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
- Australia’s Treasury Wine Shelves Penfolds Spinoff as China Weighs Tariffs — A Chinese industry group has asked Beijing to impose retrospective tariffs on Australian wine.
- Western Economies Embrace State Intervention, Emulating Asia — Greater state control of business activity reflects anxiety in West about ability to compete with government-backed industries in Asia.
- Alibaba Earnings Fell in Latest Quarter on One-Time Gain a Year Ago — Results come as investors and shareholders reel from abrupt suspension of Ant Group’s listing.
The Financial Times
- Ant Group IPO faces at least 6-month delay after Beijing intervention — Chinese fintech’s valuation could fall after being hit by new regulations.
- VanEck applies for China retail fund management licence — US manager plans to differentiate from competitors in index offerings.
- ‘The party is pushing back’: why Beijing reined in Jack Ma and Ant — The billionaire’s criticism of regulators triggered the move by communist leaders to limit the power of the fintech group.
The New York Times
- Chinese Journalists Sought Freedom in the U.S. Now They’re in Limbo. — Caught in a tit-for-tat battle over the media between the two countries, the worried reporters say they help bring a nuanced view of American life back home.
Caixin
- Market Wonders Over Alibaba Selling Down Stake in Medical Checkup Specialist — Deal to offload shares in Meinian Onehealth stirs interest after Ant Group’s mega dual listing shelved.
- China’s Banking Regulator Cracks Down on Fintech-Fueled Joint Lending — CBIRC bars joint-stock banks from funneling funds to third parties and orders tighter risk controls as joint lending boom surges to $283 billion.
- PipeChina’s Five-Year Target Risks Shorting Energy Sector Needs — Plan for additional 25,000 kilometers of pipeline could reduce company’s ultimate share of China’s distribution network.
- Facial Recognition Firm Yitu Steps Closer to STAR Market Listing — Company has filed for a listing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-like board as China’s AI firms look to tap investor interest.
- New Indexes Debut Tracking Shipping Prices From China to U.S., Europe — Following this week’s official launch, Shanghai Futures Exchange plans to launch futures based on the indexes soon, Caixin has learned.
- Recovering Demand Leaves China’s Steelmakers Rolling in Profits — Major producers posted profit growth of around 50% in the third quarter, reversing declines in the first half of the year at the height of the nation’s Covid-19 outbreak.
- Lenovo’s Money-Losing Smartphone Business Turns Focus Home to China — Lenovo’s long-ailing smartphone unit hopes to pare its losses by bringing business closer to home.
- Ping An-Affiliated Fintech Firm OneConnect Narrows Net Losses — U.S.-listed OneConnect Financial Technology, a fintech firm controlled by Chinese insurance group Ping An Insurance, trimmed its net loss in the third quarter of 2020, as the firm explores overseas markets.
- Food Delivery Service Ele.me Solves the Problem of Bad Airline Food — Passengers sick of bad airline food will soon have a new option, at least if they’re flying from Beijing’s massive new Daixing International Airport.
South China Morning Post
- US-China rivalry: trade talks key to getting relations back on track, insiders say — Trade and industry groups could provide the catalyst for repairing China-US relations, insiders said on Thursday, as the world continues to wait for the result of the US presidential election.
- Chinese surveillance giant expanding in the US attracts scrutiny over possible targeting of Uyghurs — Dahua, a Chinese surveillance company with eyes on the US market, has fallen under scrutiny after researchers found software code that appears to enable ethnic profiling of China’s Uygur minority using artificial intelligence.
- China’s industrial 5G ecosystem remains immature as companies struggle to find applications — On a foggy morning in Beijing last Friday, two dozen tech entrepreneurs were vying for the attention of judges in a competition to find the best new 5G applications.
- China birth restrictions ‘fading out’ as mention of family planning dropped from 14th five-year plan — China is inching closer to abandoning its decades-long policy of birth restrictions, as its slowing fertility rate and rapidly greying population threaten long-term growth prospects, analysts and researchers say.
