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☆ China property sector surges on fundraising support, but COVID protests cloud outlook
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Xie Yu | Jason Xue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The move is the latest regulatory easing as Beijing steps up support for the property business, a sector that accounts for a quarter of the Chinese economy. Yuan-denominated bonds issued by Chinese developers CIFI Group, Guangzhou Times Holdings, Country Garden rocketed between 20% and 50% each on Tuesday. “Most of the funding channels the property developers need are covered now,” said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis. “It is now up to whether the market, or basically the state players will actually support the sector,” he said. If funds could be raised from state-backed investors, there will be meaningful consolidation in the property sector, Ng said.

☆ China's people are protesting the country's severe zero-COVID policies, and public-health experts agree with them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Protests are erupting across China over the country's restrictive zero-COVID policies. Public-health experts say the policies are unsustainable, ineffective, and unnecessarily severe. Without vaccination campaigns targeting older adults, China's lockdowns may only delay a catastrophic COVID wave. Tyrone Siu/ReutersThere is no easy way forward for China, but constant 2020-style lockdowns are not the solution, according to public-health experts, who called the policies unsustainable, ineffective, and irrational. As a result, Huang thinks the zero-COVID lockdowns are completely unwarranted.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) for example had risen more than 10% in the last month and almost 20% since September. "Some of this is just a bit of consolidation from the last few weeks," she said, noting that stocks had taken a leg lower when Treasury yields gained and oil prices switched from red to green on Monday as the prospect of higher oil prices brought inflation concerns back to the forefront. Along with inflation trends, investors are also monitoring Federal Reserve commentary for any clues on its future rate hiking path. Earlier, U.S. crude oil futures had fallen to December 2021 levels on concerns about demand in China - the world's biggest crude importer. A view of a giant display of stock indexes, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shanghai, China, October 24, 2022.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) slipped 0.50% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) shed 0.71%. Emerging market stocks (.MSCIEF) dropped 0.94%. In currencies, the safe-haven Swiss franc and Japanese yen gained, while the Aussie dollar and Chinese yuan underperformed. CHINA FEARSIn Treasuries Benchmark 10-year notes were down 2.8 basis points to 3.674%, from 3.702% late on Friday. The 30-year bond was last down 2.7 basis points to yield 3.725%, from 3.752%, while the 2-year note was down 3.9 basis points to yield 4.4402%.

☆ China's industrial profits drop further as COVID woes take toll on economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Liz Lee | Liangping Gao | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s industrial firms saw overall profits decline further in the January-October period as COVID-19 outbreaks flared up and cities imposed new virus curbs, including targeted lockdowns, dampening economic activity. Profits declined for 22 of China’s 41 major industrial sectors. Sectors showing the steepest declines included the petroleum, coal and fuel processing industry which saw profits tumble 70.9%. Some sectors that have seen strong profit growth saw the pace of growth slow significantly. Last month, China’s industrial output surged 5.0% from a year earlier, missing expectations for a 5.2% gain in a Reuters poll and slowing from the 6.3% growth seen in September.

Later on, they shouted, “lift lockdown for Urumqi, lift lockdown for Xinjiang, lift lockdown for all of China!”, according to a video circulated on social media. [1/3] Workers in protective suits keep watch behind a barrier at a sealed restaurant area, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 26, 2022. Some posted screenshots of street signs for Wulumuqi Road, both to evade censors and show support for protesters in Shanghai. Shanghai's 25 million people were put under lockdown for two months earlier this year, an ordeal that provoked anger and protest. A video shared with Reuters showed Beijing residents in an unidentifiable part of the capital marching around an open-air carpark on Saturday, shouting "End the lockdown!"

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoNov 25 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) and ZTE (000063.SZ) because they pose "an unacceptable risk" to U.S. national security. "These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. ZTE, Dahua, Hytera and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FCC said in June 2021 it was considering banning all equipment authorizations for all companies on the covered list. That came after a March 2021 designation of five Chinese companies on the so-called "covered list" as posing a threat to national security under a 2019 law aimed at protecting U.S. communications networks: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp Hikvision and Dahua.

☆ Vatican says China violated pact on bishops, wants explanation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Aly SongVATICAN CITY, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The Vatican on Saturday accused Chinese authorities of violating a bilateral pact on the appointment of bishops by installing one in a diocese not recognised by the Holy See. A statement said the Vatican learned with "surprise and regret" that the bishop of another district had been installed as auxiliary, or assistant, bishop in Jiangxi. The unauthorized installation appeared to be one of the most serious violations of a 2018 agreement between the Vatican and Beijing on the appointment of bishops. The Vatican was expecting an explanation from Chinese authorities and was hoping that the "similar episodes are not repeated," the statement said. The Vatican statement came a day after a Hong Kong court found Zen and five others guilty of failing to register a now-disbanded fund for pro-democracy protesters.

