Links for Tuesday, December 28, 2021

BUSINESS NEWS FROM SUPCHINA A.M.:

Chinese electric cars in the U.S.?
NIO continues building out U.S. go-to-market team / The China Project
“Over the weekend, more than 40 jobs at NIO’s U.S. offices were spotted on LinkedIn, including a few at the team that explicitly works on the company’s U.S. go-to-market strategy..”

Old, lonely, and nationalistic?
New consumption numbers from the National Bureau of Statistics (or see media reports) show that total retail sales of consumer goods in China from January to November amounted to 39.95 trillion yuan ($6.27 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 13.7%. Some interesting details:

• Online retail sales reached 11.87 trillion yuan ($1.86 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 15.4%.
• Sales of seated showers and toilets designed for the elderly grew by 120% and 200%, respectively.
• One-person cookware sales increased by more than 110%.
• Domestic brands of sweaters sold 500% more than the previous year while sales of Hanfu (“traditional” Chinese clothing) grew by 230%.

China’s central bank vows to build a healthy real estate market
China c.bank says to promote healthy development of property market / Reuters

A choppy recovery for Chinese aviation, caused by Beijing’s zero-COVID policy
Overall decline: How China’s aviation recovery faltered in 2021 / Simple Flying
“The only path out would see China ease COVID restrictions, allowing flights to resume normally again. However, there is no timeline for this, and spectators aren’t holding their breath.”

Walmart in trouble over Xinjiang products
Walmart’s China dilemma is every Western company’s, too / WSJ (paywall)
“Walmart is struggling in China after the country’s netizens accused the company of failing to stock products from China’s Xinjiang region, where the government has imprisoned large numbers of the Turkic Uyghur minority.”

China plans to tighten rules on overseas IPOs
China unveils sweeping rules for foreign IPOs in Didi’s wake / Bloomberg
“The regulations, issued by the country’s securities watchdog, commerce ministry and top economic planning agency over the past week, cast more uncertainty over the prospects for overseas initial public offerings that had proceeded virtually unchecked for two decades.”

The end of Ant’s cut rate health insurance service?
Ant Group to close its crowdfunded medical coverage program / WSJ (paywall)
“Ant Group Co. will wind down a popular but controversial “mutual aid” service, which provided crowdfunded medical coverage for many ordinary Chinese citizens but was frowned upon by the country’s insurance regulator.”
Ant Group shuts mutual aid platform Xianghubao amid crackdown / Bloomberg (paywall)

Didi’s woes continue
Didi shares slide to another record low as post-IPO lockup ends / WSJ (paywall)
“Didi Global Inc.’s shares fell to another record low Monday after a “lockup” period expired following its June initial public offering, even as the Chinese ride-hailing company sought to prevent employees from selling their stock.”

Chinese sportswear makers benefit from Nike, Adidas Pain
China sportswear: Fujian Tigers earn their stripes in Nike fight / FT (paywall)
“Nike’s sales in China, still its fastest-growing market, missed expectations in the quarter to May. Consumers boycotted the US sportswear company for refusing to use cotton made in Xinjiang, where forced labour of Uyghur Muslims has reportedly been widespread. Those sales have gone directly to Chinese competitors, mostly Anta and Li-Ning, which support Xinjiang-sourced cotton.”

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

SpaceX vs. Chinese Space Station
China asks US to stop Elon Musk’s satellites approaching its space station / SCMP (paywall)
Chinese social media users blast Elon Musk over near miss in space / FT (paywall)
““Tesla and SpaceX have the same problem, they can’t brake,’ quipped one user on social media platform Weibo. Another Chinese user called Starlink ‘the world’s biggest pile of space junk.’”

China approves more genetically modified (GMO) corn varieties
China to give safety approval to more domestic GMO corn types / Reuters

New satellite to search for minerals
China launches new camera satellite with 5m resolution to find resources / CGTN
“Pictures taken by the satellite duo will help engineers survey China’s geological environment and search for minerals. People working in other areas like transportation, agriculture and disaster mitigation will also receive help from the pictures.”

Crucial time for climate change rethink
In 2021, extreme weather woke China up to climate change / Sixth Tone
“Climate change is increasingly a topic of discussion in China. Sixth Tone’s analysis of a Chinese news database that summarized how often related keywords appeared in media articles showed that such mentions have skyrocketed. In 2019, fewer than 800,000 articles on the subject were published in Chinese media. This figure increased to nearly 1.5 million in 2020 and over 3.2 million this year.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Ma Xingrui makes first impression in Xinjiang
Xinjiang’s new party chief calls for efforts to boost supply chains and improve international business / SCMP (paywall)
“Xinjiang’s new Communist Party secretary Ma Xingrui called for efforts to modernise the region’s supply chains and improve the international business environment, as he made his first tour of the capital, Urumqi, on Monday.”

New charge against Jimmy Lai
Hong Kong prosecutors hit tycoon Jimmy Lai, 6 former Apple Daily employees with fresh sedition charge / SCMP (paywall)
“The new charge alleges that the defendants conspired to print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display or reproduce seditious publications.”

Beijing Olympics boycott
U.S., China squabble over whether lower-level officials attending Olympics constitutes ‘diplomatic boycott’ / Washington Post (paywall)
“China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday had derided the boycott as a ‘farce,’ saying it had received visa applications from U.S. personnel for the 2022 Winter Games, which kick off Feb. 4. But a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said in a statement Tuesday there will be no ‘diplomatic or official representation given [China’s] ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, and other human rights abuses.’”

A breakthrough in Japan-China relations?
Japan and China agree to launch military hotline / FT (paywall)
“Tokyo and Beijing have agreed to set up a military hotline, according to Japanese officials, creating an emergency communication mechanism to defuse potential crises over disputed islands and the Taiwan Strait.”

Nicaragua fully embraces China
Nicaragua seizes former Taiwan embassy to give it to China / AP
“Before departing, Taiwanese diplomats attempted to donate the properties to the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Managua. But Ortega’s government said late Sunday that any such donation would be invalid and that the building in an upscale Managua neighborhood belongs to China.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Food writing
Food and family: A conversation with Fuchsia Dunlop and Qian Jianan / Sixth Tone

More obituaries for historian Jonathan D. Spence
Jonathan Spence, noted China scholar, dies at 85 / NYT (paywall)