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☆ China scraps tracking app as it relaxes strict 'zero-Covid' rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

China will drop a travel tracing requirement as part of an uncertain exit from its strict “zero-Covid” policies that have elicited widespread dissatisfaction. It’s part of a package of apps that includes the health code, which has yet to be disabled. Facing a surge in Covid-19 cases, China is setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals’ ability to deal with severe cases. At midnight on Monday, the smart phone app will cease to function, meaning residents’ travels will not be traced and recorded. Many believed Covid-19 restrictions may have impeded rescue efforts.

☆ China expands hospitals and ICUs as it faces Covid surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Medical workers wear PPE as they stand next to people waiting in line outside a fever clinic on Dec. 9, 2022 in Beijing, China. A Cabinet meeting called Thursday for "full mobilization" of hospitals including adding staff to ensure their "combat effectiveness" and increasing drug supplies, according to state media. Officials were told to keep track of the health of everyone in their area aged 65 and older. It isn't clear how much infection numbers have increased since Beijing last week ended mandatory testing as often as once a day in many areas. But interviews and social media accounts say there are outbreaks in businesses and schools across the country.

☆ Shanghai Disneyland Reopens as Businesses in China Welcome Covid-Control Easing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Dan Strumpf | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG—Shanghai Disneyland reopened Thursday as cautious optimism spread across foreign businesses operating in China following the easing of some of Beijing’s most-draconian pandemic measures, even as hurdles remained in the country’s exit from zero-Covid. Foreign companies from Walt Disney Co. to Starbucks Corp. and Apple Inc. have taken revenue hits or endured business or supply-chain upheavals in the wake of China’s harsh Covid-control measures, which included citywide lockdowns, mass testing and widespread quarantines.

Some economists have lowered growth forecasts for early next year for the world's second-largest economy, continuing the grim growth numbers this year that were among the worst of the past half-century. "Compared with other developed countries, medical resources in China are somewhat insufficient," said Nie Wen, a Shanghai-based economist at Hwabao Trust, who has cut his China growth forecast for the first quarter to 3.5%-4% from 5% previously. INFLATION SURGEWith China likely facing waves of COVID infections after the relaxations, the benefits of reopening are expected to arrive with a significant delay. "Given the accelerated reopening timeline, we believe growth may stay subpar near term," Morgan Stanley said after the announcement of the latest easing measures. Lurking among the prospects for China's reopening, however, is a potential surge in inflation, which could hit the global economy as well as China itself.

☆ A TikToker who 'consensually' doxxes people says it's easier than you'd think
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Today, I am introducing you to a viral phenomenon that certainly wasn't on my 2022 bingo card: "consensual doxxing." Meet a TikToker who's gone viral for her "consensual doxxing" content. But one TikToker has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers who want her to expose their secrets. Kristen uses her platform to "consensually dox" users and reveal their birthdays using just social media — and has become a data-privacy educator by proxy. Users are often shocked by how easy it is for her to find out their information, Kristen said.

☆ US stocks stretch losing streak as China trade slump underscores recession fears
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US stocks fell Wednesday and were on track to extend a run of losses. A slump in Chinese trade in November highlighted global recession worries. Chinese trade figures released Wednesday underscored recession fears even as the world's second-largest economy continued to roll back its zero-COVID policy measures related to quarantines and testing. Official data released by the government showed exports in November contracted by 8.7% in November from a year earlier, the worst decline since February 2020 when the COVID outbreak was starting to spread worldwide. Here's what else is happening today:Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon sees just a 35% chance the Fed avoids a recession.

☆ S&P 500 sees 5th straight decline as recession fears weigh on US stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The S&P 500 notched its fifth consecutive losing session, and the Nasdaq Composite marked a fourth straight loss. Major banks are sounding the alarm on recession worries and potentially sharp losses in 2023. A slump in Chinese trade in November underscored global recession fears. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. The S&P 500 notched its fifth consecutive losing session with eight of its 11 sectors moving lower, led by the communications services group.

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The world is going to need another 50,000 tonnes of tin per year by 2030 to meet a looming surge in demand, according to the International Tin Association (ITA). The country exported 75,000 tonnes of refined tin last year with shipments running 8% higher through the first 10 months of this year. State producer PT Timah needs around two years to develop its existing tin chemical facility and longer to secure markets, Alwin Albar, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tin Exporters, told a parliamentary hearing. China imported 22,600 tonnes of refined tin in the first 10 months of the year with Indonesian metal accounting for 19,000 tonnes. After peaking at 5,160 tonnes in September, headline LME tin stocks have fallen to 3,075 tonnes with 535 tonnes awaiting physical load-out.

☆ 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.”

