No. 01 | 27.04.2020

The interest on China is growing everywhere. Yet most of the available news and analysis outside China is produced by mainstream media from the Global North. To provide access to Chinese perspectives, the Dong Feng Collective — formed by researchers from various countries — is preparing a weekly digest of news from China (with sources originally in Chinese and English). For reference, we will also include a limited selection of Western media articles. The digest is published every Saturday in Spanish, Portuguese and English.

Shanghai moviegoers and posters of box-office hits “Detective Chinatown 3” and “Hi, Mom”, 21 February 2021 [VCG/China.org.cn]

Science and Technology

A “surgical attack” by the US imposes stricter sanctions against Huawei

Supply of TSMC (Taiwan) chips with US technology must be stopped and could threaten Chinese global leadership in 5G

Chinese chip maker (SMIC) would only be able to meet 60% of Huawei’s demand and its technology is lagging at least 5 years

Without advanced TSMC chips, Huawei may give up making high-end devices and focus on infrastructure for 5G

US starts a “high-tech cold war” and China may react with measures against US companies like Apple, Qualcomm, Cisco and Boeing, which would suffer a severe blow

New attack accelerates Chinese plans to “de-Americanize” the technology sector. Shanghai chip maker (SMIC) received $2.25 billion in investments

Geopolitics

At the WHO Assembly, China proposes to make the future anti-COVID-19 vaccine “a global common good”

Xi announces $2 billion donation to fight the pandemic – prioritizing Africa – and proposes G20 to suspend payment of debt services for poor countries

With US support, Taiwan tries a “political maneuver” to participate in WHO Assembly as an independent country

Chinese officials say maneuver violates UN principle that recognizes “One China” and that Taiwanese already have the necessary resources to fight the pandemic

Trump bans investment of federal employees’ pension fund in shares of Chinese companies

White House opens new front of attack on China and may lead to capital market fragmentation

US Senate passes law that could harm Chinese companies in U.S. stock exchanges

Chinese would have to submit to stricter rules to receive investments. Law still needs to be approved in Congress

Baidu says it’s not worried about possible sanctions against Chinese companies on the US stock market

CEO of the largest internet search engine in China says that companies have other options, such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

China wants to avoid trade war with Australia due to political tensions over COVID-19, but hypothesis is not ruled out

After imposing an anti-dumping tariff of 80.5% for Australian barley and suspending the license of 4 meat exporters, Chinese negotiate to maintain strategic commercial partnership

Despite recent tensions, trade between China and Australia may grow thanks to Chinese recovery      

Australian exports of iron ore, coal and natural gas grew about 6% in April in the annual comparison. Increased Chinese investments in infrastructure will demand more natural resources

Economy

Chinese economic recovery advances in April, improving first quarter indexes   

Industrial production grew 3.9% by annual comparison. Consumption and investment in fixed capital show signs of recovery

China intensifies measures to control shadow banking sector and ensure greater transparency

Sector has had its activity reduced by $2.25 trillion dollars in the last three years, reducing risks of financial operations

Renewable energy sector showed steady growth in the first quarter compared to the previous year

Installed capacity grew by 8.4%, reaching 802 million kilowatts

People’s Life and Culture

Between 2011 and 2018, 70% of new university students are the first in their family to access higher education

69.7% of them come from rural areas. Data show signs of Chinese educational progress and fight against inequalities, but students still face challenges

Child studies while parents work in street food stall Yichang city, Hubei. 07.05.2020
[Photo by Yang Wei / For China Daily]