Highlighted Links for Monday, November 14, 2022

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

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Chinese EV makers want Tesla’s scalp
  The EV rivals aiming for Tesla’s crown in China / WSJ (paywall)
  “Chinese EV makers are launching models designed to compete against Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y, with features tailored for Chinese buyers.”
  Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW and other auto majors show off new EVs at the 2022 China import expo / TechNode
  BYD takes commanding EV patent lead among Chinese rivals / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

• Pandemic-stricken Cathay Pacific closes U.S. base
  Cathay’s pilot exodus persists as pandemic curbs hit morale / FT (paywall)
  Cathay won’t return to pre-pandemic capacity until ‘end of 2024’ / AFP via HKFP
  Cathay shuts U.S. base, airline’s last overseas outpost / Bloomberg (paywall)

• Chinese solar shipments held up at U.S. border over possible forced labor
  U.S. blocks more than 1,000 solar shipments over Chinese slave labor concerns / Reuters
  “More than 1,000 shipments of solar energy components worth hundreds of millions of dollars have piled up at U.S. ports since June under a new law banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns about slave labor, according to federal customs officials and industry sources.”

• Real estate fortune at top of rich list again
  Country Garden’s Yang retakes crown as China’s richest woman / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Yáng Huìyán 杨惠妍, the chairperson of Country Garden Holdings Co, “is China’s richest woman once again.”

• Chinese firms turn to Switzerland to tap global capital
  Chinese firms embrace Swiss listings as deal pipeline swells / Reuters
  “Battery maker Sunwoda Electronics Co’s debut on the Swiss stock exchange on Monday shines a light on how Chinese firms are tapping global markets outside the United States, as geopolitical tensions make it tougher to raise capital there.”
  Last week on The China Project: Chinese battery makers are setting up in Europe.

• A new head for one of the world’s biggest banks
  Agricultural Bank of China to name Fu Wanjun as president / Caixin (paywall)
  “Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., one of the country’s ‘Big Six’ state-owned commercial lenders, will appoint [Fù Wànjūn 付万军, currently the] president of China Everbright Bank Co. Ltd. as its new president.”

• Foreign financiers pare back on China
  Global banks are quietly cutting China jobs as big bang fizzles / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China’s financial opening that kicked off three years ago was supposed to be the biggest banking play of a lifetime. It’s now at risk of foundering as a slump in deals and growing political tension force global banks to recalibrate their plans to conquer the $56 trillion financial market.”
  BlackRock shelves China bond ETF / FT (paywall)

• Ad revenue is giving TikTok an edge
  TikTok builds itself into an ads juggernaut / NYT (paywall)
  “The Chinese-owned video app’s ad business is thriving, even as a digital advertising slump hurts Meta, Snap and other rivals.”

• U.S.-China chip wars
  China’s chip equipment makers struggle to profit at home from U.S. export controls / FT (paywall)
  “As U.S. export controls bite, Chinese manufacturers of equipment needed to make semiconductors are expected to benefit from a rush of domestic orders, though executives and analysts warn the boost could be shortlived.”
  ASML shrugs off China chip curbs amid strong demand elsewhere / Bloomberg (paywall)

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:

• Will China approve BioNTech for foreigners as the nation’s first mRNA shot?
  China mulls emergency approval of BioNTech vaccine for foreigners, COO says / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China is considering a potential emergency approval of BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine to make it available to foreigners living in the country, the company’s Chief Operating Officer Sierk Poetting said.”
  See also: Yellen encourages vaccinations in China as COVID restrictions slow growth / NYT (paywall)

• No one wants to have babies in China, and Beijing is worried
  As world population hits 8 billion, China frets over too few babies / Reuters

• A man who helped plant over 19 million trees in a Chinese desert
  A Japanese man’s 30-year quest to green a Chinese desert / Sixth Tone
  “Working with locals, Takami Kunio helped plant more than 19 million trees across the Loess Plateau.”

POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

• Another banker arrested for corruption
  Former China Guangfa Bank chairman detained / Caixin (paywall)
  Dǒng Jiànyuè 董建岳, “a former chairman of China Guangfa Bank Co. Ltd., has been detained for suspected severe violations of the law, along with several people close to him, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.”

• Will Chiang Kai-shek’s great-grandson be Taiwan’s next leader?
  Chiang Kai-shek’s great-grandson leads polls in key Taiwan race / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Wayne Chiang, or Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安 Jiǎng Wàn’ān), the great-grandson of former Taiwan leader Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石 Jiǎng Jièshí), “leads polls in the race to be the next mayor of Taipei, as the island prepares for local elections that present a key test” for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文 Cài Yīngwén).

