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☆ China’s sitting on a goldmine of genetic data – and it doesn’t want to share
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The national survey and restrictions on foreign access are part of new regulations on China’s genetic resources, which came into effect in July. The national genetic surveyBiobanking in China – meaning the collection of biological samples – is still “very fragmented,” and in an “embryonic stage,” said Zhang. But these concerns aren’t new – and the national genetic survey seems to be geared more toward scientific research than other purposes, several experts agreed. But China has another motive, too: establishing what some experts call “genomic sovereignty,” meaning full control of the genetic material within their country. While many other countries also have laws regulating the use and transfer of their population’s genetic material, few are as strict as China’s.

Persons: Guang Niu, ”, Joy Y, Zhang, you’re, Wei Liang, ICHPL, Anna Puglisi, Puglisi, States –, Katherine Wang, ” –, Wang, “, Sun, Xi Jinping, Jiankui, Anthony Wallace, ” Zhang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Central South University, Centre for Global Science, biosciences, Shanxi Province Reproductive Science, Communist Party, Georgetown’s Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Gray, Group, CNN, Ministry of Science, Technology, National Health Service, National Institutes of Health, NIH Locations: Hong Kong, China, Changsha, Shanxi Province, Taiyuan, States, “, Wuhan, Xinijang, Xinjiang, Beijing, AFP, Harvard

☆ Opinion: Oppenheimer’s not your daddy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Opinion Aanchal Saraf | Rebecca H. Hogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Corbis/Getty ImagesScholar Teresia Teaiwa famously critiqued the bikini as instrumental to depoliticizing and concealing the effects of nuclear weapons in the Pacific. Britain and France would later begin their own nuclear weapons programs on Indigenous lands and waters in Australia and French Occupied Polynesia, among others. The US began detonating nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site in 1951, garnering nearby Las Vegas the nickname Atomic City. Atomic playboys have aestheticized nuclear weapons as sexy — but still safe — since their very existence. Nolan prolongs the time between the flash and the blast, allowing Oppenheimer’s words to hang in unnerving suspension.

Persons: Rebecca H, Hogue, Barbie ”, “ Oppenheimer, “ Barbie ”, Barbenheimer, Hogue Rebecca H, Baker, ” Rita Hayworth, Gilda, Hayworth, — Jacques Heim’s, Louis Réard, Corbis, Teresia Teaiwa, Lee A, Merlin, SpongeBob, Bert, Turtle, Walt, William Blandy, “, Christopher Nolan’s “ Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, Nolan, Oppie, Ernest Lawrence, Josh Hartnett, Jean Tatlock, Florence Pugh, Kitty Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt, Tatlock, Oppenheimer, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's, Melinda Sue Gordon, Nolan prolongs, “ Gilda, ”, Nolan bifurcates “ Oppenheimer ”, ” “ Oppenheimer, Barbie, Margot Robbie, ’, Ken, Ryan Gosling, —, Barbie’s, Mike ”, Edward Teller, “ It’s, Teller, “ Oppenheimer ” Organizations: Dartmouth College’s Society of Fellows, Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University, CNN, Warner Brothers Discovery, Universal, Trinity, Crossroads, Getty, Atomic Energy Commission, US, Las, Atomic, National Atomic Testing, Los, Communist Party, American, Twitter Locations: Pacific, Oceania, New Mexico, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Northern Paiute, Western, Nevada, Amchitka , Alaska, Bikini Atoll, Britain, France, Australia, French, Las Vegas, Las, Playthings, Los Alamos, Japan, American, iconicity, Alamos

People wearing face masks are seen on an overpass in front of a residential building in Beijing, China August 11, 2020. Investors may get their first read on the market reaction when official property investment and price data for August is released next month. It was not the curbs that were holding the market down, they said, but Chinese doubts about better days ahead. While not bullish on real estate, she thinks of big-city properties as a "slightly bruised apple amidst a bunch of rotten ones." "I'm concerned about the change," said a 26-year-old pharmaceuticals worker surnamed Song, who had considered buying a property in Beijing before realising he needed his parents' support.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Kate Ren, hasn't, Ren, Ting Lu, Sophia Chen, Chen, Zhuran Zhang, Zhang, Song, Liangping Gao, Ella Cao, Shuyan Wang, Marius Zaharia, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Nomura, Investors, July's Communist Party, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, BEIJING, HONG KONG, Shanghai, China's, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou

