Highlighted Links for Tuesday, October 18, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• China’s scorned gaming companies look overseas
  Chinese video game developers take on the world / Caixin (paywall)
  “Chinese video game companies led by Tencent and NetEase are turning to global business expansion in search of fresh revenue sources as domestic growth plateaus and regulatory scrutiny tightens.”

• CATL to supply batteries for massive U.S. solar project
  China’s CATL to supply batteries to ‘record-breaking’ U.S. solar project / SCMP (paywall)
  “Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL), China’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery maker, said it will supply batteries for one of the biggest solar energy storage facilities in the U.S.”
  CATL partners with U.S.’s Primergy to exclusively supply batteries for Gemini project / Pandaily

• The end of rapid growth under Xi?
  Xi Jinping’s ideological ambition darkens China’s economic prospects / WSJ (paywall)
  “Many economists predict slower growth, in part due to Xi’s focus on Communist Party control.”
  Xi’s contradictory vision for China / WSJ (paywall)
  “Chinese leader urges workforce development and innovation, but his policies have blocked foreign students and hurt employment at home.”

• BYD and NIO are gunning for the European electric car market
  BYD rolls into Europe’s EV scene to take on VW and Tesla / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  BYD flags huge quarterly profit jump as China sales surge past Tesla / Reuters
  NIO opens delivery of ET7 to four European countries / Pandaily

• China Southern Airlines adds more international flights
  China’s biggest airlines plan more international flights to Tokyo, Los Angeles / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China Southern Airlines Corp., the country’s biggest carrier by passenger volume, will resume services to Tokyo, Jakarta, Dubai, Manila and Bangkok among other destinations at the end of the month, the Paper reported.”
  Chinese airlines to add international routes in wake of eased COVID rules / Caixiin (paywall)

• BNP Paribas gets the green light from Beijing to operate in China
  BNP Paribas joins China wealth market race with new approval / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “BNP Paribas SA has won approval to set up a wealth-management joint venture in China, adding competition to global rivals including BlackRock Inc. and Amundi SA vying for a slice of the 29 trillion yuan ($4 trillion) market.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• Xi pledges more babies…
  Chinese president promises new policies to boost birth rate / Sixth Tone
  “China will launch comprehensive support policies to boost its steadily declining birth rate, President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 said during the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party on Sunday.”

• …but the storks aren’t coming home
  China’s ‘migratory bird haven’ threatened by climate change / Sixth Tone
  “Migratory birds flying to China’s largest freshwater lake for winter are likely to face a harsher environment than before.”

• UAE to test China’s mRNA shot
  China-made mRNA vaccine targets BA.4, BA.5 Omicron variants, set for UAE trials / SCMP (paywall)
  “Another Chinese-made hi-tech COVID-19 vaccine candidate — this one targeting the prevalent BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants — has been approved for clinical trials in the United Arab Emirates.”

• Stargazer’s paradise on the Tibetan Plateau
  New light pollution rule to protect night sky on the Tibetan Plateau / Sixth Tone
  “A northwestern Chinese city announced a landmark regulation for protecting its night skies, as authorities aim to reduce light pollution and create an ambient environment for astronomical observation in a designated monitoring area.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• Dismal internet freedom in China
  China comes bottom of internet freedom study for 8th straight year / Radio Free Asia
  A new report titled “Freedom on the Net 2022” from U.S.-based advocacy organization Freedom House found that “global internet freedom declined again in 2022 for the 12th year in a row, with China remaining as the most restricted country for the 8 th consecutive year.”

• China’s COVID zero frees up more LNG for Russian gas-starved Europe
  China’s COVID lockdowns spell relief for Europe’s energy security worries / Politico
  Xi’s support for China’s zero-COVID policies “are a relief for European buyers of liquefied natural gas, as China’s economic slowdown has freed up LNG cargoes crucial to replacing the Russian gas that used to supply about 40% of European demand.”

• Blinken warns on China’s timeline for Taiwan
  Beijing eyes ‘much faster timeline’ on taking Taiwan, U.S. secretary of state warns / AFP via HKFP
  “Beijing wants to seize Taiwan “on a much faster timeline” than previously considered, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, warning that President Xi Jinping was leading China in a more aggressive direction.”
  Beijing speeding up plans for unification, Blinken says / BBC

• U.S. and Japan on edge over China’s land purchases near military bases
  Chinese purchases of land near U.S., Japan bases spark warnings / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “Concerns over foreign ownership of U.S. farmland spiked this summer after it emerged that Chinese agricultural company Fufeng Group had purchased 370 acres (150 hectares) of land in Grand Forks, North Dakota, some 20 kilometers away from a U.S. Air Force base that is home to some of the most advanced drones.”
  Last month on China Corner Office: The future of Chinese agriculture investment in the U.S. — insights from the Fufeng case.

• China’s CPTPP bid still up in the air
  In skeptical Australia, Singapore PM says China ‘good’ for CPTPP / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday said China’s participation in a major trans-Pacific free trade agreement would be ‘good’ for the bloc, reiterating the city-state’s positive stance even as other players appear more skeptical — including Australia, where Lee was visiting.”
  No consensus yet on China joining regional trade pact – Singapore PM / Reuters
  Singapore PM warns U.S. chip curbs can have ‘wide ramifications’ / Bloomberg (paywall)

• Russia has made Germany more wary of China
  German foreign minister urges caution in China relationship / AP
  “Germany must avoid repeating with China the mistakes that it made in its relationship with Russia over recent years, the German foreign minister said Tuesday.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Old factories transformed into artsy spaces
  Industrial evolution: Turning old factories into new cultural parks / World of Chinese
  “Seeing opportunities in old factories for their large space and low rental costs, investors have turned many industrial relics into parks, museums, art galleries, startup incubators, and hip ‘art districts’ to generate new value for the surrounding community.”

• Hollywood curtailed in Xi’s China
  Xi Jinping’s extended rule casts shadow over China’s film market / Hollywood Reporter
  “Regulators in the country have clamped down on Hollywood imports and narrowed the range of Chinese films deemed politically acceptable.”

• Rebuilding China’s many imperial palaces
  How to rebuild an 800-year-old imperial palace / Sixth Tone
  “Emperors ruled China for thousands of years, but only one of the hundreds of palaces they built stands today. Can they be rebuilt?”

• Online services that help insomniacs fall asleep
  ‘Sleeping assistants’ are talking Chinese insomniacs to sleep / Sixth Tone
  “Businesses are charging thousands of yuan per month for services including bedtime voice calls and texts.”

• The mysterious rise, fall, and return of China’s top livestream influencer
  The return of the Lipstick King / Rest of World
  “When China’s top livestreaming salesman, Austin Li [李佳琦 Lǐ Jiāqí], vanished over a tank-shaped ice cream cake, many fans thought he was gone for good.”
  Last month on The China Project: ‘Lipstick King’ Li Jiaqi returns to ecommerce livestreaming after ‘tank dessert’ incident.

• Chinese immersion school in Oakland
  Why Oakland parents are flocking to a Chinese-immersion school / New Yorker
  “The success of Yu Ming Charter School shows how our usual ways of thinking about diversity and equity in American schools are becoming outmoded.”