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
- Tencent Bid Target Could Join Chinese Exodus From U.S. Markets — Tencent Holdings proposed to buy out other investors in its search-engine affiliate Sogou for about $2.1 billion.
- Chinese Hedge Funds Shine in Volatile Year — Chinese hedge-fund managers are having a banner year, outperforming rivals elsewhere.
- New Zealand Suspends Extradition Treaty With Hong Kong Over New Security Law — The New Zealand government suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, joining the U.K. and others in protesting Beijing’s decision to impose a new security law on the city.
- Americans Receive Mystery Seeds in the Mail, Mostly From China — State officials and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are investigating reports that hundreds of residents have received seeds in the mail they didn’t order.
- We Must Change to Bring Back the Factories — We must emulate the Chinese by requiring American companies to source parts in the U.S. Forget tariffs.
The Financial Times
- The US-China rift is now about values — What started as a tariff war is becoming ideological.
- China’s newest equity market gets off to a stumbling start — Regulators hope nascent small-cap board will encourage issuers to price deals sensibly.
- China property/Evergrande: disconsulate — The country’s biggest developer will struggle if the commercial property downturn is lengthy.
The New York Times
- Australia Says Chinese Students Are Targets in ‘Virtual Kidnapping’ Scams — Recent cases reveal the evolution of a crime that often exploits worry over family members abroad with digital savvy and old-fashioned coercion.
- What to Do About TikTok — Instead of banning the app, U.S. officials could force it to be more transparent.
Caixin
- After Six-Month Break, China Cinemas Reopen With Modest Box Office — The world’s second-largest movie market took in $15.6 million during its first week back after a prolonged pandemic-induced closure.
- China’s Top Four Oil Suppliers Post Double Digit Import Growth in June — Saudi Arabia remained China’s largest supplier, providing 8.88 million tons of oil last month, up over 15%.
- Huawei May Become the World’s Biggest 5G-Phone Maker This Year — Huawei is expected to become the world’s largest 5G-enabled smartphone manufacturer in 2020, driven by growing demand in its home China market, where mobile carriers are racing to roll out 5G wireless networks.
- India Examines 275 More Chinese Apps for Security Risks — After imposing a high-profile ban on 59 Chinese apps last month, India is now taking aim at more China-owned apps that it believes could be detrimental to its data security and sovereignty.
South China Morning Post
- Can Singapore maintain its sweet spot between China and the US? — Singapore’s long-standing relationship with the United States is a classic exposition of the island nation’s foreign policy – taking the world as it is, and seeking to entrench American power and presence in the region for the collective good.
- US consulate closure in Chengdu lost 35 years of exchanges, says diplomat’s wife — Tzu-i Chuang, the wife of the US consul general in Chengdu, said 35 years of exchanges between Beijing and Washington had been consigned to history following China’s closure of the American consulate in the southwestern city.
- Tencent’s US$2.1 billion buyout of online search service Sogou could supercharge WeChat, analysts say — Internet giant Tencent Holdings’ proposed US$2.1 billion buyout of Sogou, China’s second-largest online search service, could help supercharge its WeChat app, while shaking up a market long dominated by Baidu and fending off potential competition from ByteDance, according to industry analysts.
- Is US pressuring allies like Japan to ban Chinese technology and apps like TikTok? — The United States is expected to ask Japan and other allied nations to join it in banning Chinese technology and apps such as TikTok, on the grounds that they can be used to provide data to Beijing.
- Does one county’s debt woes highlight the potential pitfalls buried under the surface of China’s economic prosperity? — The county of Dushan in Guizhou province, a poor and remote corner of China, hit the headlines earlier this month after the local authorities’ reckless borrowing to finance a series of white elephant projects was vividly recorded in a documentary that went viral.
- Beijing and Moscow join forces in ‘information war’ as China-US relations rapidly deteriorate — China and Russia would team up in the information war, Chinese foreign ministry’s spokeswoman said, as Beijing’s ideological fight with the United States intensified.
- Coronavirus sent China’s use of gold plummeting in 2020, but demand for investment products rising — Gold consumption in China, the world’s largest producer and user of the precious metal, shrank 38 per cent in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus and high prices, the China Gold Association said on Tuesday.
- China holds meeting with Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan as tensions simmer with India — China has hosted its first ever quadrilateral meeting with foreign ministers from Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan, as Beijing seeks to step up its influence in South Asia amid unresolved border friction with India.
- US companies looking to return home from China face significant problems — As the United States awakens to its supply-chain vulnerabilities amid heightened pressure on companies to “reshore” from China, it is grappling with an uncomfortable truth: most will not end up relocating to the US.
Bloomberg
- Moutai Profit Rises 13% as China Liquor Market Shows Resilience — Liquor giant Kweichow Moutai Co. said its net income rose 13% in the first half of 2020 as the recovering local economy boosted demand for its ultra-premium line of baijiu, China’s national drink, although growth has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
- How Malaysia’s 1MDB Scandal Shook the Financial World: QuickTake — Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund, 1MDB, was supposed to promote development. Instead, it has spurred investigations around the world into deal-making, election spending and political patronage under former Prime Minister Najib Razak.