☆ Tech investors face 'new era' of China restrictions after Biden order limits funding in A.I., chips
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration's executive order restricting U.S. private equity and venture capital investments in Chinese technology finally landed on Wednesday. For U.S. tech investors who'd already grown wary of the budding cross-Pacific rivalry, the ruling is the clearest signal yet that the world's second-biggest economy is off limits. Biden is specifically targeting investments in technologies like semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence on concern that China's advancements in those areas run counter to U.S. national security interests. U.S. investors have been steadily retreating from China due to a combination of a weakening economy and the fraught geopolitical environment. "Most investors want to avoid being seen as acting against U.S. national security interests."

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, We've, Elena McGovern, Neil Shen helming, Eric Reiner, Adam Hickey, Mayer Brown, Steve Sarracino, that's, Activant, There's Organizations: Biden, Capstone, Chinese Communist Party, Sequoia Capital, Sequoia, Vine Ventures, Justice Department's, who's, U.S, Activant, Investors Locations: Belen , New Mexico, U.S, China, Sequoia China, Israel, Latin America, Germany, South Africa, The U.S, ByteDance

☆ Latest China developer debt woes could spur policy aid, but industry downbeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. China’s property sector, which accounts for a quarter of the economy, has already seen a string of debt defaults by cash-squeezed developers since late 2021, with China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted property developer, at the centre of the crisis. Contagion fears in the market re-surfaced last month when four high-profile developers signalled liquidity stress amid slumping home sales nation-wide. Country Garden declined to comment on the investment bank reports. JP Morgan noted that if Country Garden still defaulted after policies aiming at boosting liquidity for developers, it would show that “there is no guarantee of survival”.

Persons: Aly, Dalian Wanda, Garden’s, ”, “, JP Morgan, Evergrande, ” JP Morgan, ” Morgan Stanley, Stephen Cheung Organizations: Reuters, Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, Garden, China Evergrande Group, Group, Greenland Holdings, Dalian Wanda Group, Dalian, HSBC, Communist Party Locations: HONG KONG, Shanghai, China, Greenland

☆ Analysis-Latest China developer debt woes could spur policy aid, but industry downbeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

☆ Analysis: Latest China developer debt woes could spur policy aid, but industry downbeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. China's property sector, which accounts for a quarter of the economy, has already seen a string of debt defaults by cash-squeezed developers since late 2021, with China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), the world's most indebted property developer, at the centre of the crisis. Contagion fears in the market re-surfaced last month when four high-profile developers signalled liquidity stress amid slumping home sales nation-wide. Country Garden declined to comment on the investment bank reports. JP Morgan noted that if Country Garden still defaulted after policies aiming at boosting liquidity for developers, it would show that "there is no guarantee of survival".

Persons: Aly, HONG KONG, Dalian Wanda, Garden's, JP Morgan, Evergrande, Morgan Stanley, Stephen Cheung, Clare Jim, Kevin Yao, Kim Coghill Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, HK, Garden, Reuters, China Evergrande, Ocean Group, Greenland Holdings, Dalian Wanda Group, Dalian, HSBC, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HK, Greenland, Beijing

☆ Biden says he will visit Vietnam 'shortly'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Leah... Read moreALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, Aug 8 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he would be traveling to Vietnam "shortly" because the country wanted to elevate its relationship with the United States and become a major partner. Biden made the remarks while speaking at a political fundraiser in New Mexico. Asked about Biden's announcement, a White House spokesperson said there was "nothing further to share at this time." Officials have not said what the closer relationship might entail, but experts say it could include increased military cooperation and U.S. weapons supplies. Reporting by Nandita Bose; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Sandra Maler and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joe Biden, Leah, Read, Biden, Pham Minh Chinh, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Vietnam's, Nguyen Phu Trong, Nandita Bose, Jeff Mason, David Brunnstrom, Sandra Maler, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Infrastructure Law, White, REUTERS, Washington, Communist, Officials, coastguard, Military, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, Vietnam, United States, Asia, China, Washington, Hanoi, Russia, Maine, India, New Delhi, U.S

