CX Daily: Shanghai Fights a New Covid Enemy With Old Weapons
China proposes revised rules to enable Sino-U.S. audit cooperation.
Top Story
Shanghai has expanded its original two-phase containment plan into a citywide lockdown.
Covid-19 /
Cover Story: Shanghai fights a new Covid enemy with old weapons
Shanghai is like Wuhan two years ago.
The financial hub of 25 million residents has emerged as the epicenter of China’s worst virus outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. The city imposed a two-phase lockdown after reporting nearly 40,000 Covid-19 cases in March. The number of daily infections shot up from single digits at the beginning of March to more than 8,000 Saturday.
Residents forced to stay home have complained of food shortages. Patients in quarantine facilities have found it difficult to access medical staff. And non-Covid patients have been barred from hospitals. Last Wednesday, a nurse died from an asthma attack after being denied entry to the hospital where she worked.
Shanghai under fire for separating infant Covid patients from their parents
Editorial: People’s livelihood must be guaranteed amid fight against Covid-19
The U.S securities regulator identified 11 Chinese companies that could face delisting for failing to meet audit requirements.
Audit /
China proposes revised rules to enable Sino-U.S. audit cooperation
China proposed revising rules that restrict offshore-traded companies’ sharing of financial data in a step toward resolving a long-running audit dispute with the U.S. that threatens to result in more than 200 Chinese stocks being kicked off U.S. exchanges.
The revised draft rules — jointly released Saturday by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the Ministry of Finance, the National Administration of State Secrets Protection and the National Archives Administration — would remove previous requirements that on-site inspections of overseas-traded Chinese companies should be mainly conducted by Chinese regulators or rely on their inspection findings.
Hong Kong /
Hong Kong leader says she will not seek second term
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said during a press conference Monday that she will not seek a second term, citing family reasons for her retirement after working for 42 years as a public servant.
Lam, 65, said her family members believe that she has served “enough time to be back with the family.”
She said she had notified the central government about her intention to retire during the annual gatherings of national lawmakers and political advisers, known as “Two Sessions,” in March last year.
Corruption /
Former IPO review official expelled from Communist Party for corruption
Zeng Changhong, a former securities regulator overseeing new stock offerings, was expelled from the Communist Party and faces criminal charges for corruption, the country’s top graft busters said Friday.
Zeng was placed under party investigation six months ago. The 61-year-old official seriously violated party discipline, committed severe violations of duty and is suspected of crimes involving a huge amount of illegal gains, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission. The case was transferred to the judiciary system for criminal investigation.
Quick hits /
Caixin New Economy Index dips on shrinking labor inputs
Vaccines /
EU leaders vow to share mRNA vaccine technology with China
The European Union vowed to share mRNA vaccine technology and cooperate with China in stepping up the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic as top leaders from both sides met online Friday in their first summit since 2020.
Top leaders agreed to press for a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war as a threat to global stability and the world economy. In separate videoconference sessions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel also discussed China-EU relations and other matters.
Chips /
Eyeing IPO, chip design giant Arm moves to distance itself from Chinese unit
British chip design giant Arm Ltd. has transferred its shares in its wayward China joint venture to a special purpose vehicle that it jointly owns with its parent SoftBank Group Corp. in a move that could speed up its plans to go public if it decides to sell stock in the U.S.
Over the past two years, Arm has struggled to regain control of Arm China as the subsidiary’s head, Allen Wu, has refused to relinquish power despite a 7-1 board vote to kick him out in June 2020. That spat has made it difficult for Arm to audit the financials of the company, creating a major stumbling block to doing an IPO in the U.S.
Restructuring /
Bankrupt Unigroup gets $9.4 billion to advance restructuring
Strategic investors who won the bidding to lead a debt restructuring of China’s Tsinghua Unigroup put in place the entire 60 billion yuan ($9.4 billion) of committed funding, completing a key step to advance the overhaul of the bankrupt semiconductor conglomerate.
A consortium led by Beijing Jianguang Asset Management Co. Ltd. (JAC Capital) and Wise Road Capital Ltd. made the full takeover payment, Unigroup’s administrators said Friday. The company will proceed with its bankruptcy process and arrange asset transfers and debt payments under court orders.
Quick hits /
Tesla is poised for another record quarter amid high gas prices
