Highlighted Links for Monday, November 28, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• TikTok uncertainty
  ByteDance investors struggle to sell shares at discounted $240 billion value amid IPO uncertainty / The Information (paywall)
  “Investors in TikTok owner ByteDance are struggling to sell their shares in the secondary market, even at current asking prices valuing the company at around $240 billion, 20% below where ByteDance recently bought back stock…amid uncertainty both about a possible ByteDance IPO and the future of TikTok.”

• Lockdown gloom
  China’s economy faces challenges despite latest moves to stimulate growth / WSJ (paywall)
  “Steps to fine-tune COVID controls and boost the property market aren’t likely to restore China to rapid expansion, economists say.”

• U.S. casinos are in Macao to stay
  American casino giants win 10-year Macau license renewals / WSJ (paywall)
  “Wynn Resorts, MGM and Las Vegas Sands have operations extended in the Chinese gambling hub.”
  Macau casino stocks soar after new licenses granted / FT (paywall)

• Panic-buying lifesaving equipment over rumors of COVID-zero exit
  Fears of COVID exit wave in China drive ventilator and oxygen machine sales / FT (paywall)
  “Searches for life-saving equipment soar after Beijing signals plan to change coronavirus rules.”

• U.K. tightens up on Chinese-made surveillance systems
  U.K. limits use of Chinese-made surveillance systems on government sites / FT (paywall)
  “The U.K. Cabinet Office has told central government departments to stop installing Chinese-made surveillance systems on ‘sensitive sites,’ citing security risks.”

• Foxconn offers apologies and cash to calm anger over iPhone plant
  Foxconn apologizes for pay dispute at China factory / AP
  Foxconn offers $1,400 payout to quell protests at China iPhone plant / FT (paywall)
  Zhengzhou Foxconn apologizes for salary error after worker unrest / TechNode
  Foxconn offers $1,800 bonus to workers who stay in IPhone city / Bloomberg (paywall)

• NIO taps into the smartphone market
  NIO to launch its first smartphone within a year: CEO / TechNode
  EV maker NIO is making “steady progress” in expanding into China’s smartphone market, local media outlet Jiemian reported, citing chief executive William Li.

• BYD bets on a new battery plant
  BYD to build new 20 GWh EV battery plant in Wenzhou / TechNode
  Electric car giant “BYD is building a new lithium-ion battery plant in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, which it aims to start operations in 2024 with an annual capacity of 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries, state-owned media outlet Wenzhou Daily reported on Thursday.”

• Portugal’s Mota Engil, Chinese partners, and Beijing’s eye on the Global South
  Nigeria’s Lagos shortlists Mota-Engil, Chinese ventures for $2.5 bln bridge / Reuters
  “A consortium led by Portugal’s builder Mota-Engil and two Chinese ventures has been shortlisted by Nigeria’s Lagos state to build a $2.5 billion bridge that is expected to relieve severe congestion in the mega city, an official said on Sunday.”
  Earlier this month on The China Project: China courts the Global South with infrastructure and trade deals, but Kenya may be having borrower’s remorse.

• Crops and stocks are crashing under COVID zero
  Chinese stocks drop as zero-COVID protests erupt across country / FT (paywall)
  Vegetable sales tumble amid COVID curbs in China’s agriculture hub / Sixth Tone
  China’s COVID restrictions are forcing farmers to destroy crops / Bloomberg (paywall)
  China protests fuel some bets on market-boosting COVID zero exit / Bloomberg (paywall)
  China economy braces for further slump as COVID, protests spread / Bloomberg (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• The environmental costs of electric cars
  The dirty road to clean energy: how China’s electric vehicle boom is ravaging the environment / Rest of the World
  In Indonesia, “nickel extraction is causing environmental and social devastation.”

• China to add three more astronauts to its space station
  China prepares to send new 3-person crew to space station / AP
  “Final preparations were being made Monday to send a new three-person crew to China’s space station as it nears completion amid intensifying competition with the United States.”
  China set to launch Shenzhou-15 spacecraft to its space station on Tuesday / Reuters

• Demand for elderly care is only growing in China
  Over 59 million older Chinese will need care by 2030, study says / Sixth Tone
  “By 2030, it is estimated that an additional 14 million elderly Chinese will show a severe inability to perform several daily activities, and will therefore require more care according to a new study published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet Public Health.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• China strengthens ties with Cuba
  China’s Xi pledges support for Cuba on ‘core interests’ / AP
  Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 “and his Cuban counterpart pledged mutual support over their fellow communist states’ ‘core interests’ Friday at a meeting further hailing a return to face-to-face diplomacy by Beijing.”
  Cuba wins China debt relief, new funds / Reuters

• Vatican accuses China of violating controversial pact
  Vatican says China violated pact on bishops, wants explanation / Reuters
  “The Vatican on Saturday accused Chinese authorities of violating a bilateral pact on the appointment of bishops by installing one in a diocese not recognised by the Holy See.”

• China-funded railways make headway into Mongolia and Thailand
  Mongolia puts its faith in China railway to boost COVID-battered economy / FT (paywall)
  Thailand’s Chinese-financed high speed railway gets boost After Xi visit to Bangkok / China-Global South Project (paywall)

• Will a divided EU finally decide on what to do about China?
  European Council president to visit China next week for summit with Xi / FT (paywall)
  “European Council president Charles Michel will travel to Beijing for a meeting with [Xí Jìnpíng 习近平] next week, in a move likely to highlight European divisions on how to engage with China.”

• Canadian suspicion of China grows
  China actions spark Canada review of rules on foreign investment / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “Canada’s new Indo-Pacific strategy calls for changes to foreign investment screening as a result of concerns about Chinese state-owned enterprises, a development that comes less than two weeks after China’s [Xí Jìnpíng 习近平] lectured Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit.”
  Canada calls China disruptive global actor / WSJ (paywall)
  “Ottawa unveils revisions to foreign policy to account for Chinese assertiveness on economic and security interests, and coercive treatment of other nations.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Stigmas and struggles for mothers who give birth prematurely
  For China’s mothers, preterm births bring shame and trauma / Sixth Tone
  “Premature births are a traumatic event for parents around the world. But the pain is magnified in China, where new mothers often struggle to access the support they need.”

• China’s army of online trolls
  What drives China’s ‘digital vigilantes’? / Sixth Tone
  “They used to target corrupt officials; now, many online mobs are setting their sights on ordinary Chinese, sometimes for no offense greater than misbehavior.”