Highlighted links for June 28, 2023

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Foreigners may finally have a way to make digital payments in China again
Tencent’s WeChat Pay to accept Visa cards to help foreign tourists survive in cashless China / SCMP (paywall)
“Foreign tourists may find it easier to pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and attraction tickets in China’s cashless society from next month, as Tencent Holdings begins to facilitate payments by Visa and other international bank cards through WeChat Pay, following a similar move by Ant Group’s Alipay.”
Chinese payment giants revive effort to accept foreign credit cards / Reuters
Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Ant Group said that they would allow users to link international credit cards to their platforms, an issue that has long plagued foreign visitors as the country’s payment system has kept credit cards out for years.

Electric vehicles
Opinion: China’s EV startups are going bust. That’s good / Bloomberg (paywall)
Bloomberg opinion columnist David Fickling writes: “The technological big bang that hit China’s electric vehicle market late last decade appears to be fizzling out. Believe it or not, that’s good news for the industry.”
Threatened by shortages, electric car makers race for supplies of lithium for batteries / AP
“Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure ‘white gold’ in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile.”

AI and drug development
Fosun-backed startup begins human trials of AI-designed lung drug / NIkkei Asia (paywall)
“Pharmaceutical startup Insilico Medicine has begun Phase 2 clinical trials of the world’s first drug candidate of its kind to be discovered and designed using generative artificial intelligence.”

AI and chips in the U.S.-China tech war
Artificial intelligence is the new front line in U.S.-China competition / Bloomberg (paywall)
“President Joe Biden’s administration has turned the screw on high-tech sales to China that could have military applications, liberally deploying export controls to ban the most advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment with any U.S. content.”
Chip stocks smacked as U.S. mulls fresh curbs on AI access to China / Reuters
“Shares of U.S. chipmakers fell in premarket trading on Wednesday following a report that the Biden administration is planning new curbs on export of computing chips for artificial intelligence to China as early as July.”
U.S. weighs tougher restrictions on AI chip exports to China / FT (paywall)
“The Biden administration is contemplating new export controls on chips for artificial intelligence, as Washington increases its efforts to make it harder for China to obtain technology with military applications.”
Nvidia leads sell-off after report of more U.S. AI chip curbs / Caixin (paywall)
“ Nvidia Corp. led declines in tech stocks after a report Washington could close loopholes in the sale to China of powerful chips used to train artificial intelligence (AI), potentially denting sales in the world’s top semiconductor market.”
For Nvidia and China, an AI battle with Washington bodes ill / WSJ (paywall)
Billionaires and bureaucrats mobilize China for AI race with U.S. / Bloomberg (paywall)
“China’s tech sector has a new obsession: competing with US titans like Google and Microsoft Corp. in the breakneck global artificial intelligence race.”
The A.I. chips war could heat up this summer / NYT (paywall)

AI in the cloud
Alibaba Cloud, Fudan University set up computing platform for AI initiatives / SCMP (paywall)
“Alibaba Group Holding’s cloud computing services subsidiary and Shanghai’s Fudan University have jointly launched what they describe as the country’s largest cloud-based scientific research and intelligent computing platform for universities, deepening the business unit’s ties with major public institutions and boosting its support for new artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.”

Boeing in China
Boeing says about 90% of its China 737 MAX fleet have resumed commercial operation / Reuters
“About 90% of Boeing’s China 737 MAX fleet have resumed commercial operation as of the end of June, the U.S. aircraft maker said on its official WeChat account on Wednesday.”

Economic gloom
Can China export its way out of its economic slump? / NYT (paywall)
“No country has had more export success than China. But Beijing faces risks in turning to the tested method of selling more abroad.”
Five things to know about China’s lackluster credit demand / Caixin (paywall)
“Chinese households aren’t spending as much as before and the private sector isn’t borrowing or investing as much. That’s a problem, because until they do, the economic recovery will struggle to gain momentum.”
China’s industrial profits tumble, deepening economic gloom / Reuters
“Annual profits at China’s industrial firms extended a double-digit decline in the first five months as softening demand squeezed margins, reinforcing hopes of more policy support to bolster a stuttering post-COVID economic recovery.”
China’s industrial profits slump on soft demand, deflation / Caixin (paywall)

Development and real estate
Four more Chinese developers get refinancing approval / Reuters
“Four more property developers listed in mainland China said they have received approval to refinance via share placements totalling 19.9 billion yuan ($2.8 billion), in a sign of the regulatory effort to improve liquidity in the embattled sector.”

