Links for Tuesday, May 26, 2020

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Economic strategy to focus on domestic growth, see greater debt
  China’s economic strategy shift shows Xi Jinping is preparing for ‘worst case scenario,’ analysts say / SCMP

China’s move to double down on a pivot away from export-led growth in favour of developing its domestic market reflects a strategic shift by Beijing to prepare for the “worst case scenario” after the coronavirus pandemic, according to analysts.

President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 told dozens of top economic advisers in Beijing at the weekend that China was pursuing a new development plan in which “domestic circulation plays the dominant role.”

• China official says increasing debt level feasible and necessary / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

The government’s plan to raise its fiscal deficit and sell anti-virus government bonds are “special measures” in response to an unprecedented environment, and the scale of the borrowings takes into account both the economic impact and the need to control debt-related risks, according to Cóng Liàng 丛亮, a senior official at the National Development and Reform Commission.

• China’s central bank embraces a weaker yuan…
  As its economy slows, China embraces a weaker currency / WSJ (paywall)

China set a reference rate for the yuan at its weakest point in 12 years, a signal that Beijing sees the benefits of a weaker currency as it grapples with an economic slowdown and rising tensions with Washington.

On Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China set a daily midpoint for the yuan at 7.1293 per dollar, the lowest level since February 2008.

• …As authorities announce the central bank’s governing law will be revised    
  China plans to revise law governing the central bank this year / Bloomberg via Caixin
  “China’s top legislature said it plans to revise the law governing the People’s Bank of China this year, amid a broadening of the central bank’s role in recent years. The National People’s Congress has listed the revision of the PBOC law on its to-do list for 2020, according to its work report released Monday.”
• Baoshang bank takeover extended due to COVID-19
  Baoshang Bank takeover extended by six months / Caixin
• SOEs see net profits down by 74% compared with last year
  SOEs saw revenue decline slow in first four months, but profits plummeted / Caixin
• Migrants, youth most affected by job losses
  Coronavirus has hit China’s migrant workers harder than SARS and the financial crisis, but worst yet to come / SCMP
  “China’s army of 290 million migrant workers has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, but most are unable to access unemployment support.”
  China’s young struggle for jobs in the post-outbreak era / NYT (porous paywall)
  “China’s youngest workers in particular have entered perhaps the country’s toughest job market in the modern era. Many are reducing their expectations to take any job they can get. The pressure is about to intensify: Another nearly 8.7 million young college graduates are waiting in the wings this year.”
• More tech companies banned over Xinjiang connections
  Commerce department to add nine Chinese entities related to human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to the entity list / U.S. Department of Commerce  
  Darren Byler in a thread on Twitter: “Thread: Seven more Chinese tech companies banned from buying and selling in the U.S. market due to their complicity in Uyghur reeducation systems. CloudWalk; FiberHome Technologies, Nanjing FiberHome Starrysky; NetPosa; SenseNets; Intellifusion; IS’Vision.”
• China’s 5G infrastructure build back on track…
  China’s 5G buildout on track after being slowed by COVID-19 outbreak, minister says / SCMP
  “China is currently adding about 10,000 new 5G wireless base stations a week across the country after a brief slowdown in buildout during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Miáo Wéi 苗圩, minister at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).”
• …As the U.K. looks set to reduce Huawei’s role in its 5G networks  
  Boris Johnson forced to reduce Huawei’s role in U.K.’s 5G networks / Guardian
  “Boris Johnson has been forced to cave into to Conservative backbench rebels opposed to the presence of Huawei in 5G networks and has drawn up plans to reduce the Chinese company’s involvement to zero by 2023.”
• China’s overseas energy financing hits a 10-year low
  Losing steam: China’s overseas development finance in global energy / Panda Paw Dragon Claw

According to the annual update of the ‘China’s Global Energy Finance database’ at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, China’s overseas development finance from the China Development Bank and the Export Import Bank of China in the energy sector dropped to a lowest level in a decade. This may seem surprising given that overseas finance was a centerpiece at the Second Belt and Road Forum in 2019, but there are [a] number of demand and supply side factors that led to the dimming of such prospects for 2019.