Many investors say that stocks of drugmakers and medical equipment companies, however, will likely get a more lasting lift from China's bumpy journey towards an eventual economic opening. Investors have snapped up Chinese tourism (.CSI930633), leisure (.CSI930654), retailing (.CSI930674) and food and beverage stocks (.CSI930653) over the past week. "After curbs are relaxed, China could experience the impact from surging virus cases, along with rising deaths, potentially hitting the economy," the brokerage said. "I think it's reasonable to think that as infections rise, they're going to have shortages in some areas of workers," he said. Grow Investment Group chief economist Hong Hao, warning of confusion and chaotic expectations ahead, recommended internet platform companies and food delivery firms in the short term.

☆ Former NBA star Jeremy Lin fined for comments about Covid quarantine while playing in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Police fanned out across Shanghai, Beijing and other cities to try to prevent additional protests. A representative of Vision China Entertainment, which says on its website it represents Lin, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Jinzhou in the northeast lifted curbs on movement and allowed businesses to reopen. On Thursday, the metropolis of Guangzhou in the south, the biggest hotspot in the latest infection spike, allowed supermarkets and restaurants to reopen. Other major cities including Shijiazhuang in the north and Chengdu in the southwest restarted bus and subway service and allowed businesses to reopen.

☆ Chinese protesters are reacting to a broken social contract
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Diana Fu | Diana Fu Is Associate Professor Of Chinese Politics At The University Of Toronto | Non-Resident Fellow At The Brookings Institution. She Is Author Of The Book | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

However, a deeper cause for this unrest is that the protesters are responding to a broken social contract between the Chinese Communist Party and the people. Despite swift censorship, a Chinese social media post referencing the incident had been viewed 180,000 times before it was deleted. With 20% youth unemployment, businesses closing, migrant workers left homeless and preventable deaths mounting, some Chinese citizens are withdrawing their consent to be ruled. Chinese protesters normally avoid such rhetoric, preferring to stick to bread-and-butter economic or local issues, which are more likely to yield concessions. It is significant that this time, Chinese protesters are borrowing a tactic from Hong Kong protesters in 2020 — holding up pieces of blank paper.

☆ China decoupling takes one step forward, one back
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It has pushed for reshoring production of electric vehicles and silicon chips, and legislated to delist Chinese companies from New York. Europe, Japan, Australia and India have implemented their own measures ranging from restrictions on Chinese investment, excluding equipment from telecoms networks, and banning consumer apps. The impact the pandemic has had on Chinese supply chains has retroactively validated the push to separate. For politicians who hope to replicate the Chinese supply chain via tax tweaks, subsidies and sanctions, it’s worth remembering China started building out the requisite logistical infrastructure in the 1980s. Non-financial outbound direct investment in the same 10-month period rose 10.3% year-on-year to 627.4 billion yuan, Shu said.

The economic pain has intensified the pressure to ease pandemic restrictions to salvage the flagging economy and restore some semblance of normal life. The current Covid outbreak, the most widespread since the start of the pandemic in 2020, has painted Xi Jinping, China’s president, into a corner. He has refused to budge on the government’s strict Covid approach. If he loosens restrictions and infections skyrocket, there is the risk of mass casualties and an overwhelmed health care system. But keeping the current policies in place and limiting infections with widespread lockdowns would inflict further damage to an already slowing economy.

☆ Wall St set to open lower on China's anti-lockdown protests; Apple slips
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Ankika Biswas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

As China's strict zero-COVID policy aimed at stamping out COVID-19 with lockdowns and quarantines has become a lightning rod for frustrations, protests erupted over the weekend as a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance. Although there were no signs of new protests in Beijing or Shanghai on Monday, the curbs so far have led to concerns over China's economic growth and its trickle-down effect on global companies. ET, Dow e-minis were down 216 points, or 0.63%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 33.75 points, or 0.84%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 99 points, or 0.84%. On Friday, the Nasdaq closed lower, weighed down by Apple in a subdued holiday-shortened trading session for Wall Street. Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wall St futures slip on China COVID woes; Apple falls
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

As China's strict policy aimed at stamping out COVID-19 with lockdowns and quarantines has become a lightning rod for frustrations, protests erupted over the weekend as a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China. ET, Dow e-minis were down 184 points, or 0.54%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 31.75 points, or 0.79%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 105.25 points, or 0.89%. However, street protests against zero-COVID policy in China underline a harsher reality that is undermining market sentiment, at least for now," said Rabobank analysts in a note. On Friday, the Nasdaq closed lower, weighed down by Apple in a subdued holiday-shortened trading session for Wall Street, as investors watched Black Friday sales and COVID-19 cases in China. Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Protests in China send a chill through global markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The protests had an immediate impact on global markets, and raised questions about the path forward for China’s increasingly sluggish economy. The protests began Friday after 10 people were killed in a fire in China’s Xinjiang province, where Covid lockdown restrictions reportedly hindered first responders from reaching the blaze. Step down, Communist Party!”Meanwhile, the prospect of social upheaval in the world’s second-biggest economy has sent a chill through global markets. Oil prices dropped sharply as investors feared that surging Covid cases and protests in China would sap demand from one of the world’s largest oil consumers. To fix its economy, China needs to ease lockdowns to allow its people to get back to their lives.

