Highlighted links for May 8, 2023

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Silicon Valley Bank’s China operations
Fate of SVB’s Chinese venture hangs in balance / FT (paywall)
“Lender in limbo tests communication between U.S. and China regulators.”

Electric vehicles
Chinese government makes big push for EV adoption in rural areas, lower-tier cities / Technode
“The Chinese government has approved an action plan to push for the buildup of charging infrastructure across the country, a move Beijing says will step up the adoption of electric vehicles especially in the country’s vast rural regions, state broadcaster CCTV has reported.”
Battle for China’s electric SUV market heats up at home and abroad / Reuters
“China is ground zero for the price war in electric vehicles and the battleground is shifting to SUV-styled EVs, the largest segment of the market, dominated by Tesla Inc and BYD.”
Chinese battery material supplier to invest $1.5 billion in Sweden / Caixin (paywall)
Shanghai-based “Putailai New Energy Technology, a leading Chinese battery materials supplier, plans to invest as much as $1.5 billion in a Swedish factory to meet European demand.”
China’s Hozon to make EVs in Thailand for Southeast Asian market / Caixin (paywall)
“China’s Hozon New Energy Automobile Co. will start production [of its NETA V model] in Thailand to sell in Southeast Asia, becoming the latest electric vehicle maker to begin building a supply chain in the region’s top auto-manufacturing hub.”
China’s EV industry braces for a shakeout as prices plunge / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

Cheap Chinese gasoline cars
China automakers flood Australia with budget-priced luxury cars / Bloomberg
“Chery launches tech-packed Omada SUV starting from just $22,000 on bet Australians still want gasoline-powered cars.”

Financial crime
Founder of Chinese commodities giant embroiled in financial crime / Caixin (paywall)
“Police in southern metropolis Guangzhou have taken ‘coercive measures’ against [Zhāng Jìn 张劲], the founder and chairman of commodities giant Cedar Holdings Group Co. Ltd. [雪松控股], as they investigate a Cedar subsidiary for suspected illegal absorption of public deposits, an official announcement showed Sunday.”

Theme parks
China’s theme parks are bouncing back to pre-pandemic growth as pent-up travel demand sparks tourism boom, says Fitch / SCMP (paywall)
“China’s theme park industry will resume strong growth and sustain recovery momentum this year thanks to a post-Covid tourism boom, analysts at Fitch Ratings said.”

AI
China detains man for allegedly generating fake train crash news, first known time person held over use of AI bot / SCMP (paywall)
“Chinese police have detained a man who allegedly used ChatGPT to generate fake news and disseminate it online in what may be the country’s first detention related to use of the bot.”
China’s quest for a ChatGPT challenger, PDD moves some operations to Ireland / Caixin (paywall)

Real estate
Video: China builders with upcoming lawsuits got a wake-up call / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Defaulted Chinese property developers that are facing key court dates in coming weeks have received an abrupt reminder that it is actions, not words, that count in restructurings if they want to avoid getting liquidated.”

Guo Wengui
Chinese businessman Guo Wengui appeals bail denial in fraud case / Reuters
Guō Wénguì 郭文贵, an “exiled Chinese businessman charged by U.S. prosecutors with leading a more than $1 billion fraud on Thursday appealed a judge’s order that he remain in jail pending trial, court records showed.”

Local economies
Local governments struggle to get on top of their hidden debt / Caixin (paywall)
“Tackling the mountain of hidden debt accumulated by China’s local governments is, once again, at the top of the political agenda as the economy gets back on track after a three-year pummeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Chinese cities begin to pay public employees in digital yuan / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“More Chinese civil servants have begun to be paid entirely in digital yuan, joining some of the country’s bank employees as a new phase begins to promote the currency.”

China’s stock markets
Underwhelming Chinese stock markets show concern over recovery / WSJ (paywall)
“China’s stocks have underperformed this year as questions linger on the durability of the country’s economic rebound.”
Chinese bank stocks soar, adding $166 billion in trading frenzy / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Chinese banking stocks are surfing a tide of optimism not seen since the nation’s 2015 equity bubble, as traders look to state lenders to galvanize a long-awaited market rally.”

