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
- U.S. Braces for Chinese Diplomatic Retaliation as Ties Break Down — American diplomats stationed across China have been anticipating that Beijing could target their own diplomatic missions for retaliation, and are making preparations in case that happens, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Financial Times
- Morgan Stanley blocks remote network access for China interns — Bank to host programme in its offices as concern grows over Beijing’s cyber security rules.
- Rogue tycoon shareholders spur China financial sector clean-up — Authorities seek to root out corporations using smaller lenders as ‘personal ATMs’.
- US investors try to buy TikTok from Chinese owner — Group led by General Atlantic and Sequoia seeks solution to White House concerns over video app.
- US pivot to forced labour sanctions has implications for western companies — Using the entity list pulls human rights issues closer into the trade realm.
The New York Times
- Popular Chinese-Made Drone Is Found to Have Security Weakness — Researchers found a potential vulnerability in an app that helps power the drones, highlighting U.S. officials’ concerns that Beijing could get access to information about Americans.
- China’s Mars Mission, Tianwen-1, Begins Its Monthslong Journey — The combined orbiter, lander and rover will reach the red planet in February, if all goes well. NASA plans a Mars launch of its own next week.
- Accuse, Evict, Repeat: Why Punishing China and Russia for Cyberattacks Fails — So far, there is scant evidence that these punishments have limited the cyberattacks and other bad behavior from America’s two greatest rivals for influence and power around the world.
- How the Cold War Between China and U.S. Is Intensifying — In defense, trade, technology, media and diplomacy, among other areas, the rancor between the Trump administration and China’s ruling Communist Party is worsening.
- Defying U.N. Ban, Chinese Ships Pay North Korea to Fish in Its Waters — Chinese vessels have caught $560 million worth of squid off the North’s shores since the United Nations banned the practice in 2017, says a group that tracks commercial fishing.
Caixin
- China Looks Into Lowering Cap on Private Lending Rates — Proposed rule change would reduce the maximum interest rate protected by law on loans offered by individuals and nonbanking institutions.
- Exclusive: PBOC Issues Rules to Standardize Blockchain Applications in Finance — Central bank regulations are aimed at ensuring financial institutions use the same standards to design, operate and evaluate the emerging technology.
- China’s First-Half Urban Construction Bond Issuance Balloons — Borrowing for infrastructure projects tops $285.7 billion amid a looser financing environment as governments spur efforts to recover from Covid-19 pandemic.
- Chinese Companies Turn to ASEAN Countries for Cross-Border Deals — As Europe and U.S. still struggle with pandemic, focus of M&A activity by China businesses shifts to countries and regions in Belt and Road Initiative.
- In Depth: Three Years After Record-Breaking Syngenta Acquisition, ChemChina Struggling Under Debt Mountain — SOE’s $43 billion purchase of Swiss firm has left it with bills it is still grappling with. Even a planned IPO may not be the lifeline it’s hoping for.
- Youku Taps Into Designer Toys Trend With New Streaming Show — Some stocks of playthings sell out in one second as video platform rides collectables wave.
- Shenzhen Takes Aim at Land Redevelopment Holdouts — New standard would mirror ones in the West, allowing developers that can obtain 95% of rights to an existing property to forcibly buy out remaining stakeholders.
- PipeChina Presses Ahead With Pipeline Industry Consolidation — State-owned enterprise acquires northern China’s Yu Ji Pipeline from Sinopec for $457.5 million in cash.
- Hillhouse’s Big Biotech Bet Hits a Wall Amid Tightening Rules — Shenzhen-listed Asymchem scuttles private equity giant’s $328 million strategic investment plan under altered regulations and plans to auction off shares.
- ByteDance Seeks New Investment Opportunities Amid Global TikTok Pushbacks — Fast-rising Chinese tech company ByteDance is seeking more investment opportunities as some foreign governments make life for its primary money-making app TikTok increasingly difficult due to data security concerns.
South China Morning Post
- Gen Z users help TikTok rival Kuaishou expand live-streaming e-commerce business — Daily live-streaming users on short video-sharing app Kuaishou surged to 170 million during the first half of this year, boosted by increased e-commerce activity and the vast number of original content published by its army of Gen Z creators.
- SoftBank said to have approached Apple to gauge interest in chip design firm Arm — SoftBank Group approached Apple recently to gauge the iPhone maker’s interest in bidding for chip design firm Arm, according to people familiar with the discussions.