In Beijing, hundreds of mostly young people demonstrated in the commercial heart of the city well into the small hours of Monday. Freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of arts, freedom of movement, personal freedoms. A security guard tries to cover a protest slogan against zero-Covid on the campus of Peking University in Beijing. “Open your eyes and look at the world, dynamic zero-Covid is a lie,” the protest slogan at Peking University read. At Tsinghua University, another elite university in Beijing, hundreds of students gathered on a square to protest against zero-Covid and censorship.

☆ Huge COVID protests erupt in China's Xinjiang after deadly fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters verified the footage was published from the Xinjiang capital Urumqi. Videos showed people in a plaza singing China's national anthem with its lyric, "Rise up, those who refuse to be slaves!" The Urumqi protests followed a fire in a high-rise building there that killed 10 on Thursday night. Urumqi officials abruptly held a news conference in the early hours of Saturday, denying that COVID measures had hampered escape and rescue but saying they would investigate further. Some lamented its similarities to the deadly September crash of a COVID quarantine bus.

The factory’s iPhone 14 production has been slowed by a labor shortage that began last month, when a Covid outbreak and an accompanying lockdown sent workers fleeing back to their hometowns. China’s “dynamic zero-Covid” measures make it an outlier among the world’s major economies, causing growing public frustration and economic pain. Though officials announced new “optimized” measures this month, they are struggling to ease the burden without setting off a major exit wave. Despite the purported easing of measures in China, a single case can still bring targeted lockdowns and sudden quarantines. Covid measures were further tightened on Thursday in the capital, Beijing, which is already in near-lockdown with schools, parks and shopping malls closed and a negative Covid test required every 48 hours to enter public places anywhere in the city.

☆ Violent protests take place near an iPhone factory in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Kriti Gandhi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Violent protests have broken out in Zhengzhou, China, following contract disputes at the world’s biggest Apple iPhone factory, according to videos posted on social media and verified by NBC News. The footage was taken near the Foxconn factory, in the streets of the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, where large groups of people blocked roads during their protest. A worker disinfects the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China on Nov. 6. The protests come after Apple warned earlier this month that it had temporarily reduced iPhone 14 production at this factory because of Covid restrictions. The Foxconn factory has accommodation for over 350,000 people, but it is unclear how many employees are left working at the factory.

☆ China’s Xi attempts to claim diplomatic victory in battle for global influence after summit whirlwind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday. Since taking office, Biden has shored up relations with allies and partners to counter China’s growing influence. In a rare, candid moment caught on camera, Xi chided Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accusing him of leaking details of a brief conversation between them. He also attended the Group of 20 dinner, where he shook hands and chatted with leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from the Dutch Prime Minister, Xi also invited US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s newly elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to visit Beijing early next year.

☆ China COVID cases steady as many Beijing businesses, schools shut
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Authorities also said an 87-year-old Beijing man became the nation's first official COVID-19 fatality since May 26, raising China's coronavirus death toll to 5,227. China continues to reiterate its commitment to zero-COVID-19, a signature policy of President Xi Jinping that the central government argues saves lives. In the latest tallies, Beijing city reported 621 new infections for Saturday, up from 515 a day earlier. Guangzhou, a southern city of nearly 19 million people, reported 8,434 new locally transmitted infections, down from 8,713 a day earlier. The southwestern metropolis of Chongqing reported 4,710 new locally transmitted infections, compared with 4,744 a day earlier.

☆ China reopening hope puts wind in Alibaba sails
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Just ask China's $220 billion e-commerce giant Alibaba (9988.HK), whose New York stock has rallied by a third this month despite tepid performance from its annual Singles Day shopping festival and so-so quarterly results. Revenue from the domestic commerce unit, accounting for nearly two-thirds of Alibaba's top line, fell 1% year-on-year, to $19 billion. Boss Daniel Zhang's cost cuts are paying off, though: the overall adjusted EBITDA margin improved three percentage points to 21%. Zhang's messaging on China's gradual reopening probably resonated with investors more. Shares of Alibaba, rivals JD.com (9618.HK) and Pinduoduo (PDD.O) and other Chinese stocks jumped, too.

☆ Investors ignore China Covid spike at their peril
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The blistering relief rally underway in Chinese equities is understandable. Most of China’s trading partners have moved on to living with the virus, but Xi still aspires to keep it out. New cases have officially multiplied from roughly 1,000 per day in October to 25,353 on Thursday. In the second, Covid-19 finally runs wild in China, killing the unvaccinated elderly as it did in Hong Kong earlier this year. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index in Hong Kong has risen nearly 30% in the past 14 trading days, Refinitiv data show, while the onshore benchmark CSI300 index gained 9%.

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