There are no proven treatments for long Covid. No one knows exactly what causes the range of lingering issues associated with long Covid. Stanford's study aims to enroll 200 adults who have had long Covid symptoms for at least three months, without a recent diagnosis of the disease. "We really feel that with long Covid, you shouldn't wait until you already have all of these problems to address them. He's been struggling with the effects of long Covid for a year and a half.

☆ U.S. FCC bans equipment sales, imports from ZTE, Huawei over national security risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] A person stands by a sign of Huawei during World Artificial Intelligence Conference, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shanghai, China, September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoNov 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it had adopted final rules banning the sale or importation of equipment deemed to pose a national security risk to the U.S. The action, as required under a 2021 law, would affect Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp and Hytera Communications, among others, according to a statement from the FCC. Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Caitlin WebberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China Evergrande communicates with Wuhan over repossessed land
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A crane stands at a construction site near the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, Sept. 26, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoNov 24 (Reuters) - Debt-laden developer China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) is communicating with a Chinese municipal district in Wuhan City that repossessed 134,500 hectares (332.4 acres) of land formerly held by a unit of the group. China Evergrande said it is communicating with the government of Jiangxia District in Wuhan City and "will file an administrative review on this matter to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the company". The company clarified that the municipal district retrieved its land-use rights over only 11 parcels of land under the project and it does not involve the project's other land parcels. China Evergrande, engulfed by $300 billion of liabilities in a deepening property sector debt crisis, aims to start negotiating restructuring terms next month and is combing through onshore assets to offer as credit enhancement to holders of its U.S. dollar-denominated bonds.

☆ For Chinese soccer fans, World Cup highlights COVID lockdown blues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] People wearing face masks sit at a bar decorated to celebrate FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 23, 2022. wrote another, mocking testing requirements in China that in some places are now daily amid a resurgence of cases. Comments like these have flooded Chinese social media since the World Cup began on Sunday night, a sign that some Chinese feel they have found a safe space to vent over the country's COVID policies. "My biggest takeaway from watching the world cup: no one is wearing a mask, and no one is afraid of the pandemic!" "The Qatar world cup tells us that the rest of the world has returned to normal," wrote another Weibo user.

[1/2] Camden Hauge, who owns the Egg cafe, poses in her cafe in central Shanghai, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 16, 2022. Their Lost Plate company, which has been hosting food tours in several Chinese cities since 2015, will instead veer to Southeast Asia. With COVID outbreaks getting worse, it is unlikely that China's economy can shift into a higher gear in the near term. Local authorities in some Chinese cities eased restrictions, while others tightened. At its core, the problem reflects authorities' failure to prioritise the interests of consumers, who are often the punching bag in China's investment-driven economy.

☆ I'm a Chicago school teacher making hundreds per week doing nails as a side hustle
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Rasha Aly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I'm a Chicago public-school teacher, focusing on middle-school special education. My side hustle is working as a nail technician, and I'm certified to teach cosmetology. I want to get out of working in the classroom, but I'm not sure of my next move. I'm a teacher at Chicago's John W. Cooke Elementary, a public school on the city's South Side. I've also partnered with someone and become certified to teach cosmetology in Illinois.

☆ China revises COVID guidelines for entertainment venues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the revised guidelines to travel agencies, entertainment and performance venues. A government statement said local administrators should improve the accuracy of their prevention and control measures and should not shut down entertainment venues down at will. The specific measures are mostly in line with China's latest easing of COVID rules, but could be a bright spot for entertainment and tourism firms that have been hammered by a near three-year strict zero-COVID policy. Places such as KTVs, internet cafes and offline board game venues are allowed to operate under normalised COVID prevention rules in low risk regions, which means as long as they apply certain COVID prevention rules, they can open their business as usual, according to the government. Reporting by Albee Zhang, Bernard Orr; Editing by Shri Navaratnam & Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Rising salinity in the Delta has multiple causes, experts and farmers say, including overextraction of groundwater and excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides. "With time, with the sea level higher, that line of salinity will go down into the Delta. EVAPORATIONSea water intrusion and salinity also threaten the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta in Bangladesh. "You have to do much better job in a place like the Nile Delta because the water just evaporates quickly," she said. Rice cultivation helps wash the soil, but the government has imposed restrictions on the crop in parts of the Delta to conserve scarce water.

☆ Our list of top leaders transforming tech shows how transparency and productivity are more important than ever
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Katie Malone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tech companies that proactively reacted to consumer and enterprise demands came out ahead this year. 100 People Transforming Business is an annual list highlighting people across industries who are changing the way the world does business. The emerging technology leaders featured on Insider's annual "100 People Transforming Business" list have stepped up to do just that. Virtual-whiteboard platforms are seen as an essential workplace tool that some predict are set to stay a popular tool in business tech. Tech transparency becomes a talking point across platformsAt home, this year showed that tech consumers wanted more transparency.

