Highlighted links for Tuesday, September 20, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Tencent pours millions into medical device manufacturing
Tencent to invest nearly $42 million in medical field / Pandaily
“Yuyue Medical, a Chinese medical device manufacturer also known as Yuwell, announced on September 19 that internet giant Tencent plans to invest 291 million yuan ($41.5 million) in its subsidiary, Xunjie Medical.”

Bootleg SHEIN shops in Mexico
Unauthorized Shein boutiques are popping up across Mexico / Rest of World
“Customers get a similar experience from buying on the app, but what they most want is the human touch.”
Related, on The China Project: A look inside SHEIN, the multibillion-dollar retail enigma upending the global fashion industry.

Tesla completes Shanghai factory expansion
Tesla completes production capacity expansion at Shanghai plant / Reuters
“Tesla completed a project to expand production capacity at its Shanghai plant on Monday, according to a statement on a Shanghai government platform for companies’ environmental information disclosures.”
Tesla Shanghai factory expansion completed and undergoing tests / Bloomberg (paywall)

Huawei Cloud will soon hover over Ireland and Indonesia
Huawei Cloud expands into Ireland and Indonesia as it explores new overseas markets / TechNode
The CEO of Huawei’s cloud services unit announced plans on Monday to expand into Indonesia and Ireland regions.

Multibillion-dollar Shanghai stimulus
Shanghai unveils $257 billion in infrastructure investments / CNA
“China’s commercial hub of Shanghai on Tuesday (Sep 20) announced eight infrastructure projects with [a] total investment of 1.8 trillion yuan ($257 billion), after the city was hit hard by COVID-19 lockdowns in April and May.”

Buy tickets to space by 2025 in China
China to launch space tourism by 2025, says industry veteran / Register
“China’s space tourism operators will lift off for [the] first time in 2025 at between $280k-$400k per sub-orbital seat, according to the founder of Beijing-backed commercial launch service provider CAS Space, Yáng Yìqiáng 杨毅强.”

Japanese air conditioners evade China’s COVID-curbed supply chains
Daikin to make air conditioners without Chinese parts for emergency / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Japan’s Daikin Industries plans to make air conditioners without Chinese-made parts by March 2024, as the manufacturing sector grows increasingly wary of China’s strict zero-COVID policy.”

State-owned property firms are faring much better than private developers
State-backed companies emerge as ‘winners’ in China real estate crisis / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“A select group of state-backed Chinese property developers are emerging as relative ‘winners’ in the crisis engulfing the country’s real estate sector, as they take advantage of private rivals’ distress.”

Fragrance fortunes
Niche fragrances are booming in China, and global brands are taking note / Jing Daily
“One survey by the Chinese market research firm iResearch noted that fragrance ranked as a top category in fashion and beauty (excluding cosmetics and skincare) for Gen Z female consumers, coming out ahead of clothing and accessories. Powered by these young consumers, China’s fragrance market is expected to maintain double-digit growth in the years ahead, with Mintel projecting sales to double between 2020 and 2025 from 6.9 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) to 15.4 billion yuan ($2.4 billion).”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

New study says Chinese COVID vaccines are effective against severe illness, but not against infection
In Shanghai: Chinese vaccines show “high and durable” effectiveness against critical illness & death, “low” against infection / Pekingnology
“In an English-language preprint available since [September] 9, 2022, but somehow yet to find its way to media reports and public opinion, Chinese scientists have disclosed real-world data on the effectiveness of Chinese COVID vaccines from the Omicron outbreak in Shanghai which at the time dominated headlines across the world.”

Dinosaurs began dropping off earlier than expected, study finds
Dinosaur demise started millennia before asteroid crash: study / Sixth Tone
“Analyzing dinosaur fossil records derived from eggs, eggshells, and bones discovered in central China’s Shanyang Basin, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the prehistoric reptiles that roamed the earth for millions of years had decreased in numbers and variety during the final 2 million years of the late Cretaceous Period in China.”

