Links for Wednesday, May 26, 2021

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

Chinese companies doing big business in big Africa
China-backed African digital startup OPay raising $400 million to fuel expansion / The Information (subscription)
“OPay, an African digital payment upstart founded by [Zhōu Yàhuī 周亚辉] the Chinese tech billionaire who once owned Grindr, is in talks with investors to raise as much as $400 million at a valuation of more than $1.5 billion, three times its most recent valuation, two people familiar with the matter said.”
Can C-dramas find an audience in Africa? / Sixth Tone

New tech IPOs — fresh veg and music
Chinese veggie supplier Meicai files confidentially for U.S. IPO / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Meicai, a Chinese startup that connects restaurants with vegetable producers, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the U.S.”
NetEase’s music app files for $1 billion Hong Kong IPO / Bloomberg (paywall)
Cloud Village Inc. filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange today.

Uniqlo says “no evidence of forced labor”
After the Uyghur forced labor row, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection banned the import of apparel that uses cotton from the Xinjiang region. Imports into the U.S. from Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo were blocked as a result.

• Yesterday, Uniqlo said, per Nikkei, that it has “no direct deal” with Bingtuan a.k.a. the XPCC, a military-owned Xinjiang company suspected of using forced labor.
• Uniqlo said, “There is no evidence of forced labor in our supply chain,” so “there should be no problem with importing these products into the United States.”

Tesla builds data centers in China to comply with local standards
Tesla is building a new data storage center in the mainland to comply with Beijing’s rules on data storage and in anticipation of laws banning data generated by smart cars from being transferred overseas, reports Nikkei Asia.

• Tesla says (in Chinese) that the center will store all data generated by vehicles sold on the Chinese mainland.
• Tesla also announced it will open the data to the public — a reaction to the brake scandal at the Shanghai Auto Show last month.

TikTok share buyback
TikTok owner ByteDance launches share buyback after shelving IPO plans — sources / Reuters via CNA
“ByteDance, the Chinese owner of short video platform giant TikTok, launched a share buyback this week for current and former employees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.”

New gaming companies
Upstarts shake Tencent’s hold on China’s gaming industry / Caixin (paywall)
“One of the brightest rising stars is Shanghai-based miHoYo, developer of the popular fantasy game Genshin Impact. Launched in September 2019, the free-to-play open-world adventure has scored success both inside and outside of China.”

Xiaomi and Pinduoduo make boatloads of money
China’s Xiaomi shrugs off COVID-19 and Trump / WSJ (paywall)
Xiaomi’s global smartphone market share rose from 10% in the second quarter last quarter, just before the Huawei sanctions kicked in, to 14% last quarter, according to Counterpoint Research. Xiaomi’s revenue last quarter rose 55% year over year while its gross profit grew 87%, the company said Wednesday.
Xiaomi revenue surges 55% in Q1, fills market gap left by Huawei / Reuters via CNA
U.S. judge issues final order removing Xiaomi from China military banned list / Caixin (paywall)
Pinduoduo’s active buyers inch ahead of rivals as e-commerce giant’s quarterly revenue more than triples / SCMP (paywall)
拼多多年活跃买家数达8.24亿 / 36Kr

Online education makes money as industry prepares for huge government crackdown
Online tutor firm 17 Education reports widening loss, but staggering revenue growth / Caixin
“Chinese online tutoring company 17 Education and Technology Group reported widening losses in the first quarter, even as revenue more than doubled.”
IPO ban coming for private education stocks? / Caixin (paywall)
Context on the crackdown on The China Project: Beijing slaps private tutoring companies with $80,000 maximum penalty

Crazy times in crypto
Chinese bitcoin traders wield ‘enormous influence’ despite crackdown / CNBC
China’s Inner Mongolia escalates crackdown on cryptomining / Reuters

U.S.-China trade tensions
China still behind on buying enough U.S. goods for trade deal / CNBC
China takes steps against corn import flows in free trade zones / Bloomberg (paywall)
The coming U.S.-China race over 5G in cars / WSJ (paywall)

No worries, mate
Australia shrugs off China trade dispute and opens new markets / FT (paywall)

Autonomous vehicles
Meituan, JD.com get green light to trial unmanned delivery vehicles in Beijing / Caixin

Yuan rally and commodity price surge
China’s yuan rally fuels central bank debate on using currency appreciation to fight commodity price surge / SCMP (paywall)
China’s yuan hits strongest level in nearly three years / WSJ (paywall)
China bars banks from selling commodities-linked products to retail buyers — sources / Reuters
China tries to temper rising commodity prices / WSJ (paywall)

China’s quest for domestic chips
SigmaStar is eyeing $780 million IPO in Shanghai as China’s semiconductor industry raises capital to expand / SCMP (paywall)

The huge market for China’s domestic satellite positioning system
China’s Beidou navigation system to serve $156 billion home market by 2025 / Reuters

The new plutocrats
Old-school tycoons of Hong Kong are losing to China’s moguls / Bloomberg (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

Sea level rise
China says its sea levels have risen 3.4 mm a year from 1980-2020 / Reuters
“China’s coastal sea waters have risen by 3.4 millimeters [0.13 inches] per annum over the 1980-2020 period and hit their third highest level on record last year, the country’s environment ministry said on Wednesday.”

