China News - 5 September

International

Cambridge University to end partnership with Chinese missiles company. Documents obtained by the UK-China Transparency charity have shown that the university has worked on four research projects with the Beijing Institute of Aerospace Control Devices. BIACD is a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Cooperation, one of China’s largest state-owned manufacturing companies. It builds drones and parts for weapon systems. Emma Yeomans. TheTimes, 4 September

Biden is disappointed Xi will not attend the G20 summit. Biden is “disappointed” that Xi will not be at the summit, but hopes that he will see his Chinese counterpart at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco in November. Kelly Ng. BBC News, 4 September

China’s spy agency blasts US for “engagement and containment” approach. Beijing’s Ministry of State Security has warned the US that the possible meeting between Biden and Xi Jinping in November will be in jeopardy if Washington does not show more “sincerity”. Joe Leahy. Financial Times, 4 September

Italy’s Tajani heads to Beijing to discuss Belt and Road. Meloni is openly critical of the decision of Italy’s previous government to sign up to the Belt and Road Initiative. Tajani has the almost impossible task of extricating Italy from the programme while maintaining diplomatic relations. Henry Foy. Financial Times, 4 September

China says it is positive on improving relations with the Vatican. Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning says China has taken a positive attitude on improving relations with the Vatican and will maintain communications. Reuters, 4 September

Japan to allocate $140mn more to help fisheries after China’s import ban. Following China’s ban, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government would allocate an additional 20.7bn yen to support the fisheries industry. The government had already set up two funds worth 80bn yen to help develop new markets and keep excess fish frozen. Kaori Kaneko. Reuters, 4 September

Philippines and US navies conduct joint sail in South China Sea. This is the first time the Philippines and the US have carried out a joint sail in waters west of Palawan island. This display comes at a time of heightened tension between Manila and Beijing. Karen Lema. Reuters, 4 September

Economy & Tech

An end to “naivety” for EU trade rules. French President Macron stated that he does not “want a France and a Europe where we can only buy technologies that are built in China or in the US”. Andy Bounds. Financial Times, 4 September

Lies, damned lies, and Chinese statistics. The widening gap between the different Chinese GDP data series is dramatic. Goldman Sachs believes it is the result of seasonal adjustments made by China's National Bureau of Statistics to quarterly numbers, regular revisions to its historical GDP estimates and Covid caused “distortions” in collected data. Robin Wigglesworth. Financial Times, 4 September

Huawei poised to sell millions of its surprise smartphones in China amid possible chip breakthrough and patriotic fever. Huawei’s new Mate 60 Pro, believed to support 5G connectivity, was sold out on Monday. Huawei is preparing to stockpile at least 15mn units of the Mate 60 series. Ben Jiangi. South China Morning Post, 4 September

China fast-tracks approval of large batch of ETFs. The rapid regulatory approval process is thought to be part of Chinese authorities’ efforts to stimulate more stock trading and urge more investor money into China’s A-share market. Since July, 24 EFTs have been approved for launch. Fred Chan. Financial Times, 4 September

Chinese developer Country Garden boosted by vote to restructure bond repayment. Country Garden shares rose almost 20% on Monday. This followed the creditors agreeing to restructure the repayment of a renminbi-denominated bond. This approval gives the company more time as it rushes to meet both international and domestic repayment obligations. Hudson Lockett. Financial Times, 4 September

Opinion & long-reads

China banks: renminbis for Russia heighten secondary sanctions risk. The renminbi surpassed the US dollar as the most traded currency in Russia last year, as trade with China hit a record $185bn. The West has so far stayed away from secondary sanctions on unaligned nations, but this could still become a reality. Financial Times, 4 September 

Part of China’s economic miracle was a mirage. Reality check is next. Many economists see only three options for China. A fast but painful crisis that writes off debt, curbs excess industrial capacity and deflates the property bubble. The second is a decades-long process where China gradually winds these excesses down at the expense of growth. The third is switching to a consumer-led model. Joe Cash. Reuters, 4 September

How Xi returned China to a one-man rule. China has been trying to prevent another Mao for decades, but Xi has dismantled these rules and created his own machinery of power. Weiyi Cai, Aaron Byrd, Chris Buckley and Pablo Robles. NYTimes, 2 September

Typhoon Haihui: more than 40 injured and thousands displaced in Taiwan after shock storm makes landfall. Winds as strong as 200 km/h have also knocked down the power supply to almost 260,000 houses. Namita Singh. The Independent, 4 September

People in China could live two years longer after air pollution slashed by 42%. New figures from the Air quality Life Index’s annual update suggest that people living in China are set to live 2.2 years longer after “staggering” success against pollution. However, the University of Chicago warns that pollution is still six times higher than WHO guidelines. Connor Sephton. Sky News, 30 August