Highlighted Links for Thursday, September 15, 2022

Below are links to other noteworthy reports published in the last 24 hours from and about China.

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Economic gloom and doom
  China braces for a slowdown that could be even worse than 2020 / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Six months after China’s government set ambitious economic targets for the year, growth has slowed so sharply that several major banks don’t even think 3% is achievable anymore.”
  China’s smartphone shipments tumble 31% in July as lack of major releases, COVID-19 lockdowns dampen local demand / SCMP (paywall)
  “China’s smartphone shipments plunged 31% in July amid weak consumer sentiment and the lack of major new releases, according to data from a state-affiliated institute, continuing a downward trend as COVID-19 lockdowns and other control measures dampen local demand.”

• More loans to boost economy
  China announces 200 billion yuan loan support to boost economy / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “The Chinese central bank will provide more than 200 billion yuan ($28.7 billion) in special relending funds to commercial banks to boost loans to companies, the latest effort by authorities to support the economy.”
  China c.bank pauses monetary easing, partially rolls policy loan, keeps rate unchanged /
  “China’s central bank partially rolled over maturing medium-term policy loans while maintaining the interest rate as expected on Thursday, as hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve tightening limited room to maneuver monetary policy to support the economy.”

• Cargo from China to U.S. is getting cheaper
  China-U.S. shipping rates tumble due to ‘plummeting’ demand despite typhoon disruptions / SCMP (paywall)
  “China’s Port of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan Port were forced to shut down this week due to Typhoon Muifa, but the cost of sending a 40-foot container to the west coast of the United States has still dropped by 10%.”

• BYD builds new production base in Shenzhen
  BYD begins building a $2.9 billion industrial facility in Shenzhen / TechNode
  “BYD has begun building a new portion of an electric vehicle manufacturing facility to build car components in Shenzhen, as China’s top-selling electric vehicle maker gears up to meet growing demand.”
  Electric carmaker BYD expands Shenzhen production base to keep pace with fast-growing Chinese market / SCMP (paywall)

• Starbucks still bullish on China
  Starbucks plans 3000 new China stores despite sinking sales from COVID policies / WSJ (paywall)
  “Starbucks plans to increase its China store count by 50% over the next three years, a vote of confidence in its largest market outside the U.S. despite COVID-19 lockdowns and weaker consumer spending that has damaged its sales.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• China’s role in illegal sea turtle trafficking
  China the top destination for trafficked sea turtles, study finds / SCMP (paywall)
  “More than 1.1 million sea turtles were illegally killed over the past three decades, and China and Japan were the top destinations for trafficked turtle products, according to a new study.”

• China and U.S. locked in space race
  A new space race? China adds urgency to U.S. return to moon / Seattle Times (paywall)
  “Strategic rivalry with China’s ambitious space program is helping drive NASA’s effort to get back into space in a bigger way, as both nations push to put people back on the moon and establish the first lunar bases.”

• WHO says COVID is almost over, Chinese internet users don’t think so
  Chinese social media users express pessimism on WHO’s views on COVID end / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Is the end to China’s strict zero-COVID rules in sight? Internet users hope so / SCMP (paywall)

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• No local tax revenue? Fine the citizens!
  China’s fiscal woes highlighted as local authorities turn to fines, traffic tickets to boost revenues / SCMP (paywall)
  “Unreasonable heavy fines have become an increasingly common measure as local governments in China seek to bring in much needed revenue, revealing the tip of the iceberg for China’s fiscal predicament.”

• Industrial espionage
  China wanted GE’s secrets, but then their spy got caught / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “A Chinese spy tried to steal GE’s secrets. Instead he got caught by the U.S. — and gave the world an unprecedented glimpse into China’s espionage apparatus.”

• U.K.-China relations under Britain’s new prime minister
  With an ailing UK economy, can Liz Truss afford to be hawkish on China? / SCMP (paywall)
  “Despite her campaign rhetoric, the new prime minister understands that crisis-hit Britain cannot just blindly follow U.S. policy on China,” writes Thomas O. Falk, a U.K.-based independent journalist and political analyst.

• Hong Kong mourns Queen Elizabeth’s death
  Queen Elizabeth II: Hong Kong’s grief sends message to Beijing / BBC
  “Hong Kongers have been lining up for hours this week to pay their respects to the Queen in what has been perhaps the biggest display of affection for the late monarch seen outside the UK.”
  In Hong Kong, mourning the Queen has another purpose: defying China / CNN
  “Thousands of people in Hong Kong have turned out to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, in one of the largest public gatherings since China clamped down on shows of political dissent in the former British colony more than two years ago.”
  Hong Kong actor apologizes on Chinese social media for praising British queen / HKFP
  “A veteran Hong Kong opera star apologized and declared his patriotism on Thursday after his praise for Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II sparked a backlash among nationalists in China.”

• UN’s ambiguous attitude toward Xinjiang
  Why hasn’t the UN accused China of genocide in Xinjiang? / New Yorker (paywall)
  Nicholas Bequelin, a visiting fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School, answers questions about “whether the UN went far enough in its conclusions, whether the ‘genocide’ label should apply to Xinjiang, and what is really driving China’s repressive policies.”

• Philippines ramps up protests against China in South China Sea
  Philippines protests China’s moves in South China Sea dozens of times / Newsweek
  “Officials in the Philippines have protested Chinese actions in the South China Sea over four dozen times in just over two months, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, a sign that friction over competing maritime claims hasn’t abated despite a change in government in Manila.”

• State surveillance
  China is harvesting DNA from thousands of Tibetans / Vice
  “According to two new reports, authorities are out to collect DNA information from residents across the autonomous region, building a biometric database that could offer the government a powerful tool for surveillance on ethnic minorities.”
  There’s no Tiananmen Square in the new Chinese image-making AI / MIT Technology Review (paywall)
  “The new text-to-image AI developed by Baidu can generate images that show Chinese objects and celebrities more accurately than existing AIs. But a built-in censorship mechanism will filter out politically sensitive words.”
• Today on the Sinica podcast: The age of state surveillance.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Will short internet videos rejuvenate interest in traditional Chinese music?
  Saving traditional Chinese music, one TikTok at a time / The World of Chinese (paywall)
  “Faced with dwindling interest and pandemic restrictions, traditional Chinese musicians turn to the internet to make a living and preserve their dying sounds.”

• Chinese universities with the wealthiest alumni
  Xi Jinping’s Tsinghua University and Baidu founder’s Peking University among world’s top producers of ultra-wealthy alumni / SCMP (paywall)
  “The alma maters of Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and Baidu co-founder Robin Li [李彦宏 Lǐ Yànhóng] are among the universities outside the U.S. that have churned out the most ultra-wealthy alumni, according to a study by Altrata.”

• Gaming: viral hits in China and cultural exports
  Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam embrace China’s games and films, but stay on guard for a ‘cultural invasion’ / SCMP (paywall)
  “China’s entertainment exports from games to films are gaining popularity in Asia due to cultural ties, rising production quality and prices. But some consumers worry about political messaging and data privacy.”
  Sheep-based elimination game on WeChat goes viral on Chinese social media / TechNode
  “The game features comic-like art design and earworm background music and its brief introduction boasts that less than 0.1% of players can complete all the levels.”

• The rise of female delivery drivers since the pandemic
  For women delivery drivers, gig work feels like a guy’s world / Sixth Tone
  “With the pandemic hitting industries hard, gig work offers women jobs with a low entry threshold and a stable income.”