Coffee
Starbucks profits beat on China recovery, shares dive on guidance / Reuters
“Starbucks Corp beat Wall Street estimates on Tuesday for quarterly profits, powered by a sharp recovery in business in China, but shares fell about 6% in after-hours trading after the company did not lift its 2023 guidance.”

New hope for education companies?
China education firms jump as Xi seeks higher quality workforce / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China’s education companies surged after President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 stressed the importance of improving the quality of the workforce given the declining birthrate and aging population.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Agriculture
How to ease public concerns about agricultural management / Caixin (paywall)
“Recently, there have been a number of absurd cases in the news of what some consider to be regulatory overreach by agricultural authorities. The incidents include banning people from growing fruits and vegetables in front of their houses, seizing chickens and pigs within villages, and requiring certificates for farming.”

Spacecraft
Mystery Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth after 276 days / Reuters
“An experimental Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth on Monday after staying in orbit for 276 days, China’s state media reported, completing a landmark mission to test the country’s reusable space technologies.”
China’s secret spacecraft returns to Earth after 9-month mission / SCMP (paywall)
Mystery Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth after 276 days / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

Extreme weather
Gallery: Flooding in East China / Caixin (paywall)
“Nearly 500,000 people across 43 counties in Jiangxi province have been impacted by torrential rains that triggered floods and forced thousands to evacuate.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The Communist Party, elite politics, and government
China’s return to global stage checked by national security focus / Reuters
“China’s increasing focus on its own security and intensifying rivalry with the United States threatens to turn its re-engagement with the world after years of COVID curbs into a new era of isolation from the West, analysts say.”
Chinese students in U.S. wary of going home under new spy law / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“With the school year winding down across the U.S., Chinese students attending universities here are taking increased precautions to avoid getting into trouble — or possibly even detained — after returning home for summer break.”
China’s espionage law updates undercut courting of investors / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“The standing committee of China’s legislature last week approved revisions to the country’s Counterespionage Law that substantially broaden its scope in ways likely to raise concerns among foreign companies, and their domestic counterparts, about their ability to conduct business in a secure manner without putting the liberty and well-being of their personnel in jeopardy.”

Sports
Chinese premier urges IOC to oppose politicization of sports / Reuters
“China wants to work with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to oppose the politicization of sports, Premier Lǐ Qiáng 李强 said, amid demands on the sporting body to exclude athletes from Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.”
China ensnares two more former soccer officials in dragnet / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Two more senior soccer officials have been caught up in China’s sweeping crackdown on corruption in the sport, which has now ensnared at least 11 previously high-ranking members and coaches of the Chinese Football Association (CFA).”

Free speech
Wife of a Chinese bookseller is allowed to leave China / WSJ (paywall)
“The wife of an outspoken Chinese bookseller returned to the couple’s home in Florida this week, more than eight months after Shanghai authorities blocked her from leaving China, her husband said in a message posted online.”

Military
China’s aircraft carriers play ‘theatrical’ role but pose little threat yet / Reuters
“When China sailed one of its two active aircraft carriers, the Shandong, east of Taiwan last month as part of military drills surrounding the island, it was showcasing a capability that it has yet to master and could take years to perfect.”

Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s minimum wage goes up to HK$40 an hour but life’s still a struggle for poor residents. Can the city do better? / SCMP (paywall)
“HK$40 an hour is too little too late, some say, as the poor face rising costs of food, utilities. A ‘living wage,’ reviewed annually, will give workers a decent standard of living, advocates say.”
Hong Kong 47: Prosecution witness granted anonymity in democrats’ national security trial / Hong Kong Free Press
“A Hong Kong court has granted anonymity to a witness who will testify for the prosecution in a landmark trial relating to 47 pro-democracy figures under the Beijing-enacted national security law.”

Taiwan
U.S. and Taiwan in talks for US$500 million in free weapons after arms deliveries stalled / SCMP (paywall)
“Taiwan is in talks with the Pentagon for half a billion U.S. dollars in free weapons following delays in much-needed arms deliveries, the island’s defense minister said on Monday.”
Chinese foreign minister scolds U.S. envoy over Taiwan / WSJ (paywall)
“China’s foreign minister rebuked the American ambassador in Beijing for what he said was Washington’s support of Taiwan.”

