News briefing for Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Here’s what else you need to know about China today:

Uyghurs and Han Chinese had a rare moment of solidarity online over the impact of COVID-zero lockdowns, after reports of poor quarantine conditions in Xinjiang and residents going without food and access to medical care went viral on social media. Some Uyghurs went as far as to praise ethnic Han citizens for speaking out about their situation, in light of the rapid censorship from authorities over online content from Ili Prefecture’s lockdown.

• “It’s far riskier for Uyghur or Kazakh people to post criticisms of the government than for, say, Chinese in Shanghai,” Robbie Barnett, former head of Columbia University’s Modern Tibetan Studies Program, told Bloomberg. “That’s because in Xinjiang, members of minorities have been disappeared or imprisoned for much more minor actions.”

Xi and Putin will discuss the war in Ukraine, among other things, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, this week, the Kremlin announced at a press briefing. Xi landed today in the capital Nursultan for the first leg of his three-day trip — the first time he has set foot outside China since the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

Chinese people are also being squeezed by rising prices, according to newly released surveys conducted by consulting firm Oliver Wyman per CNBC, despite the fact that inflation is rising at a much slower pace compared with in the United States and other countries. China’s consumer price index hit a two-year high in July with a 2.7% increase year-on-year, largely driven by rising pork prices (compared with a slightly lower 2.5% year-on-year rise in August).

• In July, 83% of over 900 respondents said they felt the impact of inflation, up from 69% in November 2021.
• Chinese consumers said they felt the increase the most in gas prices, followed by appliances and home renovations.

Sky-high lithium prices: Yesterday, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate rose by 2,600 yuan ($375) per ton in a single day. The average price per ton reached 500,000 yuan ($72,179), an increase of nearly eight times since January 2021 and an increase of nearly 80% from the beginning of 2022. See today’s Business briefs from the Chinese media, with more links and info on the following:

• The government announces new support for SMEs.
• NetEase finally gets a new game approved.

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