• U.S. note-taking app blocked
  Note-taking app Notion is no longer accessible from China / TechNode
  “Productivity tool Notion said Monday its service is no longer accessible from within China, weeks after a Chinese company launched a similar app that has been accused of copying the U.S. startup.”
• Helmet prices soar after policy confusion
  Confusion over helmet policy causes surge in demand, prices / Sixth Tone
  “Helmet prices in China have skyrocketed this month after a government road safety campaign encouraging their use was widely misinterpreted by media outlets and the public [who assumed riders were legally obligated to wear helmets].”
• Is COVID-19 forcing wealthy Chinese to abandon foreign property ambitions?
  Wealthy Chinese families say pandemic has eroded appetite for overseas schooling and investing / SCMP

A mix of pandemic-based problems for China’s urban rich, including the sudden uncertainty over future incomes, the health risks of living abroad, and China’s deteriorating image in Western countries, have forced many to reconsider, if not totally give up, plans to send their kids to American or British schools, or to buy property in Canada or Australia.

• Rich Chinese snapping up luxury homes from Singapore to Sydney / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Across China and in some of their familiar hunting grounds in Asia, wealthy buyers are snapping up luxury housing, in many cases to guard their wealth against anticipated inflation and a weakening yuan.”
• U.S. accuses China of blocking flights
  U.S. accuses China of blocking American flights and demands action / CNBC
  “The U.S. government late on Friday accused the Chinese government of making it impossible for U.S. airlines to resume service to China and ordered four Chinese air carriers to file flight schedules with the U.S. government.”
  China says opposes all U.S. restrictions on Chinese airlines / Reuters
  “China said on Monday it opposes all U.S. restrictions imposed against Chinese airlines, responding to a report that the U.S. Transportation Department has demanded Chinese carriers file their schedules and other flight details by May 27.”
• Red Bull to rebrand
  Red Bull founders rebuild in China after battle of billionaires / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Red Bull’s founding family said they will invest $150 million to re-establish the energy-drink brand in China, where they’ve been involved in a battle of billionaires for several years with a former partner.”
• Hang Seng drops after Beijing announces security law
  Hang Seng Index has worst day since 2015 as tensions flare up again between China and the West / CNN
  “Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped nearly 5.6% Friday after news broke that Beijing would move to pass a hugely controversial national security law for the Asian financial hub.”
  Context: Beijing to deliver death blow to ‘one country, two systems’ with Hong Kong law.
• Australian goods faced import issues in 2019 — Chinese customs data
  China import data reveals tainted Australian oats, almonds blocked last year as trade war fears grow / SCMP
  “Exports of Australian oats and oatmeal, milk powder and almonds ran into import compliance trouble at Chinese ports last year alongside beef shipments, customs data shows, as concern grows that Beijing may expand restrictions on Australian goods.”
  Bill Birtles in a thread on Twitter: “China’s Commerce Minister Zhōng Shān 钟山 speaks about tariffs on Australian barley: Says it’s the 1st trade investigation China has launched against Aus, whereas Zhong says Aus has launched 100 cases against China, including 3 this year alone.”
  Also see: China rejects Australian beef after PM Morrison calls for independent COVID-19 investigation.
• No launch date for digital currency yet
  China’s digital currency not set for launch as trials are ‘just routine’, central bank governor cools speculation / SCMP
  “China still has no timetable for launching its much-hyped sovereign digital currency, with limited public trials that will begin soon just ‘routine parts of the research and development process,’ China’s central bank governor [Yì Gāng 易纲] said.”
  Context: China’s new digital currency begins pilot testing.
• Meituan’s revenue declines 13%, but beats expectations
  Food delivery giant Meituan’s sales beat estimates / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  Meituan says COVID-19 effect to extend beyond Q1 losses / TechNode
• German employees return to China
  German companies flying 200 workers to China in mass return / Washington Post (porous paywall)
  “A flight carrying about 200 employees of German companies to China is to arrive Saturday in the first mass return of foreign workers since Beijing barred most visitors from overseas two months ago to fight the coronavirus.”
• Hong Kong airport to partly resume transit services next week
  Hong Kong airport to partly resume transit services amid coronavirus lull / AFP via Hong Kong Free Press

