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
- Samsung Primed for 5G Foray as U.S., China Brawl Over Huawei — The West’s fight with China about 5G network equipment has handed an opportunity to South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.
- ‘China: The Bubble That Never Pops’ Review: Arrested Development — Armed with sweeping powers, Chinese leaders try to keep the country’s real-estate prices up and its bloated financial system from collapsing.
- HSBC Defends Cooperation With U.S. Prosecutors, Denies Setting Trap for Huawei — HSBC Holdings issued a statement defending its cooperation with U.S. prosecutors in a case against China’s Huawei Technologies after Chinese state media said the bank had set Huawei up.
- China’s Move to Buy Arctic Gold Mine Draws Fire in Canada — As world powers seek dominance in the Arctic Circle, opponents of a Chinese company’s purchase of a Canadian gold mine say blocking the deal is in Canada’s national interest.
- TikTok Could Be Tougher Target for Trump Administration — The Trump administration’s efforts to thwart a perceived security threat from video-sharing app TikTok faces challenges beyond those it faced when taking on other Chinese-owned businesses such as Huawei.
- China’s Mighty Yangtze Is Heaving From Rain and the Three Gorges Will Be Tested — Since June 1, historic floods in China have affected more than 45 million people in 27 provinces; the economic toll is estimated at more than $16.5 billion.
The Financial Times
- Rapid fund churn fuels China’s equity rally — Frenetic inflows and withdrawals are being driven by younger investors using mobile phones.
- US urged to exploit cracks in Russia-China relationship — Ties between Beijing and Moscow are not as strong as Xi and Putin portray.
- Chinese researcher ‘hiding’ in San Francisco consulate is arrested — Alleged member of military detained as US-China diplomatic tensions escalate.
The New York Times
- States Issue Warnings About Seed Packets From China — Agriculture officials in Louisiana, Kansas, Virginia and Washington State are urging residents not to plant the seeds, which were mailed in pouches featuring Chinese characters.
- As the World Gets Tougher on China, Japan Tries to Thread a Needle — Tokyo has not confronted Beijing as the United States and other allies have, mindful of its neighbor’s economic might and its own limited military options.
- Once a Source of U.S.-China Tension, Trade Emerges as an Area of Calm — The trade deal is providing a rare point of stability as relations between the United States and China fray over Hong Kong, the coronavirus and accusations of espionage.
- Officials Push U.S.-China Relations Toward Point of No Return — Top aides to President Trump want to leave a lasting legacy of ruptured ties between the two powers. China’s aggression has been helping their cause.
- The Two China Fires — Is America prepared for a Cold War with China?
Caixin
- Cover Story: The Losing Game for Chinese Retail Investors — How financial institutions using high-frequency and same-day trading practices make patsies of China’s 167 million retail investors who mostly lose money on stocks.
- Indian Court Subpoenas Jack Ma in Unfair Dismissal Case — Ex-employee of Alibaba subsidiary UCWeb says he was sacked after objecting to censorship, fake news.
- Luxury Brands Drive China’s Car Market Recovery — Sales for high-end brands like Mercedes and BMW collectively grew 27% in June, taking a record 14.8% of the domestic market for the month.
- New Chinese Cement Conglomerate Solidifies Amid Acquisition Talks — Industry giant CNBM is in discussions to sell six of its cement-making subsidiaries to Tianshan Cement.
- ByteDance Pushes Into Education Sector With Talks on Investing in Indian Edtech Startup — ByteDance is reportedly in talks with Indian edtech startup Lido Learning for a potential investment opportunity, as the TikTok owner carves out an expansion plan for its fledging education business for the coming years.
- China’s Group Buying Platform Xingsheng Selected Nears $800m Deal — Chinese community group buying e-commerce platform Xingsheng Selected is set to raise about $800 million in new funding after the coronavirus pandemic strengthened consumer demand for fresh groceries, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
South China Morning Post
- Singapore’s Keppel Capital builds its second Greater Bay Area data centre in Huizhou, rising on city’s infrastructure building spree — Keppel Capital, the asset management arm of Singapore’s conglomerate Keppel Group, has agreed to invest 1.5 billion yuan (US$213.8 million) to build a data centre in Huizhou, boosting the city’s ambition to create the IT backbone for southern China’s Greater Bay Area.
- China’s plan for economic self-reliance to offset rising geopolitical risk ‘requires structural reform’ — China’s plan to focus more on its huge domestic market to drive the economy amid rising protectionism and geopolitical risk will achieve little without further reform, economists say.
