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.
Paid subscribers can have this list emailed directly to their inboxes every day. Subscribe here, and then send us an email at contact@thewirechina.com to opt in for the Daily Roundup email.
The Wall Street Journal
- Rising Farm Exports to China Lift Agribusiness, Farmers — Improved prospects for farmers help Bunge, Archer Daniels Midland, other agriculture businesses.
- Ant Founder Jack Ma Faces Backlash From Regulators — IPO suspension caps a monthslong tug of war between the billionaire and China’s top regulators.
- BMW Sales Boosted by China’s Strong Covid-19 Recovery — German luxury car maker warns of pandemic-related uncertainties in coming months.
- Ant’s Record IPO Suspended in Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges — Meeting with Jack Ma and top executives, changing regulatory environment disqualified the listing, Shanghai exchange says.
- Ant Group Can No Longer Pretend It’s Just a Tech Company — Company was valued like a tech darling even though it is a giant of China’s financial system.
- Suspended Ant IPO Shows Growing Regulatory Focus on Fintech Giant — Move prompts reassessment of whether the company’s growth and profitability will be severely crimped by Beijing in the years ahead.
The Financial Times
- Chinese censors control the celluloid world, too — Even star director Zhang Yimou had to bend to their will in his new movie ‘One Second’.
- Beijing says it halted $37bn Ant IPO to protect market stability — China’s regulators scuppered record stock market debut after summoning founder Jack Ma.
- Ant IPO: The Regulators Strike Back — Suspension of dual listing by Chinese regulators dashes hopes financial system has grown independent from politics.
- US approves drone sale to help Taiwan detect China invasion — Washington has sold Taipei weapons worth $4.8bn in the past fortnight.
- Chinese companies waiting twice as long for payments as in 2015 — Analysts say the delay in settling accounts suggests the economic recovery is weak.
- China halts $37bn Ant Group IPO, citing ‘major issues’ — Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges postpone listing two days before trading was due to start.
- Ant IPO/CCP: party pooper — The market’s old lags will chafe at further evidence of China’s hostility to free speech.
Caixin
- Retail Investors in Halted Ant Group IPO Still Saddled With Margin Loan Costs — Financial institutions in Hong Kong had loaned nearly HK$520 billion to mom-and-pop investors.
- China Reveals More About Its Economic Goals for Next 15 Years — Communist Party releases more details of the 14th Five-Year Plan and longer term aspirations that include doubling national income per capita by 2035.
- Lenovo’s Long-Ailing Smartphone Arm Cuts Losses by Half — Strategy focused on China, high-end products might turn a profit next quarter, CEO says.
- China’s Freight Carriers Race to Market, Putting End to Merger Speculation — Beijing had pushed to consolidate the three, but met resistance.
- Whether Trump or Biden, Either Could Seek to End Tariffs During New Presidency, Businesses Say — Businesspeople attending an election results-watching event say U.S.-China tariffs may be outliving their usefulness, as most agree bilateral relationship is headed into a new phase.
- Meituan Mulls Secondary Listing on Mainland — Chinese food-delivery giant contacted Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges and approached underwriters, market participants say.
- Didi’s Budget Service – Clever Business Model or Fools Gold? — Didi, China’s answer to the Uber, is not afraid of splashing the cash and continuing to lure customers with generous coupons and discounts to use the ride hailing service.
- Chinese Electric Vehicle Startup Xpeng Reports Solid Sales Growth in October — Chinese electric vehicle startup Xpeng reported year-on-year gains in deliveries for October, as Beijing aims to gradually increase the share of new energy vehicles in the country’s new car sales total.
- Chinese Biopharmaceutical Firm CARsgen Bags $186m Series C Led by Loyal Valley — Clinical-stage immune-oncology therapy developer CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited announced on Monday that it has secured $186 million in a Series C round financing led by Loyal Valley Capital.
