As South Korean companies suffer in China, politicians fight back
Top business and technology news for April 4, 2017. Part of the daily The China Project news roundup "Chinese state media asks: Is there nepotism in the White House?"
Anti-Korean sentiment in China continues to run high, and South Korean politicians are becoming increasingly vocal in condemning China’s unofficial boycotts of imports from their country. Last week, the South Korean ambassador to China distributed a letter to multiple ministries in Beijing calling for an end to retaliation against the South Korean company Lotte — see this Wall Street Journal report (paywall) for details. Furthermore, all but one of 189 South Korean lawmakers in attendance at a national legislative meeting voted for a resolution denouncing Chinese restrictions on tourism and regulations against South Korea.
Adding to South Korea’s China woes, sources told Reuters that both Kia and Hyundai had recently cut shifts in their production plants in China. It is a response to what one source claimed was a combined 52 percent sales slump in China for the companies in March relative to a year ago.
- Xi’s crackdown on corruption is a boon to corporate China / Financial Times (paywall)
- China’s ‘bad banks’ thrive as alternative lenders / Financial Times (paywall)
- A key path to plum finance jobs in China is being closed off as banks get more automated / Quartz
- Warren Buffett’s face will adorn cans of Cherry Coke in China / Bloomberg