Foreign investors
Xi vows to protect foreign investors in charm offensive / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 pledged that his nation would do right by foreign investors, underscoring his government’s attempts to assuage worries about the economy and unpredictable policymaking.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Food safety
Mouse heads found in canteen lunch boxes in China highlight food safety concerns / Reuters
“For the second time in a month, a mouse head has been found in a lunch box meal of a cafeteria in China, state media reported on Tuesday, sparking online witticisms and a larger debate about food safety in the country.”

Solar energy and batteries
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.”
China’s $7tn energy overhaul sparks battery ‘gold rush’ / FT (paywall)
“Chinese companies from foodmakers to tech start-ups are rushing into the country’s energy storage sector, spurred by massive state spending on President Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平 plan to achieve energy independence.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The Communist Party, elite politics, and government
China’s Communist Youth League no longer path to Party power as former chief shuffles to yet another deputy role / SCMP (paywall)
“Qín Yízhì 秦宜智, former chief of the Communist Youth League of China, has been appointed as the fourth-ranked deputy on China’s national ethnic affairs commission – his third consecutive deputy role in a stalled political career.”

Decoupling and derisking
China’s premier warns other countries against politicizing business risks / Caixin (paywall)
“Premier Lǐ Qiáng 李强 has called on world leaders to let enterprises themselves identify business risks, saying that government intervention in this regard is not conducive for economic globalization.”
China shifts approach toward de-risking with appeals to CEOs / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Li Qiang tries to split firms from their politicians on policy — rhetoric is attempt to hold back US, EU efforts to limit China.”

Hong Kong: Dual-national detainees not allowed consular visits
China warns on consular visits to dual citizens detained in Hong Kong / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Foreign consulates in Hong Kong were sent a reminder by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that dual-national detainees are not allowed to receive visits from consular officers, ahead of the third anniversary of the national security law Beijing imposed on the city.”

Beijing and Taiwan’s elections
China tries to gain U.S. cooperation over upcoming Taiwan elections / WSJ (paywall)
“Taiwan’s coming presidential election loomed large in talks between senior Chinese officials and Antony Blinken during the U.S. secretary of state’s recent visit to Beijing, according to people briefed on the matter.”

U.S.-China competition and tensions
Building on Blinken’s visit to repair U.S.-China relations will require a pianist’s approach / SCMP (paywall)
“Just as a pianist practices a new piece of music slowly, with attention to every phrase, keeping the first signs of goodwill between Washington and Beijing on track calls for a disciplined use of words.”
Chinese military conjures world war Z scenario of all-out conflict to test and evaluate new navy weapons / SCMP (paywall)
“The Chinese military has recently added a “total war” scenario when testing and evaluating the performance of new weapons as the risk of military conflict between China and the U.S. reaches its highest in decades, according to scientists involved in the project.”
Why China keeps snubbing U.S. overtures for military dialogue / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 during his visit to China on June 18 to 19, the first such trip by a top American diplomat in nearly five years. The meeting may have brought the two sides a bit closer, but it is unlikely to mark a turning point in easing tensions, as Beijing continues to reject U.S. overtures to hold high-level security talks.”
Nikki Haley says Trump lacked ‘moral clarity’ in dealings with China’s Xi / FT (paywall)
“Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential contender and former South Carolina governor, has criticized Donald Trump for being weak on China and showing ‘moral weakness’ in his dealings with President Xi Jinping.”
Washington’s supposed consensus on China is an illusion / Foreign Policy (paywall)
“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s just-completed trip to Beijing highlights a renewed diplomatic effort to pull the U.S.-China ties out of the death cycle of tit-for-tat confrontation…But the ultimate obstacle to that may lie in Washington’s own contradictory approach toward China.”
America, China, and the virtue of low expectations / Foreign Affairs (paywall)
Ryan Hass writes: “Rather than stirring unreasonable hopes of a U.S.-Chinese rapprochement, then, the modest framing of the Blinken trip could offer an effective template for dealing with Beijing in the months to come.”

