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
- Jack Ma’s Ant Remains in Regulators’ Crosshairs Ahead of Giant IPO — Ant Group, the startup controlled by Jack Ma that is gearing up for a two-part initial public offering, wants potential investors to see it as a technology company—but it remains in focus with China’s financial regulators.
- Australia Targets Foreign Influence With Deal-Veto Legislation — Australia’s federal government is seeking the power to stop local and state deals with foreign governments, amid rising Australian concerns about Chinese influence.
- Chinese Tesla Rival to Raise $1.5 Billion in U.S. IPO — Xpeng will raise more than initially planned because of investor demand, selling 99.73 million American depositary shares at an offer price of $15.
- TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Quits as Trump Pushes Chinese App to Sell U.S. Business — Chief Executive Kevin Mayer said he is leaving the social-media platform after being on the job for about three months, as the company comes under increasing pressure from the White House over its ties to China.
- Chinese Phone Maker Xiaomi Taps New Finance Chief — The Beijing-based company hired Alain Lam, an investment banker, as it looks to grow its profit margins.
- China Has Troubles of Its Own — Its economic growth is likely to slow dramatically as its population ages and labor force shrinks.
The Financial Times
- Chinese military drill ratchets up tension with Washington — PLA launches missiles in South China Sea capable of hitting US warships and military bases.
- India’s Huawei snub prompts new crisis for Chinese telecoms group — Move could also boost market control of Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms.
- The transformation of Ant Financial — Beijing has reshaped Ant’s business as it prepares for blockbuster IPO.
The New York Times
- China Fires Missiles Into South China Sea, Sending U.S. a Message — The move was Beijing’s latest effort to assert sovereignty over disputed waters.
- U.S. Penalizes 24 Chinese Companies Over Role in South China Sea — The Trump administration moved to cut them off from the American market on Wednesday, saying they had contributed to China’s controversial island-building campaign.
Caixin
- Former China Development Bank Official Investigated for Corruption — Wang Xuefeng is the latest senior banker to catch the attention of anti-graft authorities.
- Vanguard to Move Asian Operation Hub to Shanghai From Hong Kong — American investment giant see future strategic focus on the Chinese mainland as it shuts down operations in Hong Kong and Japan.
- JPMorgan to Take Over China Venture for $1 Billion — Shanghai International Trust says it is cashing out its 49% stake in China International Fund Management.
- Bankrupt in China? New Shenzhen Law Allows Individuals to Officially Go Bust Starting Next March — The legislation is seen as a necessity as more people fall into debt amid easy access to consumer credit and sluggish economic growth.
- Xiaomi Shares Jump on Strong Earnings Despite China-India Tensions — During the three months through June, smartphone-maker more than doubled its net profit to $716 million.
- Alibaba Invests Big in Software Firm OKKI as Part of Overseas Push — Investment in business software-maker’s latest funding round will help e-commerce giant scale up its global operations.
- Hotpot Chain Haidilao Posts $138.8 Million Loss as Covid Bites — Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao International Holding Ltd. posted a net loss of 965 million yuan.
- G&L’s Rising Profit Shows Insulin Is a Good Business to Be In, for Now — Beijing-based pharmaceutical company’s profit rises 15% in first half as overseas revenue more than triples.
- Alibaba Halts New Investments in Indian Companies Amid Rising International Tensions — E-commerce giant Alibaba has put the brakes on new investments in India, as New Delhi tightens scrutiny on investments from bordering countries including China, Reuters reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
- KKR leads $150m Series E1 round in Chinese edtech firm Huohua Siwei — Huohua Siwei, a Chinese online K12 mathematics and science education platform, has collected $150 million in a Series E1 round of financing led by New York-based private equity powerhouse KKR & Co as its paying users increase significantly in recent months.
South China Morning Post
- China’s industrial giants rebound for third successive month in July as coronavirus recovery continued — China’s industrial giants saw their monthly profits grow for a third successive month in July, but remained negative in the first seven months of the year.
- Taiwan stuck at a crossroads with US and China over trade deals, facing conflicting prospects — Washington rekindled an old Taiwanese dream this month when a cabinet member floated the idea of a trade deal with the United States, a goal discussed for the past quarter of a century between the export-reliant Asian economy and its second largest market.
- Chinese investment in Azerbaijan is a win-win for both countries — Azerbaijan, located in the centre of the so-called middle corridor of the transportation links between China and Europe remains a reliable transit partner for China. This ongoing successful business cooperation will contribute to increasing the economic trade links between the two countries.
- Why China’s digital currency won’t threaten US dollar dominance — A few years ago, China’s currency seemed to be rising inexorably to global dominance.
- Hong Kong media firm Next Digital executives say HSBC has frozen their bank, credit card accounts — Executives of Hong Kong media firm Next Digital at the centre of a row between Washington and Beijing told the Post on Thursday their bank accounts with HSBC had been suspended without any prior notice.
- China’s belt and road trade initiative can help global economy recover in post-Covid-19 era but cooperation needed, experts say — China’s Belt and Road Initiative can help the world’s economy to recover in the post-Covid-19 era, but governments and businesses must work together and value multilateral collaboration, according to panellists at a webinar on rebooting Beijing’s ambitious trade strategy.
Bloomberg
- Singapore’s Coveted Expat Jobs Threatened by Local Hire Push — Singapore has long been the city of choice for Western expats wanting an easy entrée into Asia. Clean, efficient, with low tax rates, it’s often seen as rivaling Hong Kong, especially with that city hit by street protests and unrest over China’s new national security law.
- China’s Biggest Carmaker Posts 39% Drop in First-Half Profit — SAIC Motor Corp., the Chinese partner of Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co., reported a 39% decline in first-half net profit as the Covid-19 outbreak kept people away from showrooms.