☆ China hawk says Beijing could attack Taiwan by 2024, bringing ‘war to the West’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man takes picture at the harbour where Taiwanese Navy warships are anchored on August 07, 2022 in Keelung, Taiwan. Prominent China hawk Kyle Bass told CNBC on Tuesday that he believes Chinese President Xi Jinping is determined to "bring war to the West," with an invasion of Taiwan likely before the end of 2024. Bass, who is founder and chief investment officer at U.S. investment firm Hayman Capital Management, said that the West — and particularly Wall Street — is too preoccupied by the apparent economic unviability of such an attack. But, much like Russian President Vladimir Putin — whose war in Ukraine has isolated his country from the West — Xi is not solely concerned with the potential economic fallout, Bass said. "We on Wall Street love to think he would never do that because it doesn't make economic sense.

Persons: Kyle Bass, Xi Jinping, Bass, Vladimir Putin —, Xi Organizations: CNBC, Hayman Capital Management, reacquiring, Chinese Communist Party Locations: Keelung, Taiwan, China, Russian, Ukraine, West, reacquiring Taiwan

☆ China assures Russia it remains ‘impartial’ on Ukraine war after attending Saudi peace talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Lavrov “appreciates and welcomes the constructive role played by China” toward a political resolution of the “Ukraine crisis,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in their readout of Monday’s call. China has continued to bolster its economic, diplomatic, and security ties with Russia, despite Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which Beijing has never condemned. It did not send a delegation to previous international talks in Denmark in June, despite attempting to position itself as a potential peace broker on the conflict in recent months. That proposal, which Beijing put forward earlier this year, calls for peace talks to end the conflict. Ukraine and Russia remain publicly committed to prerequisites for direct negotiations that the other side finds unacceptable.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Wang Yi, Wang, Sergei Lavrov, ”, ” Wang, Lavrov “, Dmytro Kuleba, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Xi, Putin, China’s, Affairs Li Hui, “, …, Lavrov, Russia “, ” “, Qin Gang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Russian, China’s Foreign Ministry, Saudi, Ukraine’s, ”, Affairs, Reuters, CNN, Tass, Communist Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, Ukraine, Kyiv, Moscow, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United States, Britain, Germany, India, Jeddah, ” Ukraine, American, Denmark, Europe, Washington

London CNN —A graffiti wall in London’s bustling street art hub of Brick Lane has become an unlikely canvas for protest messages against China’s authoritarian rule, after it was whitewashed and painted over with propaganda slogans promoting Chinese Communist Party ideology. On Chinese social media, some supporters argued the young Chinese artists were exercising freedom of expression and applauded them for “exporting” Chinese culture and values. By Sunday, the slogans had been overlaid with a flurry of new graffiti that was deeply critical of both Xi and the Chinese Communist Party. A grafitti wall in Brick Lane was whitewashed and painted over with red slogans promoting China's "core socialist values." There’s no one leader or anything, but everybody’s expressing their dissenting views against the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.

Persons: ”, Xi Jinping, –, Critics, Xi, George Orwell’s, “, Milan, Lyndon Li Shixiang, Ivana Kottasova, Yi Que Organizations: London CNN, Chinese Communist Party, Communist Party, CNN, Milan Kundera, Hong Locations: Brick, China, London –, Britain, Lane, London’s, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, Tiananmen, Hamlets, London, Australian

In a filing to Shanghai's stock exchange, CanSino said it would manufacture and supply unspecified mRNA products to AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca said the deal would support investigational mRNA vaccines in its early pipeline. The country approved in March its first homegrown mRNA vaccine against COVID, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group (1093.HK). CanSino has been working on its own mRNA COVID vaccine, and said in February it was in discussion with Chinese regulators around the protocol for a late-stage study for its COVID mRNA booster vaccine, CS-2034. It also comes after vaccine maker Moderna (MRNA.O), which has said that it was keen to sell its mRNA vaccine to China, announced a deal last month to develop and manufacture mRNA medicines in the country.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Biologics, CanSino, Wang Wentao, Casey Hall, Ludwig Burger, Miyoung Kim, Mark Potter, Himani Organizations: AstraZeneca, REUTERS, HK, CSPC Pharmaceutical, CS, Communist Party, China's Commerce, Moderna, Thomson Locations: Swedish, China, Frankfurt

☆ Xi Remade China’s Military to His Liking. Now a Purge Threatens Its Image.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Xi Jinping has entrenched his hold on power in China, he has likened himself to a physician, eradicating the toxins of corruption and disloyalty that threaten the rule of the Communist Party. And his signature project for over a decade has been bringing to heel the once extravagantly corrupt military leadership. But recent upheavals at high levels of the People’s Liberation Army forces suggest that Mr. Xi’s cure has not endured. “It’s like a virus in the system that has come back. It’s a deep-rooted problem, and it has survived in the system.”

