| Things are looking up for China's most popular billionaire Jack Ma. After a years-long campaign targeting excessive growth of internet platform companies — including Ma's Alibaba — President Xi Jinping now appears to be loosening the reins. At the end of the two-day Central Economic Work Conference, which lays out policy objectives for the coming year, the nation's top leaders said they would focus on boosting the economy in 2023. In order to achieve growth of around 5% from this year's dismal estimate of roughly 3%, monetary policy will remain loose, fiscal policy will stay active and support for the property market will continue.
Officials also pledged to support the private sector — a marked shift from recent years. Singling out internet platform firms, they said they would support the companies in playing a leading role in economic development, creating jobs and competing in the international market. With regard to regulation, they called for the improvement of normalized supervision and support for these companies, a sign that crackdowns on the likes of Alibaba may now ease. The government forced the firm's finance affiliate, Ant Group, to call off what would have been the world's largest initial public offering in 2020, then launched reforms that undercut Alibaba's business model. The ruling Communist Party's evolving stance toward the private sector has become one of the most closely watched developments in global markets in recent years. The language on platform companies was much more positive than during last year's meeting, when leaders emphasized supervision of the industry and curbing its "wild growth." No mention was made this time of "common prosperity," one of Xi's signature policies aimed at narrowing inequality but that's also been used as a cudgel against the nation's billionaires. Another good sign: The ruling party's leader in Zhejiang province, where Alibaba is based, visited company headquarters. "The biggest change this year seems to be the increased focus on improving the business environment for foreign and private companies, especially the internet platform companies," said Adam Wolfe, an economist at Absolute Strategy Research. "That could help restore confidence and boost investment in light manufacturing and the service sector."  Jack Ma Photographer: Scott Eells For Ma, it could also mean a return from the wilderness. Since lashing out at banking regulators in a 2020 speech in Shanghai and setting off an unprecedented wave of government actions against Big Tech, he has been laying low, with occasional glimpses of the once loquacious businessman hitting the links in Sanya or chilling out in Ibiza. Of late, Ma has been living in Tokyo, where he has been seen hanging out in private members' clubs in Ginza. Just a week ago, Shanghai's hospitals were looking pretty calm. That's all changed in the past few days as Covid rampaged across China's financial hub, Hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of infected patients, pharmacies are turning customers away empty-handed, businesses are shutting because staff are off sick, most schools have closed and usage of public transport is plummeting.  Patients at Tongren Hospital in Shanghai on Dec. 21. Bloomberg At Tongren Hospital, one of Shanghai's biggest public hospitals, doctors in the intensive care unit were using hallways to handle the overflow of seriously ill. Outside one so-called fever clinic, several dozen visibly sick people were being made to wait in the cold. Several pharmacies near the hospital were no longer allowing people to enter, saying they had run out of cold and fever medicine. Watch: Covid Crowds Shanghai Hospitals as Cases Rise (Video) A physician at a private hospital in Shanghai who told Bloomberg News a week ago that everything was calm, said the outlook has now worsened. "Shanghai is beginning to look a lot like Beijing in terms of infections," he said. That's a comparison Shanghai can do without. Beijing has been coming under harsh scrutiny for reporting an unusually low death toll at a time when infections are soaring and its funeral parlors and crematoriums are seeing a steady stream of arrivals. The government says it has adopted a much narrower definition for mortalities, stoking concern it's trying to downplay the severity of the impact from its abrupt pandemic pivot. Officially, there have been fewer than 10 Covid deaths since the beginning of December. According to Airfinity, a London-based research firm, China is likely experiencing 1 million Covid infections and 5,000 virus deaths every day. In explaining why the government didn't do a better job in preparing for a reopening, Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, writes that while the Communist system excels at mobilizing resources to fulfill the leadership's top priority, it's not so good at multi-tasking. "Before it was summarily abandoned, local officials devoted practically all their energy and resources to meeting just one target — zero infections in their jurisdictions — because they knew their heads would roll if they didn't."
