Highlighted links for Thursday, December 15, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Undelivered orders weigh down Beijing’s economy as COVID spreads
Beijing’s parcel pileup shows strain of COVID-zero exit / WSJ (paywall)
“Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com said it would dispatch 1,000 workers to Beijing to clear a backlog of deliveries, adding to mounting evidence that China’s exit from its zero-Covid policies has been bumpy and uncertain.”
JD.com’s logistics arm struggles to deliver Beijing parcel backlog amid COVID surge / Caixin (paywall)
China’s economy braces for more turmoil as COVID wave spreads / Bloomberg (paywall)
China’s economy struggled in COVID’s final month / WSJ (paywall)
China’s leaders plot pivot back toward boosting economy / WSJ (paywall)

Purse strings are still sewn shut in China
China’s retail sales shrink far more than expected, while industrial production disappoints / CNBC
“China reported economic data Thursday that missed expectations across the board during a month in which widespread COVID controls weighed on growth.”
China industrial production, retail sales weaken as COVID crisis bites / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

Firms pull COVID insurance coverage as cases increase
Chinese insurers pull coronavirus coverage as cases mount / FT (paywall)
“China’s insurance industry has slammed the brakes on selling low-cost policies that cover Covid-19 infections, as it tries to avoid huge payouts and disputes from an oncoming wave of cases caused by Beijing’s relaxation of strict zero-Covid policies.”

Top battery maker CATL and telecommunications company Huawei expand partnership
CATL and Huawei expand battery partnership / TechNode
“CATL and Huawei announced on Wednesday that they have signed an agreement to expand electric vehicle battery partnership.”

The woman who will regulate Hong Kong’s markets
Hong Kong names Julia Leung chief of top market regulator / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Hong Kong appointed Julia Leung [梁凤仪 Liáng Fèngyí] as the first female chief executive of the city’s market regulator, succeeding long-time boss Ashley Alder.”
Journalism to regulation: Hong Kong picks Julia Leung as first woman to lead SFC / SCMP (paywall)

Are German businesses becoming less keen on China?
German business confidence in China fell to historic low in 2022 / Bloomberg (paywall)
“German business confidence in China fell to historic lows this year as COVID zero disrupted operations, though the sudden end to the policy is now leaving room for cautious optimism, according to the German Chamber of Commerce in China.”

Foxconn eases restrictions on COVID-hit iPhone plant
Foxconn ends most ‘closed-loop’ restrictions in iPhone city / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Foxconn Technology Group, the primary assembler of iPhones for Apple Inc., is easing most anti-COVID restrictions at its factory in Zhengzhou, China — a facility that had become a flashpoint in the country’s efforts to contain infections.”
Foxconn to ease COVID-19 curbs in Chinese iPhone factory / AP

U.S. chip curbs hit China’s top chip maker
China’s top flash memory maker YMTC faces production disruptions from potential blacklisting / SCMP (paywall)
Reports say China’s top chip maker, Wuhan-based YMTC, will be blacklisted along with dozens of other Chinese companies as the U.S. seeks to further restrict China’s chip ambitions.

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Student doctor’s death spotlights China’s strained healthcare system
Student doctor’s sudden death reveals China’s health system under strain / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Frustration at how China has handled the abrupt end to COVID zero is building, with the sudden death of a medical student fueling public anger at the toll the policy pivot is taking on the country’s health-care workers and system.”
Trainee doctor’s death spurs questions about overworked medics / Sixth Tone
China’s COVID-19 surge puts strain on medical workers / WSJ (paywall)

China pushes boosters amidst “messy” COVID-zero exit
China pushes vaccines as retreat from ‘zero-COVID’ turns messy / Reuters
Beijing urged to roll out COVID boosters to avoid 1mn deaths / FT (paywall)
China’s COVID death toll could near 1 Million, study shows / Bloomberg (paywall)

WHO director says COVID-zero exit is not responsible for surge in infections
China’s COVID spike not due to lifting of restrictions, WHO director says / Reuters
“COVID-19 infections were exploding in China well before the government’s decision to abandon its strict ‘zero-COVID’ policy, a World Health Organization director said on Wednesday, quashing suggestions that the sudden reversal caused a spike in cases.”

Damming up the Mekong
How dams built by China starve the Mekong River Delta of vital sediment / Reuters
Chinese-built hydroelectric dams In the Mekong River Delta are blocking around 143 million tons, “as heavy as about 430 Empire State Buildings,” of crucial, nutritious sediment downstream.