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi’s, ”, Andrew N.D, Yang, “ Organizations: Communist Party, People’s Liberation Army, Rocket Force Locations: China

☆ A 2020 hack of the Japanese military was tied to cyberspies from China's People's Liberation Army
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Washington Post reported on a 2020 hack on the Japanese military conducted by Chinese cyberspies. The hack gave Chinese spies access to Japanese military plans, capabilities, and shortcomings. The Post on Monday detailed a previously unreported hack into Japanese military networks by China's People's Liberation Army in 2020. The hack offered Chinese cyberspies access to Japanese military plans, capabilities, and shortcomings, the outlet reported. The news, coupled with reports from May of China installing malware into US military systems, signals a significant escalation in how the People's Liberation Army — the military arm of China's ruling communist party — is targeting foreign adversaries.

Persons: Fumio Kishida Organizations: Washington Post, Service, The Washington Post, China's People's Liberation Army, Post, People's Liberation Army Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, U.S, Japan, United States, East Asia, Japanese

CNN —Days of heavy rain have caused severe flooding in China’s leading grain-producing region in the northeast, killing 14 people and raising concerns about food security as floodwater inundated farmlands. As the storm moved further north, another 14 deaths were reported Sunday in the city of Shulan in Jilin province. Firefighters operate a drainage machine near a village in the city of Mudanjiang in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province on August 5. A cornfield is submerged by floodwater in a village in Hebi city, Henan province on August 5. A flooded farm in Xinxiang city, Henan province on August 5.

Persons: Doksuri, Zhang Tao, floodwater, Typhoon Khanun, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, Xinhua, Firefighters, China’s Ministry of Water Resources, Communist Party, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Affairs, National Bureau of Statistics, China Meteorological Administration, Qiushi, Communist Locations: China, Beijing, Hebei, Shulan, Jilin province, Heilongjiang, Mudanjiang, China's Heilongjiang, Jilin, Harbin, Shangzhi, Wuchang, Liaoning, Hebi city, Henan province, Henan, Xinxiang city

Coins and banknotes of China's yuan are seen in this illustration picture taken February 24, 2022. BEIJING'S DILEMMALocal government debt reached 92 trillion yuan ($12.8 trillion), or 76% of economic output in 2022, up from 62.2% in 2019. To avoid that risk, the adviser suggested all stakeholders bear some of the burden: financial institutions, local governments, Beijing and society at large. From 2015 to 2018, local governments issued some 12 trillion yuan of bonds to swap for off-balance sheet debt. For the local debt problem to stop re-occuring policymakers need to implement profound changes to how the economy works.

Persons: Florence Lo, China's, Guo Tianyong, Logan Wright, ”, Tao Wang, Guo, Rhodium's Wright, Marius Zaharia Organizations: REUTERS, Beijing, Communist Party, Central University of Finance, Economics, Monetary Fund, Reuters, Local, UBS, BBVA, Thomson Locations: Beijing, BEIJING, “, China, Lincoln

☆ Morgan Stanley still likes these Chinese stocks despite a country downgrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Morgan Stanley has decided to take a break, downgrading MSCI China to equal weight while recommending a few consumer and industrial names. The Politburo meeting signaled policy easing, but outstanding issues — of debt, property, jobs and geopolitics — need significant improvement for sustainable inflows, the Morgan Stanley analysts said. Morgan Stanley has so far only changed it once this year: a cut in July to 5%. And despite their downgrade of Chinese stocks, the analysts added two mainland-traded A shares to their focus list. In its latest report, Morgan Stanley analysts also turned overweight on India.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Laura Wang, Fran Chen, Wood, Warren Buffett, behemoth BlackRock, Biden, Liqian Ren, Ren, Hang Seng, Jack Ma's Alibaba, Morgan Stanley's, Morgan, WisdomTree's Ren doesn't, Ren doesn't, Michael Bloom Organizations: U.S, Chinese Communist Party, China ETF, WisdomTree Trust, Owned Enterprises ETF, Wall, JPMorgan, Baidu, State, Owned Enterprise Fund, Ping An Insurance Locations: China, . U.S, WisdomTree, WisdomTree Trust China, Morgan, Morgan Stanley's China, Hong Kong, India

