Highlighted Links for Tuesday, December 13, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• End of COVID zero but not end of economic woes
  China postpones key economic policy meeting due to COVID spike / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China is delaying a closely watched economic policy meeting due to start this week after COVID infections surged in Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter.”
  China reportedly delays key economic meeting amid signs of COVID surge / Reuters
  China to set economic plans while pivoting from COVID zero / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China’s abrupt ending of COVID zero injects more uncertainty into an already fragile economy, raising the prospect of looser fiscal and monetary policy and more easing in the property market to bolster growth.”
  Chinese leaders to signal more stimulus for 2023 as COVID clouds outlook / Reuters

• Chinese property tycoon Zhang Li arrested for bribing to secure contracts
  China property tycoon Zhang Li arrested on U.S. bribery charge / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “The co-founder of Chinese property developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd., Zhāng Lì 张力, is wanted in the U.S. over allegations he provided kickbacks to secure contracts in California.”
  Chinese property tycoon arrested in London for suspected graft / Caixin (paywall)

• European regulators turning down Chinese chip investments
  Europe rejects Chinese chip investments aimed at EV market / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  Chinese semiconductor companies looking to expand through acquisitions in Europe are facing an increasingly cold environment as European regulators grow wary of state-driven investment, blocking Chinese companies from investing in local chip companies.

• Chinese brands dominate World Cup ads, spending $1.4 billion
  Chinese brands spend $1.4 billion on World Cup ads, sponsorships / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “Chinese advertisers are featured front and center at the World Cup, with companies from state-owned electronics manufacturer Hisense to property developer Dalian Wanda Group spending a combined $1.4 billion on advertisements and sponsorships.”

• China’s mobile app industry the latest to face censorship in broader tech crackdowns
  The Cyberspace Administration of China is targeting mobile apps in latest crackdown / SCMP (paywall)
  The number of apps in China has been declining amid broader crackdowns on the tech industry and a slowing economy. Now China’s top internet censor is seeking to clean up “disorder” in every part of the industry chain.

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• Chinese residents remain cautious despite loosened restrictions
  As COVID spreads fast, Beijing isn’t in lockdown. But it feels like it. / NYT (paywall)
  “Almost no one is venturing out even after an easing of pandemic measures. Cold and flu medicines are scarce, but food supplies appear adequate.”
  Zero-COVID is ending in China, but not everyone is celebrating / WSJ (paywall)
  “Swelling COVID cases have prompted citizens to self-isolate, setting up China’s economy for further disruption this winter.”
  Beijing beefs up health care system to handle COVID surge / Caixin (paywall)

• Paxlovid, Pfizer’s drug COVID pill, is now available online in China
  China allows online sales of Pfizer COVID pill Paxlovid / Caixin (paywall)
  “Covid patients in China can now buy U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.’s antiviral drug Paxlovid online after presenting a positive test result.”

• Kumbaya in China’s space station?
  Why some scientists choose China’s space station for research / NYT (paywall)
  “A project led by researchers from a Swiss university highlights China’s ambition to make the Tiangong outpost broadly available for science.”

• China’s U.S. envoy signals more ease to COVID restrictions
  China will further relax COVID measures, Beijing envoy says / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Beijing’s U.S. envoy expects further COVID relaxation, easier travel to China / Reuters

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• Pakistan and Taiwan top list of those vulnerable to China’s global influence
  Pakistan ‘most exposed’ to Chinese influence, new research shows / Voice of America
  Taiwan places high on index of China influence / Taipei Times

• China sends bombers toward Taiwan over Japan visit
  China sends most bombers toward Taiwan in at least two years / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China’s military sent its biggest daily sortie of bombers into the Taiwan Strait in at least two years, in apparent show of displeasure over a visit by a key member of Japan’s ruling party.”

• Google won’t back down despite Hong Kong government’s ire
  Hong Kong leader to press China anthem request with Google / AP
  “Hong Kong’s leader said Tuesday he will push Google to display China’s national anthem as the top result in searches for the city’s anthem instead of a protest song.”

• Jimmy Lai trial gets delayed, again
  Hong Kong court delays Jimmy Lai national security trial again / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “A Hong Kong court postponed media mogul Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英 Lí Zhìyīng) foreign collusion trial again as it awaits China’s decision on whether foreign lawyers are allowed to represent defendants in local national security cases.”
  Hong Kong court halts Jimmy Lai’s trial until September 2023 / WSJ (paywall)
  Hong Kong publisher’s security trial further delayed / AP
  National security trial for Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon postponed to September / Reuters

• SCO members to join counterterrorism drills in Russia
  Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to hold joint drills in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region – TASS / Reuters
  “Countries from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) plan to hold a joint ‘counter-terrorism exercise’ in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, the state-run TASS news agency said on Tuesday.”

• U.S.-China relations continue to decline
  The dangerous downward spiral of U.S.-China relations / WSJ (paywall)
  “For six years, neither side has shown a serious interest in resolving differences through diplomacy.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Livestreamers aren’t making as much as you think
  Beijing-based platform reveals huge wealth gap for its live streamers in IPO filing, with 95 percent making nothing at all / SCMP (paywall)
  The livestreaming company Huafeng Group makes money by taking a cut from the tips given to its influencers, which can range from 40% to 85%, leaving nearly 95% of its influencers with nothing.

• Chinese people are turning to alternatives to alleviate COVID symptoms
  ‘Magic medicine’: canned peaches fly off shelves across China amid belief that ‘king’ of fruits can ward off COVID-19 as restrictions relaxed / SCMP (paywall)
  Canned yellow peaches, a once unpopular snack in China, are flying off the shelves as people across China search for alternative ways of warding off COVID-19 in light of relaxed restrictions.

• Controversial job ad draws online criticism over gender discrimination in China
  Good figure and facial features job ad in China for young female clerk to serve men draws fierce and widespread online criticism / SCMP (paywall)
  Despite a 2019 law prohibiting gender discrimination in job listings, it continues to be a widespread problem in China as evidenced by a recent ad for a rail operator looking for a woman with “good features” and a “good figure” to serve visiting officials.

• Is Cantonese losing out to Mandarin as the main language in Hong Kong?
  Hong Kong under pressure to use standard Chinese language / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “Over half of Hong Kongers now can speak Mandarin as economic dependence grows.”

• Macau’s spurned casino financiers flock to Southeast Asia
  Chinese underworld floods to Thailand-Myanmar river border / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  COVID-19 has reduced Macao’s gambling revenues last year to the lowest level in a century, resulting in casino financiers moving out and creating countless unregulated casinos in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.