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[1/2] An excavator sift through dunes of low-grade coal near a coal mine in Pingdingshan, Henan province, China November 5, 2021. High gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and consequent disruptions to supply have led some countries to turn to relatively cheaper coal this year. Europe's coal demand has risen due to more switching from gas to coal due to high gas prices and as Russian gas has reduced to a trickle. However, by 2025 European coal demand is expected to decline below 2022 levels, the report said. The three largest coal producers - China, India and Indonesia - will all hit production records this year but despite high prices and comfortable margins for coal producers, there is no sign of surging investment in export-driven coal projects.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn reportedly helped convince China to loosen Covid rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man passes by a compound of the electronics manufacturer Foxconn in Shenzhen on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. The founder of China-based Apple supplier Foxconn helped convince the country's leaders to loosen the Covid restrictions that led to protests in China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Gou's letter helped Chinese health officials and government advisers make the case for accelerated easing of Covid restrictions, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal. WATCH: iPhone workers in China revolt against Foxconn and zero-Covid policy

☆ China's Covid lockdowns are having a lessening impact on its economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — China's Covid lockdowns are having a lessening impact on the economy for the first time since early October, according to Nomura. Evelyn's lead: The negative impact of China's Covid controls on GDP has dropped for the first time since early October, according to a Nomura model. As of Monday, the negative impact of China's Covid controls on its economy fell to 19.3% of China's total GDP — down from 25.1% a week ago, Nomura's Chief China Economist Ting Lu and a team said in a report. Last week's 25.1% figure was higher than that seen during the two-month Shanghai lockdown in the spring, according to Nomura's model. In the last several days, local governments have relaxed some virus testing requirements, allowing people in cities such as Beijing and Zhengzhou to take public transportation without having to show proof of a negative test result.

☆ As China moves away from zero-Covid, health experts warn of dark days ahead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Across the country, however, some parts of residential communities and buildings designated high risk by authorities are still locked down. A QR code for Covid-19 contact tracing displayed at the entrance to a subway station in Shanghai, China, on Monday. Top health officials on November 28 announced a new plan to bolster elderly vaccination rates, but such measures will take time, as will other preparations for a surge. Minimizing the worst outcomes in a transition out of zero-Covid depends on that preparation, according to Cowling. From that perspective, he said, “it doesn’t look like it would be a good time to relax the policies.”

☆ Debt woes and zero-Covid: China's cities are running out of cash to pay huge bills
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

They spent 11.8 trillion yuan ($1.65 trillion) more than they raised in revenue between January and October, borrowing heavily to do so, according to data from China’s Ministry of Finance. Andy Wong/AP‘Widest in history’For nearly three years, local governments have borne the brunt of enforcing pandemic controls. The weak fiscal position of local governments has been a drag on the country’s overall financial standing. Kevin Frayer/Getty ImagesLow income, high costsWhy are local governments in this parlous state? In May, Beijing told local governments that they had to bear the costs for regular Covid testing in their regions.

☆ Chinese farmers let cabbages rot as COVID curbs disrupt sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The situation is exacerbated by a fragmented supply chain, where small farmers sell to middlemen who purchase for large wholesale markets in cities. Cui typically sends up to 20 large trucks of cauliflower, cabbage, and lettuce to markets daily in this season. Henan produced 76 million tonnes of vegetables last year, or about 10% of the nation's supply, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday it had launched an initiative to sell Henan vegetables at large wholesale markets, selling 4,677 tonnes last week. It also set up a hotline to connect farmers with sellers, and said it would find cold storage facilities to stock winter vegetables.

