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☆ Treasury Official Travels to Beijing Despite U.S.-China Tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Andrew Duehren | Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A senior Treasury Department official recently traveled to Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter, in a sign of continued diplomacy despite recent tensions between the U.S. and China. Robert Kaproth, a deputy assistant secretary focused on Asia, met last week with Chinese counterparts for technical, staff-level discussions on macroeconomic and financial issues, the people said.

☆ China’s Economy Seen Emerging From Zero-Covid Shadow
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Stella Yifan Xie | Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A worker assembling a bean grinder for export at a factory in China’s Jiangsu province last month. HONG KONG—Economic activity in China expanded sharply for a second straight month, in an early sign the country may be shaking off the impact of pandemic curbs sooner than expected. A gauge of manufacturing rose at the fastest pace in more than a decade in February, while export orders expanded for the first time in almost two years, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. Services and construction activity also expanded further, the purchasing managers index report showed.

Fan Bao, founder of China Renaissance Holdings, was detained last month by antigraft investigators. Chinese financier Fan Bao , who went missing last month, has been detained by authorities in mainland China in connection with a corruption investigation targeting a former senior executive at the investment bank he founded, according to people familiar with the matter. The investment bank, China Renaissance Holdings Ltd., disclosed on Feb. 16 that it had been unable to contact Mr. Bao, who serves as the bank’s chairman and chief executive. On Sunday, it said in a regulatory filing that it had since discovered Mr. Bao is aiding an investigation being carried out by authorities in China, which it didn’t name.

Singapore saw an influx of around 2,800 rich foreigners from all countries in 2022, according to an estimate. SINGAPORE—Well-heeled Chinese are leaving China for Singapore, attracted by the city-state’s low taxes and high-quality education, amid anxiety over China’s direction under leader Xi Jinping . The trend is set to accelerate, according to relocation consultants and lawyers, as China’s reopening allows for freer movement across the country’s borders, making it easier for wealthy individuals to move their families overseas and manage their assets from abroad. The shift follows almost three years of strict Covid-19 controls that all but cut China off from the outside world.

☆ China to Shake Up Financial System as Xi Jinping Installs Key Associates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Keith Zhai | Lingling Wei | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A changing of the guard at the People’s Bank of China is part of a broader reshuffling of government positions. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to shake up the leadership of the country’s financial system, installing key associates to run the central bank and reviving a Communist Party body to tighten political control over financial affairs, according to people familiar with the discussions. The moves are a continuation of efforts by Mr. Xi to reshape the world’s second-largest economy. In recent years, the central bank and other financial regulators have continued to lose their already fading independent status amid Mr. Xi’s broader effort to strengthen the party’s rule.

HONG KONG—Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russia’s president in the coming months, according to people familiar with the plan, as Vladimir Putin wages war in Ukraine and portrays himself as a standard-bearer against a U.S.-led global order. Beijing says it wants to play a more active role aimed at ending the conflict, and the people familiar with Mr. Xi’s trip plans said a meeting with Mr. Putin would be part of a push for multiparty peace talks and allow China to reiterate its calls that nuclear weapons not be used.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have a friendly relationship, though, at a September summit meeting in Uzbekistan, Mr. Putin publicly acknowledged Mr. Xi’s questions and concerns about Russia’s war in Ukraine. This week’s visit to Moscow by China’s top diplomat signals the importance Beijing and Moscow place on a relationship that has grown deeper in the face of growing animosity to the West and geopolitical realignments driven by the conflict in Ukraine. Wang Yi , China’s top diplomat, arrives in Moscow on Monday at the end of a European tour where he presented Beijing as committed to peace in Ukraine and eager to strengthen diplomatic ties with the outside world following three years of pandemic isolation.

☆ China’s Top Diplomat Criticizes U.S. as Two Sides Seek Bilateral Talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Keith Zhai | William Mauldin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China’s Wang Yi held discussions in Rome prior to the Munich conference. MUNICH—Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, criticized the U.S. for what he called its “nearly hysterical” reaction to the appearance of a Chinese balloon in its airspace earlier this month, in a speech that comes as the two sides seek to renew high-level talks on the sidelines of a security conference here. Mr. Wang, speaking Saturday before an audience of largely Western defense and security officials at the Munich Security Conference, also said Beijing would set out its position on a potential “political resolution of the Ukrainian crisis” next week, timed to the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war.