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

• An interview with China’s CDC AIDS expert
  ‘The house was on fire.’ Top Chinese virologist on how China and U.S. have met the pandemic / Science
  An interview with Shào Yīmíng 邵一鸣, chief expert on AIDS at China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, on how the U.S. and Chinese responses to the COVID-19 pandemic compare.  
• Mass COVID-19 testing in Wuhan
  Wuhan tests nine million people for coronavirus in 10 Days / WSJ (paywall)
  Here’s how Wuhan tested 6.5 million for coronavirus in days / NYT (porous paywall)
• Beijing admits need for health system reform
  Xi Jinping says China must strengthen health system after coronavirus pandemic / SCMP
  “Chinese leader says overhaul of monitoring and warning systems are needed after the COVID-19 outbreak exposed shortcomings.”
  China admits coronavirus exposed ‘weak links’ in health system as government promises to strengthen disease response / SCMP
  “In a rare admission, this year’s work report delivered by Premier Lǐ Kèqiáng 李克强 on Friday said that ‘many weak links have been exposed’ in public health emergency management.”
• Mars mission to launch in July
  China set to launch Mars probe and rover mission in July / TechCrunch
  “This will be the first rover mission to Mars for China’s space program, and is one of the many ways that it’s aiming to better compete with NASA’s space exploration efforts.”
• China to boost renewables, but will struggle to meet air pollution targets
  China sees room to boost renewable installations by 52% in 2020 / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

China this year will be able to absorb 52% more new wind and solar power capacity than in it added 2019. The world’s biggest energy consumer has space on its grids to add 36.65 gigawatts of wind and 48.45 gigawatts of solar, according to a transmission analysis report [in Chinese] by the National New Energy Absorption Monitoring and Warning Center.

• China faces headwinds in meeting air pollution targets / Sixth Tone

Liú Bǐngjiāng 刘炳江, director of the Department of Atmospheric Environment at China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said [in Chinese] the country still faces challenges in cleaning up its smog-choked cities, rebutting claims that the government was seeking to relax the environmental threshold so companies could boost production.

• COVID-19 vaccine progress
  Chinese military scientists record promising results from coronavirus vaccine trial / SCMP
  “A potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese top military virologist has shown promising results in an early clinical trial, successfully triggering an immune system response in over a hundred healthy adults.”
  China plans to start using coronavirus vaccine by end of year even if trials have not been completed / SCMP
  “Gāo Fú 高福, head of the country’s Centre for Disease Control, says use could be fast-tracked for selected groups and in emergencies.”
  Take a shot, isolate at hotel: Chinese volunteer 048 describes COVID-19 vaccine trial / SCMP
• Wuhan lab director responds to virus origin conspiracy…  
  Coronavirus conspiracy leak claims ‘pure fabrication,’ Wuhan lab chief says / SCMP

The head of a top Chinese laboratory dogged by coronavirus conspiracy theories has again rejected suggestions that it leaked the pathogen, saying the institute “had never discovered or kept” the virus before it erupted in central China late last year.

In an interview with state media on Saturday, Wáng Yányì 王延轶, director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, said it was “pure fabrication” that the coronavirus leaked from the lab, leading to the global pandemic.

• …As dozens of new labs are announced in Guangdong  
  Top-grade biosafety lab building spree planned in southern China / SCMP
• Taiwan could allow large gatherings by June 7
  Restrictions on large gatherings could soon be removed / Focus Taiwan

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• China-India border tensions
  China-India tensions mount as troop stand-offs along disputed border cause speculation to swirl / SCMP

Tensions at the border between India and China have spiked in recent weeks amid a flurry of media reports pointing to a series of skirmishes and military build-up by both sides.

Neither countries’ leadership has issued an official comment on the stand-offs so far, which analysts say points to a shared desire not to heighten tensions further.

Yet speculation has still been rife into the other side’s motives, with both trading allegations of attempted military incursions, bringing the seven-decade old border dispute between the two Asian giants firmly back into focus.

• PLA actions at LAC in Ladakh denote shift from past: experts / The Hindu
  India looks ready for long stand-off with China, may not stop border infra work / TNN via Times of India
  “Indian and Chinese troops remain locked in stand-off positions in several points in Ladakh, at the senior levels of government there is a determination that India will not stop its border development activities.”
  Why we should worry about China and India’s border skirmishes / Foreign Policy (porous paywall)
  Sumit Ganguly and Manjeet S. Pardesi write:

Recent events, however, suggest that escalations are highly possible. Both sides have substantial — and growing — military deployments along a mostly disputed border. And for more than a decade, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been testing India’s military readiness and political resolve along several strategic areas. Peace can no longer be taken for granted.

