CX Daily: The Weak Link in China’s New-Energy Power Plan: Weather
Xi urges China to mobilize nationwide resources to advance research in cutting-edge technologies and cultivate competitive advantages in key fields
Energy /
In Depth: The weak link in China’s new-energy power plan: weather
This summer’s catastrophic electricity shortfall in southwestern China’s Sichuan province exposed the biggest weakness in the country’s strategy for decarbonizing power generation: the weather.
Sichuan’s power woes grew out of a 40% drop in rainfall in the upstream Yangtze River watershed. That dried up reservoirs and slashed generating capacity by half in a province that’s the country’s largest producer of hydropower. The supply of electricity fell to businesses and households across the province of 84 million people and sent ripple effects forcing air conditioning cutbacks as far away as Shanghai 2,000 kilometers to the east.
Sichuan /
Debate rages after residents barred from earthquake evacuation due to Covid curbs
The debate over what should be done when emergencies arise in locked-down regions has once again come into the spotlight after residents of Sichuan said they were barred from leaving their homes even as a major earthquake shook the province.
As China battles its broadest yet Covid-19 outbreak with more than 30 cities and an estimated of 65 million people being placed under some sort of lockdown, a legal expert told Caixin that the right to life is the basis of a civilized society and that an individual’s life shouldn’t be sacrificed to protect collective interests.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
President Xi Jinping. Photo: Xinhua
Policy /
Xi tells nation to mobilize for ‘core technology’ breakthrough
President Xi Jinping urged China to mobilize nationwide resources to advance research in cutting-edge technologies and cultivate competitive advantages in key fields in a renewed call for tech self-reliance amid growing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Xi stressed the need to improve collaborative efforts among government, market and society to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies while strengthening China’s sci-tech power during a high-level central committee meeting Tuesday.
Central bank /
Banking veteran Zhang Qingsong appointed PBOC deputy governor
Veteran banker Zhang Qingsong was appointed a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), according to an official announcement.
Zhang’s appointment, announced Tuesday by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, filled a vacancy left by Liu Guiping, who left in April to become executive deputy mayor of Tianjin municipality.
Reinsurers /
Asia’s largest reinsurer to get new chairman
China Reinsurance (Group) Corp. President He Chunlei is expected to be promoted to chairman following his appointment as Communist Party chief of the Hong Kong-traded company.
China Re was Asia’s largest reinsurer and the world’s sixth-largest by reinsurance premiums in 2020, according to research company A.M. Best Co. Inc. It is also the country’s only state-owned reinsurance group.
Quick hits /
SEC tells auditors to vet new Chinese clients that trade in the U.S.
Gazprom to shift gas sales to China to rubles, yuan from euro
Hong Kong finds first monkeypox case in quarantined traveler
BUSINESS & TECH
Singaporean e-commerce platform Shopee canceled some Chinese new employees' contracts as it is slowing down expansion amid pressure on profitability. Photo: VCG
Sea /
Reneging on job offers underscores Sea’s retrenchment
Southeast Asian conglomerate Sea Ltd. has pumped the brakes on its e-commerce unit Shopee’s expansion, resorting to measures such as reneging on jobs offers to Chinese employees at the last minute.
The strategy shift came as the Singaporean company backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. tries to slash costs to shore up its bottom line amid widening losses. The red ink has followed several years of aggressive expansion by Shopee, which put pressure on its balance sheet this year, just as challenges raising money abroad mounted.
Property /
Distressed R&F dumps Beijing hotel at a loss
Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd. sold a Beijing hotel at a loss to raise cash for debt repayment, underscoring the distressed developer’s deepening woes amid the prolonged property industry crisis.
R&F agreed to sell its entire stake in Wanda Realm Beijing, a five-star luxury hotel in the western part of the capital city, to Beijing Yingxie Property Investment Co. for 550 million yuan ($79 million), R&F said Monday.
Quick hits /
Guangzhou Auto’s EV unit completes ownership overhaul
Fitness app Keep renews Hong Kong share sale plan
Long Read /
Why the Scientific Revolution did not occur in China
GALLERY
Southwest China’s lost gibbons
