Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
The Wall Street Journal
- Zoom’s China Ties Under Scrutiny After It Muzzles Human-Rights Group — Zoom Video Communications drew fresh questions over its relationship with Beijing when it shut down a U.S. human-rights organization’s account shortly after its videoconference on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
- China’s Trillion-Dollar Campaign Fuels a Tech Race With the U.S. — China has embarked on a new trillion-dollar push to develop next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, data centers, mobile communications, in an effort to catapult the communist nation ahead of the U.S. in critical areas.
The New York Times
- Twitter Removes Chinese Misinformation Campaign — The company said the latest misinformation effort came with a new wrinkle: extolling the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
- Lawmakers Push to Invest Billions in Semiconductor Industry to Counter China — New legislation aimed at supporting the semiconductor industry is a sign of shifting consensus in Washington, where industrial plans are now in vogue.
- Where Jaguars Are Killed, New Common Factor Emerges: Chinese Investment — Poaching of the big cats is on the rise, and a new study links their slaughter to corruption as well as investment from Chinese companies.
Caixin
- Central Bank to Crack Down on Firms Providing Payment Services to Criminals — PBOC wants to fix loopholes in the payment industry, which are often used to facilitate illegal gambling
- China’s First Bond Swap Ends Up in Default — Water and sewage treatment company failed to make part of a bond principal repayment on a 500 million yuan three-year bond
- In Depth: How New Mutual Aid Platforms Fill a Hole in China’s Health-Care Coverage — Ant Financial leads a rush by internet platforms to offer supplemental benefits covering even Covid-19 treatment for the cost of a couple of KFC bucket meals – with limits and risks
- AIIB Debuts $425 Million Panda Bonds to Support Virus Fight — Yuan-denominated bonds sold in China will bolster Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank member countries while setting a fundraising precedent
- Xiaomi’s Airstar Bank Debuts as Hong Kong’s Second Virtual Bank — Following ZA Bank’s opening, internet-only lender offers depositors rates as high as 3.6% for a year to attract funds as new sector gets off to a delayed start
- Shenzhen’s New Subsidies Mark Reversal in China’s Green Vehicle Policy — Southern boomtown will give up to 40,000 yuan in subsidies for each new-energy vehicle purchased for personal use
- Evergrande Buys Out Swedish Green Vehicle Technology Specialist — Real estate giant says it will pay $380 million for the 17.6% of National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB that it doesn’t already own, as its drive into clean tech accelerates
- JD.com Prices Hong Kong IPO Shares at 3.9% Discount — E-commerce giant’s Hong Kong shares set to debut on June 18, a week after New York-listed Chinese internet peer NetEase made a similar second listing
- EU to Probe TikTok’s Data Processing and Privacy Practices — ByteDance’s wildly popular short video app already raised national security concerns in the U.S. and was fined $5.7 million last year for illegal collection of personal data from children
- Tesla Challenger Nio to Raise $428.4 Million from Share Sale — U.S.-listed Chinese electric vehicle startup Nio is offering 72 million American depositary shares (ADSs), in a possible sign of the company trying to shore up cash reserves amid strong demand by US and Asian investors.
- Chinese Video Giant iQiyi Hires Former Netflix Executive for Global Expansion — Chinese video streamer iQiyi is building an international management team as it looks to expand overseas.
South China Morning Post
- China-US tensions drive Beijing’s push of yuan in belt and road nations, but challenges remain — Amid growing tensions between China and the United States, Beijing is renewing its push to internationalise the use of the yuan in Southeast Asia under its globe-spanning belt and road infrastructure drive.
- HSBC, Standard Chartered, and online lenders Airstar, WeLab race to offer high interest rates, cash prizes to capture new customers claiming their HK$10,000 government payout — Hong Kong’s banks, from new digital lenders to traditional powerhouses of the sector, are in a price war to lure 7 million Hong Kong permanent residents into using their platform to get their HK$10,000 (US$1,290) government cash handout.
- Fund managers bet on China’s tech, consumer stocks to provide growth in a post-pandemic economy — Global fund managers are hopeful Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong and the mainland will rise in the second half of the year.
- Cathay Pacific will tap government fund to help pay 27,000 employees in Hong Kong — Cathay Pacific plans to tap a Hong Kong government fund to help employers cover staff salaries during the economic crunch caused by the coronavirus health crisis.
- China pushed for the surprise reappointment of Ashley Alder to keep his ‘steady hand’ at the Hong Kong SFC amid turbulent times — Hong Kong’s surprise decision last month to reappoint its top securities regulator came after a suggestion from Beijing that he remain in the role, according to people familiar with the matter.
- National security law: Hedge fund guild says don’t write off Hong Kong as a finance hub as new firms continue to set up — A hedge fund industry group says Hong Kong continues to attract new firms, downplaying speculation that money managers are fleeing the city over China’s attempt to enact a national security law in the city.