☆ China has a case of 'economic long COVID' - and won't use the only cure for growth, expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China is suffering from "economic long COVID," Adam Posen wrote in Foreign Affairs. Like other authoritarian regimes, China's economic development is following a predictable pattern, he noted. "Low appetite for illiquid investment and low responsiveness to supportive macroeconomic policies: that, in a nutshell, is economic long COVID," he wrote. Despite the West's growing tensions with Beijing, China's economic woes aren't necessarily good news for its rivals either, Posen said. "When another global recession hits, China's growth will not help revive demand abroad as it did last time.

Persons: Adam Posen, Peterson, —, Goldman Sachs, It's, Xi, COVID, Posen, there's Organizations: Foreign Affairs, Service, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Bank of America, Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation, Development, China's Communist Party Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, Beijing, Posen

People ride a boat through a flooded road after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China August 3, 2023. The vast Hai River basin covers an area the size of Poland that includes Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin. On his visit to flood storage areas in Baoding, Ni added that it was necessary to reduce the pressure on Beijing's flood control and create a "moat" for the Chinese capital. "I'd like to know, among all the people living in flood storage areas across the country, how many of them know they are living in such areas?" As of 8:00 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Friday, Hebei had relocated more than 1.54 million people, including 961,200 from flood storage areas, state media reported on Saturday.

Persons: Doksuri, Tingshu Wang, Xi Jinping, Secretary Ni Yuefeng, netizens, netizen, David Kirton, Ryan Woo, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Beijing, Hebei's Communist, Secretary, Reuters, China Water Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, Thomson Locations: Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China, BEIJING, China's, Hebei, Poland, Beijing, Tianjin, Baoding prefecture, Baoding, Xiongan, Ni, Weibo, Bazhou, Shanghai

☆ China's Zhengzhou city launches property support measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File PhotoBEIJING, Aug 4 (Reuters) - China's Zhengzhou city has launched measures to support its property market, including easing home resale restrictions, in what analysts said were the first such moves by a big city heeding signals from policymakers. "Zhengzhou's property easing measures will most likely be warmly welcomed by markets, and we expect other tier-2 cities and even tier-1 cities to follow," said Nomura in a research note on Friday. "We are also concerned that merely easing restrictions on existing home sales without lifting restrictions on home purchase may add supply and depress home prices." On Thursday, China's central bank governor pledged to guide more financial resources towards private firms including property. Demand for the property sector, once a pillar of economic growth, has remained weak in recent weeks - property sales between May and June showed the largest monthly drop this year, based on sales by floor area.

Persons: Thomas Peter, Nomura, Liangping Gao, Ryan Woo, Himani Sarkar, Muralikumar Organizations: REUTERS, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, BEIJING, China's, Henan

☆ In a desperate scramble for ammo, Russia's defense chief flew all the way to North Korea to beg for some of theirs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia's defense chief traveled to North Korea recently to try and secure more ammunition. Shoigu went to Pyongyang "in a bid to convince North Korea to sell munitions to Russia to support Russia's war," Kirby added. Kirby said on Thursday that any arms deal between Russia and North Korea would be in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, 2023. Iran has outfitted Russia's military with explosive drones that Moscow has used for nearly a year to attack Ukrainian cities and the country's civil infrastructure.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Kim Jong Un, John Kirby, Kirby, Li Hongzhong, Kim, Kim Jong, Putin, he's, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there's Organizations: White, US, Service, Russian, North, DPRK, Ukraine, National Security, Democratic People's, Chinese Communist Party, Russia's, Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, REUTERS, Korean, Wagner Group, US Treasury Department, Slovakian, United Nations, Russian Defense Locations: North Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, North Korean, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Pyongyang, REUTERS North Korea, Korea, Iran, China, Washington, Beijing