• Tanvi Madan in a thread on Twitter: “THREAD. On the rhetoric we’ve seen — or not seen — from China & India during the ongoing boundary tensions. Bottom line: thus far, both govts have largely been restrained in their rhetoric. This is a good thing & a contrast from Doklam/2017 when Beijing’s stmts were v heated 1/.”
  Dhruva Jaishankar in a thread on Twitter: “THREAD: Over the coming days and weeks, we are likely to see a lot of idle speculation about what is going on in the China-India border region. Here are 5 QUESTIONS that people should be asking themselves as they consume and analyze reports. 1/18.”
  Nathan Ruser on Twitter: “In the last 2 days Ajai Shukla has increased his estimate of PLA soldiers on Indian soil by 5,000. As of Friday, this was contradicted by satellite evidence. This is the current position of forces in the Galwan valley, with the LAC shown here from India’s Ministry of Environment.”
  Deliberations on to resolve LAC tensions / The Hindu
  Ananth Krishnan on Twitter: “Deliberations are continuing on a daily basis between military commanders of India and China on the ground in addition to other channels of communication to resolve the situation along the LAC, official sources said.”
• Hangzhou’s plan for permanent virtual health passports triggers uproar
• City’s plan for permanent ‘health codes’ sparks online backlash / Sixth Tone

Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou have announced plans to launch a health-tracking QR code for monitoring people’s health status at all times — regardless of whether there is a public health emergency.

According to an official announcement reported [in Chinese] by local media, the code would be displayed as a color and a numerical score out of 100, based on individuals’ medical records, physical exam results, and lifestyle choices such as smoking and general activity level…

Hangzhou’s move to “normalize the health code practice,” as the city’s health authorities described it, has sparked intense backlash online, with many raising privacy concerns over their health information potentially becoming public knowledge. In a poll [in Chinese] on microblogging platform Weibo, 86% of some 6,600 users voted against the proposal.

• Hangzhou proposes more expansive health code system / TechNode
  As Chinese authorities expand use of health tracking apps, privacy concerns grow / Reuters
• Military defense spending slows as Xi calls for military preparedness
  China defense spending rise at three-decade low, still to grow 6.6% / Reuters
  “China’s defense spending this year will rise at the slowest rate in three decades but will still increase by 6.6% from 2019, as the country grapples with what it sees as growing security threats and a wilting economy.”
  China’s Xi urges preparedness for military combat amid coronavirus epidemic / ABC Australia
  “President Xi Jinping says China will step up its preparedness for armed combat and improve its ability to carry out military tasks, as the coronavirus pandemic is having a profound impact on national security, state media reported.”
• Why did YouTube delete comments about China?
  YouTube deletes comments critical of China’s Communist Party / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “YouTube has been deleting comments critical of China’s ruling party due to a software flaw, the company said on Tuesday in response to criticism of the practice… ‘This appears to be an error in our enforcement systems and we are investigating,’ a YouTube spokesperson said in an email.”
  China Digital Times deputy editor Samuel Wade wrote on Twitter: “Surprised to see this so widely viewed as YouTube bowing to CCP pressure. Why would the CCP demand *this*? Why would YouTube acquiesce in such a bluntly obvious way? *Far* more likely that comment wars escalated into manipulation of the reporting system.”
• Kenya’s solicitor general calls for railway contract to be terminated
  In a dramatic move, Kenya’s solicitor general wants to terminate the SGR’s contract with its Chinese operator / China-Africa Project (porous paywall)
  “Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto is calling for the immediate termination of Kenya Railways’s contract with the Chinese-owned Africa Star Railway Operation Company, two years ahead of the agreement’s scheduled review date.”
  Kenya recommends Chinese company stops running railway / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
  “Kenya’s State Law Office wants the government to stop Chinese company Africa Star Railway Operation Co. from running lines, partly because revenue has been below target, the Sunday Standard newspaper said.”
• African debt relief negotiations
  All eyes on China as Africa spurns G20 debt relief plan / SCMP
  “Some African countries are opting to negotiate debt relief individually with China and other rich nations because of concerns they will be blocked from financial markets by the G20 debt deal to help poorer countries get through the economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic.”
• Three Chinese nationals killed in Zambian robbery
  Three Chinese nationals murdered and their Lusaka warehouse burned in apparent robbery / China-Africa Project (porous paywall)
• U.S. officials considered resuming nuclear tests
  U.S. security officials ‘considered return to nuclear testing’ after 28-year hiatus / Guardian

U.S. officials have debated whether to carry out the first U.S. nuclear tests in 28 years as a way to pressure Russia and China into making a trilateral arms control deal, according congressional aides and former officials.

