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
- Uniqlo Takes On H&M and Zara With Focus on Asian Stores — Fast Retailing, Asia’s top clothing retailer, is betting it can emerge from the coronavirus storm in a better position than Western rivals, in part by focusing on China and continuing to build physical stores.
- U.S., Japan, India and Australia Strengthen Ties to Counter China — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the foreign ministers of Japan, India and Australia pledged to uphold territorial sovereignty and freedom of navigation as rising tension between the countries and China draws them closer to counter Beijing’s ambitions.
- When China Opens Markets and Customers Don’t Arrive — Overseas investors have been lukewarm buyers of Chinese stocks this year, and are picky with their purchases of bonds, even as Beijing has opened access in unprecedented ways.
- Senate Democrats Question Export of Graphite to China Approved by Commerce Department — Top Democratic senators are calling on the Commerce Department to explain its approval for the export of a large shipment of graphite to China, which could help bolster the Chinese military’s missile forces.
The Financial Times
- The great uncoupling: one supply chain for China, one for everywhere else — US pressure and the pandemic are forcing many companies to rethink their Chinese manufacturing operations.
- ‘Made in China’ watches gain domestic popularity — Emergence of local high-end luxury brands gives hopes of changing perceptions about quality.
- Ant Group’s blockbuster IPO reveals how investors must pick sides in China — Rival business camps seek to tie in backers with competition over capital seen as a zero-sum game.
- US, Europe and UK must unite to keep Chinese tech at bay — Great powers always triumph thanks to their technological edge. Today is no different.
The New York Times
- Top China Critic Becomes Its Defender — Robert E. Lighthizer, President Trump’s trade negotiator, has cautioned against actions that could anger Beijing in an attempt to preserve the U.S.-China trade deal.
- China Ramps Up a War of Words, Warning the U.S. of Its Red Lines — As the United States and Taiwan draw closer, state propaganda is sending the message that China will go to war if necessary.
Caixin
- Holiday Podcast Long Reads — When China’s Economy Meets Its Biggest Social Issues — From poverty alleviation to algorithms deciding how we work, 2020 has seen China’s changing economy impact the country’s social issues in unpredictable and important ways.
- China’s Homegrown Electric-Car Makers Charge Ahead in September — Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng all showed strong growth in their latest monthly sales, though profits remain elusive.
- Domestic Productions Prosper as Chinese Consumers Mark National Holiday With a Trip to the Movies — China’s box office took 2.21 billion yuan ($325.46 million) in the first four days of the “Golden Week” national holiday, around three-quarters of last year’s total, as moviegoers steadily return to cinemas following the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
- U.S. Tightens Sanctions on SMIC, But Short-Term Revenue Impact Unlikely — The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has sent letters to some of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.’s (SMIC) suppliers telling them that exports to China’s largest computer chipmaker are subject to additional export restrictions, SMIC said Sunday.
South China Morning Post
- China’s yuan surges to 17-month high on Joe Biden US presidential election hopes as Donald Trump loses ground — China’s yuan trading outside the mainland surged to its highest level in 17 months on Tuesday after new polls showed challenger Joe Biden had increased his lead over US President Donald Trump in the race for the White House that is less than a month away.
- China needs more people power at home and trust from abroad to deliver on its bold 2060 carbon neutral pledge — China is not known for its environmental record, especially when it comes to delivering.
- Alibaba joins forces with Switzerland’s Dufry to shake up China’s huge, fast-growing duty-free airport shopping market — A new partnership between the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and Dufry, the world’s largest operator of airport duty-free shops, points to a massive, fast-growing market in China accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, analysts say.
- China coal hub Shanxi to merge five giant state-owned miners as part of efficiency drive — China’s coal-rich Shanxi province will consolidate five large state-owned companies into a mega coal producer, with annual output nearly matching that of Australia, in a deal that is set to reshape the nation’s coal industry.
- Coronavirus cases linked to Hong Kong bar spark fears in the industry, calls for tougher enforcement of rules — When Chandan Kumar, manager of the Old Monk Bar and Grill, discovered that a patron of a bar across the street from his establishment in Tsim Sha Tsui had tested positive for coronavirus, he was shocked.“I immediately told my staff to remain extra vigilant,” he said.
- China’s ‘three red lines’ strike delicate balance between curbing real estate debt and local government finances — As China moves to tackle excessive borrowing in the real estate sector, it is walking a tightrope between providing cash-strapped local governments with revenues from land sales and keeping a lid on rising house prices.
- Taiwan seeks US help to boost its defences as Beijing ramps up military pressure — Taiwan’s deputy defence minister has appealed to the United States to help boost the island’s defences and step up joint military training as it tries to counter growing threats from Beijing.
- China must become self-reliant in key technology to be secure, says military newspaper — An official Chinese military newspaper has urged the country to speed up innovation and become self-reliant in key technology.
- Home-grown start-ups join global giants in race to tap China’s plant-based alternative meats market as middle-class appetite for healthier food grows stronger — China’s plant-based meat market is getting more crowded as domestic start-ups join international giants in a race to tap the growing middle class’ appetite for healthier food options.
Bloomberg
- Singapore’s GIC Plans to Invest More Than $1 Billion in Ant — Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte plans to invest more than $1 billion in Ant Group’s mega initial public offering as early investors look for a bigger slice of the Chinese payments behemoth, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Pompeo Calls for United ‘Quad’ Bloc on China in Virus Crisis — U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called on three other Indo-Pacific democracies to band together against coercion from China, in a bid to keep pressure on Beijing amid the coronavirus crisis rocking Washington.
