China News - 12 July 2022
International
World Population Day: India will overtake China in 2023, says the UN. This would come 4 years ahead of a previous UN estimate, with China expected to see an absolute decline in population as early as 2023. China’s population is forecast to decline by about 6 million annually in the mid-2040s and by 12 million a year by the late 2050s — the world’s largest-ever drop. BBC, The Telegraph, 11 July
Treasury calls off latest chapter of economic talks with China. Sky News has learnt that officials briefed key City stakeholders on Monday that provisional plans for the 11th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) - the last iteration of which took place in 2019 - had been abandoned. Sources said the UK and Chinese governments had jointly agreed to postpone the EFD, but said officials had expressed hope that a series of bilateral deals would nevertheless be unveiled during the coming months. Sky News, 11 July
Hong Kong to electronically tag Covid patients as it adopts China’s health code system. The quarantine bracelets, to be introduced on Friday, will be mandatory for people who have tested positive and are quarantining at home to ensure they do not leave the building during their isolation period. Under the health codes system, which tracks the movement of people via mobile phones, citizens will be allowed to enter public spaces if the QR code on their account is green. The Guardian, 12 July
China’s banking-crisis victims promised prompt repayment, but only if they have less than US$7,450. Chinese authorities will start repaying some victims of one of the nation’s biggest financial scandals ever, after hundreds of savers took to the streets on Sunday in the capital city of Henan province. SCMP, 12 July
China influenced Kiribati exit from Pacific Islands Forum, MP claims. Tessie Lambourne, a former top diplomat who was elected to Kiribati’s parliament in 2020, said she believed the decision to withdraw from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) on the eve of the event this week was influenced by China. “I believe there is someone telling our government that we don’t need regional solidarity,” she said. The Guardian, 12 July
Italy's watchdog warns TikTok about alleged breach of EU privacy rules. Italy’s data protection authority has formally warned the Chinese-owned short video-sharing app about an alleged breach of existing EU rules to safeguard users’ privacy. TikTok had told users in recent weeks that it was going to deliver targeted advertising to them but had not requested consent for using data stored on their devices. Reuters, 11 July
France to build microchip plant to reduce dependence on China. The facility upgrading is being funded by €5.7bn (£4.8bn) from STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries, along with public money allocated from the French state under the European Union's Chips Act, and will increase its capacity from 10,000 to 22,000 wafers per week. The Telegraph, 11 July
Taiwan 'happy' to see chip investment in EU. Reuters, 12 July
Economy & tech
China’s Ganfeng Lithium buys lithium mines in Argentina. Ganfeng Lithium has agreed to buy Argentina-focused mining group Lithea for up to $962mn, as China steps up its battle for the metals needed to power electric vehicles. The price of lithium carbonate has surged fourfold over the past 12 months, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. FT, 11 July
Turkey boasts of ending China’s grip on rare earths for electric car batteries. The Times, 11 June
Global investors dump bonds of Chinese banks that lent heavily to Russia. Since February, global investors have unloaded $27 billion in yuan-denominated Chinese policy-bank bonds, or about a sixth of their total holdings of such debt. WSJ, 11 July
Local governments target amateur investors in new round of risky credit expansion. Across China, a growing financial burden on local governments is leading many regions to gamble with potentially dangerous debt products aimed at retail investors, reigniting concerns about systemic financial risk. SCMP, 12 July
ByteDance to launch Instagram-like app in China. Tech in Asia, 12 July
Long reads & opinion
WeChat is China’s most beloved (and feared) surveillance tool. This one app became so powerful that it could have posed a real threat to Beijing’s rule. Lulu Yilun Chen. Bloomberg, 12 July
Chinese Communist Party cells in Western firms? Xi Jinping has pressed for measures giving party apparatchiks more power over foreign companies. Dennis Kwok and Sam Goodman. WSJ, 11 July
China’s contrasting path offers the potential for uncorrelated returns. Investor case for Chinese assets rises despite regulatory and geopolitical risks. Jean Chiu. FT, 12 July
Don’t sleep on China’s Global Development Initiative. Fikayo Akeredolu. The Diplomat, 12 July