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
- Chinese Stockpile Food as Covid-19 Concerns Ripple Out From Shanghai — Residents across China bracing for the prospect of Shanghai-like lockdowns raid supermarket shelves as Omicron cases spread.
- From a Chinese Internment Camp to the U.S., a Former Xinjiang Detainee Makes a Rare Escape — Ovalbek Turdakun was aided by a Canadian surveillance analyst and an unlikely assortment of Americans after spending months in an internment camp.
- Global Trade Hit by Ukraine War, China Lockdowns — European consumers curbed spending as energy prices surged; Chinese factories slowed as authorities battled Covid-19 outbreaks.
- Shanghai Factory Closures Mount as Covid-19 Lockdowns Hit Supply Chains — Pegatron, the second-largest assembler of iPhones, suspends work at two plants.
- U.S. and Chinese Bond Yields Converge, Reversing a Decadelong Pattern — China’s formerly large yield advantage has disappeared.
- Australia Asks Solomon Islands to Abandon China Security Pact — Australian minister visits Honiara to voice concerns over pact that could allow Chinese warships to dock in Pacific nation.
The Financial Times
- Shanghai lockdown stokes global supply chains anxiety — Electronic manufacturers halt production after restrictions extended beyond China’s biggest city.
- LVMH sales jump despite fresh Covid-19 lockdowns in China — World’s biggest luxury group enjoys resilient first-quarter sales, helped by best-known brands.
- The rest of the world should watch what is happening in Shanghai — Covid lockdown in China’s biggest city will have global economic reverberations.
The New York Times
- China’s ‘Zero-Covid’ Mess Proves Autocracy Hurts Everyone — The fear in China is that the strict coronavirus policy has become another Mao-style political campaign with devastating effects.
- U.S. Report Describes a Global Retreat on Human Rights — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says repressive governments “are growing more brazen” and reaching across borders to target their critics.
Caixin
- Proposal Seeks to Let Mainlanders Trade Hong Kong Stocks in Yuan — A task force has completed a feasibility study to facilitate trades denominated in the currency, a city financial official says.
- Charlie Munger-Linked Firm Unloads Nearly $40 Million in Alibaba Stock — Daily Journal slashes its holdings in the Chinese e-commerce giant by half, cashing in more than 300,000 shares.
- Foreign Investors Cut China Bond Holdings at Record Pace — March unwinding after February decline reflects vanishing yield advantage over the U.S. and concerns about rising geopolitical risk.
- Lithium Price Drops First Time in Eight Months Amid Covid Disruptions — Extended pandemic lockdowns by automakers weighs on demand as rising supplies work to stabilize the market.
South China Morning Post
- Chinese semiconductor imports fall as self-sufficiency drive shapes up — China’s integrated circuit imports decreased last quarter, after they rose one-third in the first three months of 2021.
- Chinese electric car sales will continue to boom as motorists shrug off price hikes caused by surging lithium battery costs, say analysts — A five-fold surge in lithium prices that has forced green carmakers to lift their prices in the past two months will do little to dim the prospects for electric vehicle (EV) sales in China, analysts said.
- Alibaba Cloud undergoes leadership reshuffle, report says, joining China’s tech industry upheaval — Alibaba Cloud president Ren Geng is stepping down, with vice-president Huang Haiqing set to take over, while Alibaba vice-president Guo Jijun has also resigned.
Nikkei Asia
- China scrambles for cover from West’s financial weapons — Spooked by sanctions on Russia, Beijing looks to build on its own international payments system.
- Stellantis begins reset of joint venture with China’s Dongfeng — State-owned group to take full control of auto finance partnership in $584m deal.
- Hong Kong’s John Lee locks in backing for top job — Former security chief has enough support to succeed Carrie Lam as chief executive.
Bloomberg
- How Keeping Quiet About Politics Helped Uniqlo Become China’s Favorite Fashion Brand — The Yamaguchi-based brand known for functional basics like T-shirts, jeans and thermal underwear secured 1.4% of China’s hugely fragmented $350 billion apparel market in 2021—a larger share than any other single brand
- China Hesitates on Bailing Out Sri Lanka, Pakistan as Debt Soars — Over the past few years, the U.S. has accused China of using “debt diplomacy” to make developing nations across the world more dependent on Beijing.
- Beijing’s Air Pollution Is a Case for Environmental Optimism — China’s progress in reducing pollution in its capital city justifies a little environmental optimism, if only the world would catch up.
Reuters
- Exclusive: China’s oil champion prepares Western retreat over sanctions fear — China’s top offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd. is preparing to exit its operations in Britain, Canada and the United States, because of concerns in Beijing the assets could become subject to Western sanctions, industry sources said.
- Exclusive: BlackRock plans first China ETF product this year – sources — The world’s largest money manager, which thrives on the rise of passive investing with 70% of its $10 trillion global portfolio in ETFs and index funds, will be the first wholly owned foreign fund manager to tap the onshore Chinese ETF market.
- Diversifying supply chains from China ‘probably good for everyone’ – World Bank chief — Speaking at an event in Warsaw, he said China also needed to be part of a value system shared by other countries in the global trading system, and added, “I don’t know that that will happen.”
Other Publications
- The Economist: What China gets wrong — The pandemic, the economy and the war in Ukraine.
- The Economist: The way Chinese think about covid-19 is changing — But the government shows little sign of changing its zero-covid policy.
- The Economist: Xi Jinping’s bold plan for China’s next phase of innovation — If it works, the strategy will redraw the country’s economic map.
- The Economist: How much of a risk is opacity for China’s Shein? — The TikTok of frocks is the world’s hottest fashion retailer.
- Associated Press: Japan, Italy to lift defense ties amid China, Russia worries — Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said he and his Italian counterpart agreed Tuesday to step up military cooperation as Japan expands security ties with Europe amid concern about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on Asia.
- Associated Press: New Zealand court rules suspect can be extradited to China — In a 3-2 decision, the Supreme Court found that China was able to give New Zealand officials sufficient assurance that the accused, Kyung Yup Kim, could get a fair trial and wouldn’t be tortured.