Greenwashing
China’s ‘Green bonds’ often look more like regular bonds / WSJ (paywall)
“In some cases, up to half the proceeds go to financing companies’ day-to-day operations.”

Marine conservation
China is setting up its first marine national parks / China Dialogue
“The Changdao archipelago marks the threshold between the Bohai and Yellow seas. It is already home to nine national protected areas, including marine parks, geoparks and reserves for birds and marine mammals.”

COVID-19
Inquiry into COVID-19’s origins splits U.S. and China / WSJ (paywall)
COVID-19 vaccine makers press countries to oppose patent waiver / WSJ (paywall)

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

U.S. government language on Tibet and Tibetan exiles
Biden is continuing the Trump administration’s revised stance on Tibet / Foreign Policy (paywall)

The State Department’s human rights report had routinely adopted language that affirmed the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan autonomous prefectures, and counties in Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, and Gansu as parts of China. But just a few months into the Biden administration’s tenure, the U.S. State Department’s annual “ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices ” omitted the “[Tibet] as a part of China” portion — a major departure from past reports…

And in an unprecedented feat, State Department spokesperson Ned Price congratulated Penpa Tsering, president-elect of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), in a tweet that stated, “We look forward to working with him and the CTA to support the global Tibetan diaspora.”

Taiwan
Taiwan’s foreign minister says China is ‘preparing for war.’ Here’s Taiwan’s response plan / PBS
Joseph Wu (吳釗燮 Wú Zhāoxiè) told PBS: “If you look at the track record of the last few years, the last two or three years, we have been able to get what we need for Taiwan to be able to defend itself.”

Serbia ♥️ China
‘Comrade Xi’ statue? Serbia wants to thank its friends in China / Bloomberg (paywall)
“First came billions of dollars of investment, then millions of doses of vaccines. Now there’s a campaign for Serbia to thank China in a way that harks back to a bygone era: by building a statue to ‘Comrade Xi.’”

North Korea may not ♥️ China, but it needs it
Chinese trade provides boost to North Korea’s battered economy / FT (paywall)

Hong Kong after national security law
Hong Kong lawmakers set to pass Beijing-drafted election revamp / Bloomberg (paywall)
“Hong Kong’s opposition-free legislature is expected to approve sweeping changes to the city’s electoral system ordered by the Chinese leadership, dramatically curtailing the ability of dissenting voices to participate in government.”
Thousands of pupils withdraw from school with many leaving Hong Kong, survey finds / SCMP (paywall)
“Professional Teachers’ Union describes withdrawal figures as unusual and said contributing factors may include concerns over security law and education changes.”

Ports, jets, and other security threats from China to the U.S.
Australia reviews China port lease near U.S. military outpost / WSJ (paywall)
“Australian defense officials are reviewing whether a 99-year lease granted to Shandong Landbridge Group in 2015 to operate Darwin Port — in exchange for 506 million Australian dollars, or about $392 million — is a potential national security threat.”
F-35 sale to U.A.E. imperiled over U.S. concerns about ties to China / WSJ (paywall)
“But signs of expanding ties between Beijing and Abu Dhabi have clouded the sale’s future, U.S. officials said, as they seek guarantees about the weapons, including that the Emirates won’t allow the Chinese or others access to the latest American war-fighting technology.”

CPC at 100
At 100, Chinese Communist Party claims credit for the Chinese dream / Axios

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Shanghai architecture and AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca, Shanghai, and the fall of the Qing dynasty / Historic Shanghai
One of the AstraZeneca’s “forerunners had a close association with China in the first half of the 20th century, leaving an architectural legacy in Shanghai — where it even played a role in the abdication of China’s last emperor and the founding of the nation’s first republic in 1912.”

Aftermath of Gansu marathon storm that killed 21 runners
Ultramarathon victims’ families offered $148,000 in compensation / Sixth Tone
See also: 2 mountain climbers missing in China / Apple Daily

How young people are dealing with China’s brutal rat race
Young Chinese reject rat race, embrace ‘lying flat’ / Caixin
In ‘involuted’ China, eating disorders are a hidden epidemic / Sixth Tone