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
- Covid Cases in China Hit Record, as Shanghai Extends Lockdown — More than 80% of the country’s latest daily cases were in Shanghai, where millions of people are confined to their homes.
- Shanghai Woman’s 16-Hour Bus Ride Into Quarantine: ‘My Only Wish is to Leave This Place Alive’ — Ten days after a technology worker gets ‘abnormal’ Covid test result, she is sent on a long trip to one of Shanghai’s mass quarantine facilities.
- Some Chinese Companies Find Workaround to Avoid U.S. Delisting — Regulators in China are also working on a plan to comply with U.S. demands for full access to companies’ audit working papers.
- Evergrande Reaches Information-Sharing, Fee Deal With Creditors — China’s largest property developer will involve offshore creditors in restructuring process and pay fees in exchange for the creditors holding off on enforcement actions.
- Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Pledged Unity, Reaped Division — City’s leader won’t seek re-election, citing family reasons, after five-year term marked by mass protests, crackdown on dissent and Covid-19 policy flip flops.
- Lockheed Martin, Raytheon to Help Australia Build Missiles to Counter China — Australia will also spend about $2.6 billion for the accelerated acquisition of sea mines and new missiles for its air force and navy.
The Financial Times
- China food: lockdown-induced shortages boost prospects of GMOs — Global genetically-modified crops market expected to grow to $45bn in five years.
- Evergrande agrees to pay advisory fees to international bondholders — Deal comes after group warned of potential legal action against Chinese developer.
- ‘Too much uncertainty’: Chill descends on Hong Kong equity capital markets — Fundraising drops almost 90% in first quarter to lowest pace since global financial crisis.
- Australia should blame itself for Solomon Islands’ shift to China — Alarm over planned security pact belies long-running problems in west’s approach to Pacific region.
- Why Chinese driverless car company AutoX disengaged its safety features — Tech group conducted risky test drives in push for better data and investment, according to former staff.
- Hong Kong executive’s story a reminder of city’s turn of fortunes — The memoirs of Simon Murray recall a bygone era of US-Chinese collaboration.
- ‘Devil vessels’: China’s fishing fleet faces claims of pillage and abuse — Investigation alleges decimation of endangered marine species and mistreatment of fishermen.
- Landmark UN report on global warming solutions delayed by top polluters — US, China and Saudi Arabia wrangle about responsibilities for greenhouse gas emissions.
Caixin
- In Depth: China Turns to Credit Easing to Kick-Start Sluggish Economy — Credit demand has been declining while the rapid recovery from Covid-19 has begun to stutter.
- BYD Stops Making Fossil-Fuel Powered Cars, Goes Fully Electric — The carmaker sold more electric cars than combustion-engine vehicles for the first time in 2021.
- Shanghai Reports No Port Back-Ups Amid Covid Flare-Up — World’s busiest container port says it’s keeping up with fast turnarounds and short queues amid concerns over congestion.
South China Morning Post
- China’s lockdowns drive up freight costs as zero-Covid rules bite trucking operations — China’s long-distance truck drivers are being forced to undergo arduous coronavirus testing and quarantine requirements under Beijing’s zero-Covid policy, driving up costs for trucking firms and producers.
- Boris Johnson accused of failing to probe Chinese takeover of Newport Wafer Fab, UK’s biggest chip plant — Boris Johnson promised an investigation into the sale of Newport Wafer Fab to Wingtech subsidiary Nexperia, but parliament’s foreign affairs select committee says no review was started.
Nikkei Asia
- The great medicines migration: How China controls key drug supplies — Western powers aim to reverse the industry’s West-to-East shift.
- Sri Lanka’s China-built isle beckons as economy sinks — Port City Colombo catches eyes in Hong Kong and beyond, but turmoil poses risks.
- Half of big Chinese banks cut lending to property sector — Regional lenders face rise in bad loans as housing market slumps.
Bloomberg
- World’s Biggest Solar Firm Sees Profits Cut by Power Price Hike — Longi Green Energy Technology Co., the world’s largest solar company, said its profits will be cut by higher power costs at one of its key manufacturing hubs in China.
- Shanghai Covid Cases Pass 13,000 as Top Official Urges Fight — Shanghai reported more than 13,000 daily Covid-19 cases for the first time, as a sweeping lockdown of its 25 million residents and mass testing uncovered an extensive spread of the highly infectious omicron variant.
- U.K. Startup’s ‘Big Friendly Gun’ Achieves Fusion Breakthrough — A U.K. startup backed by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. proved a novel approach to generating fusion energy in a breakthrough that could slash the technology’s cost by providing cheap, clean nuclear fuel.
- Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam Exits. The Siege Mentality Beijing Nurtured Will Stay — During her five years in office, Hong Kong came more under Beijing’s control and the wishes of the city’s residents mattered less.
Reuters
- China’s foreign minister speaks with Ukrainian counterpart — The call, which Beijing said was made at Ukraine’s request, was the first reported high-level conversation between the countries since March 1.
- Russia to resume flights with 52 ‘friendly’ countries, PM says — Countries with which Russia will resume flights after April 9 include Algeria, China, Lebanon, Peru and Pakistan.
Other Publications
- Associated Press: Kansas researcher to mount defense over China ties at trial — The FBI agent who oversaw the investigation of Franklin Tao testified Monday that he didn’t learn until after the professor’s arrest that he was keeping up with his grant work and actually had been honored for his high output.
- Foreign Affairs: The Next Sino-Russian Split? — Beijing Will Ultimately Come to Regret Its Support of Moscow. By Odd Arne Westad
- MIT Tech Review: The creator of the CRISPR babies has been released from a Chinese prison — He Jiankui created the first gene-edited children. The price was his career. And his freedom.
