Highlighted links for June 22, 2023

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

European companies in China
China’s state planner signs letter of intent to cooperate with European corporate giants / Reuters
“China’s state planner this week signed letters of intent in Berlin on cooperation with European corporate heavyweights in areas ranging from aviation and chemicals to automobiles, as the world’s second-largest economy seek to lobby for stronger ties with Europe.”
Record number of European firms report declining China revenue in 2022 / Caixin (paywall)
“Nearly one-third of the European companies in China reported falling revenue in 2022, a record high going back to 2011 and a significant increase over the 10% reported in the previous year,” according to European Union Chamber of Commerce’s latest annual China Business Confidence Survey.

Labor shortage
China’s largest online domestic helper agency says labor shortage a worry amid population decline / SCMP (paywall)
“China’s largest online domestic helper agency, Swan Daojia, says a future labor shortage is one of the biggest risks it faces amid the country’s declining population.”

U.S.-China tech war — cloud computing and semiconductors
China’s cloud computing firms raise concern for U.S. / NYT (paywall)
“The Biden administration is exploring whether it can mount a campaign against Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Huawei, potentially fueling tensions with Beijing.”
Chinese firms are evading chip controls / Foreign Policy (paywall)
“This past fall, the Biden administration moved decisively to cut off China’s supply of powerful chips, targeting the cutting-edge semiconductors used for supercomputing and artificial intelligence. However, recent reporting points to blacklisted Chinese entities — including China’s top nuclear weapons lab — gaining access to restricted chips through a combination of smuggling and renting through the cloud.”

ASML says decoupling chip supply chain is practically impossible / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Decoupling the global semiconductor supply chain would be ‘extremely difficult and expensive’ if not impossible, a senior executive at ASML, the world’s most valuable chip equipment maker, told Nikkei Asia.”

China’s economic recovery
A spending injection alone is not the cure for China’s ailing economic recovery / FT (paywall)
“After a promising start, China’s economic recovery has waned in the past two months. Investors have been disappointed by the lack of policy responses, with some questioning whether China’s government still cares about economic growth. In the past week or so, hope has grown for a major stimulus package. What should we expect?”

Alibaba
Alibaba has hurdles to overcome before Its drastic restructuring pays off / Caixin (paywall)
“Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s landmark overhaul — including a surprise CEO shakeup on Tuesday — is a chance for the group to unlock growth potential from all corners of its empire.”

Shein
America’s top fast-fashion retailer tries to shed its Chinese image / WSJ (paywall)
“Shein, the China-founded ultrafast-fashion retailer that has become a favorite of young American consumers, is making an effort to reshape its public image, including addressing American lawmakers’ concerns about the origins of its cotton.”
Shein eyes overseas expansion to shift supply chain beyond China / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Fast-fashion giant Shein will strengthen its presence in Europe and Mexico, including selling more locally made products, in a bid to diversify its China-centric supply chain.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Solar power
China’s dominance of solar poses difficult choices for the west / FT (paywall)
“According to the International Energy Agency, global spending on solar energy production in 2023 will for the first time in history outpace spending on oil production: $380bn on solar compared with $370bn on oil.”

Battery recycling
EV-battery recycling accelerates in China with strong state support / Caixin (paywall)
“China recycled 115,000 tons of electric-vehicle (EV) batteries in the first five months of 2023, surpassing the 102,000 tons in the entire of 2022, as the world’s largest EV market ramps up recycling efforts of spent cells.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Hong Kong still wants to be a bridge to China
Hong Kong’s role as bridge between China and world ‘clearer, more essential’ amid rising geopolitical tensions, experts say at Post forum / SCMP (paywall)
“Hong Kong’s position as a bridge between mainland China and the world had only become ‘clearer and more essential’ amid rising geopolitical tensions, financial and political experts on Tuesday said, as they noted the city had the support of the ‘one country, two systems’ governing model.”

Corruption
Former new China life insurance chief accused of bribery / Caixin (paywall)
“Wàn Fēng 万峰, a former chairman of Hong Kong- and Shanghai-traded New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., was expelled from the Communist Party on corruption allegations nearly six months after the insurance veteran disappeared from public sight.”

U.S.-China competition and tensions
Yellen says it’s critical to maintain U.S.-China ties after Biden’s dictator remarks / AP
“U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that it’s “critical” the U.S. and China maintain a relationship so they can ‘work together’ on global challenges, coming just after President Joe Biden’s remarks calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a ‘dictator’ drew condemnation from Beijing.”
U.S. Coast Guard ship sailed through Taiwan Strait a day after Blinken’s China visit / AP
“A U.S. Coast Guard ship sailed through the Taiwan Strait a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken completed a trip to Beijing during which he met with Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, in a move that Chinese authorities called ‘public hype.’”
U.S. Coast Guard ship transited Taiwan Strait after Blinken’s China visit -U.S. Navy / Reuters
Sanctions against China in case of a Taiwan war could exact a US$3 trillion toll on global economy, report predicts / SCMP (paywall)
“Full-blown economic sanctions leveled against Beijing by Group of 7 countries in the case of a war over Taiwan would exact a colossal US$3 trillion toll on the global economy —– nearly equal to Britain’s annual output —– even as it left Western countries struggling to craft a coordinated response, according to a report released on Thursday.”
Can sanctions threat deter China from invading Taiwan? Yes and no, study finds / WSJ (paywall)
“Measures taken against Moscow over Ukraine would be much trickier to apply to Beijing, according to analysis by U.S. think tank and consulting firm.”
After a decade, Xi floats ‘G2’ world with U.S. again / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“One of the key phrases Chinese President Xi Jinping used when meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing was this: ‘Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States.’”
China and U.S. agree to increase the number of flights between them / Caixin (paywall)
“China and the U.S. agreed to actively explore increasing the number of flights between the world’s two largest economies, encouraging students, scholars and business professionals to visit each other.”
Biden’s trade challenge: kicking the China dependency habit / WSJ (paywall)
“China has many sources of geopolitical leverage, from its military to its vast market. Potentially, the most potent and least appreciated is the choke-point position it has built in global supply chains.”

