China News - 19 October
International
China expected to attend UK summit on artificial intelligence next month. According to both British and Chinese officials, China is planning to attend the AI summit in Bletchley Park in November. Anna Gross, George Parker and Cristina Criddle. Financial Times, 18 October
China condemns “attack” on hospital- but doesn’t attribute blame. The Chinese foreign ministry says it condemns what it calls the “attack” on the hospital, but it does not blame either Israel or Palestinian terrorists. BBC News
Xi Jinping hails “deep friendship” with Vladimir Putin as leaders meet in Beijing. Xi told Putin that “over the past decade, from 2013 to the present, I have had 42 meetings with Mr President, establishing a strong working relationship and deep friendship”. Joe Leahy and Max Seddon. Financial Times, 18 October
Five Eyes spy chiefs warn Silicon Valley over Chinese threat. FBI director Christopher Wray said when meeting the heads of the five agencies publicly for the first time that “there’s a single common thread in just about every conversation about protecting innovation…and that is the Chinese government”. Demetri Sevastopulo. Financial Times, 18 October
20,000 Britons approached by Chinese agents on LinkedIn, says MI5 head. McCallum said industrial espionage is happening at “real scale” and that around 10,000 UK businesses are at risk, especially in AI, quantum computing or synthetic biology. Dan Sabbagh. The Guardian, 17 October
Pentagon accuses China’s fighter jets of “coercive” acts in Indo-Pacific. Ely Ratner, the top Asia official, said the manoeuvres were not as a result of rogue pilots but a “centralised and concerted” effort by the Chinese military to pressure the US and its allies. Demetri Sevastopulo. Financial Times, 17 October
Scottish Water admits solar farms could use parts linked to China’s forced labour camps. Scottish Water has installed tens of thousands of solar panels in 66 sites around the country. It suspects they are linked to Chinese slave labour, which is “in clear conflict” with its anti-slavery policy. Severin Carrell. The Guardian, 18 October
Economy & Tech
China’s economy grows faster than expected in third quarter. The 4.9% expansion has beaten forecasts and comes after Beijing’s efforts to stabilise the property and banking sectors. Edward White, Sun Yu, Cheng Leng and Hudson Lockett. Financial Times, 18 October
Chinese chip equipment makers grab market share as US tightens curbs. Domestic equipment manufacturers, such as Naura, are winning a much higher proportion of tenders from Chinese foundries than in previous years. This comes as chipmakers race to replace foreign-made equipment with domestic alternatives. Fanny Potkin and Yelin Mo. Reuters, 18 October
Opinion & long-reads
America finds there is more to the world than China. War in both Europe and the Middle East is slowing the vaunted pivot to Asia. Janan Ganesh. Financial Times, 17 October
The worst may be over for China, says former FTSE chief. Mark Makepeace said “China has had success, and will become an important investment venue going forward, but in the short term, China does have some issues”. Shreyashi Sanyal. Cnbc, 17 October