U.S.-China competition and tensions
China and U.S. see need to stabilize relations / Reuters
“China’s Foreign Minister Qín Gāng 秦刚 said on Monday it is imperative to stabilize Sino-U.S. relations after a series of ‘erroneous words and deeds’ threw ties back into a deep freeze.”
China tells US to ‘reflect deeply’ over downturn in ties / AP
“China’s foreign minister told the U.S. ambassador on Monday that Washington is responsible for the downturn in relations between the two countries and must ‘reflect deeply’ before ties can return to a healthy track, an official said.”
World can live with US-China competition that stays clear of violence / SCMP (paywall)
“From talent to tech, markets may be partially decoupled or fully severed. But in a civilized contest, acts of violence — particularly war — would be out of the question.”
US-controlled ‘empire of hackers’ attacking China, other countries: report / SCMP (paywall)
“The CIA has used powerful cyberweapons to attack other countries including China, according to a report released on Thursday in China.”
Could US climate envoy John Kerry be ‘channel for communications’ with China? / SCMP (paywall)
“If U.S. climate envoy John Kerry visits China it will be the highest-level exchange between the two powers since the Chinese balloon episode, and analysts say it could be a tentative first step towards a thaw in ties.”
China says it is imperative to stabilize Sino-U.S. relations / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
China’s new foreign minister meets U.S. envoy for first time / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in the highest-level meeting in weeks between the world’s biggest economies, signaling that Beijing may soon allow more senior-level discussions after rebuffing requests from the Biden administration.”
U.S. think tank reports prompted Beijing to put a lid on Chinese data / WSJ (paywall)
“A recent campaign to restrict overseas access to China-based data sources was partly triggered by a drumbeat of U.S. think tank reports on sensitive Chinese practices that alarmed Beijing, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.”

Belt and Road
Road to nowhere: China’s Belt and Road Initiative at tipping point / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Today, with just a couple of months until the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing, the CPEC is on the verge of crisis, as is the BRI itself. Many headline projects have either failed to get off the ground or produced mixed to poor results.”
China’s Belt and Road pivots from coal plants to data centers / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been shifting away from signature big infrastructure projects in favor of less capital-intensive fields like IT and biotechnology, investment data shows.”
China’s Belt and Road to enter Afghanistan / Caixin (paywall)
“The Taliban agreed with China and Pakistan to extend the Belt and Road Initiative to Afghanistan, potentially drawing in billions of dollars to fund infrastructure projects in the sanctions-hit country.”

Myanmar
China presses Myanmar to crack down on cross-border cyber scams targeting Chinese / SCMP (paywall)
“Foreign Minister Qin Gang has urged Myanmar to take ‘effective measures’ to crack down on cross-border telecoms fraud targeting Chinese nationals, and called for joint law enforcement to tackle the scams.”

France
Will China rein in its Wolf Warrior ambassador to France? / Foreign Policy (paywall)
“While Beijing distanced itself from [French ambassador] Lu’s remarks, the incident has further confirmed him as China’s most outspoken wolf-warrior diplomat…. Lu epitomizes Chinese President Xi Jinping’s struggle to simultaneously project an assertive China for nationalist audiences at home and cultivate diplomatic friends in Europe.”

Singapore
After opening borders, China presses Singapore for visa-free travel deal / Reuters
“China is hammering out details with Singapore on a bilateral visa-free travel arrangement, according to Beijing’s embassy, a move that could boost arrivals in the city-state from what was its biggest pre-pandemic tourism market.”

South Korea
Chinese state tabloid criticizes South Korean protest letter / Reuters
“China’s hawkish state media tabloid, the Global Times, criticized on Monday a letter of protest by South Korea’s embassy in Beijing, the latest public spat amid worsening ties between the Asian neighbors.”

Laos
Chinese troops to hold rare joint military exercise in Laos / Reuters
“China will hold a rare joint military exercise with its landlocked neighbor Laos this month as Beijing tries to bolster security ties with regional allies to counter an expanding U.S. presence in Southeast Asia.”

Thailand
Chinese scour Thailand for homes, looking to offset risks after pandemic / Reuters
“Many Chinese are eager to invest in a residence overseas, keen for a safety net in case of a similar disease outbreak, and also to hedge against economic risks at home.”

India
India Monitored Chinese Ships During Drill in South China Sea / Bloomberg (paywall)
“India monitored several Chinese ships that appeared in a portion of the South China Sea where a flotilla of Southeast Asian nations’ warships were engaged in military drills, according to a government official.”