☆ China sees protests against COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

CHINA PROTESTS Fire deaths fuel COVID lockdown fury How the protests gained momentumProtests have flared in several cities in mainland China in recent days, in a wave of civil disobedience unprecedented since President Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago. Protests reported across China Protest mapAlthough the demonstrations in recent days are thousands of miles apart, they share elements in common. Video shows crowds topple police barricades in the street to protest against COVID curbs in China’s Guangzhou Crowds topple police barricades in the street to protest against COVID curbs in Guangzhou, China. Nov. 25 – Urumqi protests Crowds took to the streets at night in Urumqi, chanting "End the lockdown!" Video shows people in China’s Xinjiang protesting against COVID lockdown measures in China Protests against COVID lockdown measures in China's XinjiangIn the capital, Beijing, some 2,700 km (1,678 miles) to the east, some residents under lockdown staged small-scale protests or confronted local officials over movement restrictions.

“The new recruits had to work more days to get the bonus they were promised, so they felt cheated,” the worker told CNN. Apple, for which Foxconn manufactures a range of products, told CNN Business that its employees were on the ground at the Zhengzhou facility. Videos showed workers clashing with security guards and fighting back tear gas fired by police. More workers joined the protest after seeing livestreams on video platforms Kuaishou and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, the worker told CNN. Having worked at the Zhengzhou plant for six years, he said he was now deeply disappointed by Foxconn and planned to quit.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn apologises for hiring blunder at COVID-hit China plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Workers said on videos circulated on social media that they had been informed that Foxconn intended to delay bonus payments. The person said the company had reached "initial agreements" with employees to resolve the dispute and production at the plant continued on Thursday. The Zhengzhou plant employs more than 200,000 people to make Apple Inc (AAPL.O) devices including the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Apple said it had staff at the factory and was "working closely with Foxconn to ensure their employees' concerns are addressed”. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives expects the shutdowns to cost Apple about $1 billion a week in lost iPhone sales.

☆ At least 38 killed in fire at industrial wholesaler in central China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING — A blazing fire has killed 38 people at a company dealing in chemicals and other industrial goods in central China’s Henan province. A fire has killed 36 people at a chemicals and industrial goods company in central China’s Henan province. Online listings for the company, Kaixinda, said it was a wholesaler dealing in a wide range of industrial goods including what was described as specialized chemicals. The chemicals were found to be falsely registered and stored, with local officials found complicit in turning a blind eye to the potential threat. The densely populated and economically vital province has seen a number of deadly incidents leading to the arrest of local officials.

☆ Several Beijing districts shut schools as China COVID cases rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China is fighting numerous COVID-19 flare ups, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Chongqing in the southwest and for Sunday reported 26,824 new local cases, nearing April's peaks. It also recorded two deaths in Beijing, up from one on Saturday, which was China's first since late May. It also suspended dine-in services and shut night clubs and theatres in Tianhe, home to the city's main business district. This sparked worry among some local residents. The capital Beijing reported 962 new infections, up from 621 a day earlier.

Hong Kong/Beijing CNN Business —More than 100,000 people have signed up for a massive recruitment drive by Apple’s supplier Foxconn for the largest iPhone factory in China, according to Chinese state media. And our hiring process is now closed temporarily,” a Foxconn executive, Yang Han, in Zhengzhou told state news outlet Yicai on Thursday. Some local governments in Henan have recently also asked community officials to join the production line themselves, according to multiple Chinese state media reports. Several unidentified such officials, also known colloquially as local “grassroots officials,” or “cadres,” told state media publication Cailian Press Tuesday that they were told to work at the Zhengzhou campus from one to six months. “We now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated,” the tech giant said in a statement earlier this month.

☆ Chinese authorities call on retired soldiers to help Foxconn iPhone plant -SSN
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Local authorities in China's Henan province are urging retired soldiers and government workers to take on stints at Foxconn's (2317.TW) iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday. Foxconn declined to comment on the hiring schemes, and also declined to give further updates on the Zhengzhou plant's manufacturing status. Apple last week lowered its forecast for shipments of the premium iPhone 14 model due to the situation. Reuters last month reported that Foxconn's production of Apple's iPhones at the Zhengzhou factory could slump by as much as 30% in November. On Tuesday, the Henan Daily reported that the factory received its first batch of new workers on Nov. 13.

