1/ Sony becomes the latest foreign company to be hung out to dry in China for nationalistic reasons. The company's social media account (Weibo) was shut last week, and it was over a post from Oct 12, in which nationalists singled out for insulting China's war heroes and martyrs.

https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1612363944198537219

2/ Last week, astute Chinese netizens realised Sony's Weibo had been shuttered, for "running afoul of related rules and regulations." (Message in orange wording at the bottom of image)

Thread: @Danstrumpf and I set out to understand how the abrupt end of zero-covid was impacting Chinese factories, and the world's largest factory floor. The results were pretty surprising. wsj.com/articles/chine… @DanStrumpf 2/ The speed at which the zero-covid policy was dropped took businesses - both small and large - by surprise. December was a topsy-turvy period for many Chinese factories and service businesses, as many as 90% of one factory's workforce was out with covid.

1/ Thread: The pandemic has given Chinese President Xi the best opportunity to promote TCM at home and abroad. Why has that sparked such intense debate about public health experts? My colleague @qianweizhang and I break it down. wsj.com/articles/appro… @qianweizhang 2/ Chinese are rushing to buy fever medicine and test kits as the country eases up on virus testing and pandemic control measures. One remedy, however, has been in shortage for a while: Lianhua Qingwen, a herbal drug endorsed by senior Chinese officials to beat covid.

1/ The impact of U.S. chip export controls towards China is more human than tech: @WSJ combed thru corporate filings to identify 43 American senior executives in 16 listed Chinese chip firms.
They now have to chose between their citizenship & for some, the startups they founded. 2/ Many in China's chip space expected limits on semiconductors and equipment, what caught most off guard was the policy restricting "US persons" from supporting and developing China's advanced chip industry. (w/@_KarenHao) wsj.com/articles/ameri…

1/ THREAD: The @WSJ ran checks on China's most popular social media platforms in the weeks before the Party Congress, searching for the names of Chinese leader Xi, the standing committee members and its 31 provincial and region Party chiefs. Here's what we found: @WSJ 2/ We analysed Douyin (China's TikTok), Weibo, Baidu's online forum Tieba, the Quora-like Zhihu (知乎）and searched for WeChat blogs using the Sogou search tool.

1/ JD's founder billionaire Richard Liu has been unwinding connections to his large empire in recent months in the run-up to this trial， as he seeks to distance Chinese tech company JD.com and its affiliates from the case. Here's what he no longer holds:

https://twitter.com/shenlulushen/status/1575584214635773952

2/ The biggest thing is giving up executive control of JD.com in July. An electronics e-commerce platform he founded in 2004 that has since grown into one of China’s heavyweights, selling groceries, clothing to millions of Chinese. wsj.com/articles/found…

Wednesday's UN report will have big repercussions not just on foreign policy, but also on multinationals doing business with Xinjiang: w/@ByChunHan wsj.com/articles/xinji… The EU Chamber of Commerce in China says Western governments, civil society and consumers are increasingly demanding that businesses demonstrate that they are not involved with forced labour practices, this UN report will only intensify those calls.

1/ Nvidia has flown under the radar for a long time, with most folks thinking its a company that makes gaming chips. What's less known, is how deep the company's links to China are: w/@DanStrumpf wsj.com/articles/lates… 2/ On Wednesday, the U.S. imposed new licensing requirements on shipments of some of Nvidia's most advanced chips to China. Nvidia said this could impact as much as $400 mln of sales in the upcoming quarter. They sell $400 mln of goods in 3 months... wsj.com/articles/nvidi…

1/ Thread: @DanStrumpf and I found China is leading the world in the building of new semiconductor factories... A move that could eventually make Western countries reliant on China for the supply of many basic chips used in mobile phones, cars, electronics wsj.com/articles/china… 2/ The number of major semiconductor factories expected to be built in the four years through 2024:
China: 31 fabs
Taiwan: 19 fabs
The U.S.: 12 fabs
(Data from chip industry group SEMI)

1/ Exclusive: Walmart removed #Xinjiang products from its China Sam's Club store brands, & the US retail giant also held talks about taking on a minority investor to reduce regulatory risk.
How Walmart is navigating China's choppy waters: w/@SarahNassauer wsj.com/articles/what-… 2/ Walmart opened its first store in China in 1996, a sprawling supercenter in the Hong Kong border city of Shenzhen. It has been working to find the right strategy ever since.

