CX Daily: Covid Chaos at China’s Hospitals as Stringent Control Policy Eases
Xi seeks yuan settlement of China energy trades with Gulf nations
A makeshift hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Dec. 1, 2022.
Covid-19 /
Cover Story: Covid chaos at China’s hospitals as stringent control policy eases
As Chinese authorities move to ease the burdens of sweeping pandemic lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and regular mass testing, the country’s hospitals are feeling the first shock of a giant wave of infections and shortage of health workers.
Since the State Council, China’s cabinet, rolled out a new 10-point plan Wednesday to ease its stringent Covid-19 controls, ending mass nucleic acid testing and allowing some infected people to quarantine at home rather than in centralized facilities, hospitals are facing increasing workloads as infections surge.
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FINANCE & ECONOMY
Yuan /
Xi seeks yuan settlement of China energy trades with Gulf states
President Xi Jinping said Friday that China would work with Gulf nations to start yuan settlements of oil and gas trades in the next three to five years, a move likely aimed at boosting Beijing’s ambitions to push the Chinese currency’s international use.
Speaking at the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, Xi said the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange would be utilized to facilitate the trades in yuan, according to a speech published by the official Xinhua News Agency. The exchange is a national energy trading platform launched in 2016.
Bonds /
China to roll over $108 billion of special sovereign bonds
China plans to sell 750 billion yuan ($108 billion) of special sovereign bonds, the Ministry of Finance said Friday. The issuance is a rollover of debt from 2007 rather than a new liquidity injection, Caixin learned.
The government will sell the three-year notes Dec. 12 to help “support economic and social” development, the ministry said. It will issue the bonds to designated domestic banks in the interbank bond market, and the People’s Bank of China will carry out open-market operations with the banks, the ministry said, indicating that the central bank will buy the bonds from the banks to provide liquidity support.
Scam /
Fraudsters get life in prison for $1 billion fake-SOE fundraising scam
On Nov. 30, a court in Shanghai sentenced two senior executives of a self-described supply chain company to life in prison for their leading roles in a fundraising scam that peddled fund products worth more than $1 billion under the guise of a guarantee by a fake state-owned enterprise (SOE).
Investors ultimately lost billions of yuan on the products guaranteed by China Railway Supply Chain Group (中铁中基供应链集团有限公司). The Shanghai court fined the company 100 million yuan ($14.3 million) and ordered all assets owned by both executives, Meng Chen and Cen Peng, to be confiscated, according to an announcement by the court.
Quick hits /
China central bank official calls for orderly carbon reduction
Opinion: Politburo’s ‘four dares’ promise to spur the economy
BUSINESS & TECH
Foxconn operates its key iPhone assembly plant in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou. Photo: VCG
Foxconn /
India’s market allure comes with host of challenges for Foxconn, analysts say
Foxconn Technology Group is facing challenges including supply chain and worker competency issues in India as it invests more in the country, which has its sights set on becoming one of the world’s top electronics manufacturers, analysts said.
Apple is betting bigger on the South Asian country, where Foxconn runs an iPhone assembly plant in the southern city of Chennai. The Taiwan-based contract manufacturer said it is injecting an additional $500 million into its Indian subsidiary to expand its manufacturing footprint in the country.
Vaccines /
Second China-made mRNA Covid shot approved overseas
A messenger RNA-based Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biotech firm Stemirna Therapeutics won approval for emergency use in Laos, the second China-made mRNA shot cleared for public inoculation outside the country.
The Laos Food and Drug Department cleared the Stemirna inoculation Thursday for use in people ages 18 and older. The vaccine is designed to protect people against new virus variants including delta and omicron.
Beijing approves mRNA vaccines for German nationals in China
FIFA /
Douyin accused of foul play over World Cup 4K streaming rights
ByteDance Ltd.’s short video app Douyin was ordered by a Chinese court to remove advertising about 4K streaming rights to the 2022 FIFA World Cup after being accused of unfair competition by a China Mobile Ltd. subsidiary.
Video streaming platform Migu claimed that the TikTok twin had been falsely advertising it has the right to livestream the football tournament in ultra-high definition, when in fact it is Migu that has that exclusive license, according to a Shanghai court order published Friday.
Quick hit /
China delivers first homegrown plane to take on Boeing, Airbus
Long Read /
Meet the entrepreneurs aiming to fix society’s problems
GALLERY
