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 Population Declined in 2022 for First Time in Decades — Latest figures revive question of whether India is already more populous.
- China’s Economic Growth Fell to Near-Historic Lows as Covid Took a Bite — The outlook for 2023 has been lifted by optimism around the easing of Covid restrictions.
- OPEC Cartel Has Nothing on China’s Clean-Energy Monopoly — The supply chain for renewable energy technology is even more concentrated than for fossil fuels. Fixing its overreliance on China will raise the cost of the energy transition.
- China Declares Its Reopening After Covid Isolation — Vice Premier Liu He invites foreign investors to participate in country’s economic revitalization.
- Activision Says NetEase Rejected Offer to Extend China Licensing Partnership — Blizzard Entertainment, an Activision unit, also said it is in talks with several videogame firms to find a new partner in China.
- Activist Investor Ryan Cohen Takes Stake in Alibaba and Pushes for More Stock Buybacks — Cohen first contacted the Chinese e-commerce giant’s board in August to say he saw the company’s shares as undervalued.
- PwC Resigns as Evergrande Auditor, Cites Lack of Information — Never mind results for the year just ended, Evergrande’s creditors are still waiting for 2021’s financial statements. They will have to wait even longer, after auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned.
The Financial Times
- Alibaba/Ryan Cohen: China is no country for bold activists — Canadian investor’s demands will have little sway compared with official policies.
- PwC resigns as indebted Chinese developer Evergrande’s auditor — Big Four firm under investigation in Hong Kong over property company’s accounts.
- China’s population falls in historic shift — First decline in 60 years set to have long-term consequences for domestic and global economies.
- How Apple tied its fortunes to China — The company spent two decades and billions of dollars building a supply chain of unprecedented sophistication. Now, a reckoning is coming.
- Companies race to work around choke points in world trade — Geopolitical risks are driving efforts to diversify but there are no quick solutions.
- China’s economy expands 3% in 2022 as zero-Covid policies hit growth — Gross domestic product misses annual target but expectations rise for recovery in 2023.
- China’s carmakers outstrip foreign brands in its electric vehicle boom — Fast-growing companies such as BYD, XPeng, Li Auto and Nio are increasingly favoured by consumers.
- Yellen to meet Chinese economic tsar in Switzerland this week — Talks come ahead of US Treasury secretary’s 10-day trip to Africa.
The New York Times
- China’s Population Falls, Heralding a Demographic Crisis — Deaths outnumbered births last year for the first time in six decades. Experts see major implications for China, its economy and the world.
- China’s Economy Stumbled Last Year With Covid Lockdowns Hobbling Growth — New government data shows that growth for the year fell far short of Beijing’s goal. With Covid curbs lifted but the pandemic’s course uncertain, hope and fear cloud the forecast.
- US Asks to Drop Case Accusing NYPD Officer of Spying for China — Baimadajie Angwang, a former Marine, was charged with providing intelligence about Tibetans in New York to Chinese consular officials.
Caixin
- New Bank Aims to Shore Up Chinese Province’s Corruption-Plagued Rural Lenders — Henan Rural Commercial United Bank will take stakes in local rural credit institutions, whose asset quality is worrying.
- China’s 2022 GDP Grows 3% Amid Covid Disruptions, Second-Slowest Since 1976 — Stringent coronavirus control measures put the brakes on economic activity.
- Primary Schools Squeezed as ‘Two-Child’ Policy Catches Up With Enrollment — Primary schools in large cities including Guangzhou, Chengdu and Changchun have warned of potential shortages of places for incoming students, as the first cohort of children born after the implementation of the “two-child” policy is set to enter school this year.
South China Morning Post
- Legal community praises Hong Kong judiciary’s plan to broadcast court proceedings, agreeing it should start with appellate court – Plan will put city on par with other common law jurisdictions, improve transparency, and boost public confidence, according to chief justice
- Huawei’s automated smart terminal at Tianjin Port offers glimpse of company’s future under US sanctions — Huawei and the Port of Tianjin run a smart terminal that automates operations using self-driving vehicles, 5G, IoT and other tech.
- Taiwan arms maker says camera component made in mainland China isn’t security risk — A network of cameras designed to protect military bases was found to include a circuit board connector made in mainland China.
Nikkei Asia
- Macao set to hand down verdict in junket king Alvin Chau case — Suncity founder faces hundreds of charges linked to claims he ran criminal empire.
- China extends looser mortgage rate limits as home prices keep sliding — Beijing continues support for crucial real estate sector as economy struggles.
- China’s 2022 property investment fell for first time since 1999 — Funds raised by China’s property developers slumped 25.9% on the year.
Bloomberg
- US-China Defense Talks Stalled Two Months After Biden-Xi Meeting — The Pentagon is struggling to get China to resume military-to-military talks, according to a senior US defense official, underscoring continuing tensions between the two sides despite last year’s meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
- Xpeng Follows Tesla With Major Price Cuts on China Electric Cars — Xpeng Inc. has bowed to an intensifying price war in China’s electric-vehicle market, lowering those on its models by as much as 12.5% Tuesday after Tesla Inc.’s surprise cuts at the start of the year.
- US-China Trade is Close to a Record, Defying Talk of Decoupling — Trade between the US and China is on track to break records, a signal of resilient links between the world’s top economies amid the heated national security rhetoric in Washington and fears of “decoupling.”
- China Province Has Too Much Solar Power for Lunar New Year — China’s biggest region for solar power is ordering households to switch off rooftop panels during the Lunar New Year holiday so they don’t overwhelm the grid during a period of low demand.
Reuters
- In China, doctors say they are discouraged from citing COVID on death certificates — Six doctors at public hospitals across China told Reuters they had either received similar oral instructions discouraging them from attributing deaths to COVID or were aware that their hospitals had such policies.
- Analysis: Airlines face hurdles to cashing in on China re-opening — Route approvals, fresh COVID-19 testing rules and not enough large aircraft remain barriers to rising sales, analysts and industry officials say.
- Chinese foreign ministry welcomes visit by U.S. Secretary Blinken — China welcomes a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the country, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said at a regular news briefing on Tuesday.
Other Publications
- BBC: Industrial espionage: How China sneaks out America’s technology secrets — It was an innocuous-looking photograph that turned out to be the downfall of Zheng Xiaoqing, a former employee with energy conglomerate General Electric Power.
- Politico: Blinken to test limits of China’s diplomatic engagement on Feb. 5-6 Beijing trip — The secretary of State’s agenda is likely to include the war in Ukraine, Beijing’s growing nuclear arsenal, stalled counternarcotics cooperation and U.S. citizens held in China.
- The Guardian: Chinese woman says she is detained in secret location after Beijing protest — Video purportedly shows 26-year-old editor, who accuses police of forcing her and friends to sign blank arrest warrants.
