Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- China’s People Problem Swings From Too Many to a ‘Decline That Sees No End’ — Latest census results signal that Beijing faces the risk of declining growth unless it makes changes to policies discouraging births and immigration.
- Volvo Cars to Explore Possible IPO — Swedish auto maker owned by China’s Geely has discussed going public for some time.
The Financial Times
- Pentagon delays report on Chinese companies with military ties — Biden set to decide whether to keep Trump-era blacklist of sensitive groups.
- US-China tech war: Beijing’s secret chipmaking champions — How Washington’s sanctions boosted its trade rival’s semiconductor sector.
- US accuses China of operating ‘open-air prison’ in Xinjiang — State department points to Beijing’s ‘ambitious’ surveillance effort to crack down on ‘entire region’.
The New York Times
- Rolling Blackouts Hit Taiwan After Accident at Power Plant — Several cities, including the capital, Taipei, were affected by outages after a grid failure in the southern city of Kaohsiung. Power was restored in the evening.
Caixin
- Apple Peels Off China Market Share From Sinking Huawei — iPhone sales in the world’s largest market surged 160% in the first quarter as the U.S. tech giant consolidated its control over high-end models.
- Leshi and Fugitive Founder Jia Yueting Sued for Fraud — First shareholder suit accepted by new Beijing Financial Court builds on fraud findings and penalties by China’s top securities regulator.
- U.S. Senate Advances Bill That Would Ban TikTok from Government Devices — A senior U.S. lawmaker who labeled TikTok a national security threat due to its alleged ties to the Chinese government, said Wednesday that his bill designed to prohibit federal employees from downloading the short video app onto government devices had unanimously passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
South China Morning Post
- China population: state pension fund under pressure from ‘unprecedented challenge’ as nation gets older — This is the fifth in a series of stories about China’s once-a-decade census conducted in 2020. The world’s most populous nation released its national demographic data on Tuesday, and the figures will have far-reaching social policy and economic implications.
- Taiwan to boost spending by US$7.5 billion as Covid-19 cases rise — Taiwan’s government on Thursday proposed an extra NT$210 billion (US$7.5 billion) in spending to help the economy deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, as it reported 13 new domestic cases amid a rare spike in infections that has spooked the stock market.
- China-Australia relations: coal shipments continue but remain stuck off Chinese coast amid ban — Australian miners have continued shipping small amounts of coal to China since the start of the year despite an unofficial ban on their coal imports, and those shipments have not been cleared by Chinese customs to enter the country.
Bloomberg
- Alibaba Targets 30% Revenue Growth After First Loss Since 2012 — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. forecast 2022 revenue that beat estimates, signaling it’s moving past a bruising antitrust investigation that dragged it into the red for the first time in nine years.
- Jack Ma’s Ant Posted $3.4 Billion Profit After IPO Halt — Ant Group Co.’s profit rose to $3.4 billion in the December quarter after Chinese regulators thwarted its record initial public offering and told it to scale back its sprawling business.
- U.S. Sanctions Chinese Official as It Decries Rights Violations — The Biden administration announced sanctions on a Chinese official over human rights violations, including the arbitrary detention of a Falun Gong practitioner, as it decried the country’s persecution of religious groups from Tibet to Xinjiang.
- Senate Panel Advances Bill to Counter China in Bipartisan Vote — The Senate Commerce Committee advanced legislation aimed at ramping up federal support for U.S. research and development in the aim of better competing with China.
- China Denies Report Economic Envoy to U.S. Might Be Replaced — China isn’t considering replacing Vice Premier Liu He as the top economic envoy to the U.S., the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday, denying a media report that the change was under consideration in Beijing.
- Hong Kong Looks to Expand Cross-Border Tests of Digital Yuan — Hong Kong is in talks with China to expand cross-border testing of the digital yuan after the first phase proceeded smoothly, another step toward wider adoption of the currency.
Reuters
- Mosques disappear as China strives to ‘build a beautiful Xinjiang’ — The Jiaman mosque in the city of Qira, in the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang, is hidden behind high walls and Communist Party propaganda signs, leaving passersby with no indication that it is home to a religious site.
- China will have to do more if it wants to cool iron ore surge: Russell — LAUNCESTON, Australia (Reuters) -If China wants to temper the red-hot iron ore and steel sectors it’s likely going to have to do more than just talk and tinker around the margins.
- China Evergrande plans sale of $1.4 billion Evergrande Vehicle shares — China Evergrande Group placed 260 million shares, or 2.66% of issued share capital, of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd for HK$10.6 billion ($1.36 billion), the Chinese property developer said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse on Thursday.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China census called into question over 14m ‘mystery’ children — Puzzling birth numbers draw criticism over Beijing’s family planning policy.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Glencore boss warns of future China dominance in electric vehicles — US and Europe risk being left behind unless they secure cobalt supplies for batteries, says Ivan Glasenberg.
- New Yorker: How a Sexual-Harassment Suit May Test the Reach of #MeToo in China — Zhou Xiaoxuan’s case against a well-known television personality is unfolding under a system that remains skeptical, even hostile, toward such allegations.
- AP News: Kerry: US weighs sanctions on China solar over forced labor — The Biden administration is considering sanctions over China’s alleged use of forced labor in production of solar panels and other components in renewable energy, climate envoy John Kerry told lawmakers Wednesday.
- POLITICO: Kerry says trusting China on climate would be ‘stupid and malpractice’ — “It’s not a matter of taking things by trust,” Kerry said. “It would be stupid and malpractice if we just set up a sort of trust thing.”
- Washington Post: Opinion: Mitt Romney: We can’t look away from China’s existential threat — When President James Garfield was shot in 1881, the wound should not have been fatal.
- Axios: Exclusive: Lawmakers urge Biden administration to work with China on adoptions — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is urging the State Department to help American families waiting to be united with their adoptive children in China.