- Ethnic Chinese community leader is first charged under Australia’s foreign interference law — The first person charged under Australia’s foreign interference law is a well-known member of the ethnic Chinese community, having been involved in the operations of a history museum and a community group accused of links to Beijing‘s political influence efforts.
Bloomberg
- Glass Shortage Threatens Solar Panels Needed for Climate Fix — The world’s biggest solar power company says a shortage of glass is raising costs and delaying production of new panels, throwing a wrench into China’s plans to accelerate its shift to clean power.
- China Fuel-Cell Startup Seeks Funds, Predicts Hydrogen-Car Boom — China’s push for more fuel-cell vehicles is inspiring startup Anhui Mingtian Hydrogen Energy Technology Co. to step up its growth, with the technology provider working on fresh fundraising en route toward an initial share sale.
- Inside the Chaotic Unraveling of Jack Ma’s $35 Billion IPO — The mid-level bureaucrats left China’s richest man waiting as they prepared for a meeting that would send shockwaves across the financial world.
- Canada Goose Revenue Beats With Mainland China Back to Growth — Parka maker Canada Goose Holdings Inc. posted better-than-expected revenue, showing the pandemic slump is easing just in time for the crucial winter period. “This is a strong backdrop as we head into peak Canada Goose season,” Chief Executive Officer Dani Reiss said in a statement.
- China’s Yuan Swings Most Since 2015 Devaluation on Biden’s Prospects — China’s yuan is emerging as one of the most sensitive assets to the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections.
- The Day Jack Ma Became Ray Dalio’s Nightmare — Beijing’s shock move to suspend Ant’s IPO is a reminder that investing in China can be scary, no matter what smart hedge fund managers say.
- It’s the Fed, Not the White House, That Matters Most in Asia — For all the hand-wringing abroad over the outcome of the U.S. election, there’s a much more critical institution to consider.
- Hong Kong Homeowners Look to Sell as Emigration Demand Rises — Hong Kong is seeing a surge in home listings as the recession and a security crackdown by China prompt more residents to sell their properties.
Reuters
- Alibaba beats sales forecasts on China e-commerce growth — Alibaba Group beat third quarterly revenue estimates on Thursday, driven by e-commerce growth after China emerged from coronavirus lockdowns, and said it was assessing the suspension of its affiliate Ant Group’s listing.
- In COVID clampdown, China bars travellers from Britain, Belgium, India — China has barred non-Chinese travellers from Britain, Belgium, the Philippines and India, imposing some of the most stringent entry curbs of any country as global coronavirus cases surge.
- Gangs in Latin America use bribery, secret routes to smuggle jaguar parts to China: report — Criminal organizations in Bolivia and other Latin American countries are bribing police and circumventing customs restrictions to smuggle parts of jaguars to mainland China, an investigation by environmental groups showed on Thursday.
- China considers 5% annual GDP growth target for next five years: sources — China’s policymakers are close to setting an average annual economic growth target of around 5% for the next five years, at the lower end of ranges previously considered as global risks cloud the outlook, policy sources said.
- Factbox: China new energy shares, Apple suppliers lead gains as U.S. election result awaited — China’s new energy shares and Apple suppliers led the gains in the A-share market on Thursday, while defence companies lost ground, as early returns from the U.S. election pointed to a win for Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
- ‘A bad sign’: Australia’s Treasury Wines slumps on China tariff woes, pauses Penfolds demerger — Australia’s Treasury Wines Estates on Thursday put on hold a demerger of its most prized brand as its shares tumbled to a near five-year low amid concerns China would impose retrospective tariffs on Australian wine imports.
- Analysis: Whoever triumphs, investors see China, green and easy money bets as election winners — The close and inconclusive U.S. election has scuppered some short-term trades premised on a clear Joe Biden sweep, but money managers say they are sticking to bets on plentiful stimulus, a Chinese rebound and a green boom, regardless of who triumphs.
- Chinese President Xi pledges to import more as pandemic shakes global economy — China will import over $22 trillion worth of goods over the next decade, and the country is accelerating its opening up in spite of the global coronavirus pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday.
