’s on Weibo

Court corruption in China
How a rich child rapist bribed his way off death row / Caixin (paywall)
“A child rapist was able to get his sentence commuted, buy off prison officials and continue his business career — until his crimes finally caught up with him last year.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

The American missionary who protected women in Nanjing
The valiant, tragic tale of an American missionary in Nanjing / Caixin (paywall)
“Attractive, but indifferent to the notion of marriage, in 1912, Vautrin joined the Foreign Christian Missionary Society and came to China as a teacher.”

Government comes after unofficial street signs
Chinese cities target made-up street names attracting influencers / Sixth Tone
“There are streets with real names, and there are those created just for tourists who like to pose in front of them and take a selfie. Authorities are now coming after the latter.”

Scientific tutoring for toddlers?
How toddler tutoring preys on anxious Chinese parents / Sixth Tone
“New Chinese parents often feel intense pressure to adopt a ‘scientific’ approach to childrearing.”