1/ "Heaven Supermarket Bar." 天堂超市酒吧：Beijing's latest covid cluster revolves around this bar, and a wild night of partying. Now, officials are rescinding reopening mandates, including delaying the reopening of Universal Beijing Resorts. #zerocovid wsj.com/articles/beiji… 2/ Beijing officials said at least 29 residents had tested positive for the virus by Friday afternoon, up from only 8 positive cases the day before, and 3 cases on Wednesday. 26 were linked to Heaven Supermarket Bar. w/Bingyan Wang & @ZhaoReddy

1/ Marriott International, Delta Airlines, H&M, Zara: there are many reasons why China is the elephant in the room when it comes to Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter. Why this matters: w/ @_KarenHao wsj.com/articles/china… 2/ We've seen China use its large consumer market as leverage to get foreign firms to align with its political goals several times in the past. Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang have all been hot button topics, and firms have almost always caved.

1/ Thread: Shanghai is trying to restart factories affected by covid lockdowns, with #Tesla as its poster boy. In reality, it isn't that simple.
Component shortages, delivery snafus, and exhausted staff. The challenges: @yoyominnie @Kubota_Yoko @Trefor1 wsj.com/articles/china… 2/ Last week, Shanghai's government released a list of 666 companies selected to reopen. They come from key industries such as auto, semiconductor, pharma, and many are SOEs. Authorities vowed to support restarting, clearing logistics hurdles & ensuring delivery of raw materials.

Wechat is having a bit of an awakening. Chinese (and many Shanghainese) are posting and reposting a video on the “Voices of April” - of Shanghai residents and their difficulties experienced over the lockdown month of April. Videos are taken down by censors as quickly as they post Pretty amazing. I’ve seen people post iterations of the video upside down in order to evade censors. But even then, the video is deleted as I am watching it. Another one that’s circulating is the song of Les Miserables.

1/ THREAD: The extended Shanghai lockdown is morphing into a logistics disaster as trucks trickle into the city, leaving empty containers piling up at the world's largest port. What's happening with cargo there: w/ @yoyominnie @Kubota_Yoko @wsj_douglasj wsj.com/articles/shang… 2/ The crux of the problem is trucking. Shanghai has closed its city to many trucks coming in, and the risk of being suddenly asked to quarantine is terrifying enough that even though truck payments to drive there have doubled, no driver wants to do it.

Her husband of 12 years was on board China Eastern Flight 5735, the jetliner that nosedived into the mountains of Guangxi barely 40 mins before they were to land. He appeared in her dream last week, and she said, "I've been waiting for you to come. Our interviews with family: 1/ He was 7 years older and they met thru a mutual friend. He was shy & reserved, but she was taken by his smile, which "lit up the room." As a couple they traveled to Maldives and backpacked thru India's Golden Triangle region. w/ Rachel Liang & @xinwenfan wsj.com/articles/a-lov…

1/ #China just imposed its latest sweeping lockdown in Shanghai, a city of 25 million. Here's a thread on what they did and why the potential economic impact mat pack a huge punch this time: w/ @yoyominnie @jamestareddy wsj.com/articles/shang… 2/ on Sunday, officials announced it would split the city in half. Huangpu, the central river in Shanghai, cuts the municipality almost nicely in half. Areas east of the river shut down Monday for 5 days. Areas west begin their 5-day lockdown on Apr 1.

1/ #Tesla's opens a new store in Xinjiang, a region at the center of U.S. genocide allegations. A post on their official Weibo about opening the store. It says “On the last day of 2021, we meet in Xinjiang. In 2022, let us together launch Xinjiang on its electric journey!” #China 2/ Xinjiang has proved to be a quagmire for brands such as H&M, Walmart and Intel, and Tesla risks wading into the same human-rights dispute. The US just passed a law banning imports from Xinjiang on reasons of forced labor.

1/ China needs more transparency now to rebuild trust. It’s doing exactly the opposite. From financial to supply chain data, Chinese firms have been reluctant to share information after a sweeping data security law passed. Our investigation: w/@ByChunHan wsj.com/articles/china… @ByChunHan 2/ China’s Communist Party has long maintained tight control over information, and the effort has intensified under Xi Jinping. The crux of the issue is vague definitions in the data security law.