Bloomberg
- Morgan Stanley Cuts Tesla to Underweight Amid China Risks — Morgan Stanley cut Tesla Inc. to underweight from equal-weight, saying the rally that saw the stock break above $1,000 this week doesn’t properly reflect emerging risks.
- India Bets on Frozen Food Buyers Moving Away from China — India is pushing for increasing shipments of frozen foods as it seeks to capitalize on a surge in demand and a trust deficit China is facing due to the coronavirus outbreak, a federal minister said.
- Inside the $5 Billion ‘Apollo’ Deal to Salvage Cathay Pacific — The code name was “Apollo.” Its mission was to keep Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. alive.
- Hong Kong Index Firm Lifts Weighting Cap for Dual-Class Shares — Hong Kong’s index compiler is scrapping a weighting limit for dual-class shares on some of its gauges, in a move seen as paving the way for more tech stocks to eventually join the benchmark.
- Renault Rattled by Threat From Chinese Electric Cars Imports — A flood of Chinese electric cars coming ashore in Norway — one of the biggest markets for battery-powered vehicles in Europe — is a sign of the “ferocious competition” awaiting the region’s automakers.
- Hong Kong and Singapore to Face Off Over Chinese Stock Futures — Singapore’s role as a regional equity derivatives trading center may be curtailed after it lost a major index-licensing deal to Hong Kong. The next battle front between the two Asian financial hubs will be on China stock futures.
Reuters
- Tencent-led investor group to take China’s Bitauto private for $1.1 bln — Chinese car comparison website Bitauto Holdings Ltd on Friday agreed to be taken private by an investor group backed by gaming and social media firm Tencent Holdings Ltd for $1.1 billion in cash.
- China’s Zijin Mining to buy Guyana Goldfields for $238 million — China’s Zijin Mining said on Friday it would acquire Guyana Goldfields for C$323 million ($238 million), bringing an end to a protracted takeover battle for the Canada-listed gold miner.
- UK’s Informa to resume trade fairs in China from July, shares rise — Informa Plc plans to hold in July its first major event since the coronavirus pandemic led to widespread cancellations of trade fairs, the world’s largest exhibitions organiser said on Friday.
- Chinese capital reports new coronavirus cases for second day — China’s capital reported two new coronavirus infections on Friday, a day after it declared its first case in nearly two months, prompting officials to delay plans for some students to return to school.
- Chinese users saw Zoom as a window through the ‘Great Firewall’ — Zoom Video Communications has gained a following in China in recent months from users ranging from underground churches to feminists who saw it as a rare way to connect with the world beyond the reach of state censors.
- China Pacific Insurance launches up to $2.15 billion London listing — China Pacific Insurance launched a London listing on Friday to raise up to $2.15 billion, reviving a scheme to build investment links between the two countries after a series of delays.
- Special Report: How China got shipments of Venezuelan oil despite U.S. sanctions — Last year, China replaced the United States as the No. 1 importer of oil from Venezuela, yet another front in the heated rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
- U.S. lawmakers ask Zoom to clarify China ties after it suspends accounts — Three U.S. lawmakers asked Zoom Video Communications Inc to clarify its data-collection practices and relationship with the Chinese government after the firm said it had suspended user accounts to meet demands from Beijing.
- China set to complete Beidou network rivalling GPS in global navigation — The Chinese Beidou navigation network will be complete this month when its final satellite goes into orbit, giving China greater independence from U.S.-owned GPS and heating up competition in a sector long dominated by the United States.
Xinhua
- Degradable polylactic acid production line operational in east China — A polylactic acid (PLA) production line, with a designed annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes, has been put into operation in the city of Bengbu, east China’s Anhui Province.
- E-commerce continues to boom in China’s Xinjiang — The Internet economy has become an important driving force for the recovery of market activities in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as the epidemic wanes, with online sales continuing to expand rapidly this year.
Other Publications
- AP News: US naval buildup in Indo-Pacific seen as warning to China — For the first time in nearly three years, three American aircraft carriers are patrolling the Indo-Pacific waters, a massive show of naval force in a region roiled by spiking tensions between the U.S. and China and a sign that the Navy has bounced back from the worst days of the coronavirus outbreak.
- DefenseNews: Senate panel OKs $6 billion military fund to confront China — Plans for a Senate-crafted version of the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a new military fund to boost deterrence against China in the Pacific, is one step closer to becoming law. The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved nearly $6 billion for the fund in its version of the annual defense policy bill, the panel announced Thursday.
- Yicai Global: SAIC Volkswagen to Invest USD19.8 Billion in China’s NEV Industry — SAIC Volkswagen Automotive, one of China’s oldest auto joint ventures, will spend CNY140 billion (USD19.8 billion) largely on new energy and smart cars over the next five years, according to SAIC Motor Chairman Chen Hong.
