Highlighted Links for Thursday, September 29, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• CATL plans battery-making compound in Henan
  CATL plans $1.9 billion battery project in China’s Luoyang city / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s biggest battery maker for electric cars with almost 35% of the market, plans to build a 14 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) manufacturing base in the city of Luoyang in the central Chinese province of Henan.”
  CATL to build 13th battery production base / Pandaily (paywall)

• A raft of measures to shore up China’s limping economy
  China’s c. bank launches $28 billion loan facility to support equipment upgrades / Reuters
  China’s fourth quarter key to economic recovery, Premier Li says / Bloomberg (paywall)
  China announces tax breaks to kick start personal pensions market / Caixin (paywall)
  Has China’s monetary policy reached its limit? / Caixin (paywall)
  “China’s companies and households are shrugging off the central bank’s efforts to get them to borrow and spend more amid a crisis of confidence in the economy fueled by slowing growth and the impact of stringent COVID-19 controls.”

• Will China’s chip magnates be the next targets in Xi’s corruption crackdown?
  China’s Big Fund corruption probe casts shadow across chip sector / FT (paywall)
  “Over the past three months, at least 12 people including fund managers, company executives and one government minister — all with deep ties to the chip industry — have come under investigation or disappeared from public view, according to CCDI announcements and local media reports.”
  On The China project in August: Mayhem in China’s semiconductor industry as ‘chips madmen’ are arrested

• Are e-readers dead in China?
  Tencent halts e-reader service following Kindle’s China retreat / Sixth Tone
  “China Literature is the latest to end its e-reader services in another major withdrawal, just months after Amazon pulled Kindle from the Chinese market in June, according to a statement published Monday. The online literature arm of tech giant Tencent will discontinue offering books on its e-reader Koudaiyue, both of which will be phased out by Oct. 26.”

• Accountants race to crunch numbers in U.S.-China audit war
  China’s race to avoid a Wall Street ban is off to a tense start / Bloomberg (paywall)

• Tim Hortons China to start trading on Nasdaq
  Tim Hortons China to list on Nasdaq this week / TechNode
  “Tim Hortons China, the Chinese operation of the Canadian coffee chain, is expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on or around Sept. 29 under the symbol THCH, according to Chinese media outlet 36Kr.”
  Tim Hortons China to debut on Nasdaq / Pandaily (paywall)

• The secret to Douyin’s ecommerce success in China
  How TikTok became an ecommerce juggernaut in China / Rest of World
  “The company made the right bets on live shopping, but it’s struggled to bring that success overseas.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• Pandas are popping out of China’s breeding centers
  Panda cubs meet public at SW China breeding base / Xinhua
  “Thirteen panda cubs, all born at the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center this year, on Wednesday met the public at the breeding base in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province.”
  Earlier on The China Project: It’s a boy and it’s a girl: Twin baby pandas born in Shaanxi.

• Fish and human fossils
  Fossilized fish reveal earliest known prequel of ‘jaws’ / NYT (paywall)
  In two deposits in China, paleontologists dug up remains that suggest jawed fish are tens of millions of years older than previously known.
  Fish fossil catch from China includes oldest teeth ever / ABC News
  China finds million-year-old human skull, remains of ancient cities / Sixth Tone
  “Chinese archaeologists have discovered new major findings, including a million-year-old human skull fossil and remains from dynasties dating back millennia, shedding more insight into human evolution and civilization.”

• Medical monkey business
  Research monkey shortage boosts China’s vaccine development / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Beijing’s ban on macaque exports — needed to test vaccines and other lifesaving drugs — could give its pharma industry an edge.”
  The China Project reported in June: COVID’s monkey business: The booming market for laboratory test animals.

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• China and Japan today hit 50 years of normalized relations, but it’s a muted celebration
  As Japan and China mark 50-year ties, moods are mixed / AP
  “Japan and China marked the 50th anniversary of normalization of their ties Thursday as their leaders Fumio Kishida and Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 stressed the importance of their strengthened relationship over the decades, though they still face difficulties.”
  Friend or foe? Japan-China ties complicated after 50 years / Washington Post (paywall)
  Japan, China mark 50 years of diplomatic ties as tensions mount / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  China-Japan divisions hardening 50 years after establishing ties / Bloomberg (paywall)
  China’s Xi: Attach great importance to development of China-Japan relations / Reuters
  Films from friendlier times: The forgotten films that helped reset Sino-Japanese relations / Sixth Tone
  “Soon after China and Japan normalized relations, a group of filmmakers began work on a project that dealt directly with the tortured history between the two nations.”

• All eyes on Xi ahead of the Party congress
  China’s Xi Jinping re-emerges in public after quarantine / WSJ (paywall)
  “Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 got out of quarantine and made his first public appearance since visiting Central Asia, trumpeting his governance record over the past decade as he prepares to extend his rule for a third term.”
  China’s Xi Jinping ‘verbally confirms’ APEC participation, Biden unlikely to attend summit in Bangkok in November / SCMP (paywall)
  “Xi Jinping ‘verbally confirmed’ his participation at the November 18-19 event through Chinese Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅, who informed his Thai counterpart.”
  An investigation into what has shaped Xi Jinping’s thinking / Economist (paywall)
  China takes a back seat as Xi’s coronation looms / FT (paywall)
  “Propaganda celebrating president’s achievements intensifies up ahead of congress and third term.”

• Beijing isn’t backing down from wolf warrior diplomacy
  China signals no let-up in its aggressive diplomacy / Reuters
  “China signaled on Thursday no let-up in its combative approach to foreign policy in a third term for Xi Jinping as leader despite criticism from many Western diplomats that the so-called Wolf Warrior stance has been counterproductive.”
  ‘No retreat’ for China’s hardline diplomats after 20th Party congress / SCMP (paywall)

• China in Kenya and Zambia
  China’s envoy to Nairobi meets with head of Kenya’s new ruling Party / China-Global South Project (paywall)
  “A meeting this week between the general secretary of Kenya’s new ruling party, the United Democratic Alliance, and China’s envoy to Nairobi provides a fresh reminder of the dual roles that Chinese ambassadors play in their assigned countries.”
  Two-day China-Zambia investment forum gets underway in Lusaka / China-Global South Project (paywall)
  “Zambian President Haikinde Hichilema, alongside Chinese ambassador Du Xiaohui opened a two-day investment forum on Wednesday in the capital Lusaka that aims to bring together businesses from both countries and generate more FDI.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Filming the herd of wandering elephants that stole China’s heart
  March of the elephants: Stories from behind a lens / World of Chinese
  “Director Olivia Chen talks about filming an elephant herd on a march through Yunnan Province.”

• TV drama pulled offline after backlash over sexist storylines
  ‘A load of stereotypes’: TV drama removed over misogynist plot / Sixth Tone
  “A Chinese television series portraying the life of Chinese middle-aged men has been pulled from streaming platforms after being slammed for containing misogynistic representations and sexist plots.”