Climate change threatens rare species along the Yangtze
China lost its Yangtze River dolphin. Climate change is coming for other species next / CNN
“Experts have expressed grave concern that other rare native Yangtze animal and plant species are likely to suffer a similar fate to the baiji river dolphin as worsening climate change and extreme weather conditions take their toll on Asia’s longest river.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

More on the deadly quarantine-bound bus crash
China punishes officials for bus crash that set off COVID anger / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China suspended three low-level officials in the southwestern city of Guiyang for a bus accident that killed more than two dozen people heading to quarantine.”
Fatal bus crash underscores costs of China’s COVID measures / WSJ (paywall)
Yesterday on The China Project: Bus to COVID quarantine site crashes, killing 27 and injuring 20.

China squeezed at the UN over rights report
China faces pressure at United Nations after Xinjiang report / Al Jazeera
“Diplomats and human rights advocates are stepping up pressure on the United Nations to act over China’s treatment of the Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups, as Beijing tries to head off further scrutiny of what is happening in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.”
On sidelines of UN, a push for China’s abuses to be punished / AP

China pitches “anti-terrorism” Xinjiang tactics to Muslim countries
China thinks its measures in Xinjiang could help Arab governments fight Islamic extremism / China-Global South Project (paywall)
“The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s top security official, Chéng Guópíng 程国平, met with security analysts in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month to tout Beijing’s ‘achievements in countering anti-terrorism and de-radicalization in Xinjiang.’”

Kazakhstan is part of China’s energy security plans
Powering China’s nuclear ambitions / Diplomat
“Xi’s trip to Kazakhstan — the world’s largest uranium exporter — is another step forward in Beijing’s plans to scale up its nuclear energy sector.”

High kidnapping risk for Chinese in Nigeria
Chinese embassy in Nigeria issues urgent security warning: Kidnappers “stalking” Chinese nationals / China-Global South Project (paywall)
“The Chinese embassy in Nigeria issued an alarming warning this weekend to some of its nationals in the country, urging them to evacuate immediately so as to avoid abduction.”

Russia leans on China
Russia seeks closer security ties with China as key goal / AP
“A top Russian security official declared Monday on a visit to China that the Kremlin considers beefing up ties with Beijing as a top policy goal.”
Russia and China agree to expand security ties / Al Jazeera

Is China’s mortgage boycott still growing?
China mortgage boycotts grow as homebuyers regroup on GitHub’s WeNeedHome / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China’s mortgage boycott may be picking up steam, even as authorities try to stem the crisis with support measures. A highly-watched list on the GitHub open-source site titled ‘WeNeedHome’ showed that homebuyers are boycotting 342 projects in 119 cities, up from about 320 in 100 cities in early August.”

U.S. visa program lures in rich people from China and India
Controversial U.S. visa draws rich from China to India after reset / Bloomberg (paywall)
“A U.S. visa program that attracted $37 billion in foreign investments since 2008 for projects including New York’s Hudson Yards and Trump Bay Street in Jersey City is making a comeback — and the queue of wealthy applicants from China to India is growing.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Can a rugby game breathe life back into Hong Kong?
Hong Kong pins hopes on rugby Sevens to rejuvenate city / FT (paywall)
“Hong Kong is betting on the return of the rowdy rugby Sevens tournament this year to restore the Asian financial center’s fortunes as the city’s leader said he would ‘actively study’ relaxing a hotel quarantine requirement that has frustrated businesses and residents of the territory since 2020.”

Chinese social media users call Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan a “sneaky visit”
More than just a visit: Explaining the Chinese ‘cuànfǎng’ / What’s on Weibo
A new Chinese word created in recent years, cuànfǎng 窜访, became popular on Chinese social media and in official Chinese discourse this year — especially after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid a visit to Taiwan in August.

Kite flying goes digital under COVID zero
China’s kite festival moves from skies to screens amid COVID / Sixth Tone
“Initially scheduled for in-person gatherings Saturday, the Weifang International Kite Festival will be held online due to concerns over the potential spread of the coronavirus, local authorities announced over the weekend.”