- Supply Chains Latest: Three Ways the U.S.-China Do Battle at WTO. — The World Trade Organization’s next director general will have to walk a fine line between the U.S. and China at a moment when each are angling for greater control over the world’s multilateral institutions.
- Bankers Leaving Hong Kong Face Grim Job Markets, High Taxes — After several years weighing the pros and cons of leaving Hong Kong, Ms Lee is taking the plunge and moving to Canada. Though she has no job lined up, faces higher taxes and will have to endure harsh winters for the first time, she’s willing to risk it.
- Japan Ruling Party Group to Analyze Risks of Chinese Apps — A Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party group is set to probe the risks associated with Chinese-developed apps amid concerns about data security among several leading democracies, its leader said Tuesday.
- Chinese Researcher Charged With Visa Fraud Detained by Judge — A Chinese researcher in U.S. custody on charges of visa fraud was ordered detained until Aug. 10, when she’ll have a fight on her hands if she asks to be released on bail.
- Dongfeng the Latest to See Stock Surge on China Listing Plan — Dongfeng Motor Group Co. surged in Hong Kong after unveiling plans to also list on the mainland, the latest example of such intentions providing a big boost to a Chinese firm’s existing shares.
- Squeezed by Superpowers, HSBC Eyes Next Step of Reboot — Caught in the crossfire between Washington and Beijing, HSBC Holdings Plc is fighting forces that threaten to upend a business built on connecting China to the West.
- Tencent Offers $2.1 Billion for Chinese Search Giant Sogou — Tencent Holdings Ltd. has offered to buy out and take private search engine Sogou Inc. in a $2.1 billion deal, adding to a slew of Chinese technology giants seeking to delist from U.S. bourses.
- Hong Kong Tension May Hasten Daiwa’s Shift to Mainland — Daiwa Securities Group Inc. may accelerate plans to scale back its presence in Hong Kong if the tension in the Chinese territory worsens significantly, according to the Japanese brokerage’s deputy chief.
- IPOs of Ant, Lufax Will Show Investors China’s Subprime Books — The IPOs of two online lending giants will reveal the credit stresses on Chinese consumers to investors. It won’t be pretty.
Reuters
- Singapore spy case reawakens fears China recruiting on island state — The case of a Singaporean caught spying for China in the United States has reawakened fears over China recruiting intelligence assets on an island state which has won trust among Western governments while keeping on good terms with Beijing.
- China says Hong Kong to suspend crime-related agreements with UK, Canada, Australia — China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Hong Kong’s government would suspend agreements on mutual assistance for criminal matters, including extradition, with Britain, Canada and Australia.
- China starts building southern part of China-Russia East gas pipeline — Construction has started on the southern portion of the China-Russia East natural gas pipeline, which carries supplies from the Power of Siberia system in Russia, China Oil & Gas Piping Network Corp (PipeChina) in a statement on Tuesday.
- ByteDance AI research head to leave as pressure mounts on TikTok — Beijing-based ByteDance said on Tuesday the head of its artificial intelligence lab will leave the company, as its short-video app TikTok faces U.S. scrutiny over security and privacy issues.
- In China, airlines plug ‘all you can fly’ deals to pierce coronavirus clouds — China Southern Airlines on Tuesday rolled out an ‘all you can fly’ pass, becoming the latest in a fleet of cash-strapped carriers to join a promotional craze that analysts say has helped revive a coronavirus-ravaged air travel market.
- China’s new green development fund raises $12 billion in phase 1 — China’s first dedicated environmental fund, which will invest in green projects and firms, has already raised 88 billion yuan ($12.59 billion) in its first phase, an environment ministry official said at a briefing on Tuesday.
- China to cut broadband fees for companies by an average 15% — China’s state planner said on Tuesday that it plans to cut broadband fees for companies by an average of 15%.
- Tesla hiring in Shanghai as production ramps up — Tesla Inc has launched a hiring spree in Shanghai with plans to bring on designers at its China studio and about 1,000 factory workers, job posts show, as the U.S. electric vehicle maker ramps up production in the world’s biggest auto market.
Xinhua
- Chinese shares close higher Tuesday — Chinese shares continued to climb Tuesday, with food-processing companies and liquor makers leading the gain.
Other Publications
- CSIS: Washington’s China Policy Has Lost Its Wei — The U.S. federal government is obsessed with the Chinese telecom giant Huawei. It has adopted a multipronged strategy to crush the company and decouple the Western world from China’s telecom and semiconductor industries. Although well-intentioned, this effort could seriously harm the United States’ economy and national security.
- Axios: China’s consulates do a lot more than spy — The Houston consulate wasn’t China’s most important espionage hub. “San Francisco is the real gem but the U.S. won’t close it,” a former U.S. intelligence official told Axios.
- Glossy: China’s wellness surge pushed into high gear by pandemic — Even before the pandemic hit, a 2019 survey by Singapore-based market research firm Agility Research & Strategy found that “living a healthy lifestyle” was listed as the top “key life priority” for both millennial and Gen-Z Chinese consumers. This ranked higher than finding love or achieving financial success.
