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
- To Achieve ‘Common Prosperity,’ Xi Jinping Seeks to Scale China’s ‘Three Big Mountains’ — The rising costs to Chinese households of education, healthcare and housing are campaign’s focus.
- China Fortifies Its Borders With a ‘Southern Great Wall,’ Citing Covid-19 — Barbed wire, lights and cameras spring up, changing life for locals and making trade cumbersome.
- Putin, Xi Will Put Partnership Against U.S. on Display at Olympics — Meeting between Russian and Chinese leaders comes amid Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine.
- JD.com Founder Donates More Than $2 Billion in Stock — CEO Richard Liu is the latest Chinese billionaire to make a sizable donation to charity during Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on the country’s tech sector.
The Financial Times
- China CSI 300 index’s ‘most significant rebalancing’ tilts to industrials — JPMorgan notes shift to growth and Goldman Sachs cites tailwind from ‘common prosperity’ goal.
- Beijing Olympics: the new front line in the US-China cold war — Multinational sponsors have been accused of ignoring the plight of more than 1mn Uyghur Muslims detained in China.
The New York Times
- At Beijing Olympics, Question of Free Speech Looms Over Athletes — An Olympic rule and warnings from the Chinese government have made it risky for athletes to speak out at these Games.
- Freeskier Eileen Gu Will Compete for China in the Olympics — Born in San Francisco, she’ll compete in the Olympics for China, her mother’s native country. Can an 18-year-old freeskier be all things to all people in a fractured world?
- Winter Olympics Open Amid Walls, Masks and Clouds of Disinfectant — With few spectators and strict security to separate China’s population from Olympic visitors, the Games are subdued.
- Year of the Tiger Overshadows the Olympic Panda — In Beijing, the Lunar New Year has been a bigger preoccupation for many residents, while others have gone back to their hometowns for the holiday.
- Putin to Meet Xi in Beijing Ahead of Winter Olympics — Russia’s president did not mention Ukraine, but said he and China’s leader would coordinate foreign policy “based on close and coinciding approaches.”
- Thomas Bach, I.O.C. President, Says He Will Meet Peng Shuai at the Games — The I.O.C. president declined to discuss China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, saying that political statements “put the Olympics at risk.”
- Wrapped in Ice, Mascot for Winter Olympics Is a Panda Known as Bing — Organizers chose Bing Dwen Dwen from more than 5,800 designs. The character is wrapped in a protective layer of ice mimicking a winter suit.
- Grindr is Pulled From Apple’s App Store in China — The dating app removed itself from Apple’s platform in China because of concerns over data regulations.
Caixin
- Analysis: What’s Behind Nickel’s Sudden Market Volatility? — While many have pointed to new supply entering the market, observers say it may have more to do with speculators.
- Exclusive: Japan’s Largest Utility Firm Starts Chinese Subsidiary, Eyes LNG Projects — Slated to operate from the second quarter of 2022, JERA’s Beijing consultancy aims to develop projects in the LNG value chain, an industry source says.
- Troubled EV-Maker Faraday Future Punishes Executives for Releasing Fake Data Before 2021 Listing — The California-based carmaker says an internal investigation found no evidence of other claims of inaccurate disclosures, including those made in a short seller report.
South China Morning Post
- UN accused of colluding with China to delay Xinjiang human rights report until after Beijing Winter Olympics — Leaked documents show China’s negotiating position over an inspection of Xinjiang has not changed for years, amid criticism of a ‘mutually convenient stalemate.’
- Can China’s home-grown mRNA Covid-19 vaccine pass its final tests? — China has moved a step closer to developing a home-grown mRNA vaccine against Covid-19, with the publication of early trial results for its prime candidate ARCoV.
- Chinese tech tycoon Richard Liu of JD.com donates US$2 billion amid Beijing’s pursuit of ‘common prosperity’ — Richard Liu Qiangdong, founder and chief executive of Chinese e-commerce juggernaut JD.
Bloomberg
- The Assault on Apple Daily — The demise of Jimmy Lai’s newspaper shows how far China will go to bring Hong Kong into line. By Iain Marlow
- Nigeria Gives Up Waiting for China Eximbank Railway Loan — Nigeria said it won’t wait any longer for the Export-Import Bank of China to finance a major part of a crucial railway project in Africa’s biggest economy.
- Congo’s Kabila Family Made Millions Off Toll Road Built by China — Audits allege $238 million paid to transport cobalt and copper have gone missing.
Reuters
- U.S. House China competition bill heads to passage this week — Joe Biden’s administration has been working to persuade Congress to approve the bill, which includes $52 billion to subsidize semiconductor manufacturing and research.
- Biden plans ‘several’ stops on Asia trip, region to remain focus – U.S. official — It will be his first to the region as president and include a summit with three key regional allies in Japan, a senior administration official told Reuters. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, declined to give details of the other stops in the region.
- U.S. House Speaker Pelosi to testify at hearing on China Thursday — The panel is holding a hearing titled “the Beijing Olympics and the Faces of Repression” in an effort “to give a platform to voices working on behalf of the abused and repressed in China, including civil society, human rights defenders, the people of Hong Kong, Uyghurs, and Tibetans.”
Other Publications
- The Economist: China’s ski industry faces an avalanche of risks — Developers have ploughed mountains of money into the snow business. Will it melt away?
- The Economist: China may soon become a high-income country — Has it truly escaped the middle-income trap?
- Associated Press: For Uyghur torchbearer, China’s Olympic flame has gone dark — Kamaltürk Yalqun was one of several students chosen to help carry the Olympic flame ahead of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. Yalqun recalls being proud to participate in China’s first Olympics. Those feelings vanished after his father disappeared.
- Associated Press: Riled up by torchbearer, India skips China Olympics opening — India will not attend Friday’s opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, after one of the torchbearers reportedly chosen by Chinese authorities riled up New Delhi’s anger.
- Quartz: A new TV show will tell China’s yet-to-be realized path to becoming a semiconductor power — A promotional poster for The Silicon Waves(纵横芯海), a 40-episode TV series, was released online in late December, prompting excitement from Chinese media who dubbed the show the country’s “first workplace TV show about semiconductors.”
- The Washington Post: Opinion: Olympic athletes are getting ready to boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing — Olympic athletes from multiple countries have been quietly preparing to boycott the Opening Ceremonies, according to human rights activists who have been helping to educate and organize them. By Josh Rogin