Watch: China's handful of reported Covid deaths fuels suspicion (Video) Another major concern is the prospect of a dangerous new virus variant emerging for the first time in more than a year, just as genetic sequencing to catch such a threat is dwindling. There are two paths the virus could take. Omicron and its hundreds of subvariants may sweep directly through, likely in several waves, leaving no room for other contenders. The other possibility is that something else entirely develops, much like the way the original omicron did in late 2021. That could pose a novel threat for the world. "There will certainly be more omicron subvariants developing in China in the coming days, weeks and months, but what the world must anticipate in order to recognize it early and take rapid action is a completely new variant of concern," said Daniel Lucey, a professor at Dartmouth University's Geisel School of Medicine. "It could be more contagious, more deadly, or evade drugs, vaccines and detection from existing diagnostics." Could a thaw in diplomatic relations between China and Australia come as fast and sudden as the end of Covid Zero? Foreign Minister Penny Wong met this week with her counterpart Wang Yi for the first state visit by a top Australian diplomat since 2018. Meanwhile, Xi exchanged congratulatory messages with new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. This came after the two leaders met last month on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali.  Penny Wong Photographer: LUKAS COCH/Getty Images While Wong's trip to Beijing was ostensibly to mark the anniversary, it carried a lot of symbolism. Her ministerial predecessors in the former conservative coalition government couldn't get Chinese officials to take their calls, let alone meet for talks in Beijing. Under Scott Morrison, Australia and China's relationship had gone from bad to worse.
In April 2020, calls by the former prime minister for an international investigation into the origins of Covid angered the Chinese government.
As the relationship unraveled, two Australian citizens were arrested on spying charges in China — journalist Cheng Lei and writer Yang Hengjun — and Beijing imposed punitive trade actions on Australian commodities from coal to barley, lobsters and wine. Watch: Australia-China Relations Institute: Penny Wong's Visit (Video) Wong said she discussed with her counterpart the possibility for future dialogue to improve trade relations between the two countries, but didn't say how responsive the Chinese government was to relaxing the sanctions. Experts say any easing would likely be done unofficially at a later date. Nevertheless, Australian financial assets rallied on signs of a reset in relations. For Xi, the latest moves added to evidence the Chinese leader is trying to repair ties with the West and move back to a lower-key diplomatic strategy. Strolling through a frigid Beijing park, Wong responded to a reporter's question on the state of ties by noting "the ice thaws but slowly." Still, the fact she spoke those words highlights the changed atmosphere since the Labor government won office in May. It actually sounds fun to be China's ambassador to the US. Since Qin Gang's appointment last year, the 56-year-old envoy has thrown out the first pitch at St. Louis Cardinals game, shared a picture of a personalized Lakers jersey and taken a ride in a Tesla with Elon Musk.  Qin Gang during the US-China Business Council in Washington, D.C. Photographer: China News Service/China News Service Unlike other envoys who have earned the nickname "Wolf Warrior" for being combative, Qin has delivered some of China's most moderate messages on hot topics. He's argued Beijing would've tried to stop Russia from invading Ukraine if it had known, and played down the risk of a war with Taiwan. He hasn't built a personal brand on social media, only joining Twitter last year. The Tianjin-native studied at University of International Relations in Beijing, a school with close ties to both the Foreign Ministry and China's primary spy agency. After a stint at United Press International, where he cut press clippings for foreign correspondents, he worked his way up through the ministry with roles in Beijing and London. His emergence as the top contender to become foreign minister is bolstering speculation that Xi is trying to move back to a lower-key diplomatic strategy. Qin is likely to be a "better messenger" for having been a Foreign Ministry spokesperson in the pre-Wolf Warrior era, said Jingdong Yuan, associate professor at the University of Sydney. "He may have a better sense of how to engage the world, in language and presentation, that appear less 'Wolf Warrior'-like." Each weekday, The Big Take podcast brings you one story — one big, important story from Bloomberg's global newsroom. Subscribe and listen on iHeart, Apple and Spotify. What We're ReadingFinally, a few other stories that caught our attention: | 
No comments:
Post a Comment