Xinhua
- German software giant hopes to deepen collaboration with Chinese partners — The German software giant SAP, also a participant in the third China International Import Expo (CIIE), hopes to enhance engagement with the Chinese government at all levels and deepen collaboration with Chinese enterprises, Mark Gibbs, global executive vice president of SAP, has said.
- All-cargo air service links ASEAN, northwest China and Pakistan — An air cargo service route has been launched linking northwest China’s Lanzhou, Phnom Penh of Cambodia, and Lahore in Pakistan.
- Interview: IMF official says simultaneous implementation of key reforms to support China’s recovery, “dual circulation” — Simultaneous implementation of key structure reforms will help support China’s balanced recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and its new economic development pattern of “dual circulation,” an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has said.
- FDI into China to hit 690 bln USD in 2016-2020 — China’s total paid-in foreign investment is expected to reach 690 billion U.S. dollars in the 2016-2020 period, a statistical bulletin showed on Thursday.
- Malaysian companies highly positive on China market prospects: HSBC survey — China remains a highly attractive consumer market and global supply chain hub, especially for Malaysian companies, a survey by HSBC showed Thursday.
- China to cut retail fuel prices — China will reduce the retail prices of gasoline and diesel from Friday, the country’s top economic planner said Thursday.
- Chinese-built modern railway boosting Kenya’s direct tea sales — Kenya’s tea buyers and packers said Thursday the use of the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which runs from Nairobi to the coastal city of Mombasa has boosted direct tea sales.
- Feature: Cuban farmers start to export products overseas, eyeing Chinese market — by Yosley Carrero
- Chinese shares close higher on Thursday — Chinese stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.3 percent to 3,320.13 points.
- Hong Kong stocks close 3.25 pct higher — Hong Kong stocks closed up 809.78 points, or 3.25 percent, to 25,695.92 points on Thursday.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: Japan drugmaker taps Ping An’s database of 300m people in China — Japanese pharmaceutical maker Shionogi will design new drugs and health care services by accessing a database spanning over 300 million people maintained by China’s Ping An Insurance Group.
- POLITICO: China shapes a new U.S. economic era: The return of industrial policy — The latest episode of POLITICO’s Global Translations podcast explores the new industrial policy emerging in America to counter China’s ascent.
- Defense News: US approves armed MQ-9B drones purchase by Taiwan — The Trump administration has notified Congress that it approved the sale of $600 million in armed MQ-9B drones and related equipment to Taiwan, the latest in a series of arms transfers for the island.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China’s bullying of Australia is bound to backfire — World watches intently as Scott Morrison goes mano-a-mano with Xi Jinping.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Xi vows to ease imports bans for global recovery — Chinese President Xi Jinping promised on Wednesday to allow technology-related imports now banned by Beijing, in a move to lift global trade hurt by protectionism and the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Forbes: China Rich List 2020: 68 Newcomers Include The Country’s First Vaping Billionaire And 22 Healthcare Fortunes — Despite a global pandemic that continues to drive volatility in the stock markets, China’s billionaires are richer than ever. The threshold to make Forbes’ China Rich List, a ranking of the Asian nation’s 400 wealthiest people, rose to $1.55 billion, up 55% from the $1 billion cutoff last year. Collectively, the 68 newcomers to the list are worth over $181 billion, with fortunes stemming from e-cigarettes and pharmaceuticals to electric cars and e-commerce.
- The Diplomat: China-Australia Relations Continue Their Downward Spiral — China is ramping up economic pressure on Australia as overall ties continue to sour.
- OilPrice: China’s Oil Imports Are Falling From Record Highs — China’s crude oil imports have fallen in recent months from their record high of nearly 13 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, although imports continue to be considerably higher compared to last year’s monthly levels, data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Wednesday.
- Foreign Policy: China Media Told to Stay Low-Key on U.S. Election — Papers don’t want to give the impression Beijing is taking a side.
- CNBC: China is more important for business in Southeast Asia than U.S. election, consultant says — The U.S. is important geopolitically, but China is the “real game” in terms of business for Southeast Asia, according to the founder of a political risk consultancy.
