May holiday; US-China; Climate; Chips; Canada-PRC relations; 漫长的季节 The Long Season

I hope those of you who got some time off for the May 1 Holiday had a nice vacation.

Summary of the Essential Eight:

1. Holiday economic data - This was the best May holiday travel and consumption activity since 2019, but this year had one more vacation day than in 2019 and, as Everbright Securities wrote in a note today “per capita consumption rebounded to 540.4 yuan on May Day in 2023…but is still 10.4% lower than 2019 level of 603 yuan”. And the April Caixin manufacturing PMI came in at at 49.5, in another sign of that the Covid exit rebound is less robust than many had hoped it would be.

2. Concerns over data restrictions and business raids - We still do not exactly what is behind the various raids and restrictions on data types, but whatever the reasons, likely a mix of national security and data security and compliance with data regulations, the net result is to make the PRC appear increasingly inhospitable to foreign investment, and to make it harder for public companies and large inv…