They said the discussion took place at a “deputies meeting” of senior national security officials at the White House on 15 May, but that the proposal was shelved for the time being.

• NPC to vote on civil code on Thursday…  
  After six decades, countdown to vote on China’s draft civil code / SCMP

A six-decade legislative marathon is coming to a close, with China’s lawmakers preparing to vote on a draft civil code that observers said would reaffirm Beijing’s commitment to people’s property rights.

On Monday, nearly 3,000 deputies of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, assembled at the Great Hall of the People to scrutinise the draft legislation described as a centrepiece of the legal reforms undertaken by President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平. The NPC deputies will cast their votes on the draft at the closing session of their annual meeting on Thursday…

The new law, which covers property, contracts, personal rights, marriage and family, inheritance and torts, has received nearly 900,000 public comments since the NPC started its annual session last week. Most comments focused on issues such as renewal of land leases and how to handle divorces.

• …As lawmakers call for changes to disease reporting, smoking bans
  Ban all Chinese officials from smoking at work, lawmaker urges / SCMP
  “China should ban government officials from smoking at work to highlight the poor implementation of tobacco control measures, according to a proposal to China’s top legislature.”
  Wuhan lawmaker urges China to fix disease reporting and privacy flaws / SCMP

A Chinese lawmaker from the initial epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic is proposing changes to national legislation to remedy reporting and privacy flaws exposed by the crisis.

[A] National People’s Congress deputy from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, will submit a motion to the legislature to amend the infectious disease prevention and treatment law, according to a report by news site ThePaper.cn.

• U.S. needs to abandon hope of changing China — China’s foreign minister
  Beijing urges U.S. to drop ‘wishful thinking’ of changing China / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

The U.S. should give up its “wishful thinking” of changing China, Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅 said, warning that some in America were pushing relations to a “new Cold War.”

“China has no intention to change the U.S., nor to replace the U.S. It is also wishful thinking for the U.S. to change China,” Wang said Sunday during his annual news briefing on the sidelines of National People’s Congress meetings in Beijing. He also criticized the U.S. for slowing its nuclear negotiations with North Korea and warned it not to cross Beijing’s “red line” on Taiwan.

• China tells U.S. to stop taking them ‘to the brink of a new Cold War’ / Washington Post (porous paywall)
• Uyghurs celebrate Eid in exile
  ‘I miss my homeland’: fearful Uyghurs celebrate Eid in exile in Turkey / Guardian

Celebrating the Muslim holiday is a freedom Gül and her four children did not have at home in the northwestern Chinese territory of Xinjiang, the Uyghur homeland, where over the last few years the authorities have suffocated the ethnic minority’s cultural practices and turned the entire region into a police state subject to strict surveillance even inside their homes.

• Trump aide accuses China of large-scale COVID-19 cover-up
  Trump aide claims China guilty of cover-up akin to Chernobyl / Guardian

The White House on Sunday accused China of a cover-up that will “go down in history along with Chernobyl”, ramping up efforts to deflect attention from a COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. fast closing on 100,000.

Robert O’Brien, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, made the claim on two political talk shows, saying Beijing gave “false information” to the World Health Organization (WHO) at the start of the year and alleging that stonewalling of an investigation into the origins of the pandemic has cost “many, many thousands of lives in America and around the world.”

• Belt and Road controversy in Australia
  ‘We will simply disconnect’: Mike Pompeo and the Australian TV appearance that caused a diplomatic storm / Guardian

Imagine the surprise in the U.S. state department and in the halls of power in Australia, then, when Pompeo appeared to leave open the possibility of suspending some forms of information sharing with Australia, a steadfast American ally, over the state of Victoria’s possible future involvement with Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.

• Glamorous Chinese businesswoman, 33, played a key role in Daniel Andrews’ Victoria deal with Beijing / Daily Mail

A young businesswoman has emerged as a key figure behind the controversial trade deal between Victoria and China.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been widely criticised for joining the Belt and Road Initiative, which provides loans and investment in infrastructure projects from the Chinese government.

Victoria is the only Australian state to sign up, and did so despite the disapproval of the federal government and warnings from security agencies.

