China’s smudgy COVID numbers and U.S. trade with Taiwan

Here’s what else you need to know about China today:

The U.S. and Taiwan will hold trade talks in Taipei next week, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) office announced yesterday, as the two sides continue to strengthen ties despite increasing pressure from China.

• Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Terry McCartin will lead a delegation of trade and economic officials for a four-day visit starting on January 14.
• The statement emphasized that the negotiations “are being conducted in accordance with the United States’ one China policy” and the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
• The visit comes exactly two months after U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 agreed to stabilize bilateral ties at the G20 summit in Bali last November.
• Tensions between the two superpowers skyrocketed to new heights after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid an unannounced visit to Taiwan in August.
• Although the U.S. holds no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Pelosi was the most high-profile visit in a series of U.S. delegations to the self-ruled island.

China has defended its pandemic response and transparency on COVID data, following concerns voiced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and leaders from countries like the U.S. and France.

• “Facts have proven that China has always maintained close communication with the WHO and shared information and data on the epidemic in a timely, open and transparent manner in accordance with law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Máo Níng 毛宁 said today.
• WHO yesterday urged Beijing to be more transparent about its Omicron outbreak, with some officials questioning the reliability of the country’s COVID data.
• U.S. requirements for passengers on flights from China to show a negative COVID test went into force today, while Australia, the European Union, India, Japan, and the U.K., are also stepping up testing requirements for inbound travelers from China.

Apple plans to tap Luxshare Precision, the Chinese rival to Foxconn, to assemble its luxury iPhone models, the Financial Times reported, dealing another blow to the Taiwanese giant.

• Foxconn had previously been solely responsible for delivering new iPhone Pro models, but recent worker protests over COVID curbs at its mega iPhone factory in Zhengzhou have severely curbed its operations in China.
• While Foxconn was offering cash incentives to retain its workers, Luxshare had already stepped in to produce a small fraction of the iPhone 14 Pro Max to make up for Apple’s losses at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou site.
• Shares of Luxshare Precision Industry rose more than 3% on the Shenzhen Stock Market today after reports of the announcement broke.

1,500 miles of new high-speed railways in 2023: State-owned China Railway has announced that more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) of new lines will be opened in China in 2023, including 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of high-speed rail. In 2022, the corresponding numbers were 4,100 kilometers (2,547 miles) and 2,082 kilometers (1,293 miles). By the end of 2022, China had a total of 155,000 kilometers (96,312 miles) of railways, including 42,000 kilometers (26,097 miles) of high-speed rail. See today’s Business briefs from the Chinese media, with more links and info on:

• Silly shipping bonuses.
• Tea shops.

Want more business and technology news from The China Project in your inbox? Click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter that goes out at the end of every business day in China (coffee time in New York).