New Zealand
China, New Zealand should be ‘partners, not adversaries’, Xi tells Hipkins / SCMP (paywall)
“China and New Zealand should promote trade and investment, Chinese President Xi Jinping told New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who led a trade delegation to China seeking more access for his country’s primary exports and emerging sectors like gaming.”
China’s Asia-Pacific trade deal, digital economy pact aspirations backed by New Zealand / SCMP (paywall)
New Zealand Prime Minister Hipkins visits China to boost economic ties / AP
China signs pacts with ‘friend and partner’ New Zealand / Reuters
New Zealand signs range of pacts with China / Reuters

Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands grapples with disinformation as China stands to gain / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“The Solomon Islands, a strategically important Pacific island nation caught in a battle of influence between Beijing and Washington, has seen a pattern of questionable information emerge in recent years when anti-China sentiment peaks, a Nikkei analysis shows.”

Japan
Chinese embassy officials visit researcher detained in Japanese trade secrets case, repeat ‘serious concerns’ / SCMP (paywall)
“China’s embassy in Japan on Wednesday said officials had visited a Chinese researcher accused of leaking trade secrets and expressed ‘serious concern’ through diplomatic channels.”

Russia
China and Russia hold missile defense talks, Moscow reveals as the countries face growing rivalry with U.S. / SCMP (paywall)
“China and Russia held a new round of consultations on missile defense in Moscow on Tuesday, according to the Russian foreign ministry – a development one Chinese scholar said was part of an attempt to deal with growing threats posed by the U.S.”
China slowdown, Wagner rebellion overshadow Russian economy / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
“Russia’s economy has been showing modest signs of stabilization, performing better than many expected despite the heavy sanctions imposed by Western allies after the invasion of Ukraine. But the recovery remains fragile and could easily be derailed by domestic political instability or a slowdown in the economy Russia now depends on most — China.”
Russia turmoil undermines China’s global diplomatic push / WSJ (paywall)

Thailand
Fewer Chinese visitors expected to upset Thailand’s tourism recovery goal, economist predicts / SCMP (paywall)
“Thailand is likely to miss its goal of hosting 30 million foreign tourists amid fewer-than-expected visitors from China, according to a senior economist.”

Central Asia
China reaches into Central Asia’s Silk Road past to build strategic ties of the future / SCMP (paywall)
“When Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for five regional leaders at the first China-Central Asia summit last month, the event was replete with historic symbols of the Silk Road.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Employment
No job, no marriage, no kid: China’s workers and the curse of 35 / NYT (paywall)
“It’s widely discussed in China: Employers don’t want you after 35. Some job listings say it plainly, leaving a generation of prime-age workers feeling defeated.”

LGBTQ: No Pride in China
China crackdown pushes LGBT groups into the shadows / BBC
“While celebrations were held around the world for Pride month, there were no major LGBT events in China.”

Film censorship
Hong Kong film-makers say censorship law spooks investors, actors / Reuters
“Two years after screening an internationally acclaimed documentary on the democracy movement in Hong Kong, director Kiwi Chow has been forced to complete a new movie with fresh financing after political concerns scared off some investors.”

Beauty
A Chinese eau de cologne, by way of America / Sixth Tone
“It may smell like TCM, but China’s favorite summertime tonic has its roots in a New York pharmacy.”

Sports
How a Chinese village defied the odds and became a climbing hub / Sixth Tone
“For years, international climbers and authorities were locked in a standoff over Liming’s sandstone cliffs. Now, the sport’s popularity and China’s success on the global stage have transformed climbing into a valuable resource.”