Foxconn, China Contractor for Apple, Said to Be Under Tax Audit

Foreign and local companies in China are increasingly the targets of tax audits and other regulatory reviews, as local governments try to steady their finances by collecting more revenue. The latest company to come under scrutiny is Foxconn of Taiwan. Chinese state media outlets reported on Sunday that the company was facing investigations in four provinces. Foxconn, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electronics, is Apple’s main contractor for the production of everything from iPhones to MacBook laptop computers. Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid and website owned by the…

China’s Covid Tsunami Recedes, Bringing Relief, Grief and Anxiety

When China abruptly abandoned “zero Covid,” accelerating an onslaught of infections and deaths, many feared a prolonged tide rippling from cities into villages. Now, two months later, the worst seems to have passed, and the government is eager to shift attention to economic recovery. Doctors who were mobilized across China to treat a rush of Covid patients say in phone interviews that the number of patients they are now seeing has fallen. Towns and villages that had hunkered down under the surge of infections and funerals are stirring to life.…

The Chinese Dream, Denied

The narrow alleyways of Haizhu district have long beckoned to China’s strivers, people like Xie Pan, a textile worker from a mountainous tea-growing area in central China. Home to one of the country’s biggest fabric markets, Haizhu houses worker dormitories and textile factories in brightly colored buildings stacked so close that neighbors can shake hands out their windows. Once a smattering of rural villages, the area became a manufacturing hub as China opened its economy decades ago. The government had promised to step back and let people unleash their ambitions,…

China Says It Has Vaccinated 1 Billion People

China said on Thursday that it had fully inoculated 1 billion people, a milestone for the world’s most populous country that brings it closer to its goal of vaccinating 80 percent of its population by the end of the year. It was a significant accomplishment, representing 71 percent of China’s population of 1.4 billion. China has administered 2.16 billion doses, nearly triple that of India, which is ranked second for shots given and has doled out 752.7 million doses, according to Our World in Data, which tracks vaccination figures. More…