Highlighted links for May 31, 2023

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Electric vehicles
China’s EV industry calls on regulators to curb the back-seat driving / Caixin (paywall)
“Auto experts and industry executives in China are calling on regulators to explore a market-based approach to governing electric-vehicle (EV) makers’ manufacturing qualifications, as the sector confronts an influx of inexperienced and ultimately unsuccessful firms amid the country’s push towards electrification.”

AI
Chinese tech hub Shenzhen pushes action plan to boost city’s computing resources for AI development amid global rush to create more ChatGPT-like services / SCMP (paywall)
“The municipal government of Shenzhen, China’s southern technology hub, plans to boost the city’s computing resources to prop up local artificial intelligence (AI) development initiatives, as a global arms race to build ChatGPT-like technologies intensifies.”

U.S.-China tech war
Chinese tech entrepreneurs keen to ‘de-China’ as tensions with U.S. soar / Reuters
“​​For the ambitious Chinese tech entrepreneur, expanding into the U.S. just keeps getting harder.”

Stock market
How bad is China’s economy? Its stocks are now in a bear market / WSJ (paywall)
“The country’s stock market experienced a boom earlier this year, as investors bet on the economy bouncing back after the end of the government’s strict zero-COVID policy, which locked down major cities and proved a drag on economic activity. But the rally didn’t last.”

Factory production
China’s factory activity falls faster than expected as recovery stumbles / Reuters
“China’s factory activity shrank faster than expected in May on weakening demand, heaping pressure on policymakers to shore up a patchy economic recovery and knocking Asian financial markets lower.”
Jamie Dimon warns against ‘uncertainty’ in China as factory activity declines / FT (paywall)
“JPMorgan chair Jamie Dimon has warned of the risk for investor confidence of ‘uncertainty’ about the Chinese government’s policies, as manufacturing data showed that the recovery in the world’s second-largest economy is faltering.”
China’s services sector continues to rebound faster than industrial sector / Caixin (paywall)
“China’s services sector is rebounding significantly faster than the industrial sector, based on a divergence in profitability for state-owned enterprises through the first four months of the year as reported by two government data sources.”
China’s recovery slows further as factory, services activity pulls back / WSJ (paywall)
“China’s factory activity contracted for a second straight month while growth in the services sector slowed, the latest signs that the country’s reopening growth momentum is struggling to take hold.”

Youth unemployment
China’s young people can’t find jobs. Xi Jinping says to ‘eat bitterness.’ / NYT (paywall)
“With youth unemployment at a record, the Communist Party is trying to reset expectations about social mobility by talking up the virtue of hardship.”

Private equity
Has China become too cozy with private equity? / FT (paywall)
“State-backed investors have poured money into buyout groups, enabling Beijing to deploy hundreds of billions of dollars into western companies and economies even as the political mood has shifted.”

Infrastructure
China keeps pouring money into highways, railroads and airports / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“China has put together a five-year transportation infrastructure investment plan that would continue heavy spending on highways, high-speed rail and airports after a record-setting 2022.”
What’s missing from China’s metro buildup? / Sixth Tone
“A focus on new construction distracts metro companies from the vital work of improving the passenger experience.”

Elon Musk
Elon Musk greeted with flattery and feasts during China trip / Reuters
“He’s ‘a pioneer,’ ‘Brother Ma’ and some want him to be U.S. president. Billionaire Elon Musk has been showered with praise by the Chinese public during his trip to China and while also securing audiences with three government ministers.”
China’s commerce minister meets Tesla’s Musk, promises support to foreign companies / AP
China calls for ‘stable’ ties with US in meeting with Elon Musk / FT (paywall)
What to expect from Elon Musk’s visit to China / Caixin (paywall)
China woos Dimon, Musk as pressure builds on Xi to boost economy / Bloomberg (paywall)

Labor shortage
China’s Jiangsu province eases age limit for construction workers / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“A provincial government in eastern China is relaxing the upper age limit for construction workers to help resolve labor shortage issues at construction sites, as the country contends with an aging society and blue-collar workforce.”

Baidu
China’s Baidu launches $145 million venture capital AI fund / Reuters
“Chinese search giant Baidu Inc will set up a venture capital fund of 1 billion yuan ($145 million) to back start-ups focused on content generated by artificial intelligence applications, it said on Wednesday.”

HSBC
How HSBC’s China battle threatens to ‘heat right back up’ / FT (paywall)
HSBC chair Mark Tucker “had spent a torrid year locked in a war of words with HSBC’s largest shareholder, Chinese insurer Ping An, who had turned activist at the bank’s previous AGM with a demand the 158-year-old bank be split in two.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Gene editing
Chinese scientists develop new gene-editing tool that differs in approach to CRISPR-Cas9 / SCMP (paywall)
“Chinese researchers have developed a new gene-editing tool they say is ultra precise, safe and has potential to treat or even cure some genetic diseases.”

Underground exploration
China is drilling a 10,000-meter-deep hole into earth’s crust / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Chinese scientists have begun drilling a 10,000-meter (32,808 feet) hole into the Earth’s crust, as the world’s second largest economy explores new frontiers above and below the planet’s surface.”