- U.S. Raises China Concerns Over Israel’s Sale of Largest Seaport — The U.S. is working to find American bidders for Israel’s largest port to counter China’s clout in the Middle East, adding drama to a deal that’s drawn interest from regional heavyweights including the UAE and Turkey, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Tencent Stock Options Cost a Fortune and Traders Love Them — Caught off guard by Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s record-breaking rally earlier this year, Hong Kong’s stock investors are getting well prepared for the next one.
- Covid Worsens Crisis in World’s Most Unaffordable Housing Market — In Hong Kong –- the world’s most unaffordable housing market — rents are staying exorbitantly high despite the global pandemic and a severe recession, threatening to add a new source of discontent after months of political turmoil.
- Half a Billion Travelers Show China’s Economy Moving Past Covid — Hotel prices shot up, ride-hailing apps crashed, tickets to the Great Wall sold out: after more than nine long, housebound months, almost half a billion Chinese people are taking a vacation.
- South Korean Firms Reluctant to Bring Production Back From China — South Korea’s ramped-up efforts to get companies to relocate home from China are failing to gain momentum even as the pandemic and U.S.-China trade tensions highlight the risks of over-reliance on China as a manufacturing base.
Reuters
- China in talks with WHO over assessing its COVID-19 vaccines for global use — China is in talks to have its locally-produced COVID-19 vaccines assessed by the World Health Organization, as a step toward making them available for international use, a WHO official said on Tuesday.
- Column: China’s crude oil party is finally winding up, now for hangover – Russell — China’s five-month crude oil party was still going strong in September, but is winding down in October, leaving the industry to ponder just how big the hangover is going to be.
Xinhua
- Sales of Chinese anti-poverty e-commerce platform top 3 bln yuan — A Chinese e-commerce platform selling products from the country’s poverty-stricken areas has seen its sales exceed 3.1 billion yuan (about 455.2 million U.S. dollars).
- Dufry, Alibaba to form JV in China to boost travel retail business: Dufry — Global travel retailer Swiss-based Dufry said on Monday it has agreed to form a joint venture (JV) with tech giant Alibaba Group to partner in the Chinese travel retail market in a bid to accelerate the consumer retail business and digital transformation.
- China’s foreign debt sees stable growth in H1 — China has seen a steady rise in outstanding foreign debt in the first half of this year (H1) amid government measures to facilitate cross-border financing.
- China UnionPay sees more online payments during holiday — Chinese card payment giant China UnionPay saw its online transactions go up during the first three days of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
- China’s Bond Connect program gathers steam in September — The trading volume under China’s Bond Connect program in September reached 419 billion yuan (about 61.53 billion U.S. dollars), according to a monthly report released by Bond Connect Company Limited.
- Chinese bankers consider macro economy at normal level: survey — Chinese bankers reported growing optimism over the prospects for the country’s macro economy in the third quarter (Q3) of this year, the central bank found in a survey.
- China’s software industry sees rapid recovery — China’s software industry has seen rapid recovery as revenue and profit growth gathers steam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
- Beijing’s tech hub reports robust economic rebound — Beijing’s tech hub of Zhongguancun has reported a robust economic rebound, with the total revenue of the area’s major high-tech enterprises surging by 9.9 percent year on year to 4 trillion yuan (about 589.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year.
- China’s Bond Connect program gathers steam in September — The trading volume under China’s Bond Connect program in September reached 419 billion yuan (about 61.53 billion U.S. dollars), according to a monthly report released by Bond Connect Company Limited.
Other Publications
- CSIS: Changes Underway at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base — The Cambodian government has demolished a U.S.-built facility at the country’s Ream Naval Base, according to satellite imagery collected on October 1. The building was one of several U.S.-funded facilities on the base which were reportedly to be relocated after Cambodia struck a secret deal to grant China access to Ream.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Chinese video site Bilibili prepares Hong Kong IPO of up to $1.5bn — Bilibili, a Nasdaq-listed Chinese video platform popular with millennials for its animation and gaming content, is moving ahead with plans for a secondary listing in Hong Kong next year that could raise as much as $1.5 billion, two people familiar with the situation said.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China triples Japan government bond purchases — China has raised its purchases of Japanese government bonds to the highest level in three and a half years, in an apparent effort to reap greater yields on Beijing’s massive reserves of foreign currencies.
- The Diplomat: China’s Disinformation Campaign in the Philippines — The network particularly targeted the Philippines, where it actively interfered in Philippine politics and generated millions of digital interactions by promoting politicians favorable to China, including President Rodrigo Duterte. This marks the second time that Facebook has removed disinformation networks emanating from China and heralds a new age of information warfare in the Indo-Pacific.
- Capital Press: U.S. Wheat: China living up to Phase One trade deal — The first phase of the U.S. trade deal with China has resulted in the higher demand for wheat that farmers were hoping for, a U.S. Wheat Associates analyst says.
- Foreign Policy: How to Stop the Export of Authoritarianism — China is slowly killing the global human rights regime. Defending it requires Washington’s full engagement.
- POLITICO: CISA covers the waterfront with announcements — The releases cover everything from warning that tensions with China could encourage Beijing to hack more and an election security PSA with the FBI to malware analysis with U.S. Cyber Command and a toolkit on election disinformation.