Canada
China protests Canada’s possible expulsion of diplomat / Reuters
“Chinese Ambassador Cóng Péiwǔ 丛培武 on Thursday denied a Beijing official targeted a Canadian lawmaker and his family for his anti-China stance and denounced Ottawa’s statement that it was considering expelling a Chinese diplomat.”
China says claims of officials ‘coercing’ Canadian lawmaker, relatives are false / Reuters
“China’s Toronto consulate-general said on Thursday that a report of consular officers ‘coercing’ a Canadian lawmaker and his family have ‘no factual basis and is purely baseless,’ adding that Canadian media and politicians have ulterior motives.”

Russia
How does China engage with Russia’s media market? / The Diplomat (paywall)
“The official visit of Xi Jinping to Russia in March attracted a lot of attention due to ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia’s international isolation, and China’s growing importance in international affairs.”

Italy
Where did China’s belt and road plans go wrong in Italy? / SCMP (paywall)
“There were high economic hopes when Rome signed up for Beijing’s infrastructure initiative in 2019. That involvement could all soon come to end amid a lack of outcomes and bigger tensions within the European Union.”

Europe
Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang to visit Europe this week / Hong Kong Free Press
“The trip comes two weeks after China insisted it respects the sovereignty of all former Soviet countries, following comments by its ambassador to France that drew anger in Europe and threw into question Beijing’s efforts to position itself as neutral in the Ukraine war.”
EU takes aim at Chinese firms, third country exports to tighten Russia sanctions / Reuters
“The European Union’s executive has proposed blacklisting several Chinese companies and curbing exports to nations seen as involved in bypassing Russia trade restrictions under the latest set of sanctions against Moscow for the war against Ukraine.”
China will safeguard its interests over EU sanctions / Reuters
“China opposes any measures that use China-Russia relations as a pretext for the damage of trade cooperation, China’s foreign ministry said on Monday.”
EU proposes curbs on several Chinese firms for aiding Russia / Bloomberg (paywall)
“The European Union has proposed extending strict trade restrictions to several Chinese companies for the first time as it cracks down on firms supplying Russia with banned goods and technologies that have aided its war machine in Ukraine.”

Pakistan
Pakistan faces more ‘difficult choices’ after pivot-to-China leak / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Pakistan is locked in an intense debate over its future diplomatic direction, after a recent cable leak exposed the government’s inclination to go all-in with China.”

Central Asia
China’s Xi Jinping to chair C+C5 summit with Central Asian heads of state from May 18 / SCMP (paywall)
“President Xi Jinping will chair the two-day inaugural China-Central Asia summit starting May 18, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Monday.”
Xi to host summit to bolster Central Asian ties / Caixin (paywall)

Afghanistan
China holds security and trade talks with Taliban / FT (paywall)
“China and the Taliban have discussed plans to bring Afghanistan into the Belt and Road infrastructure project as Beijing looks to boost investment in the crisis-hit country.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

LGBTQ
Xiyadie’s cut-paper art intimately records his experiences as a gay man in China / 23ARTnews
“His works record his experiences as a gay man in China, often showing intimate, candid encounters with lovers that are set within vivid environments teeming with plants and animals.”

Literature
Words of the working class: Poems from everyday China / Sixth Tone
“They are from all walks of life — delivery workers, shepherds, blind masseurs, house painters, vegetable farmers, street vendors, steel mill workers, unemployed youth in small towns, peasant women, as well as radio hosts, high school students, and history teachers. Shi writes poetry on her phone, and her son helps her correct typos and puts them into Word documents.”

Movies
Award-winning Chinese director Pema Tseden dies at 53 / Caixin (paywall)
“Chinese director Pema Tseden (万玛才旦 Wàn Mǎ Cái Dàn), known for his award-winning Tibetan-language films that offer a glimpse into the lives of Tibetans, died on Monday at the age of 53 due to heart failure, according to the Qinghai Tibetan Research Committee.”

Elder care
Deaths of seniors in hospital fire point to China’s elder care shortfall / NYT (paywall)
“The country’s supply of nursing home beds has not kept pace with its rapidly aging population, leading some families to seek unlicensed alternatives.”