- Ant Group’s IPO May Push Down Cost of Borrowing in Hong Kong — Mega share sales in Hong Kong in recent years have typically driven up the cost of borrowing as investors clamor to buy the stocks on margin. Ant Group’s upcoming initial public offering may end up doing the opposite.
- Jobs Site Zhaopin Investors Said To Mull Private Placement — Several shareholders in Chinese online recruitment firm Zhaopin Ltd., are weighing options for their holdings, including a private placement that could raise about $500 million, people with knowledge of the matter said.
- China Belt and Road Plans for Australia Face Veto Under New Law — Prime Minister Scott Morrison is seeking new powers to veto or scrap agreements that state governments reach with foreign powers, in a move aimed at weakening China’s ability to gain influence in the nation through its Belt and Road Initiative.
- China’s Air Travel Recovery Shows Power of Vast Home Market — China’s biggest airlines could provide some much-needed encouragement for an aviation industry starved of good news when they report earnings later this week.
- China Cash Shortages Push Up Funding Costs, Pressuring Bonds — As a wave of global liquidity pushes assets ever higher, in China the opposite is occurring. Borrowing costs in the world’s second-largest economy are spiking, driving down bonds and stocks, as the central bank holds back on aggressive easing.
- China Fund Houses Race to Launch Hang Seng Tech Index ETFs — Fund houses in Hong Kong and on the mainland are racing to launch exchange-traded fund products that reflect the performance of the nation’s biggest technology giants.
- Europe’s Chipmakers Are Vulnerable in U.S. Fight With Huawei — European semiconductor makers don’t rely heavily on U.S. knowhow for the chips they supply to Huawei Technologies Co. They could still take a hit from Washington’s tightening restrictions on the Chinese company.
- China Calls for Talks With U.S. on Spat Over Stock Listings — China says it has made concessions in proposing to let U.S. regulators to audit some of its most sensitive companies and is calling for direct talks to solve a years-long dispute that threatens global markets.
- China Says Foreign Investors’ Market Participation Increased — China has been opening its financial markets more fully to Wall Street giants such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., counting on them to provide fresh investments and foster a more competitive local industry. China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman Fang Xinghai says the participation of foreign investors has accelerated. He speaks with Bloomberg’s John Liu. (Source: Bloomberg)
- China Increases Key Purchases With U.S. Target Still Far Off — China increased its purchases of U.S. goods in recent months, and with signs that soybean purchases may also rise as the election nears, that may be enough to salvage the trade deal even if it won’t reach what it promised.
- TikTok Faces Government Restrictions on U.K. Expansion Drive — Boris Johnson’s top advisers may impose restrictions on TikTok’s activities in the U.K., but are likely to stop short of blocking plans by the Chinese-owned social media app to set up an international headquarters in London.
Reuters
- Sinopec Shanghai Petchem to raise second-half crude throughput — Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, a refining subsidiary of Asia’s top refiner Sinopec, plans to raise daily crude oil throughput by 7.8% in the second half of 2020.
- Exclusive: Alibaba in talks to hike stake in Chinese courier YTO Express — Alibaba is in talks with YTO Express Group’s founders to raise its stake in the Chinese courier company with an aim to become the top shareholder, two people told Reuters, as it accelerates consolidation in the world’s largest express delivery market.
- Chinese city regulators suspend Didi’s new ride-hailing service — Local city regulators in China have asked Didi Chuxing to suspend its new standalone ride-hailing service, citing a lack of operating licenses for the platform in their regions.
- Chinese environment inspectors to audit Chinalco, other state entities and regions — China’s environment ministry is sending inspection teams to Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), the National Energy Administration, as well as other state-run entities and three Chinese regions, in its latest round of environmental audits.
- Column: China’s splurge on U.S., Brazilian crude oil is ending – Russell — Much of the surge in China’s imports of crude oil in recent months has been provided by the United States and Brazil, but the volumes from these two exporters are set to tail off in coming months.
- Australian PM says proposed foreign veto powers not aimed at China — A proposed Australian law that would give the federal government powers to cancel any agreements local authorities and public institutions make or have made with foreign governments is not aimed at China, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Xinhua
- China’s central bank injects liquidity into market — China’s central bank Thursday continued to pump cash into the banking system via reverse repos to maintain liquidity.
- ByteDance to set up innovation center in SW China — ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, will set up an innovation center in the Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, local authorities said.
- China’s spending on R&D rises to historic high in 2019 — China’s spending on research and development (R&D) hit a record high at 2.23 percent of its GDP in 2019, up by 0.09 percentage points from the previous year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.
- China’s Chengdu sees 6,000 trips by China-Europe freight trains — A freight train carrying tonnes of cargo including electronic products and daily necessities departed Wednesday from Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, for Tilburg, the Netherlands.
- Chinese genomics company BGI reports surging profit in H1 — BGI Genomics Co., Ltd., China’s genomics giant, reported surging profits in the first half (H1) of 2020 due to strong demand for its COVID-19 test kits.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: The Pakistan Army’s Belt and Road Putsch — The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is growing—and so is the role of the Pakistan Army.
- Forbes: Taiwan Orders Alibaba To Divest E-Commerce Firm Or Register It As China Company — Taiwan’s government has ordered the locally popular e-commerce service Taobao Taiwan to register as a company from mainland China or divest an ownership stake currently held by Alibaba Group within six months.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Huawei says Japan ‘extremely important’ after 50% rise in procurement — Huawei Technologies revealed Wednesday that procurement from Japanese suppliers grew by more than 50% last year while the U.S. tightened trade restrictions on the Chinese telecom equipment maker.