- EU-China ties hinge on Germany’s political future as reign of Beijing ally Angela Merkel nears its end — This is the third in a series of five articles analysing the potential for an EU-China investment treaty, looking at negotiating positions, sticking points and geopolitical tensions. You can read part one in the series here part two here, part four here and part five here.
- Huawei says now is the time to focus on 5G use cases and move beyond network rollout issues — Huawei’s rotating chairman said that with 5G network roll-outs proceeding apace, attention should now turn to applications, with the mobile tech already being used to combat Covid-19 and for an array of cost-saving industry measures, such as remote aeroplane inspections.
- Could Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei give up on 5G to keep the company alive? — Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei told the Post earlier this year that he hopes to be forgotten after retiring from the company.“My biggest wish is to drink coffee in a cafe unnoticed,” said the 75 year old.
- China unveils new plans to help veterans – but who will really benefit? — China has unveiled details of a new law to honour and support veterans of the People’s Liberation Army.
- EU countries must urgently diversify 5G suppliers, European Commission says — EU countries must take urgent action to diversify their 5G suppliers, the European Commission said on Friday, a move set to shrink Huawei’s presence in Europe as the United States pressured the bloc to follow Britain and ban the Chinese company from 5G networks.
- ‘China’s Miami’ in Huizhou beckons to Hong Kong retirees 90 minutes away from border — Huizhou, whose coastline in China’s southern Guangdong province is only a 90-minute drive from Kowloon, is being touted as the country’s own Miami. It’s also being pitched to Hong Kong’s elderly citizens seeking to retire and escape from the city’s hardships.
- Xi Jinping’s trillion-yuan baby, the Star Market, is poised for the next spurt of growth. Here’s why — Ji Xinhua is walking on clouds. Two months before his 41st birthday, his company UCloud Information Technology overcame the hurdle that had tripped up dozens of larger Chinese companies and driven them half a world away to New York to raise funds.
- Tencent’s WeChat cuts off service in India amid the country’s ban on Chinese apps — Super app WeChat, the multipurpose messaging and social media platform run by internet giant Tencent Holdings, has ceased operations in India weeks after a previously announced ban, dealing a blow to the millions of Indian users who use the app for personal and business reasons.
- China’s food delivery boom may undercut plans to reduce plastic bags — Every day, about 10 plastic bags come into Li Xin’s home in Beijing, filled with food and other daily necessities bought from local stores or online. The 40-year-old housewife throws away the thin and flimsy ones and reuses the rest as rubbish bags.
Bloomberg
- Hang Seng Debuts New Index of Benchmark-Beating Tech Stocks — A new index focused on China’s technology giants is set to give investors greater access to their growing dominance in Hong Kong’s market.
- Credit Suisse Invested $100 Million in Ant, Expects Windfall — Credit Suisse Group AG invested nearly $100 million in Ant Group during its last funding round, according to people familiar with the matter, setting the Swiss bank up for a potential windfall as the Chinese internet giant prepares to go public.
- China-Backed Crypto Guru Wants to Unify World’s Blockchains — The blockchain world today is thousands of disparate platforms that can’t talk to each other. So a little-known startup hatched one of the most ambitious plans yet to bridge all the divides — and it’s got the backing of the Chinese government.
- TSMC Knocks Over Intel, But Scrutiny Comes With Chip Dominance — Being a global powerhouse will bring TSMC more scrutiny, much of it unwanted, from both clients and regulators.
- Chinese Electric SUV Maker Seeks Up to $950 Million in U.S. IPO — Li Auto Inc., a Chinese electric carmaker, is seeking as much as $950 million in a U.S. initial public offering.
- South China Morning Post to Put Up Paywall Amid Hong Kong Slump — South China Morning Post is dropping its free online model after months of political unrest and the coronavirus pandemic hit advertising revenue at the Hong Kong newspaper backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Reuters
- Canadian Solar plans to list modules business in China — Solar cell maker Canadian Solar said on Monday it would pursue a listing of its modules and system business on either the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Science and Technology Innovation Board or the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s ChiNext Market.
- China’s net gold imports via Hong Kong rise in June vs May — China’s net gold imports via Hong Kong in June recovered from the month before, Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department data showed on Monday.
- China’s Tigermed to raise up to $1.38 billion in Hong Kong listing — Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting plans to raise up to $1.38 billion in its Hong Kong listing, which could make the Chinese clinical trial and research firm the largest healthcare transaction in Asia this year, according to a term sheet.
