CX Daily: Why The World Is Burning Up This Summer
China’s top state leaders are vaccinated against Covid-19 with domestically developed jabs. The country expands a cross-border cash-pooling trial for multinationals
Heat wave /
Cover Story: Why the world is burning up this summer
At 14:30 July 13, the thermometer reading on Shanghai Xujiahui Meteorological Station’s screen topped 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest since records began in 1873.
From Shanghai to Dallas, from Paris to London, a record-shattering heat wave is sweeping the entire northern hemisphere. On the temperature map, areas marked in deep red and orange, indicating temperatures above 35℃, cover wide swathes of Europe, North Africa, North America, East Asia and the Middle East.
Covid-19 /
China’s leaders all inoculated with domestic Covid-19 vaccines, health official says
China’s top state leaders have been vaccinated against Covid-19 with domestically developed jabs, the deputy head of the National Health Commission (NHC) said Saturday at a briefing.
“It shows the leaders’ confidence in Chinese vaccines,” Zeng Yixin said, according to a readout (link in Chinese) of the briefing. It did not identify any of the vaccinated leaders by name.
China Covid cases drop as Macao, Shanghai ramp up mass testing
Egg freezing /
Chinese court rules against single woman who wanted to freeze her eggs
A Beijing court ruled against a legal challenge by an unmarried woman seeking to freeze her eggs. The case put the spotlight on women’s reproductive rights in China and limitations single women face in delaying parenthood.
Since 2019, Xu Zaozao (not her real name) turned to legal action to defend her reproductive rights after her request to freeze her eggs was rejected by a local hospital due to her marital status. Xu was reportedly the first unmarried woman in the country to do so. Chinese regulations state that married women are allowed to freeze their eggs if they have fertility issues.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
CMB first revealed a plan to set up an independent direct bank in February 2017.
Banking /
China Merchants Bank drops banking venture with JD.com
A long-planned banking joint venture between China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. (CMB) and the fintech unit of e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. fell apart after more than five years of preparation.
CMB, one of the country’s largest commercial banks, said Friday that its board decided to withdraw an application to open China Merchants Tuopu Bank and terminate preparations. The decision came more than a year after the bank won approval from the top banking regulator to set up a direct banking joint venture with financial services platform Jingdong Digits Technology Holding Co. Ltd. (JD Digits).
Yuan /
China expands cross-border cash-pooling trial for multinationals
China is expanding a trial program that facilitates multinational firms’ cross-border use of funds, another step in the country’s long-running push to internationalize the yuan.
Under the pilot program, first launched in Beijing and Shenzhen in March 2021, selected businesses can combine their cross-border yuan and multiple-currency cash pools into a single pool and buy foreign currencies for overseas payments at will within certain limits.
Corruption /
Graft investigators target regulatory official linked to Henan bank scandal
An official once responsible for overseeing village banks in Central China’s Henan province has been placed under investigation by anti-graft agencies in the wake of a multibillion-dollar banking scandal.
Li Huanting, an inspector at the provincial branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), is suspected of serious violations of law and Communist Party discipline, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement Sunday, without offering further details. Such announcements typically allude to corruption.
Quick hits /
Censured Chinese actress held board seat at company controlled by mysterious tycoon
Top China banks start lending funds in $45 billion infrastructure plan
Editorial: How to ‘lubricate’ the frictions in China’s labor market
BUSINESS & TECH
A poster of Aluminum Corporation of China at an exhibition in Shanghai in July 2019. Photo: VCG
Aluminum /
Chalco’s takeover of peer could make it world’s largest publicly traded aluminum maker
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., known as Chalco, will take control of Yunnan Aluminum Co. Ltd., which analysts said could make it the world’s largest publicly traded aluminum producer.
Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed Chalco will pay 6.66 billion yuan ($986.5 million) for around 19% of Yunnan Aluminum, the company said Sunday in an exchange filing (link in Chinese). The per share price of 10.11 yuan represents a premium of 5.5% on the closing price Friday.
Oil /
Russia becomes China’s largest oil supplier as prices drop
Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as the largest crude oil supplier to China over the past two months as Western sanctions due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine dragged down prices of its petroleum exports, boosting their appeal among Asian buyers.
Last month, China imported 7.3 million tons of crude oil from Russia, up 9.5% from the same period in 2021, according to data provided to Caixin on request from the General Administration of Customs. Oil imports jumped 54.8% year-on-year to 8.4 million tons in May.
Corruption /
Former Shanghai Electric chairman expelled from Communist Party over bribery allegations
Zheng Jianhua, former chairman of state-owned electric equipment manufacturer Shanghai Electric Group Co. Ltd., has been removed from public positions and expelled from the Communist Party due to alleged bribery and other misconduct, according to a Friday statement from the state anti-graft agency.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection accused Zheng of abusing his power and causing “tremendous loss” to state-owned assets, as well as accepting bribes and embezzling public funds. He will later stand trial, the statement said.
Quick hits /
China tightens grip on ride-hailing platforms’ data practices
China Evergrande CEO, CFO exit in internal probe of deposit use
Long Read /
The Chinese economy’s uncertain path to recovery
GALLERY
Taikonauts enter Wentian lab module