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.
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The Wall Street Journal
- TikTok Owner Puts Deal With Oracle, Walmart in Beijing’s Hands — ByteDance is seeking approval from Beijing for the White House-endorsed plan under new export restrictions, as Chinese state media continue criticism.
- GGV Capital Hits the Fundraising Trail Amid Fresh U.S.-China Tensions — GGV Capital is on the fundraising trail seeking about $2 billion for three new funds focused on technology investments in the U.S. and China at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries.
- WeWork Sells Majority Stake in China Business, Cutting Costs — The real-estate operator is selling control of its business in China, the latest sign it is abandoning its former rapid-growth approach and looking to reduce risk.
- One Senator’s Strategy for Containing Chinese Technological Dominance — Democrat Mark Warner, a former telecom executive, sees China’s erosion of the U.S.’s technological advantage as an existential threat to American values at home and abroad.
The Financial Times
- Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong arrested for ‘illegal assembly’ — Pro-democracy leader detained as authorities crack down on dissent in territory.
- China’s emissions target is a leap forward — Neutrality by 2060 is a welcome step, though more detail is needed.
- Bottled water billionaire becomes China’s richest person — Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan overtakes Alibaba’s Jack Ma after fortune climbs to $58.7bn.
- Retail boom drives ‘crazy’ rally in Chinese brokerage stocks — Internet trading propels valuations to levels on par with big international banks.
- US urged to subsidise electric cars for national security — Military and business leaders say country risks becoming dependent on Chinese supply chain.
- China’s carbon pledge revives hopes of a climate game change — Xi Jinping aims for carbon neutrality by 2060 but how he plans to meet that goal is still unclear.
The New York Times
- China Has a New Plan to Tame Tibet — It failed to coax cultural assimilation with economic incentives. Now it’s going for coerced labor and micromanaging people’s very lifestyles.
- Night Images Reveal Many New Detention Sites in China’s Xinjiang Region — China said it was winding down its “re-education” camps for Uighurs and other minorities, but researchers found evidence that incarceration is on the rise.
Caixin
- Executive Pick Lays Groundwork for Vanguard Getting Into China Mutual Funds — Vanguard has been seeking a mutual fund license in the country.
- Mainlanders Allowed to Visit Macao Again in Sign China Is Easing Covid-19 Border Controls — After barring residents from going to the former Portuguese colony eight months ago, the central government has resumed accepting applications.
- Alibaba Restructures Gaming Unit to Challenge Tencent, NetEase — Yu Yongfu, former head of entertainment unit, named to lead newly independent group as gaming revenue climbs following pandemic lockdowns.
- Chinese Genomics Company BGI to Provide Ethiopia with Coronavirus Testing Kits Made at African Plant — Chinese genomics company BGI Group has put into operation a factory it built in Ethiopia to produce coronavirus testing kits for local people as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.
- IFC Mulls $80m Loan to Chinese Pig Rearing Firm Guangxi Yangxiang — International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is considering a 560 million yuan ($80 million) loan to pig breeding and farming firm Guangxi Yangxiang Co Ltd (Yangxiang), according to a disclosure.
- Segway Owner Set to Make History With Shanghai IPO — E-scooter maker Ninebot Ltd. has had its application for an IPO on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style high tech board passed by the securities regulator, a move that paves the way for Chinese mainland stock markets to pass two significant milestones.
South China Morning Post
- China’s post-coronavirus construction boom shows signs of cooling as steel output slows — A surge in Chinese steel production to meet a post-coronavirus infrastructure building boom may have run its course for this year, as steel and iron ore inventories pile up and demand for steel declines.
- China’s economy undergoing ‘two very different recoveries’, study that counters official data says — China has been heralded as the first major economy to recover from the impact of the coronavirus, but that resurgence has been patchy and overhyped, according to the authors of a new study.
- Hong Kong commission members fail to reach a consensus on minimum wage level, sources say — Members of a Hong Kong commission set up to review the city’s minimum wage level have failed to reach a consensus on a new level for the first time since the index was introduced in 2011, two sources said on Thursday.
- China’s ‘pork ribs and rice’ chains under pressure from rising costs after Germany ban — The cost of China’s much-loved pork rib dishes is soaring after Beijing suspended imports of pig meat from major supplier Germany, hurting restaurants still recovering from the coronavirus hit earlier this year.
- Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen vows to bolster island’s global supply chain in semiconductors — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has vowed to help the island’s key semiconductor industry maintain its international lead in an apparent push with the United States and other like-minded countries to restructure the global supply chain and end reliance on mainland China.
- China’s carbon neutral energy pledge adds more weight to 14th five-year plan for 2021-25 — China’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060 has been hailed as a critical step towards slowing global warming and one that could turn the nation’s next five year plan into “the most crucial document in global energy market history”.
- China’s surging corn prices blamed on speculators as Beijing plays down fears of grain shortage — China’s agriculture minister has blamed speculators for skyrocketing corn prices, as Beijing continues to reassure the public the world’s most populous country is not facing a grain shortage.
- China unveils ‘strategic emerging industries’ plan in fresh push to get away from US technologies — Beijing has released an ambitious plan to boost the development of “strategic emerging industries”, from the buildout of 5G mobile networks to industrial robotics, in the latest move to counter Washington’s expanding technological embargo while elevating the national economy.
- China’s rapid yuan rise and wave of hot money inflows prompt concerns of asset bubbles and inflation — The rapid strengthening of the yuan exchange rate in recent weeks has triggered a debate in China about whether Beijing’s recent moves to open up its domestic financial markets to more foreign investment might have resulted in an unwelcome wave of speculative “hot money” inflows that could result in imported inflation and asset bubbles.
- China’s corn heartland Heilongjiang grapples with shortage of farm workers — Farmers in China’s northeastern province Heilongjiang – from the eastern plains to the western hills – are facing a common problem as they prepare for the autumn harvest: a shortage of workers.
Bloomberg
- Evergrande Warns of Looming Cash Crunch, Spooking Investors — The world’s most indebted developer has warned Chinese officials it faces a potential default that could roil the nation’s $50 trillion financial system unless regulators approve the company’s long-delayed stock exchange listing.
- China Far Outpaces America in Bringing Robots to Factories — The number of robots operating on Chinese factory floors rose 21% last year as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse extended its lead in automation.
- Billionaire Property Heir Has Big Bets on Troubled Hong Kong — From building Hong Kong’s largest shopping mall to constructing a sprawling $3.9 billion sports center, Adrian Cheng has been one of the most aggressive property investors in town. It’s a costly expansion strategy that’s now poised to test one of the city’s oldest real-estate empires.
- Chinese Vaccine Maker to Offer Shots First to Testing Nations — Chinese vaccine developer Sinovac Biotech Ltd. said that countries running its final-stage clinical trials like Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey will get its coronavirus shots at the same time as China, underscoring how vaccine supply agreements could cement diplomatic ties in the Covid-19 era.
- China’s Beaten-Down Bonds Set to Enter FTSE Russell Index — Foreign investors are likely to have a new channel to invest in China’s government bonds.
- China Accuses Foreign Journalists of Meddling in Hong Kong — Beijing warned Hong Kong’s foreign correspondents to stop interfering in the city’s affairs under the guise of press freedom, piling further pressure on media organizations in the financial hub.
- Blackstone’s China Real Estate Head Tim Wang Is Said to Leave — Tim Wang, a senior managing director at Blackstone Group Inc., is leaving after 10 years at one of the world’s biggest alternative asset managers, people familiar with the matter said.
- China Halts Funding for Property Sale by Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset — China’s financial regulators have instructed banks to pull credit lines meant to finance the HK$2.5 billion ($323 million) sale of a Chengdu property by CK Asset Holdings Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.
- TikTok Pushes Back on Trump in Court While Angling for Deal — TikTok’s Chinese owner asked a federal judge to stop President Donald Trump from enforcing a ban that would remove the viral video-sharing network from U.S. app stores this weekend.
- Hong Kong Disneyland Loses Right to Land Near Theme Park — Walt Disney Co.’s Hong Kong Disneyland Resort lost an option to expand its site after local authorities decided not to renew an agreement with the amusement park to develop a neighboring plot of land.
- An Asian NATO? U.S. Has Better Options for Its Allies and China — A smarter move by Washington would be to tighten individual ties with nations facing China’s hegemony.
- Swedish Technology Company Cuts Business Ties With Hong Kong — A Swedish firm that supplies law enforcement and government agencies with technology to extract data from mobile phones said it has pulled its business from Hong Kong.
- Tesla Sues to Block Trump Tariffs on Imports From China — Tesla Inc. sued to block the Trump Administration from collecting tariffs on parts the electric carmaker imports from China.