• Xi and Kishida to meet at G20 amid tense relations
  Japan’s PM Kishida to meet China’s Xi on Thursday / Reuters
  “Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet Chinese President [Xí Jìnpíng 习近平] on Thursday, Japan’s top government spokesman said, for talks that come as tensions in Asia have risen over Taiwan and North Korea.”
  Japan PM Kishida criticizes China for sovereignty-violating acts / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

• U.S.’s Yellen lays out talking points with China
  Yellen encourages vaccinations in China as COVID restrictions slow growth / NYT (paywall)
  Speaking at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen “said on Monday that she hopes China is able to roll out a more effective vaccination campaign to combat the coronavirus.”
  Yellen to seek clarity from China on COVID, property, Treasury officials say / Reuters
  “Yellen said President Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power in China had brought uncertainty over the direction of economic policy in that country, making it important to re-open the lines of communication between Washington and Beijing.”
  Yellen unfamiliar with new China economy heads, policy direction / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Yellen calls for ‘stabilizing’ U.S. relations with China ahead of G20 / NYT (paywall)
  U.S. seeks closer ties with India as tension with China and Russia builds / NYT (paywall)

• China to strengthen ties with Southeast Asia
  China’s Li says nation to boost trade cooperation with ASEAN / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “China and Southeast Asian countries will step up cooperation in trade, industrialization, the digital economy, energy transition and modern agriculture, according to Chinese Premier [Lǐ Kèqiáng 李克强].”

• Saudi Arabia seeks stronger trade ties with China
  Trade and security on agenda for Xi visit to Saudi Arabia, Saudi minister says / Reuters
  “Strengthening trade ties and regional security will be priorities in an upcoming visit by Chinese leader [Xí Jìnpíng 习近平] to Saudi Arabia, Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said on Saturday.”

• Canada keeps talking tough on China
  Justin Trudeau’s government sharpens criticism of China / NYT (paywall)
  “Mr. Trudeau and his cabinet ministers are calling on democracies to increasingly turn their backs on China and other autocratic nations.”

• Is Beijing hiring private investigators to target dissidents in America?
  Iran and China use private detectives to spy on dissidents in America / NYT (paywall)
  “The U.S. investigators are hired under false pretenses by authoritarian governments to do their ‘dirty work,’ the F.B.I. says.”

• Foreigners barred from leaving under Beijing’s controversial exit bans
  Dozens of Americans are barred from leaving China, adding to tensions / WSJ (paywall)
  “Californian Henry Cai, who got into a business dispute, has been targeted by exit bans for nearly five years.”

• Sherry Chen, the scientist wrongly accused of spying for Beijing, settles in court
  Wrongly fired Chinese-American scientist settles cases for nearly $2 million / SCMP (paywall)
  “The settlement for Sherry Chen [陈霞芬 Chén Xiáfēn], formerly a National Weather Service hydrologist, ends a decade-long odyssey that began when she was charged with spying for Beijing.”

• China cracks down on child abusers
  China says lifetime teaching ban for those harming minors / Sixth Tone
  “China has released a new set of guidelines further reiterating measures to ban individuals with a history of harming children from working in jobs requiring close contact with them.”

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Chinese students are still the top international pipeline for U.S. schools
  ‘They want American degrees’: China No 1 provider of overseas students to US / SCMP (paywall)
  “Despite soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing, China continued to send more students to study at U.S. universities last year than any other nation, according to an annual State Department survey made public on Monday.”
  Chinese students in U.S. plummet as COVID, tensions create barriers / Nikkei Asia (paywall)

• Women’s mixed martial arts champion
  Zhang Weili wins back 115-pound U.F.C. championship / NYT (paywall)
  Zhāng Wěilì 张伟丽 “regained the women’s strawweight championship that she had previously lost.”

• Role-playing games sneak in lessons for kids under Beijing’s tutoring ban
  Kids’ role-playing games: New learning tool or tutoring in disguise? / Sixth Tone
  “The new genre is attracting parents wanting to indulge their children in largely prohibited extracurricular lessons.”

• Art and outrage under COVID-zero lockdowns
  Pandemic lockdowns inspire Chinese artists / Nikkei Asia (paywall)
  “Shanghai’s harsh COVID-19 restrictions recorded for posterity.”
  Harsh COVID measures for local shop owners go viral on Chinese social media / What’s on Weibo
  “There’s online outrage about excessive and senseless COVID anti-epidemic measures in Heilongjiang after two shop incidents went viral.”

• Archaeology adventures
  Confessions of a tomb reader / Sixth Tone
  “The author, an archaeologist based in East China, on the perils and pleasures of a career digging up graves.”