As the chief executive of the Australia-China Belt and Road Initiative company, Jean Dong, 33, had a big part to play in securing the deal.

• Europe needs to improve its China strategy — EU’s top diplomat
  EU’s top diplomat calls for ‘more robust’ stance on China as U.S. power starts to wane / AP via SCMP

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told a gathering of German ambassadors on Monday that “analysts have long talked about the end of an American-led system and the arrival of an Asian century. This is now happening in front of our eyes.”

Borrell said the COVID-19 pandemic could be seen as a turning point in the power shift from West to East, and that for the EU the “pressure to choose sides is growing.”

• China warns Canada ahead of Huawei court decision
  Days before B.C. court decision on Huawei’s Meng, China threatens ‘damage’ to relations with Canada / The Globe and Mail (paywall)
  China warns of ‘continuous harm’ to relations with Canada unless Meng Wanzhou is released / Global News (Canada)

China is warning Canada to release Huawei executive Mèng Wǎnzhōu 孟晚舟 to avoid “any continuous harm” to relations between the two countries one day before the British Columbia Supreme Court is set to issue a key decision in her extradition case.

“The Canadian side should immediately correct its mistake, release Ms. Meng and ensure her safe return to China at an early date so as to avoid any continuous harm to China-Canada relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚 said Tuesday.

• U.S. and Chinese ambassadors to Poland engage in Twitter scrap
  The new U.S.-China battlefield over the COVID-19 narrative: Poland / The Diplomat
  “Largely via Twitter, the U.S. and Chinese ambassadors to Poland have engaged in a fierce debate over COVID-19.”
• Anger as Chinese stranded overseas
  ‘We are abandoned’: Chinese stranded overseas protest Beijing’s flight ban / Inkstone
  “Despite their willingness to pay for expensive flights and endure a two-week quarantine in a hotel, some Chinese citizens abroad are effectively blocked from returning home owing to China’s strict limits on the number of inbound flights.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Obituary: Stanley Ho 何鴻燊 (Hé Hóngshēn) dies
  Hong Kong casino tycoon Stanley Ho dies aged 98 / AFP via Hong Kong Free Press
• Proposed ban on single women freezing eggs sparks debate
  Proposed ban on single women freezing eggs gets chilly reception / Sixth Tone

A motion that would effectively keep single women from having their eggs frozen has sparked intense discussion after being put forward at China’s congressional meetings.

Sūn Wěi 孙伟, a fertility doctor in the eastern Shandong province and a delegate of the National People’s Congress, proposed the motion Monday during the ongoing “two sessions” — high-profile meetings of China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies — in Beijing. According to the motion, hospitals would be barred from providing egg-freezing services to single women.

• Video: What happens to China’s empty villages
  The artist giving China’s ghost villages a second life / Sixth Tone
  Photographer Guō Guózhù 郭国柱 looks at what happens to the villages that have been left behind as a result of mass urbanization and migration.
• COVID-19 and millennials’ shifting priorities
  China’s cash-strapped millennials embrace a new trend: thrift / Sixth Tone

Like their peers in the West, young people in China are often stereotyped as lavish spenders, and research indicates [in Chinese] that those born after 1990 are less focused on stability and more concerned with self-expression and getting the most out of life. But the younger generations have also been hit hardest by the economic fallout from COVID-19 — and this is leading many to reassess their priorities.

• The amputee turned professional dancer
  Boy who lost a leg in China’s 2008 Sichuan earthquake now dances to inspire / SCMP
• China’s LGBT surrogacy industry
  China’s LGBT parents find family and joy through surrogacy / SCMP
  “For many in the LGBT community in mainland China, surrogacy overseas is the only way to become a parent. Adoption is extremely difficult, reproductive technologies are limited to married couples and there is no legal framework for surrogacy in China.”
• Crisis really does mean opportunity, according to Xi
  努力在危机中育新机、于变局中开新局 / CCTV
  “Work hard to produce new opportunities during crises, and open new doors amid turbulent situations.”
  Simon Rabinovitch on Twitter: “Amid all the grim news, this is trifling. But I regret to tell all those who’ve fought long & hard against ‘the Chinese characters for crisis mean danger + opportunity’ cliche: Xi has spoken, and he’s used 机 alone to mean opportunity. No turning back now.”
• Chinese proficiency test system to be overhauled
  China’s HSK language test to be overhauled for the first time in 11 years / The Beijinger