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 Insists Party Elites Shed Overseas Assets, Eyeing Western Sanctions on Russia — China’s Communist Party will block promotions for senior cadres whose spouses or children hold significant assets abroad, as Beijing seeks to insulate its top officials from the types of sanctions that are being directed at Russia.
- Beijing Probes Central Banker for Passing Tips to Bond Traders — As part of broader scrutiny on the People’s Bank of China, monetary-policy chief Sun Guofeng is said to face suspicions of leaking economic data.
- Chinese Developers Get State Help to Tap Bond Market — Country Garden, Longfor and Midea Real Estate are making use of credit derivatives to help get new deals done.
The Financial Times
- China bull Baillie Gifford warns of growing threat to foreign investors — Fund manager’s caution comes as Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust reveals hit from tech sell-off.
- Biden bids to boost alliances in Asia and affirm commitment to region — US president visits South Korea and Japan as worries grow Ukraine war has diverted focus from China.
- Defiant Chinese netizens skirt lockdown censorship using blockchain — Growing popularity of decentralised ledger technology presents fresh challenge for country’s censors.
- China’s chaotic regulatory crackdown reflects splits among policymakers — Rival factions vie for influence under Xi Jinping evoking battles of Mao Zedong era.
Caixin
- Chinese Banking Watchdog Says It’s Looking Into Rural Lenders Who Froze Online Services — The police have started an investigation into one shareholder of the village banks on suspicion it raised public funds illegally.
- China Eases Covid-19 Test Rules for Air Travelers From More Countries — The requirements were updated to reflect the ‘current pandemic situation,’ the embassies say.
- China’s Imports of Natural Gas Fall Amid Sluggish Domestic Demand — Importers are less willing to place spot trade orders this year due to high energy prices and the impact of the pandemic, customs administration says.
South China Morning Post
- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang tells provinces to ‘step up’ aid for coronavirus-hit economy — Premier Li Keqiang has urged provincial leaders to ‘step up their sense of urgency’ when rolling out support for the economy.
- UN human rights chief’s China visit confirmed, including Xinjiang — Michelle Bachelet will go to the far western region where Beijing is accused of human rights abuses.
- Gitee, China’s answer to GitHub, to review all code by temporarily closing open-source projects to the public — China’s largest open-source code platform will temporarily close public repositories to review their contents before opening them up again.
- Shanghai’s lockdown easing doesn’t mean the end to shipping snarls in the world’s largest container port — The world’s supply chains have taken a battering this year from China’s zero-Covid policy, which has hampered the production and delivery of everything from bathroom taps to Apple iPhones.
Nikkei Asia
- Analysis: Premier Li is back, and so is ‘Likonomics’ — President Xi’s economic miscues pave way to sharing of power.
- Chinese lockdowns take toll on stocks with big China exposure — Woodside and Shiseido suffer more than rivals less reliant on Asia’s top economy.
- China land revenue plunges 38% in blow to local finances — Property developers defer new projects as zero-COVID policy takes toll.
Bloomberg
- Xiaomi Logs First Revenue Fall After Covid, War Hurt Demand — Xiaomi Corp. posted its first quarterly revenue decline on record after Beijing’s strict Covid containment policies and global component shortages crippled smartphone sales.
- China in Talks With Russia to Buy Oil for Strategic Reserves — China is seeking to replenish its strategic crude stockpiles with cheap Russian oil, a sign Beijing is strengthening its energy ties with Moscow just as Europe works toward banning imports due to the war in Ukraine.
- Tencent Leads China Tech Selloff as Earnings Worries Mount — Chinese tech stocks slumped as weak corporate earnings coupled with a dimming global growth outlook intensified selling.
- China Aviation Sector Lost $12.5 Billion in 2021 on Shut Border — China’s aviation industry lost a combined 84.3 billion yuan ($12.5 billion) last year, as the country kept its borders closed to keep out Covid-19.
- Economists Cut China Growth Forecasts as Lockdowns Hit Economy — A slew of economists have cut their forecasts for China’s full-year economic growth in recent days after the country reported worse-than-expected data for April while still signaling that its tough anti-Covid curbs aren’t going anywhere.
Reuters
- Some in Shanghai allowed out to shop; end of COVID lockdown in sight — More Shanghai residents were given the freedom to go out to shop for groceries for the first time in nearly two months on Thursday as authorities set out more plans for exiting the city-wide COVID-19 lockdown more fully.
- Biden visits Japan, South Korea carrying warning to China — Joe Biden will visit Japan and South Korea on his first Asian trip as U.S. president, carrying a clear message to China, advisers and analysts say – don’t try what Russia did in Ukraine anywhere in Asia, and especially not in Taiwan.
- U.S. charges one American, four Chinese officials with spying — A U.S. citizen and four Chinese intelligence officers have been charged with spying on Chinese dissidents, human rights leaders and pro-democracy activists residing in the United States, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Is China “uninvestible”? — The word has become more common even as the world has become more investible.
- The Economist: Even China’s official economic figures look bleak — The most spectacular declines are in the all-important property sector.
- Foreign Policy: Beijing’s ‘Slow-Motion Lockdown’ — Residents feel the walls are closing in with ever-tighter constrictions in pursuit of zero COVID-19.
