Highlighted links for Tuesday, November 29, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

No iPhone Pros for Christmas?
Apple to lose 6 million iPhone Pros from tumult at China plant / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Turmoil at Apple Inc.’s key manufacturing hub of Zhengzhou is likely to result in a production shortfall of close to 6 million iPhone Pro units this year, according to a person familiar with assembly operations.”
Reactions to Apple supplier Foxconn’s labor unrest / Reuters

China’s economy in poor health under COVID zero
Chinese unrest over lockdown upends global economic outlook / NYT (paywall)
China COVID protests deepen foreign investor caution / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
China on edge as Shanghai shuts businesses and quarantines close contacts / FT (paywall)

JD chiefs get a common prosperity pay cut, as company retreats from SE Asia
JD.com to slash top exec salaries amid China’s ‘common prosperity’ push / Reuters
Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com plans to pull back from Indonesia, Thailand / SCMP (paywall)

• Last week on The China Project: Benefits for rank and file staff, and salary cuts for executives at ecommerce giant JD.com

Are Pinduoduo’s soaring profits unsustainable?
Pinduoduo sees net profit up by 546%, executive says growth unsustainable / TechNode
“Chinese ecommerce platform Pinduoduo on Monday reported that its third-quarter revenue surged 65% year-on-year to 35.5 billion yuan ($4.99 billion), surpassing the high end of analyst estimates compiled by Yahoo Finance.”
Pinduoduo warns soaring profits won’t continue, cites investments / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

• On The China Project today: Pinduoduo’s Temu the ‘price butcher’ launches ecommerce price war in the U.S.

Automakers squeezed again under COVID zero
China’s COVID policies once again upending car manufacturing / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Carmakers are opting to shutter their plants in China as COVID restrictions make it almost impossible to secure some components, deeming even the closed-loop systems promoted by officials as a way to maintain manufacturing during lockdowns untenable.”
COVID lockdowns set to snap China’s car sales winning streak / Caixin (paywall)
Volkswagen-FAW plant in Chengdu halts production amid COVID wave / Reuters
Honda suspends Wuhan plants amid China’s zero-COVID lockdowns / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

Beijing builds up hydrogen-fueled EVs
Beijing regulators outline hydrogen car blueprint to boost industry / TechNode
“Beijing’s municipal government has set a target of having 3,000 fuel cell electric vehicles on the Chinese capital’s roads by the end of next year and of expanding that number to more than 10,000 units in 2025.”

• Earlier this month on The China Project: China is forging ahead with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

Can consumer spending save China’s economy?
Economist calls on Beijing to shift from investment to boosting consumer spending / Pekingnology
“A group of prominent Chinese economists called for the government to stimulate consumption instead of sticking to investment-led growth.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Herders go missing, livestock freezes as frigid weather pummels Xinjiang
Cold snap in Northwest China leaves livestock trapped and herdsmen missing / Caixin (paywall)
“A strong cold front and snowstorm swept through Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region over the weekend, leaving herdsmen missing and livestock trapped amid heavy snowfalls — an outcome likely exacerbated by pandemic control measures.”
Brutal winter freezes livestock, traps herders in northwest China / Sixth Tone

Beijing vows to vaccinate more of China’s elderly as anti-COVID zero pressure mounts
China aims to boost elderly vaccination amid reopening pressure / Bloomberg (paywall)
China steps up timetable for senior vaccinations as COVID cases surge / Caixin (paywall)
China’s COVID infections drop for the first time in more than a week / CNBC
China’s ‘zero-COVID’ limits saved lives but no clear exit / AP
As COVID surges, U.S. embassy in China urges Americans to stock up on necessities / SCMP (paywall)

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

U.S. warship sails near China-held island in South China Sea
U.S. dismisses China objections to South China Sea mission / AP
“In an unusual move, the Navy’s 7th Fleet issued a rebuttal to China’s objections to Tuesday’s mission, calling it ‘the latest in a long string of (Chinese) actions to misrepresent lawful U.S. maritime operations and assert its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims’ in the South China Sea.”
China says it drove away U.S. cruiser near Spratly Islands / Reuters

Beijing tries to ease Vatican concerns over Chinese bishops
China vows more ‘friendly consensus’ amid Vatican complaints / AP
“After complaints from the Vatican that Beijing was violating a 2018 interim accord, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson [Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚] on Monday said the country is willing to expand the ‘friendly consensus’ achieved with the Vatican over bishop nominations.”

Beijing carefully avoids broadcasts of a mask-free World Cup
China COVID: Chinese TV censors shots of maskless World Cup fans / BBC
China’s World Cup viewers see COVID-driven censorship / WSJ (paywall)
China appears to limit crowd shots to avoid ‘zero-COVID’ comparisons / NYT (paywall)

• Yesterday on The China Project: CCTV alters World Cup broadcast to minimize shots of maskless fans.

COVID unrest poses a serious challenge for Xi
China COVID protesters become targets of Beijing’s surveillance state / WSJ (paywall)
China moves to quell fury over zero-COVID policy / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
China’s Xi faces threat from public anger over ‘zero COVID’ / AP
Chinese protests put Xi Jinping in a bind / WSJ (paywall)
No international reaction to China protests, Beijing formulating counter narrative / China-Global South Project (paywall)

How Chinese people protest under hefty state censorship
Memes, puns and blank sheets of paper: China’s creative acts of protest / NYT (paywall)
“In a country where the authorities have little tolerance for open dissent, demonstrators against COVID restrictions have turned to more subtle methods.”
Slogans and blank paper banners as patience over China’s zero-COVID wears thin / SCMP (paywall)
New symbol of protest in China roils censors: Blank white papers / WSJ (paywall)
The ‘blank white paper protest’ in Beijing and online discussions on “outside forces” / What’s on Weibo

China seeks better economic ties with Japan
China seeks economic cooperation with Japan, welcomes investment, Li says / SCMP (paywall)
“During speech to business leaders, Chinese premier stresses role of respect, equal treatment and ‘sound and stable’ ties in regional development.”

China and Mongolia strengthen cooperation
China’s president Xi Jinping meets with Mongolian president / Caixin (paywall)
“Chinese President [Xí Jìnpíng 习近平] held talks with visiting Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuh Monday in Beijing. The two leaders expressed willingness to expand cooperation in trade, energy and connectivity.”

Liaoning’s new Party chief
Former state-owned assets administration chief named Party leader of Liaoning / Caixin (paywall)
Hǎo Péng 郝鹏, “62, becomes the third straight Communist Party secretary of the province with a background in military enterprises.”

Mortgage boycotters forge on despite retribution
‘No way out’: Why China’s mortgage strikers refuse to back down / Sixth Tone
“Homebuyers involved in China’s mortgage boycott movement are facing harassment, punishment, and threats of legal action. But they say they can’t afford to give up.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Chinese students COVID-stranded abroad in Australia
The overseas Chinese students trapped between two pandemic realities / Sixth Tone
“In Australia, a generation of Chinese students have been effectively cut off from their homeland for three years.”

Chinese women change their sexist birth names
‘Second only to men’: women in China are changing sexist birth names / SCMP (paywall)
“Women in China are legally changing their names amid a wider awareness of gender issues and loosened restrictions.” Examples of sexist given names cited include Yànán 亚男 (“second only to men”) and Yíngdì 迎弟 (“welcome younger brother”).