Rocket failure
China’s launch of world’s first methane-fueled orbital rocket fails, 14 satellites lost / Space
“The world’s first methane-fueled rocket to be launched toward orbit has failed to reach its goal.”
Historic first launch of Chinese private methane-fueled rocket ends in failure / SpaceNews

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

CCP remains silent despite rising controversies around handling of COVID
Xi’s predicament deepens as COVID cases surge / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China’s pandemic strategy will ‘stand the test of history,’ according to state media, which is busily insisting President Xi Jinping’s policies have been right all along.”
Traumatized by COVID, but ruled by a party that never apologizes / NYT (paywall)
“Gripped with grief, anxiety and depression, many in China want a national reckoning over the hard-line ‘zero COVID’ policy. Holding the government to account may be a quixotic quest.”
Xi stays silent as COVID-zero strategy he championed crumbles / Bloomberg (paywall)
China cranks up propaganda defending Xi as COVID surges / Bloomberg (paywall)
She was supposed to be China’s future. After “COVID-zero,” she wants to leave. / NYT (paywall)
“Julie Geng was proud of China’s COVID response until the police came calling.”

Indonesia’s China-funded railway
How China helped build Indonesia’s high-speed rail / Caixin (paywall)
“The Jakarta-Bandung link, a $7.36 billion Belt and Road project, overcame property disputes, construction hurdles, cost overruns and the pandemic.”

• November on The China Project: Xi and Widodo meet after G20 and agree to strengthen the China-Indonesia ‘strategic partnership.’

China wants to broadcast state media to Africa via a European satellite
China enlists European satellite for information campaign in Africa / SCMP (paywall)
“China plans to buy the services of a European satellite to directly broadcast content from its state-owned television network to Africa, according to engineers involved in the project.”

U.S. charges Chinese student for harassing pro-democracy activist
Music student from China charged with stalking over flier / AP
“A Berklee College of Music student who is a citizen of China was arrested Wednesday for allegedly threatening and harassing an individual who posted a flier in support of democracy in China, according to federal investigators.”
U.S. charges China student with stalking peer who put up pro-democracy fliers / BBC

Beijing’s building pressure on Taiwan
China’s war against Taiwan has already started / Atlantic
“Sometimes Chinese pressure on Taiwan has been military, involving the issuing of threats or the launching of missiles. But in recent years, China has combined those threats and missiles with other forms of pressure, escalating what the Taiwanese call ‘cognitive warfare’: not just propaganda but an attempt to create a mindset of surrender.”

Is Washington too tough on China?
A professor who challenges the Washington consensus on China / New Yorker
Jessica Chen Weiss, who spoke with The China Project in September, “argues that Biden Administration policy is contributing to an ‘action-reaction spiral.’”
The fevered anti-China attitude in Washington is going to backfire / Politico
Jon Bateman, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes: “America has embarked on a difficult challenge: reversing decades of technological integration with China without damaging the U.S. economy or antagonizing allies. Unfortunately, the U.S. is doing this all wrong.”

Migrant workers again get the short end of the stick in China
Job prospects worsening for China’s most vulnerable workers / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Unemployment in China worsened last month, with vulnerable workers like migrants taking a bigger hit from the economy’s slump.”

Google stands firm despite pressure from Hong Kong authorities
Google defends decision to refuse Hong Kong’s national anthem search request / SCMP (paywall)
“Tech giant makes it clear it will not manually manipulate organic web listings to determine ranking of a specific page.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Griner’s release shines spotlight on those detained in China
Families of wrongfully detained Americans in China demand Griner-style prisoner swap / Politico
“Some family members of U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in China are fuming following Brittney Griner’s release from Russia, saying President Joe Biden isn’t making good on a promise to make freeing their relatives a ‘personal priority.’”

A very old home with very old things
5,000-year-old house found in China, shedding light on a vast ancient culture / ARTnews
“Archaeologists working at the Yangshao Village site in central China’s Henan Province have made some exciting discoveries, including the ruins of a 5,000-year-old house, a ceremonial jade ax, and evidence of infrastructure that points to the village’s military power, according to Xinhua, a state-run Chinese press agency.”

China’s special education teachers are underpaid, poorly trained, and burned out
Can China keep its special education teachers? / Sixth Tone
“They help kids with developmental disorders ranging from ADHD to Down Syndrome and autism. They’re also burned out, underpaid, and, in many cases, poorly trained.”