News Briefing for Thursday, September 22, 2022

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

Former justice minister Fù Zhènghuá 傅政华 has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes and helping criminals evade the law — including concealing information about his brother’s alleged “serious crimes” in 2014 and 2015. The jail sentence for Fu, who was known as an “iron-handed” ex-cop who led the charge on a number of anti-corruption campaigns, comes amid a crackdown on officials ahead of China’s key Communist Party congress next month.

“At least 22 people died of starvation or lack of medical attention on a single day last week” in the Xinjiang city of Yining due to Beijing’s COVID lockdown policies, reports Radio Free Asia, amid calls for help over shortages of food, medicine, and other critical supplies in the region that have popped up all over Chinese social media platforms in recent weeks.

Seditious harmonica-playing in Hong Kong: Authorities have arrested a man on suspicion of sedition in Hong Kong, after he played a harmonica to a crowd outside the city’s British consulate during the vigil for Queen Elizabeth II, including tunes like the British national anthem and “Glory to Hong Kong” — a popular song during the anti-government protests in 2019.

CATL is no longer XPeng’s biggest battery supplier, the Chinese electric car maker’s president said on Wednesday. XPeng was CATL’s third-largest client, behind Tesla and NIO in terms of battery volumes installed in 2021, Chinese consulting firm Gaogong Industry Institute reported per Reuters.

McDonald’s unaffected by COVID with 800 new outlets this year: ADRs in the U.S. and stocks in Hong Kong have tumbled after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points. In China, McDonald’s this week held a press conference to announce its first “zero carbon outlet,” during which its China CEO stated that the company’s expansion plans are unaffected by the COVID pandemic. With around 800 new outlets opening in 2022, McDonald’s will soon have more than 5,000 domestic outlets with 180,000 employees. See today’s Business briefs from the Chinese media, with more links and info on:

• Mobile number with nine sixes is up for grabs.
• Evergrande has resumed construction at most of its projects in China.

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