- China economy, coronavirus and trade war on agenda for Xi Jinping at top-level Politburo meeting — A meeting of China’s top decision-making body, scheduled for the end of this month, will be closely watched by economists and analysts keen on sussing out signals from the top Chinese leadership over what Beijing will do next, after the nation saw surprising economic growth in the second quarter.
- Closure of China’s Houston consulate shows danger of desperate US behaviour — The desperate quality of US President Donald Trump’s failing administration is evident in the gross mishandling of the pandemic and the frittering away of diplomatic goodwill, so much so that influential Republican strategists have suggested the approach, “Don’t defend Trump, attack China”.
- China’s sex toy makers in growth spurt, as coronavirus lockdowns fuel global appetite — Sex toy manufacturers in China have seen a surge in orders since the start of the coronavirus, marking one of a few bright spots in an economy battered by the pandemic, according to industry insiders.
- France’s limits on Huawei 5G equipment amount to de facto ban by 2028 — French authorities have told telecoms operators planning to buy Huawei 5G equipment that they will not be able to renew licences for the gear once they expire, effectively phasing the Chinese firm out of mobile networks, three sources close to the matter said.
- China’s plan for 2.5-day weekend to aid coronavirus-hit economy met with mixed reactions — Plans to introduce 2.5-day weekends across China in a bid to encourage tourism and spending to aid the coronavirus-hit economy have been met with mixed reactions.
- CICC leads US$495 million funding for Tencent-backed online grocer MissFresh — Tencent Holdings-backed MissFresh closed US$495 million of financing from backers led by China International Capital Corp, underscoring strong investor interest in online commerce and groceries during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Coronavirus trumps poor US-China relations as scientific collaboration spikes, study shows — Despite the poor state of relations between China and the United States, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in cooperation between scientists from the two countries, according to a new study.
- Chinese students risk harassment by US law enforcement agencies, embassy says — China has warned its citizens studying in the United States of potential harassment as Washington tightens its scrutiny of them over espionage concerns.“Recently there has been a sharp increase in cases in which the US law enforcement agencies carried out random investigations, nuisance or confiscation of personal belongings against Chinese students in the US,” the Chinese embassy in the US said in a brief notice on its website.
Bloomberg
- China May Refuse to Accept British National Overseas Passports — China said it might not recognize British National (Overseas) passports as valid travel documents, as Beijing continues to threaten retaliation over the U.K.’s support for Hong Kong.
- Combative TikTok Founder Races to Save App Before Trump Ban — Zhang Yiming is the little-known Chinese entrepreneur who built TikTok into one of the most promising franchises on the internet. Now the brainy, combative founder is under pressure to save the business from Trump administration threats.
- Xi’s Own Campaign to Stay in Power Pits China Against the World — Less than four months before the U.S. election, President Donald Trump has made his tough China policy a centerpiece of his campaign to stay in power.
- Tencent-Backed Waterdrop Said to Weigh IPO at $4 Billion Value — Waterdrop Inc. is preparing for an initial public offering as soon as this year, seeking a valuation of about $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
- U.S. Pursues Chinese Researcher at San Francisco Consulate — A Chinese researcher at the University of California at Davis who was charged with lying about her military service has taken shelter at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, according to court filings.
- China Cautions U.S. to Think About Where Relations Are Heading — China warned the U.S. to think “carefully” about where their relationship was heading, in response to a question about their trade deal that came amid a flare in tensions over the forced closure of Beijing’s consulate in Houston.
- One Stock Shows Hong Kong Market Is Booming. Index Says Not — Two of the most straightforward ways to bet on the future of Hong Kong’s stock market are telling opposing stories.
- Can China’s Comac Catch Up With Planemakers Airbus and Boeing? — Government backing can help the jetmaker land orders while its rivals are retrenching.
- China’s Wheat Imports Surge to Seven-Year High Amid Food Concern — China’s monthly wheat imports jumped to the highest in almost seven years in June, official customs data showed Thursday, as the world’s largest consumer of the grain seeks to increase food supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic and take advantage of cheap global prices.
- China Solar Plant Explosion Repairs May Cause Global Price Hikes — Rising costs are threatening to ripple through the solar supply chain as workers race to repair damage from an explosion that shut down a Chinese plant that supplies a key material for the industry.
- China to Give $1 Billion Loan for Latin America Vaccine Access — China will provide a $1 billion loan for Latin American and Caribbean countries to have access to its Covid-19 vaccine, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told top regional diplomats in a meeting, according to the Mexican government.