The number of daily cases in China rose from 11,950 on Nov. 11, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday. Capital city Beijing reported a record 235 new daily cases, up from 116 the previous day, local government data showed. Zhengzhou city in the Henan province, home to Apple supplier Foxconn's plant (2317.TW), reported a record 2,642 new daily cases. Foxconn has said it aims to resume full production in the second half of November, after operations were disrupted due to COVID prevention measures. read moreNHC said in a statement on Sunday that the COVID prevention and control situation remained "serious and complex".

☆ China eases Covid rules, shortening quarantine for inbound travelers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING — China on Friday eased some of its draconian Covid rules, including shortening quarantines by two days for close contacts of infected people and for inbound travelers, and removing a penalty for airlines for bringing in too many cases. Under the new rules, centralized quarantine times for close contacts and travelers from abroad were shortened from seven days to five days. The requirement for three further days in home isolation after centralized quarantine remains. Inbound passengers are transported by bus to their quarantine hotels after arriving at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai in January. “This meeting further illustrates policymakers have started to focus more on optimizing the Covid control policies,” Goldman Sachs said in a note following Thursday’s Politburo Standing Committee meeting but before Friday’s announcement.

☆ China's COVID curbs intensify as cases surge to highest since Shanghai lockdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Aly SongBEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities stepped up COVID-19 lockdowns and other curbs to halt clusters from spreading as China's case load soared to its highest since this year's Shanghai lockdown, with Beijing and Zhengzhou seeing record daily cases. China reported on Friday 10,535 new locally transmitted cases for Nov. 10, the highest since April 29, when the country's commercial hub, Shanghai, was battling its most serious outbreak. The southern city of Guangzhou, the current epicentre of China's COVID fight, reported 2,824 new local cases for Nov. 10, the fourth day in which infections exceeded 2,000. TIGHTER MEASURESOther major cities such as Beijing, Zhengzhou and Chongqing have tightened measures this week as daily cases renewed all-time highs. Beijing reported 118 new local cases for Nov. 10, a daily record but still low compared with other Chinese cities.

The districts in Guangzhou subject to mass testing this week include Haizhu, which has seen the bulk of the city's cases. Lily Li, a Guangzhou resident, said the outbreak in the city had worsened in the past two days, having spread to Tianhe, just north of Haizhu. While COVID cases in China are small by global standards, the policy response has been relentless and mass testing for large populations has been the norm since 2020. Mass testing is generally free, but some local governments are resuming charges for tests as their finances come under strain amid a slowing economy. A COVID testing company in Xuchang, a city in Henan province, said on Tuesday they would stop all testing-related work from Friday due to late payments from authorities.

☆ Guangzhou's COVID outbreak deepens as more lockdowns loom in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The increase was modest by global standards but significant for China, where outbreaks are quickly tackled when they surface. Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, reported 2,377 new local cases for Nov. 7, up from 1,971 the previous day. "The lockdown situation has continued to deteriorate quickly across the country over the past week, with our in-house China COVID lockdown index rising to 12.2% of China's total GDP from 9.5% last Monday," Nomura wrote in a note on Monday. "We continue to believe that, while Beijing may fine-tune some of its COVID measures in coming weeks, those fine-tuning measures could be more than offset by local officials' tightening of the zero-COVID strategy." In the southwest metropolis of Chongqing, the city reported 281 new local cases, more than doubling from 120 a day earlier.

The comments marked the first time the two nations have been lumped into the list of major emitters that island states say should be held to account for damage already being wrought by global warming. "We all know that the People's Republic of China, India - they're major polluters, and the polluter must pay," Browne said. To date, climate vulnerable countries have called on historical emitters like the United States, United Kingdom and the EU to pay climate reparations. China itself has previously supported the creation of a loss and damage fund but has not said it should pay into it. The EU and United States have said that China, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, should pay.