☆ Blinken, China’s Top Diplomat Hold First Meeting Since Balloon Incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Keith Zhai | William Mauldin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

‘We are advocating for peace talks,’ China’s Wang Yi said at the Munich Security Conference, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine. MUNICH—Senior officials from the U.S. and China traded accusations over the downed Chinese balloon in a tense atmosphere of public speeches and a secret meeting Saturday between the countries’ top diplomats. Wang Yi , China’s most senior foreign-policy official, used a morning speech at the Munich Security Conference to criticize the “nearly hysterical” reaction of Washington to the appearance of its balloon over U.S. territory.

Tensions over the U.S. military’s downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon are set to culminate this weekend in Munich, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi are scheduled to attend a security conference. In recent days, the U.S. and China have been discussing setting up a meeting between Messrs. Blinken and Wang, according to people familiar with the matter. The meeting could take place at the Munich Security Conference, which runs Feb. 17-19, the people said, though they cautioned that nothing had been decided and the negotiations are fluid. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to attend and give a speech on supporting Ukraine, officials said.

☆ Shein to Name Ex-SoftBank Executive Claure to Head Latin America Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE—Shein, one of the world’s largest online fashion retailers, is set to appoint Marcelo Claure , a former executive at SoftBank Group Corp., as its Latin America chairman, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Claure also made a personal investment of about $100 million dollars in Shein, the people said.

☆ China Confronts First Lunar New Year Since Covid Lockdowns Ended
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE—Chinese authorities delivered mixed messages ahead of the first Lunar New Year holiday since the country emerged from its yearslong zero-Covid slumber, encouraging people to travel home while also warning against gatherings that could exacerbate an Omicron exit wave. The pandemic has spoiled the country’s biggest holiday the past three years as the government imposed strict quarantine and testing rules in a bid to stop Covid-19 from spreading. Chinese leader Xi Jinping scrapped zero-Covid measures abruptly in December in part because of concerns about the economy, which expanded at just 3% in 2022 after lockdowns hammered households and businesses.

☆ China Says 60,000 Have Died of Covid Since Controls Were Lifted
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Chinese officials say that 90% of the Covid-19 deaths recorded by hospitals involved patients with underlying conditions. SINGAPORE—Hospitals in China recorded roughly 60,000 Covid-related deaths since the government scrapped most of its zero-tolerance pandemic controls in early December, Chinese health authorities said in the first major accounting of the toll exacted by the Omicron wave currently sweeping the country. China had been criticized by public health experts and epidemiologists, including some at the World Health Organization, for publishing data that routinely showed deaths in the single digits in recent week—figures they said grossly underestimated the impact the virus had on the Chinese population.

The coal ban reshaped energy markets and showed how Beijing’s efforts to use its economy as a foreign-policy tool can have limits. China effectively ended a ban on Australian coal that has been a centerpiece of a diplomatic dispute lasting more than two years, in the latest indication that Beijing is taking a less confrontational approach in its foreign policy as the economy struggles. Customs officials in the southern province of Guangdong on Thursday received notice from the local government that they can clear Australian coal shipments, two people familiar with the situation said. The move comes about a week after the country’s national planning agency permitted a group of large state-owned companies to buy Australian coal again. The Guangdong government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

China is likely to nominate Xie Feng , a vice foreign minister and a U.S. specialist, as its new ambassador to Washington, according to people familiar with the matter, continuing a gradual tempering of the abrasive “Wolf Warrior” style that has defined Chinese diplomacy in recent years. Beijing has been recalibrating its foreign policy in a bid to stabilize fraught ties with Washington and mitigate damage done to China’s global standing by its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and forceful pursuit of security, industrial and territorial interests, according to people working inside the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The hard-charging ethos that took hold among Chinese diplomats during the Trump administration, when Beijing saw itself as being under assault from the West, needs to be adjusted to reflect a changing international environment, they said.

☆ China Shows More Pragmatism—And Less Ideology—on Economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( James T. Areddy | Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Confronting a struggling economy, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is loosening policies that have sacrificed growth at the expense of his relentless focus on centralized control, political purity and national security. The latest sign: Senior leaders huddling in Beijing for the Communist Party’s Central Economic Work Conference on Friday endorsed a more pro-business approach, saying China would “encourage and support the development and growth of the private economy and private enterprises.”