South China Morning Post
- How important is Carrie Lam’s Beijing trip before her policy address, and what’s at stake for Hong Kong? — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and five top officials flew to Beijing on Tuesday, where they will hold talks with top ministries on measures to jump-start the city’s ailing economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- China’s services sector remained strong in October, second highest in 10 years — Activity in China’s services sector accelerated in October as the economy continued its strong recovery from the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, a private survey showed on Wednesday.
- Live streaming may be booming in China in a post-pandemic world but only a few make it to the big leagues — Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, He Zhiqing supplemented his income as a factory owner in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai with a lucrative side business – live streaming daily life with his wife and their triplet daughters.
- Cathay Pacific-cabin crew meeting at Labour Department results in zero concessions, as union legal action looms — Unionised cabin crew at Cathay Pacific failed to secure any concessions from the loss-making airline after a 3½-hour meeting at Hong Kong’s Labour Department office on Wednesday.
- US approves drone sale to Taiwan while all eyes on White House race — The United States has approved the sale of armed drones to Taiwan – the first time the remotely piloted aircraft have been part of a package for Taipei since export restrictions were eased in July.
- Serbia gets Washington’s attention as China builds influence in Balkans — As US-China rivalry intensifies, European states have found themselves caught in the middle. The Post looks at how countries on the continent are responding, ranging from anti-China, to China-friendly, and those trying to walk a line between Washington and Beijing. The fourth in the four-part series looks at Serbia.
- China’s GDP to grow by at least 5.5 per cent annually in next five years, former Chongqing mayor Huang Qifan says — China’s average annual economic growth could be at least 5.5 per cent in the next five years and consistently expand at 5 per cent through 2035, Huang Qifan, a former mayor of Chongqing, said in a speech on Tuesday.
- Hong Kong restaurant takings sink to record low as Covid-19 social-distancing rules hammer catering sector — Restaurant takings sank to a record low in the third quarter, slumping 35.3 per cent year on year, as Hong Kong’s catering sector took a massive hit from sweeping social-distancing rules amid a third wave of Covid-19 infections.
Bloomberg
- Xi Seeks to Ease Concerns That China’s Economy Is Turning Inward — Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to re-assure international businesses that the nation is committed to open trade, amid concerns that the new ‘dual circulation’ strategy will mean the world’s second-largest economy is set to become more insular.
- China Tells Ant It Can’t Go Public Until Capital Shortfall Fixed — Chinese regulators have told Ant Group Co. it can’t proceed with an initial public offering until after it complies with new capital requirements and other restrictions imposed on the country’s financial conglomerates at the start of this month.
- China Plans Deeper Ant Crackdown With Bank Funding Curbs — The shock suspension of Ant Group Co.’s $35 billion initial public offering is just the beginning of a renewed campaign by China to rein in the fintech empire controlled by Jack Ma.
- Jack Ma’s Blunt Words Just Cost Him $35 Billion — China just showed the billionaire who’s boss in derailing fintech giant Ant Group’s monster IPO. Regulators might do better to heed his words instead.
- China’s Fosun Kicks Off Biggest Pharma IPO in India — Gland Pharma Ltd. and its shareholders are looking to raise as much as 64.5 billion rupees ($871 million) in what would be India’s biggest initial public offering by a pharmaceutical firm.
- Derailing of Jack Ma’s Mega Ant IPO Shows Xi Jinping’s in Charge — China’s move to abruptly halt the world’s biggest stock-market debut sends global investors a clear message: Any financial opening will only be done on terms that benefit President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party.
- Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Ant’s Pulled IPO — China’s shocking decision to halt Ant Group Co.’s initial public offering is reverberating across financial markets, sending Hong Kong shares lower and raising questions about the future of Jack Ma’s fintech juggernaut.
- World’s Largest Fertilizer Firm Sees Boon From China Hog Farming — Changes to China’s hog-farming practices may prove to be a boon for fertilizer companies and farmers around the world, according to Nutrien Ltd.’s top executive.
