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 Factories Are Having Labor Pains—‘We Can Hardly Find Any Workers’ — Fear of Covid-19 and youths’ changing priorities leave factory owners in a pinch, as demographic challenges mount.
- New U.S. Intelligence Report Doesn’t Provide Definitive Conclusion on Covid-19 Origins — Review followed previous efforts to corral evidence that ended in bureaucratic infighting and failure.
- Bruised Chinese Internet Companies Try to Win Over Beijing and Investors — Shares of Pinduoduo, JD.com rally after companies report sales jumps and highlight their contributions to society.
The Financial Times
- Pinduoduo: charity begins with self-preservation for ecommerce group — While Chinese company draws regulatory scrutiny, smaller entrants are eating into market share.
- Supply chains are a mess. So how come trade is booming? — At first glance, the economic headlines make for some mixed messages.
- Pinduoduo shares jump 22% after pledge to donate profits — Chinese tech group will give away $1.5bn following Xi Jinping’s calls to address inequality.
- Private schools distort China’s property market, frustrating Xi’s egalitarian quest — Policy battles market forces over for-profit schools built by developers near residential projects.
- Japan and Taiwan to hold talks to counter Chinese aggression — Tokyo says its own security and economy will be affected by whatever happens in Taiwan.
- Commodity prices rally as concerns over Chinese demand ease — Data suggesting Covid wave under control in China has lifted sentiment, analysts say.
The New York Times
- Rejecting Covid Inquiry, China Peddles Conspiracy Theories Blaming the U.S. — A new wave of disinformation follows President Biden’s order for the United States to investigate the origin of the pandemic, including the possibility of a lab leak in Wuhan.
- Chinese Citizen Who Documented Wuhan Outbreak Falls Ill in Prison Hunger Strike — Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years for videos about failures in handling the virus. She now weighs less than 90 pounds, her former lawyer says.
Caixin
- Central Bank Mulls Third Application to Form Financial Holding Company — Beijing Financial Holdings Group has stakes in banks, fintech firms and asset managers.
- China’s Li Bo Named Deputy Managing Director of IMF — Central bank veteran will oversee the fund’s work in 90 countries as he fills a vacancy left by the expiration in July of Zhang Tao’s term.
South China Morning Post
- TikTok partners with Shopify in latest step to expand its e-commerce efforts — TikTok, the hit short video app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, is expanding its online retail efforts through a partnership with Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify that will allow US and UK users to buy directly through the app.
- Home prices in China’s school districts go off the boil amid crackdown on elitism to ensure balanced allocation of resources — China’s home prices are falling in districts where the most prestigious schools are located, as efforts by local authorities to tamp down the home-buying frenzy in school districts are paying off.
- US gives Huawei approval for auto chips licences as embattled smartphone maker pivots to smart cars — US officials have approved licence applications worth hundreds of millions of dollars for China’s blacklisted telecommunications company Huawei Technologies Co to buy chips for its growing car component business, two people familiar with the matter said.
Bloomberg
- China Economists Say ‘Common Prosperity’ Won’t Rob the Rich — Prominent Chinese economists have moved to ease fears that the country’s push for “common prosperity” will lead to aggressive policies that seize money from the rich in order to close a yawning wealth gap.
- Kuaishou’s Sales Beat Despite Stiffening ByteDance Rivalry — Kuaishou Technology’s revenue rose a better-than-expected 49% after advertising sales more than doubled, defying China’s stricter content control and intensifying competition with ByteDance Ltd.
- Canadian Jailed in China Files Appeal Against 11-Year Sentence — A Canadian tour organizer has appealed his spying conviction in China, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a case diplomatically entwined with U.S. efforts to extradite a top Huawei Technologies Co.
- China Coal Approvals Seen Adding to Confusion on Climate Action — Approvals for major new coal power plants by China’s local authorities show the tension in the nation’s efforts to meet climate goals, even as the overall total of projects given the go-ahead falls, according to campaigners.
Reuters
- Taiwan to get BioNTech shots early as China delays approval – source — Taiwan could get its first delivery of BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccines one month ahead of schedule as a delay in regulatory approval of the shot for use in mainland China made a surplus available for the island, a source told Reuters.
- Exclusive – U.S. approves licenses for Huawei to buy auto chips – sources — U.S. officials have approved license applications worth hundreds of millions of dollars for China’s blacklisted telecom company Huawei to buy chips for its growing auto component business, two people familiar with the matter said.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: Kansas professor says FBI misled court in alleging hidden ties to Chinese government — Both the FBI and Justice Department are facing criticism for their handling of cases involving Chinese and Chinese American academics accused of concealing ties to the Chinese government on research grant and visa applications.
- Nikkei Asia: Gloom deepens for China Evergrande despite Huarong rescue — Limits seen on state support beyond key financial institutions
- Protocol: Unpacking China’s game-changing data law — Its emphasis on digital sovereignty could fragment the global privacy landscape.
- Council on Foreign Relations: How Will China Deal With the Taliban? — China could become a crucial supporter of Taliban-led Afghanistan, building Beijing’s influence in South and Central Asia as long as the regime in Kabul does not export extremism.
