Xi and Starbucks; Hebei outbreak; More US sanctions; Record trade surplus

Starbucks is in the middle of an effort to energize the US-China relationship as the Biden Administration takes over. PRC media is making a huge deal of Xi Jinping’s response to a letter from Howard Schultz, the chairman emeritus of Starbucks - Xi encourages Starbucks to help promote China-U.S. ties - Xinhua

In a reply letter to Schultz on Jan. 6, Xi stressed that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the 1.4 billion Chinese people have made long-term and arduous efforts to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and pursue socialist modernization.

China's embarking upon the new journey of fully building a modern socialist country will provide broader space for enterprises from across the world, including Starbucks and other American companies, to develop in China, stressed the Chinese president.

Xi said he hopes that the coffee company will make active efforts to promote China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation as well as the two countries' relations.

In hi…