- China Alzheimer Drug Seeks Global Legitimacy With U.S. Trial — A new Chinese therapy for Alzheimer’s is embarking on a much-anticipated U.S. study — the latest bid to revive hopes in the multibillion-dollar search for an effective medicine against the incurable disease.
- U.S. Picks Taiwan for First Armed Drones Sale Under Eased Rules — The U.S. will sell Taiwan armed Reaper drones in a $600 million deal that will likely further anger China and help lock in a shift in American military support for Taipei during the next presidential administration.
- Philippines Greenlights Oil Drills in Disputed Sea Without China — The Philippines said oil exploration in the disputed South China Sea can proceed without China, in what could be a further sign of the Southeast Asian nation’s tougher stance against Beijing.
- CMC’s Fancl Asia Sale Attracts Carlyle, MBK Interest — The sale of Japanese skincare brand Fancl’s Asia business outside its home country has drawn preliminary interest from buyout firms including Carlyle Group Inc. and MBK Partners, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Reuters
- Market ties between China, U.S. set to deepen regardless of who wins White House — As the world awaited definitive results from the U.S. presidential election, Chinese investors betting on the re-election of Donald Trump sent shares of a Shenzhen-listed air traffic control software firm soaring on Wednesday.
- China’s Fosun to seek approval for BioNTech’s COVID-19 second vaccine, ends trials on first — BioNTech’s Chinese partner Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group does not plan to run further clinical trials of the German firm’s coronavirus vaccine candidate that has completed early-stage trials in China, an executive said.
- China says its importers choosing voluntarily to cut back on Australian goods — China said on Tuesday reduced imports of Australian products like wine, coal and sugar were the result of buyers’ own decisions, after media said Beijing had told importers to stop buying a range of Australian goods amid a deterioration in ties.
- Explainer: What’s next for Ant after China suspends $37 billion listing? — China’s suspension of Ant Group’s $37 billion listing just days ahead of its stock market debut has thrown the company and its investors into a tailspin and it faces a scramble to try and satisfy financial regulators, analysts say.
- China says U.S. sends out wrong signals to Taiwan on potential drone sale deal — China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday the United States has sent out wrong and grave signals to the so-called Taiwan military forces on the potential drone sale deal.
- China trade body urges ‘retrospective tariffs’ on Australian wine — A Chinese drinks group has called for retrospective tariffs on Australian wine imports, Australian winemaker Treasury Wine Estates Ltd said on Wednesday, amid escalating trade and diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
- Timeline: Tension between China and Australia over commodities trade — Australia’s ties with top trade partner China soured in 2018 when it became the first country to publicly ban China’s Huawei from its 5G network, and worsened after Canberra called for an enquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
- China’s Xi warns of rising risks as party charts course for five years — Chinese President Xi Jinping, commenting on the ruling Communist Party’s recommendations for the next five years, said on Tuesday said the country faces a significant increase in risks.
- Breakingviews – Chinese regulators add Ant to cursed mega-IPOs — When future business school students tackle the case study of Ant and the Curse of the Mega-IPO, it will be clearer what led to the shock suspension of the Chinese financial group’s record-shattering $37 billion initial public offering a mere 36 hours before its shares were due to begin trading.
Xinhua
- Hong Kong stocks close 0.21 pct lower — Hong Kong stocks closed down 53.59 points, or 0.21 percent, to 24,886.14 points on Wednesday.
- Chinese shares close higher Wednesday — Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.19 percent, at 3,277.44 points.
- Shanghai natural rubber futures open lower — Natural rubber futures opened lower Wednesday in daytime trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: US visas for Chinese students tumble 99% as tensions rise — U.S. visas issued to Chinese students have fallen dramatically as tougher screening by Washington and the pandemic discourage applicants amid rising tensions between the two countries.
- Axios: How the Chinese yuan fared on election night — The Chinese yuan and Mexican peso, which have both been tied to bets on Trump’s election prospects, saw wild swings on election night.