☆ Alibaba mum on Singles Day sales tally, says in line with 2021
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Casey Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Singles Day growth this year had been widely predicted at flat to low single digits. Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment on its decision to avoid releasing figures on the 11-day sales event ended that ended on Friday. [1/4] A delivery worker sorts parcels at a makeshift logistics station ahead of Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping festival, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song 1 2 3 4Consultancy Syntun on Saturday estimated Alibaba and other Chinese e-commerce firms holding Singles Day shopping events together logged 934 billion yuan in sales, up 2.9%. The company's Tmall marketplace offered Singles Day deals on more than 17 million products, 3 million more than last year, with a record-matching 290,000 brands participating.

☆ Chinese brands outnumber foreign names among Singles Day best-sellers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A delivery worker wearing a protective mask rides an electric scooter across a street ahead of Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping festival, following a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 10, 2022. Alibaba said Singles Day sales were in line with last year, when gross merchandise value rose 8.5%, the lowest since the company started the shopping event in 2009. For the first time, Alibaba did not announce sales data this year. Alibaba rival JD.com said that in the 28 hours from 8 p.m. on Oct. 31, Chinese brands accounted for 80% of the sales of the top 20 brands. ($1 = 7.1066 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] A delivery worker sorts parcels at a makeshift logistics station ahead of Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping festival, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Aly SongSHANGHAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding (9988.HK) and other Chinese e-commerce firms holding Singles Day shopping events together logged a 4.7% decline in sales for the first 12 hours of the final day, a research firm said. Citi analysts said this week they were conservatively forecasting Alibaba's GMV for the event to range between 545 billion yuan and 560 billion yuan ($75 billion-$77 billion), growth of 0.9% to 3.6%. Yang Zengdong, 40, a teacher in Shanghai, said she had second thoughts about participating in Singles Day at all this year, but when the final sales period started on Thursday evening, she ended up purchasing about the same amount as last year. "I think it's something deep in the mind of Chinese people that if you don't buy on Singles Day, you are missing out on an opportunity," she said.

[1/4] A delivery worker sorts parcels at a makeshift logistics station ahead of Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping festival, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Aly SongSHANGHAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding (9988.HK) and other Chinese e-commerce firms holding Singles Day shopping events together logged a 4.7% decline in sales for the first half of the final day, a research firm said. Chinese consultancy Syntun said it was estimating a combined 223 billion yuan ($31 billion) for the 12-hour time period. The Singles Day shopping festival, which despite its name has evolved into a multi-week event, is a key barometer of Chinese retail demand. Citi analysts said this week they were conservatively forecasting Alibaba's gross merchandise value (GMV) for the event to range between 545 billion yuan and 560 billion yuan ($75-77 billion), growth of 0.9% to 3.6%.

☆ 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.

☆ Alibaba's Singles Day shopping event set to end with subdued sales and no fanfare
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Casey Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] A delivery worker sorts parcels at a makeshift logistics station ahead of Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping festival, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 10, 2022. The Singles Day shopping festival, which despite its name has evolved into a multi-week event, is a key barometer of Chinese retail demand. But Citi predicts rival e-commerce giant JD.com (9618.HK), which also holds a Singles Day shopping event, to fare somewhat better as it is strong in consumer electronics and home appliance offerings which are expected to remain popular. Singles Day has also had contend with the absence of one its two live-streaming mega sales gurus, Viya, who has been offline since being fined for tax evasion. "Alibaba has tried to make (the event) less about just dropping prices," said Mark Tanner, chief executive of Shanghai-based consultancy, China Skinny.

☆ China warns against extra 'layers' of COVID curbs as outbreaks widen
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A boy gets tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a nucleic acid testing site, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 9, 2022. China is grappling with its highest tallies of coronavirus cases since April, raising questions about its zero-COVID policy that has frustrated the public and inflicted damage on the world's second-largest economy. It cited improvements in the implementation of measures in some major cities such as Zhengzhou, in the central province of Henan. The economic costs of COVID in China, where the virus first emerged in December 2019, are being felt in most sectors. This month, Apple supplier and iPhone assembler Foxconn (2317.TW) was rocked by discontent over stringent COVID measures, with many workers fleeing the site.

☆ Repeat COVID is riskier than first infection, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Reinfection with COVID-19 increases the risk of both acute outcomes and long COVID," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "Even if one had prior infection and was vaccinated - meaning they had double immunity from prior infection plus vaccines - they are still susceptible to adverse outcomes upon reinfection," Al-Aly, the study leader, said. The higher risks were most pronounced in the first month after reinfection but were still evident six months later. The cumulative risks and burdens of repeat infection increased with the number of infections, even after accounting for differences in COVID-19 variants such as Delta, Omicron and BA.5, the researchers said. "We had started seeing a lot of patients coming to the clinic with an air of invincibility," Al-Aly told Reuters.

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