☆ China vows to continue with 'dynamic-clearing' COVID strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The country's strict COVID containment approach is still able to control the virus, despite the high transmissibility of COVID variants and asymptomatic carriers, an official from the China National Health Commission told a news conference. Asked if there would be a change of policy in the near term, disease control official Hu Xiang said China's measures are "completely correct, as well as the most economical and effective." The briefing followed a week in which markets surged on hope China would relax restrictions, buoyed further on Friday when a former disease control official told a banking conference that China would make "substantial" changes to COVID policy in the coming months. "We attach great importance to these problems and are rectifying them," said Tuo Jia, another disease control official. China reported 3,837 new COVID-19 infections for Friday, of which 657 were symptomatic and 3,180 were asymptomatic, a slight decrease from the six-month-high of 4,045 new COVID-19 infections reported a day earlier.

☆ The Fed, earnings, jobs and China: How we think about this week's deluge of data
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

It is very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hikes. The news sent those stocks reliant on China for growth — Starbucks, Estee Lauder and Wynn Resorts, among many others — higher. Or bad news could just be bad news if weak data signals a recession ahead. And good news could be good news: for example, if China reopens and U.S. companies exposed to the region see a boost in demand. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ World's largest iPhone assembly plant under new Covid lockdown in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An industrial park in China that is home to the world's largest assembly plant for Apple 's iPhones has been ordered to complete a seven-day Covid lockdown, according to a report by Reuters. The lockdown comes as Apple works to meet the demand for some of its new iPhones, which launched in September. The Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, located in central China's Henan province, is imposing "silent management measures," the report said. The lockdown marks a retightening of measures in the region after Zhengzhou unexpectedly lifted some restrictions on Tuesday, the report said. Apple still relies heavily on China for the majority of its iPhone production, but the tech giant has been diversifiying its supply chain.

☆ iPhone maker Foxconn has hit back at 'maliciously edited' videos of worker deaths at its facility following a COVID outbreak, after clarifying there have been no casualties
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Foxconn denied claims on social media that some of its workers died from COVID in their dormitory. Unverified videos circulating online claimed that eight workers died in one dormitory room. Foxconn called the footage "maliciously edited," and said no workers had died at its facility. According to the system, workers have to be transported directly from their dormitories to the factory and back. Reuters and Bloomberg reported separately this week that Foxconn is raising workers' wages at the Zhengzhou plant in an attempt to shore up its workforce amid the departures.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn quadruples bonuses to staff hit by China COVID lockdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The original bonus scheme was initially outlined in an article on Monday by the government backed Henan Daily newspaper citing a senior unnamed Foxconn executive. CLOSED LOOP TOLLVideos circulating on social media appear to show departing Foxconn workers laden with luggage and walking along village roads towards their home towns. Many people who said they were Foxconn workers turned to social media to complain about receiving insufficient food or about the uncertainty of the situation. Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Henan Daily article. The Henan Daily is the official newspaper of Henan province, of which Zhengzhou is the capital.

☆ Shanghai Disney visitors told to stay home after COVID case, Foxconn ups bonuses
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Several Shanghai residents received fresh stay-at-home orders and mandatory testing notices on Tuesday as authorities raced to trace contacts linked to a COVID-positive woman whose visit to the city's Disney Resort prompted its temporary lockdown. The Shanghai Disney Resort on Monday abruptly shut its gates, locking in all visitors at the time and only allowing them to leave, hours later, after they had tested negative for the virus. Marvis He was among Disney visitors caught up in the resort's lockdown, having flown in from Shenzhen in hopes of enjoying the park's Halloween themed fireworks. Foxconn has been one of the biggest corporate names affected by a quasi-lockdown of Zhengzhou, a major logistics hub in central China. In recent days, videos appearing to show departing Foxconn workers laden with luggage and walking along village roads towards their home towns have gone viral on Chinese social media.

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