- U.S. Exim Bank Out to Displace China After Record Loan in Africa — The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. opened a new front in the trade war between America and China with its biggest loan yet in sub-Saharan Africa, as it plans to compete more aggressively on the continent.
Reuters
- Basketball: China’s CBA set to allow spectators back into stadiums — China’s top flight basketball league will allow some spectators to watch games at its Qingdao city hub in Shandong province from Sunday, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) said in a statement on Thursday.
- China state-owned firms’ first half profits down 38.8% year-on-year: ministry — Profits at China’s state-owned firms in the January-June period fell 38.8% year on year to 1.12 trillion yuan ($160.11 billion), the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
- China to launch new campaign to regulate social media news sites — China’s top internet watchdog will launch a new campaign to crack down on the social media accounts of independent news providers, it said Thursday.
- China’s ICBC cuts average loan rate to 4.31% to support economy — Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country’s largest bank by assets, slashed its average interest rate by 45 basis points to 4.31% in the first half of 2020, bank president Gu Shu said on Thursday.
- China’s NHC issues coronavirus control guidelines on meat processing firms — China’s National Health Commission on Thursday issued coronavirus control guidelines for meat processing companies, including demanding imported livestock and poultry products must be virus-free before processing in Chinese plants.
- China foreign ministry says U.S. claim that Houston consulate steals IP is slander — U.S allegations that China’s consulate in Houston is stealing intellectual property are malicious slander, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday.
- China June pork imports jump 128.4% on year: customs — China imported 400,000 tonnes of pork in June, customs data showed on Thursday, up 128.4% from the same month a year earlier, as a months-long buying spree continued as importers try to help plug a domestic shortage.
- China’s June diesel exports fall to lowest since September 2018 — China’s diesel exports in June fell by 50% from a year earlier to the lowest since September 2018 as lockdown measures around the world to halt the coronavirus pandemic continued to curb fuel demand.
- China’s Sinopharm says coronavirus vaccine could be ready by year-end: state media — A coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) could be ready for public use by the end of this year, state media reported on Wednesday, ahead of a previous expectation it may become available in 2021.
- Tonga asks China to restructure heavy debt load — The Pacific island nation of Tonga has asked Beijing to restructure its large bilateral debt load, the government said on Thursday, as the pandemic upends the region’s tourism revenues and an onerous Chinese loan repayment schedule looms.
- China’s three main telco operators have built over 400,000 5G base stations, says ministry — China’s three main telecommunications operators have built more than 400,000 5G base stations by the end of June 2020, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) told a press briefing on Thursday.
- Chinese online grocer MissFresh raises $495 million in latest fundraising — Chinese online grocery startup MissFresh said on Thursday it has raised $495 million in its latest round of fundraising.
- Mexico says China plans $1 billion loan to ease Latam access to virus vaccine — China plans to provide a $1 billion loan to make its coronavirus vaccine accessible for countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, the Mexican foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
- Chinese ‘dark fleets’ observed fishing off North Korea despite sanctions ban: report — “Dark fleets” believed to be from China have been fishing in North Korean waters, potentially netting Pyongyang millions of dollars in illicit fees and forcing smaller North Korean vessels further afield, a series of reports said this week.
Xinhua
- Foreign trade of China’s Hebei up 8 pct in H1 — The foreign trade of north China’s Hebei Province increased by 8 percent year on year to 192.45 billion yuan (about 27.45 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2020, the provincial department of commerce said Thursday.
- China’s comprehensive LNG import price down — China’s comprehensive import price index for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell last week, according to the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange (SHPGX).
- China’s agricultural product wholesale prices edge up — The wholesale prices of China’s agricultural products edged up Thursday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
- Chinese shares close mixed Thursday — Chinese stocks closed mixed Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.24 percent at 3,325.11 points.
Other Publications
- Axios: Chinese Communist Party members have long faced U.S. immigration hurdles — U.S. law, on paper at least, has long prohibited CCP members from immigrating, but the proposed policy could gut people-to-people ties between the two countries and mark a near-break in diplomatic relations.
- Al Jazeera: China is so fixed on the US, it may lose India — The border clash has since dominated Indian news and public discussions but barely made headlines in China. Meanwhile, the Pompeo-Yang meeting, which focused on a variety of issues, from Hong Kong and Taiwan to trade relations, garnered much attention by Chinese official media and social media.