- Geely’s Electric Architecture May Underpin Mercedes Models — Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., the Chinese carmaker whose stable of brands includes Volvo and Lotus, said the underpinnings of a new electric model coming next year will be offered up to other manufacturers.
Reuters
- China accuses Chinalco rare earth unit of breaking pollution regulations — A rare earth subsidiary of state-run Aluminium Corp of China (Chinalco) in Guangxi has repeatedly violated pollution rules and contaminated land, the environment ministry said.
- China’s Sinovac expects interim final-stage trial data on coronavirus vaccine this year — China’s Sinovac Biotech expects to begin analysing final-stage human trial data on its coronavirus vaccine candidate this year to decide whether it is effective enough to seek regulatory approval before trial completion, its chairman said on Thursday.
- EU launches investigation into Chinese optical fibre cable imports — The European Commission launched an investigation on Thursday into imports of optical fibre cable from China, which EU manufacturers believe are being sold in Europe at artificially low prices.
- U.S., Chinese diplomats signal tricky road ahead for climate diplomacy — After several years of dismissing global action to fight climate change, U.S. leadership was formally challenged this week by China announcing bold new climate pledges.
- China bans two Australian ‘anti-China’ scholars: Global Times — China has barred entry to two “anti-China” Australian scholars, the Global Times newspaper said on Thursday, citing unidentified sources, amid heightened tension between Beijing and Canberra.
- China says it supports Hong Kong government in strengthening management of media — China’s foreign ministry on Thursday said it supports the Hong Kong government in strengthening the management of media in the territory, following a move by Hong Kong police to narrow the definition of “media representatives”.
- Exclusive: Chinese state investors to take BMW partner Brilliance private – sources — Chinese state-backed investors are considering taking BMW’s main Chinese joint-venture partner Brilliance private, five people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in the latest such deal targeting beaten down Hong Kong-listed stocks.
- China’s CNBG to donate 200,000 coronavirus vaccine doses to medics in Wuhan — China National Biotec Group (CNBG) said on Thursday it will donate 200,000 doses of its candidate coronavirus vaccine to the central city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged late last year.
- PipeChina signs gas grid pact with southern Guangdong province — Southern Guangdong became the first province to transfer its natural gas pipeline network to China’s newly formed oil and gas pipeline giant PipeChina, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
- Caught in China-U.S. trade war, Taiwan offers support to chipmakers — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen promised on Thursday to help the island’s key semiconductor industry overcome difficulties and consolidate its leading position, offering support to a sector increasingly caught up in China-U.S. trade tensions.
- Singapore’s Wilmar unit to raise $2 billion in China IPO — Singapore agribusiness Wilmar International said on Thursday its China business, Yihai Kerry Arawana (YKA), was set to raise 13.9 billion yuan ($2.06 billion) in its proposed initial pubic offering.
- China’s slow consumption recovery upset by wary low-income households — Months after China brought its coronavirus epidemic under control, its consumers are slowly opening their wallets again – but the hard days of lockdowns still weigh on many shellshocked lower-income households, who prefer to hold on to their cash.
Xinhua
- Tesla sues to block Trump administration’s tariffs on China imports: report — U.S. electric automaker Tesla has filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, which aims to prevent the Trump administration from collecting tariffs on car parts it imports from China, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday.
- China approves investment projects worth 13 bln USD in August — China’s top economic planner approved six fixed-asset investment projects with combined investment totaling 88.2 billion yuan (about 13 billion U.S. dollars) in August, official data showed.
- Huawei to open 2nd data center in Chile — Chinese technology giant Huawei on Wednesday announced it will open a second data center in Chile at the end of the year to support technological development and promote the South American country as a digital hub in Latin America.
- McDonald’s to invest in youth training, employment — McDonald’s in China will invest 100 million yuan (about 14.77 million U.S. dollars) in a talent training program in collaboration with more than 100 Chinese vocational schools from 2020 to 2022, the company said.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: US blacklist filled with companies working for China military — Three-quarters of companies recently blacklisted by the U.S. over Chinese military activities have dealings with the People’s Liberation Army, Nikkei research shows, a sign of the PLA’s growing reliance on the private sector under President Xi Jinping’s push for “military-civil fusion.”
- Foreign Policy: As Decoupling Grows, the West Risks Losing Insight Into China — A collapsing relationship could create a lost generation of experts.