☆ China’s Leaders Plot Pivot Back Toward Boosting Economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Targeting strong GDP growth points to rising concern among senior Chinese leaders that a prolonged slowdown could undermine a central pillar of the Communist Party’s legitimacy. SINGAPORE—The Chinese government is shifting back to growth mode, as a rapid deterioration in economic conditions prompts alarmed officials to turn more of their focus to development after years of criticizing cadres who gave priority to growth at the expense of social stability and fiscal prudence. He Lifeng, who was added to the Communist Party’s top policy-making body, the Politburo, at a party conclave in October, is drafting a growth plan of more than 5% for next year, according to people familiar with the matter.

☆ Fast-Fashion Giant Shein Explores Becoming Online Marketplace
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE—Shein, one of world’s largest online fashion retailers, is exploring moving beyond its conventional business of selling its own brand apparel into a marketplace platform that will enable other merchants to sell directly to customers, according to a memo to investors viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The fast-growing company, now based in Singapore, is also diversifying its supply chain away from China, where Shein was founded. It has started manufacturing in Turkey since midsummer, and has leased and operated warehouses in Poland to store merchandise and ship to customers in Western Europe, according to the memo.

A letter from the founder of the world’s largest iPhone assembler played a major role in persuading China’s Communist Party leadership to accelerate plans to dismantle the country’s zero-tolerance Covid-19 policies, according to people familiar with the matter. In the letter to Chinese leaders, Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou warned that strict Covid controls would threaten China’s central position in global supply chains and demanded more transparency into restrictions on the company’s workers, the people said. Mr. Gou sent the letter a little more than a month ago as Foxconn’s factory in the city of Zhengzhou was rocked by turmoil over Covid restrictions.

China has begun to ease some of its Covid restrictions after following a strict containment policy. A letter from the founder of the world’s largest iPhone assembler played a major role in persuading China’s Communist Party leadership to accelerate plans to dismantle the country’s zero-tolerance Covid-19 policies, according to people familiar with the matter. In the letter to Chinese leaders, Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou warned that strict Covid controls would threaten China’s central position in global supply chains and demanded more transparency into restrictions on the company’s workers, the people said. Mr. Gou sent the letter a little more than a month ago as Foxconn’s factory in the city of Zhengzhou was rocked by turmoil over Covid restrictions.

☆ Kamala Harris Leads U.S. Push to Bolster Economic Ties in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( William Mauldin | Keith Zhai | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BANGKOK, Thailand—Vice President Kamala Harris and other senior Biden administration officials are using an Asian economic gathering to pursue closer business ties and press for higher environmental and labor standards in a part of the world where China has deep economic links. Ms. Harris is leading the U.S. delegation at the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit that begins Friday in the Thai capital, Bangkok—the first time in four years the group is gathering. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Katherine Tai , the U.S. trade representative, attended minister-level meetings on Thursday that, Ms. Tai said, brought momentum to U.S. economic efforts.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia—A few weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s August visit to Taiwan, advisers to President Biden quietly opened back-channel talks with a senior Chinese diplomat. Beijing had largely severed lines of communication with the U.S. government, and the two sides were looking for a way forward. Over frequent video and phone calls throughout the subsequent weeks, the group laid the groundwork for the first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents since Mr. Biden was elected, according to U.S. officials. The negotiations continued until the day of the meeting, with senior Biden administration officials huddled with their Chinese counterparts until 3 a.m. on Monday at a hotel in Bali, Indonesia, before that day’s talks, U.S. and Chinese officials said.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia—After nine months of warfare, tens of thousands killed or wounded, and billions of dollars in lost economic output, it might not sound like a diplomatic breakthrough to describe the conflict in Ukraine as a war. But for leaders of the Group of 20 advanced and developing economies, meeting in Bali for a summit dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its economic fallout, such a declaration would represent exactly that.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia—President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping jointly voiced opposition to any use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and agreed to restore regular communication across a range of issues, from climate change to food security, signaling an effort to stabilize relations between the two powers after a downward spiral in recent months raised concerns of a new Cold War. In a readout of the roughly three-hour meeting Monday, the White House said the president raised concerns about China’s actions toward Taiwan and Beijing’s human-rights record, and told Mr. Xi that the U.S. would continue competing with China.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia—President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping began a closely watched meeting that officials on both sides said is intended to restore regular dialogue between the two powers and stabilize the relationship whose downward spiral in recent months has raised concerns of a new Cold War. “I’m committed to keeping lines of communication open between you and me personally and our countries across the board,” Mr. Biden told Mr. Xi on Monday at the start of the meeting, which is taking place in Bali, Indonesia, ahead of a summit between the heads of the Group of 20 major economies. He said the two nations have a responsibility to show the world that they can manage their differences.

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