Apple’s Tim Cook drops in on China while Xi hangs out with ‘dear friend’ Putin

Image of the week: Belt and Road

The security troops and their dogs were out in force in Tiananmen Square this week as Beijing hosted a summit to mark the 10th anniversary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative – president Xi Jinping’s international infrastructure project – with the occasion doubling as an excellent opportunity for him to catch up with “dear friend” Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president dropped by the ornate Great Hall of the People for some red-carpet handshakes and the opening ceremony, where he was, of course, granted a front-row seat as Xi used his opening remarks to criticise Western efforts to reduce their dependency on the Chinese economy. Several European officials present then left the hall as Putin took to the stage to speak about deepening trade ties between east and west.

The good news for the pandemic-scarred Chinese economy is that it grew more than had been expected over the summer, according to data released on Wednesday, as Xi’s regime built more roads, sewage lines and other public works and as state-owned banks poured financing into factory construction.

Meanwhile, Apple chief executive Tim Cook made a surprise visit to China, meeting gamers in the city of Chengdu as part of his second trip to the country this year. That Apple’s exposure to China remains fraught with risk is perhaps best illustrated, however, by the tech giant’s recent move to choose another road, ramping up manufacturing in India.

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In numbers: Seeing red

25%

Stake in Manchester United Football Club that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is seeking to acquire after Sheikh Jassim, the former prime minister of Qatar, withdrew from the process.

€1.55bn

Sum in euro that Ratcliffe, the owner of chemicals company Ineos, is offering to buy a quarter of United, in a move that is expected to be just the first stage of a full takeover.

11

Months since United’s current owners, the Glazers, first confirmed they were open to a sale of the club, with the saga poised at the time of writing to wind on for more time yet.

Getting to know: Starboard Value

Rupert Murdoch’s move to retire from running his media empire hasn’t fended off activist investors, the term used for hedge fund operators that use minority stakes to throw their weight around.

With opposition from investors, led by Irenic Capital Management, to the merger of News Corp and Fox still fresh in the mind, Murdoch’s News Corp has drawn the close attention of hedge fund Starboard Value, which is now pushing for the company to spin-off its online property businesses.

Having previously pushed for changes at software groups Salesforce and GoDaddy, Starboard Value chief executive Jeff Smith says the $12.6 billion (€11.9 billion) valuation of News Corp “does not make sense” and its board should explore breaking up the company “to highlight this beautiful business for what it’s worth”.

Such a separation of its media and digital real estate assets would trigger a “significant appreciation in the company’s share price” for shareholders, according to Smith. And shareholders are the people who count, right?

The list: Axed soaps

The BBC has “taken the very difficult decision to bring daytime drama Doctors to an end after 23 years”, causing dismay among writers, actors and others for whom it was so often a first credit on their CV. It joins these titles in the soap graveyard.

1 Eldorado: The one-year BBC series about British “expats” in Spain had a rocky, expensive start before finding its feet just as the cord was cut in 1993. Brexit would either have aged its premise or given the writers a whole new set of storylines.

2 Red Rock: TV3/Virgin’s valiant Garda-themed effort (2015-2020) excelled in its original half-hour format before suffering a strung-out demise. It did, however, become a launchpad for multiple careers both on and behind the screen.

3 Brookside: The Liverpool-set soap was on Channel 4′s schedule on its first night in 1982 but after an eventful run – body under the patio, a landmark pre-watershed lesbian kiss – it came to an end in 2003.

4 Family Affairs: When the UK’s Channel 5 launched in 1997, it also decided to have a soap on its first-night schedule. Family Affairs lasted until 2005, with the broadcaster poaching Australia’s Neighbours from the BBC three years later.

5 Crossroads: The ITV teatime soap was first axed in 1988 after 24 years on air and then again in 2003 after a mere two-year resurrection that few people were keen on. It turns out this stuff is hard.