Electric dreams. Tesla broke ground on its first factory outside the U.S., which is also the first foreign-owned auto plant in China. Until last year, foreign auto manufacturers were required to establish joint ventures with local companies. Besides, Beijing seems to like Musk. Premier Li Keqiang reportedly offered the Tesla CEO permanent residency. Roughly 10,000 ‘green cards’ have been issued by China, and they are notoriously hard to get. But there’s no Twitter in China. Musk might not like it. Bloomberg
Footing the bill. Short-video apps like Tik Tok have been issued new content guidelines that ban politics, of course, but also foot-fetishes. The rules were issued by a state-backed industry group, the China Netcasting Services Association as China continues its campaign to clean up the web. It’s unclear if the guidelines are legally binding but the government has criticized Tik Tok for similar ‘immoral’ content before. Demands to self-censor could take a toll on company revenues. Wall Street Journal
Norway, Huawei. Huawei might be banned from Norway’s 5G network, despite already having a major presence in the country’s 4G network. Justice Minister Tor Mikkel Wara said Norway shares “the same concerns” as the U.S. and the U.K. over Huawei, although those two nations have very different methods for dealing with their concerns. Also in Europe, a Chinese national employed by Huawei in Poland was arrested for spying. Poland’s International Security Agency (ISA) said the arrest is only an accusation against the individual, not the Chinese telecom company. Reuters
Apple slice. Two of Apple’s major Chinese resellers, Suning and JD.com, have slashed iPhone prices by as much as 20% following Apple’s recent earnings warning. Apple CEO Tim Cook had blamed slower iPhone sales on China’s softening economy but, at the time, failed to mention the brand’s ludicrously high pricing as a factor. Financial Times