Global debt restructuring
What is China’s position on restructuring debt owed by poor nations? / Reuters
“China’s Premier Lǐ Qiáng 李强 and dozens of world leaders will meet in Paris on Thursday and Friday to discuss ways to help low-income countries manage their debt burdens and free up funding for climate financing.”

G7 vs. China
G7 affirms unity and need for close coordination on China, State Department says / Reuters
“The Group of Seven countries affirmed their unity and stressed the need for close coordination in dealing with China, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with G7 representatives in London.”

France
China premier calls for strong cooperation on tech innovation with France / Caixin (paywall)
“Premier Li Qiang said China and France should strengthen cooperation between each other’s enterprises in innovation and technology to create new momentum for growth of bilateral ties.”

Germany
Germany warns China over Taiwan, voices human rights concerns days after talks with Chinese premier / AP
“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Beijing on Thursday against using force to change the status quo with Taiwan and expressed concern about the human rights situation in China, days after holding bilateral talks with the new Chinese premier.”
Germany’s Scholz: I warned China on using force against Taiwan / Reuters
“Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the German parliament on Thursday that he had warned China during talks earlier this week against using force to achieve territorial changes, particularly against Taiwan.”

South Korea
South Korea’s ruling party seeks to limit Chinese nationals’ voting, health rights / SCMP (paywall)
“South Korea’s ruling party wants to prevent Chinese nationals living in the country from meddling in politics and abusing its medical insurance law, sparking accusations that it is stirring up anti-Chinese sentiments amid rising tension.”
Could China’s hardball tactics drive Seoul further towards Washington? / SCMP (paywall)
“As China and South Korea continue to squabble over a growing list of diplomatic offenses, observers have warned that Beijing’s hardball tactics may drive Seoul further into the arms of Washington.”
THAAD missile system agitates South Korea-China ties / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“South Korea’s turn toward the U.S. and Japan in recent months has worsened ties with China. That relationship is now being complicated further by Seoul moving toward the full operation of a missile defense system decried by Beijing.”

New Zealand
New Zealand PM disagrees with Biden, says Xi Jinping not a ‘dictator’ / Reuters
“New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, ahead of his official trip to China at the end of this month, said on Thursday he did not agree with U.S. President Joe Biden’s remark that Chinese leader Xi Jinping was a dictator.”

India
With China in mind, Biden and Modi to seal deals from space to chips, 5G to critical minerals / SCMP (paywall)
“U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday will announce a slew of cooperation agreements spanning from space to semiconductors, critical minerals to core technologies, telecommunications and defense.”

Israel-Palestine conflict
Why China can’t broker peace between Israel and Palestine / Al Jazeera
“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Beijing last week, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Abbas was the first Arab President to visit China since the China-Arab States Summit of Riyadh in December 2022 — signaling the importance that China appears to be placing on the Israel-Palestine issue.”

• Yesterday on The China Project: China’s meeting with Mahmoud Abbas wasn’t really about peace

Barbeque restaurant explosion kills 31
China’s president orders safety campaign after explosion at barbecue restaurant kills 31 people / AP
“China’s president ordered a national safety campaign on Thursday after a massive cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in the northwest killed 31 people and injured seven others on the eve of a long holiday weekend.”
Building collapses, gas blasts, mine cave-ins and more. Deadly accidents are commonplace in China / AP
Deadly China blast sparks fears about safety at BBQ restaurants / Reuters
9 held after China restaurant gas tank blast kills 31 on eve of Dragon Boat Festival / SCMP (paywall)
Dozens die after explosion in a barbecue restaurant in China / NYT (paywall)
Explosion at barbecue restaurant in China kills 31 on eve of holiday / WSJ (paywall)

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Feminism
‘Rich women’s dragon boat team’ from wealthy Chinese village rows against male tide in unique ‘phoenix boat’ / SCMP (paywall)
“A group of well-to-do women in China who formed a dragon boat racing team have become an inspirational symbol of feminism on the mainland in a sport that has long been the preserve of men.”

Sports
China’s governing body upholds lifetime bans for match-fixing / Reuters
“China’s snooker authorities have upheld lifetime bans for match-fixing handed out to Liáng Wénbó 梁文博 and Lǐ Háng 李行 by the sport’s world governing body (WPBSA) and given five other players longer suspensions for domestic matches.”

Chinese culture and the month of May
Chinese creepy crawlies: keeping the pests of May at bay / Sixth Tone
“In Chinese folklore, scorpions, snakes, toads, geckos, and centipedes come out in May to harm humans, who have been trying to keep them at bay with herbs, clothing, and paper charms for centuries.”