- China’s industrial profit growth quickens, signals firming economic recovery — Profits at China’s industrial firms rose for a second straight month and at the fastest pace in over a year, adding to signs the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis is gaining momentum.
- China to auction 10,000 tonnes of frozen pork from state reserves on July 30 — China will sell 10,000 tonnes of frozen pork from state reserves on July 30, the China Merchandise Reserve Management Center said on its website on Monday.
- China’s new mini-IPO market gets off to frenzied trade, triggering circuit breakers — China’s newly-created mini-IPO market kicked off trading on Monday in a frenzy as circuit breakers were triggered for both surging and slumping stocks on their debuts.
- China’s Huawei holds a 5G trump card — Huawei is not so easy for Western countries to rip out. The Chinese telecommunications-equipment giant founded by Ren Zhengfei owns a huge trove of next-generation wireless patents. As a global standard for 5G emerges, Huawei technology may become essential to carriers.
- China expands state jobs for graduates as coronavirus hits private sector — China’s thousands of state-owned enterprises, local governments, and public institutions are expanding hiring as a record number of students graduate into a job market left reeling by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- China’s June U.S. copper concentrate imports hit highest since Sept 2018 — China’s imports of copper concentrate from the United States hit their highest in June since September 2018, customs data showed on Sunday, as smelters made the most of a trade detente to purchase tariff-free metal earlier this year.
- China imports more oil from Saudi than any other country in June — China’s crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia rose 15% in June from a year ago, as refiners ordered record volumes of the fuel in March and April when oil prices tumbled, cementing the kingdom’s position as the top oil supplier to China.
- China’s soybean imports from Brazil rise to record in June — China’s soybean imports in June from top supplier Brazil soared to a record high, according to customs data released on Sunday, driven by growing demand for soybeans as China’s pig herd recovers after deadly outbreaks of African swine fever.
- Singaporean pleads guilty in U.S. to acting as Chinese intelligence agent: Justice Department — A Singaporean man who set up a fake consulting site to solicit information from U.S. government and military workers has pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent of Chinese intelligence, the Justice Department said on Friday.
Xinhua
- China’s telecom sector registers steady H1 growth — China’s telecommunications industry reported steady growth in the first half of this year, official data showed.
- China’s central SOEs receive over 110-bln-yuan social capital in H1 — China’s centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) received more than 110 billion yuan (about 15.7 billion U.S. dollars) of social capital through equity transfers, new joint ventures and mergers during the first half of the year, according to the country’s state-asset regulator.
- China’s brokerages report robust growth in H1 — Chinese securities firms recorded robust growth in the first half (H1) of 2020 over advanced capital market reform, according to the Securities Association of China.
- China Development Bank steps up support for manufacturing upgrade — China Development Bank (CDB) has boosted loan support to manufacturing companies in the first half of the year to facilitate transformation and upgrade of the sector.
- China micro-credit firms’ outstanding loans at 884.1 bln yuan — Outstanding loans extended by China’s micro-credit companies stood at 884.1 billion yuan (about 126.4 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of June, according to central bank data.
- China’s agricultural product wholesale prices edge up — The wholesale prices of China’s agricultural products edged up Monday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Other Publications
- TechCrunch: Imint is the Swedish firm that gives Chinese smartphones an edge in video production — With a staff of around 40, Imint now supplies its software to 20 clients around the world, including the Chinese big-four of Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo as well as chip giants like Qualcomm and Mediatek. ByteDance also has a deal to bake Imint’s software into Smartisan, which sold its core technology to the TikTok parent last year.
- The Atlantic: Pompeo’s Surreal Speech on China — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave one of the most surreal speeches of the Donald Trump presidency at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, on Thursday. In his speech, titled “Communist China and the Free World’s Future,” he declared the failure of 50 years of engagement with China and called for free societies to stand up to Beijing.
- Politico: Top EU official slams Volkswagen as ‘complicit’ in Chinese oppression — The chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with China, Reinhard Bütikofer, has slammed Volkswagen for not confronting China over its treatment of the Uighur minority in a region where the German carmaker has a factory.
- BBC: Chinese students in Australia targeted in virtual kidnapping scam — Chinese students in Sydney are being targeted in a kidnapping scam forcing them to pay massive ransoms to fraudsters, Australian police say. In many cases, blackmailed students were forced to stage their own kidnapping and send video proof to relatives in China to obtain funds.