Paramilitary police officers stand guard in front of the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank (PBOC), in Beijing, China September 30, 2022. Investors in China's stock markets, however, were clearly underwhelmed, as Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI) dropped roughly 2% over the week, while the mainland's benchmark CSI 300 index (.CSI) eked out a 0.7% gain. But investors are becoming frustrated by the time the NDRC is taking to flesh out stimulus policies, or order measures like a cut in stamp duty - that could help China's ailing property sector, and please investors in stocks and bonds. Even in a best-case scenario, growth over the second half of this year looks set to be modest." Reporting by Joe Cash and Albee Zhang in Beijing; Editing by Himani Sarkar & Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, HSI, flexibly, Zou Lan, Xu Tianchen, Joe Cash, Albee Zhang, Himani Sarkar, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: People's Bank of China, REUTERS, National Development, Reform Commission, Communist Party's, UBS, Council, Economist Intelligence Unit, Weibo, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, BEIJING

☆ Anger Builds in Towns Deliberately Flooded, in Part, to Save Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Keith Bradsher | More About Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For days, the rain came down in sheets, pounding Beijing and areas around it in what the government said was the heaviest deluge China’s capital had seen since record keeping began 140 years ago. When the extreme downpour finally stopped on Tuesday, most of Beijing had been spared the worst — but partly because officials made sure the floodwaters went elsewhere. Officials in Hebei Province, which borders Beijing, had opened flood gates and spillways in seven low-lying flood control zones to prevent rivers and reservoirs from overflowing in Beijing and the region’s other metropolis, Tianjin, state media said. The Communist Party leader of Hebei, Ni Yuefeng, said he ordered the “activation of flood storage and diversion areas in an orderly manner, so as to reduce the pressure on Beijing’s flood control and resolutely build a ‘moat’ for the capital.”

Persons: Ni Yuefeng, ” Organizations: Communist Party Locations: Beijing, Hebei Province, Tianjin, Hebei, Ni

☆ Analysis: US institutional investors could face restrictions on Chinese stock ownership
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Chinese companies including Tencent (0700.HK) and Alibaba (9988.HK) accounted for 31% of the MSCI Emerging Markets index (.MSCIEF) in July. RED-FLAGGED COMPANIESMSCI and rivals removed seven Chinese companies from global indexes in 2020 because of U.S. ownership restrictions. The committee's letters this week cited contractors to China's People's Liberation Army it identified in BlackRock funds or MSCI indexes. Some of the companies have been flagged such as appearing on the U.S. Treasury's "Chinese Military-Industrial Complex" companies list. For companies on it, U.S. persons and asset managers face purchase and sale restrictions but not divestment requirements.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Biden, Jo Ritcey, Donohue, there’ll, BlackRock, MSCI, RUSH, Mike Gallagher, Gallagher, Todd Rosenbluth, Rosenbluth, Russell, Ross Kerber, Karin Strohecker, Michael Martina, Patricia Zengerle, Selena Li, Megan Davies, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Waterdrop Inc, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, U.S, BlackRock, Washington, Chinese Communist Party, HK, Vanguard FTSE, Vanguard, FTSE Russell, People's, Ritcey, Department of, Thomson Locations: U.S, New, Beijing, China, BlackRock, Washington, Taiwan, Ukraine, MSCI, Boston, London, Hong Kong

☆ Chinese property stocks surge after central bank vows more support for private businesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Lim Hui Jie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Other attendees included diary giant Yili Group, aluminum products manufacturer China Hongqiao Group and electrical components manufacturer Chint Group . At the symposium, PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank will promote the expansion of private business bond financing support instruments, and strengthen the financial market to support their development. This is the latest move by the central government to boost market confidence and vow support for private businesses and the real estate sector amid signs of slowing growth. watch nowAt the Politburo meeting on July 24, the top leadership promised to "adjust and optimize policies" to boost the beleaguered property sector, as well as introduce measures to promote private investment. Separately, China's state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, also released a 17-point statement, and pledged to encourage more private capital into the construction of major national projects.

Persons: Qilai Shen, Pan Gongsheng Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, China Hongqiao Group, Chint, National Development, Reform Commission, Communist Party Locations: Beijing, China

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