Space station
Warm welcome for Shenzhou 16 crew at China’s Tiangong space station / SCMP (paywall)
“China’s Shenzhou 16 space crew were greeted with hugs on arrival at the Tiangong space station on Tuesday afternoon at the start of a five-month mission for the three astronauts, including the country’s first civilian team member.”

Food security
Beijing urges all-out wheat harvest efforts to limit rain-damage fallout / SCMP (paywall)
“China has urged local authorities to speed up the harvesting and drying of damaged wheat in a bid to save crops from heavy rain amid Beijing’s increased focus on food security.”
Heavy rains in Henan threaten China’s wheat supply / Caixin (paywall)
Unprecedented rain in Central China wreaks havoc on wheat fields / Sixth Tone

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Lack of women in government
UN says concerned about lack of women in China’s top government / Reuters
“An absence of women among China’s top leadership is concerning, the United Nations said in a report, as it recommended China adopt statutory quotas and a gender parity system to quicken equal representation of women in government.”

The Communist Party’s national security obsession
China warns of artificial intelligence risks, calls for beefed-up national security measures / AP
“China’s ruling Communist Party has warned of the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence while calling for heightened national security measures.”
China facing ‘more complex’ security challenges, President Xi Jinping says, warns of ‘worst-case’ situation / SCMP (paywall)

Operation Fox Hunt
Three accused of harassing Chinese fugitive in U.S. head to trial / Reuters
“Three men accused of acting as illegal agents of China will face trial on Wednesday in the United States, part of an escalating crackdown on what U.S. prosecutors call Chinese state-backed intimidation of dissidents and fugitives overseas.”

Hong Kong
Hong Kong professionals from 3 sectors could face 3 months in jail and HK$50,000 fine if they fail to report suspected child abuse / SCMP (paywall)
“Social workers, teachers, doctors and nurses could face three months in jail and a HK$50,000 (US$6,383) fine if they fail to report suspected abuse of a minor under a Hong Kong government proposal released on Wednesday.”

Taiwan
How Taiwan became the indispensable economy / FT (paywall)
“Fearing a potential conflict in Asia, western companies are looking to move production out of Taiwan. But turning away from the self-ruled island will come at a high price for manufacturers.”
Taiwan ambassador says Ukraine’s success against Russia will help deter China / NYT (paywall)

U.S.-China competition and tensions
Chinese jet carried out ‘aggressive’ maneuver near U.S. military plane, Pentagon says / Reuters
“A Chinese fighter jet carried out an ‘unnecessarily aggressive’ maneuver near a U.S. military plane over the South China Sea in international airspace, the United States said on Tuesday.”
U.S. military complains of unsafe, aggressive move by Chinese fighter jet / AP
China responds to US complaint over plane intercept with demand for end to surveillance flights / AP
Beijing blasts ‘provocative’ US fly-bys over South China Sea after Pentagon accuses PLA jet of ‘aggressive’ move / SCMP (paywall)
Pentagon accuses Chinese fighter jet of ‘aggressive’ action near U.S. plane / FT (paywall)
Chinese jet fighter buzzed U.S. spy plane, Pentagon says / WSJ (paywall)
China denounces Washington‘s fentanyl sanctions / Caixin (paywall)
“The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. has condemned Washington for sanctioning more than a dozen Chinese companies and citizens allegedly involved in facilitating the production of fentanyl-laced drugs.”
U.S. manufacturers seek China alternatives as tensions rise / WSJ (paywall)
“Fears of military conflict and increasing security worries have some U.S. manufacturers re-evaluating their reliance on China.”
Antony Blinken, in Europe, sees alignment on China / WSJ (paywall)
“The U.S. and Europe are converging in their views on how to approach China, with recent statements from the European Union closely mirroring U.S. policy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.”

South Korea
Chinese buyers have snapped up more than half of foreign-owned homes in South Korea / SCMP (paywall)
“Chinese people account for more than 54% of homes owned by foreigners in South Korea, while Americans account for 24% of them, according to the land ministry’s latest data on foreign ownership of land and housing.”

Malaysia
Malaysia finds 100 old artillery shells on Chinese barge, says it likely plundered WWII shipwrecks / AP
“Malaysia’s maritime agency said Tuesday a Chinese barge likely plundered two World War II British shipwrecks in the South China Sea after discovering 100 more old artillery shells on the detained vessel.”

Indonesia
China to join Indonesia’s multilateral naval drills despite rising tension / SCMP (paywall)
“China will send warships to a multilateral naval exercise hosted this month by Indonesia, which has also invited countries such as North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States, amid rising tension in the Asia-Pacific region.”

India
China takes ‘appropriate’ action in row with India over journalists / Reuters
“China said on Wednesday it had taken ‘appropriate’ action in response to India’s unfair treatment of Chinese journalists, in the latest episode to highlight tense relations between the big Asian neighbors.”
China vows to take ‘appropriate countermeasures’ against India over journalist visas / SCMP (paywall)
China, India kick out nearly all of each other’s journalists as rivalry escalates / WSJ (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Feminism
China has entered a new era of AI-generated fashion. And it’s creepy. / Sixth Tone
“China’s fashion models are rapidly being replaced by doe-eyed, big-breasted, AI-generated bots. Women are horrified.”