Highlighted Links for Wednesday, August 24, 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:

• U.S. blacklists more Chinese firms with sensitive tech
  U.S. adds seven China-related entities to export control list / Reuters
  “The United States has added seven China-related entities, mostly related to aerospace, to its export control list, citing national security and foreign policy concerns, according to a U.S. Commerce Department notice published online on Tuesday.”
  U.S. adds 7 Chinese aerospace and chip firms to export blacklist / SCMP (paywall)

• Electric car darling slumps
  XPeng shares sink 11% as weak sales forecast disappoints / TechNode
  “Shares of XPeng Motors closed down 10.8% on Tuesday after the company forecasted weaker-than-expected sales growth in the next quarter, citing the slow pace of post-COVID recovery and a traditionally low season for automobiles.”
  Last week on The China Project: China has about 10 million electric cars and way too few charging stations.

• ByteDance gets into search
  TikTok owner ByteDance quietly launches search app Wukong in China, where Google is banned / SCMP (paywall)
  “ByteDance, owner of the hit short video app TikTok, has quietly launched a new search engine that promises no advertisements in a cyberspace where Google has not been available for more than a decade.”

• Regulations coming for booming photovoltaic industry
  China warns against monopolies, hoarding in photovoltaic industry / Reuters
  “China’s industry ministry issued a notice on Wednesday to promote and optimize the development of the country’s photovoltaic industry, warning against market monopolies and encouraging development of power and storage projects.”
  Earlier this month on The China Project: China’s photovoltaic boom is just getting started, but there may be dark clouds ahead.

• Investigating the corrupt, failing property sector
  China probes property executives for possible law violations / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China is probing a number of executives at state-owned real estate companies, signaling an expansion of the government’s crackdown on misconduct that has centered on the financial and technology sectors.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• Dugongs declared extinct in China
  Dugong: Animal that inspired mermaid tales extinct in China / BBC
  “Researchers have declared a mammal related to the manatee — said to have inspired ancient tales of mermaids and sirens — extinct in China.”

• Typhoon Ma-on to hit southeastern China
  Tropical Storm Ma-on headed for southeastern China / AP
  “Tropical Storm Ma-on was headed for Hong Kong and other parts of southeastern China Wednesday after displacing thousands in the Philippines.”
  Tropical Storm Ma-on barrels towards Hong Kong, Guangdong Province / Reuters

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• China toes the line with Taiwan
  China stayed 24 nautical miles away from Taiwan during drills / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Chinese warships stayed at least 24 nautical miles away from Taiwan’s coast during recent military drills despite warnings from Beijing that they could come well within Taipei’s territorial waters, according to senior government officials in Taipei.”

• Beijing pledges power amid drought-induced energy crunch
  China vows to relieve power shortages in drought-hit southwest / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China’s energy administration has pledged to alleviate electricity shortages in Sichuan and Chongqing, which have ordered power cuts for industrial plants and even households, disrupting the operations of global heavyweights including Tesla Inc. and Apple Inc.”
  China’s fragile economy is being hammered by driest riverbeds since 1865 / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Tesla, NIO suspend EV charging services as China power cuts bite / Bloomberg (paywall)
  China faces heatwave havoc on power, crops and livestock / Reuters

• China censors nationalistic blogger for bashing Lenovo
  China bans nationalist blogger who rallied against tech giant / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China has blocked the social media accounts of a nationalistic blogger who waged a campaign against a major Chinese tech firm, in the latest censorship of an outspoken patriotic voice.”
  Nationalistic blogger Sima Nan banned from Chinese social media / SCMP (paywall)

• COVID zero is stymying trade with Nepal
  China’s zero-COVID policy turns Nepal border towns into ‘dead’ zones as trade routes dry up / SCMP (paywall)
  “China’s zero-COVID policy is proving a major obstacle to the resumption of two-way trade with Nepal, with border closures causing a sharp decline in Nepalese exports to the world’s No 2 economy and losses for merchants.”

• It’s not good to pretend to be big in Japan in China right now
  Chinese firm Miniso apologizes for Japanese branding after outcry / Guardian
  “A Chinese retail company has apologized for styling itself as a Japanese store, saying it made ‘serious mistakes.’”

• China resells LNG to Europe
  China throws Europe an energy lifeline with LNG resales / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  China, the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, “is reselling some of its surplus LNG cargoes due to weak energy demand at home. This has provided the spot market with an ample supply that Europe has tapped, despite the higher prices.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Chinese-style yard sales are making a comeback
  The return of China’s car boot sales — in pictures / Guardian
  “Once considered too low-status for many, peddling wares on the street has made a comeback in Beijing as people who lost their jobs or closed down their businesses seek new ways to make a living and work around the country’s relentless anti-COVID policies.”
  China’s jobless turn to car boot sales as COVID-hit economy stalls / Reuters

• Surreal sights during power cuts around China
  Sichuan power cut: from dinner by candlelight to farm chickens dying / What’s on Weibo
  “Local power cuts and heat waves lead to extraordinary scenes in Sichuan and beyond.”

• China’s wobbling economy hits its private art museums
  Why China’s private art museums must learn the lesson of financial sustainability as the country’s property-market slump claims more victims / SCMP (paywall)
  “A powerhouse of southern China’s contemporary art scene is closing its ‘starchitect’-designed exhibition space and suspending most activities indefinitely as it falls victim to the country’s worst property-market slump since the global financial crisis.”
  One of China’s oldest private art museums to close as COVID lockdowns lead to economic slump / Art Newspaper