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
- China Is Losing Its Bet on Chips — An attack on Taiwan, the top manufacturer, would roil industry and the world.
- HSBC Has Big Ambitions in China. Westerners Still Dominate Its Board. — The British bank has scaled back in Europe and the U.S. and doubled down on Asia but that isn’t reflected in its senior ranks.
- Asia-Pacific Countries Sign Major Trade Pact in Test for Biden — The pact will bind their economies closer together and signals Beijing’s growing influence in the region.
- U.S. Crop Prices Are Rising, and China Is Buying — Investors pile into bullish wagers on agricultural commodities after the coronavirus had cast doubt on demand.
- Tiny GM Car Zips Past Tesla to Lead China’s Electric Vehicle Market — Hongguang Mini, made by a GM joint venture, costs just $4,300 and is the bestselling in the world’s largest EV market.
- Asia’s Massive New Trade Deal Is No Big Victory for Beijing — RCEP is less ambitious in most ways than the more groundbreaking trans-Pacific trade pact that came into force last year.
- China Economy Gathers Steam, Setting Stage for a Strong End to the Year — Investment and consumer spending grew faster year-over-year in October, while industrial production held firm.
- The Rise and Fall of Martin Lee and His Dream of a Democratic Hong Kong — Beijing’s growing crackdown marks the twilight of the lawyer’s fight for his city’s future.
- Bond Upsets Rattle Chinese Credit Market — Investors losing confidence in the local governments that stand behind many issuers.
- ‘The Zoom Boom’: Asia Leads the World in Covid-19 Economic Recovery — Successful pandemic responses and Western demand for goods are helping power rebounds in China, Taiwan and South Korea.
- A Covid Baby Bust Is Bad News for These Businesses — A projected fall in already record low birthrates in the U.S. and China is putting pressure on baby-product makers.
The Financial Times
- China/GDP: think of a number — President Xi envisions massive economic growth in the next 15 years, and why not? There are plenty of precedents.
- Futu’s Leaf Hua Li: ‘We leveraged technology to change the landscape’ — The Chinese entrepreneur’s frustrations with traditional brokerages led him to set up his own firm.
- Vulture funds buy up bonds of China state-owned enterprises — Default of two industrial groups triggers plunge in prices of corporate debt.
- US grants TikTok extension on sale deadline — Video app’s Chinese owner says it has been given extra 15 days to satisfy national security concerns.
The New York Times
- China-Led Trade Pact Is Signed, in Challenge to U.S. — The deal sealed on Sunday stands as a potent symbol of Beijing’s growing economic sway in Southeast Asia at a time of uncertainty over Washington’s economic ties with the region.
- Biden Wants to Be the Climate President. He’ll Need Some Help From Xi Jinping. — The U.S.-China relationship is at its lowest point in a half century, but there are also converging interests on global warming.
Caixin
- BMW’s China Venture Partner May Be Forced to Restructure — One of Brilliance Auto’s creditors has applied for its restructuring as the carmaker sinks deeper into a liquidity crisis following a $149 million bond default.
- Caixin Summit: China’s Financial Sector, Yuan’s Reserve Status Are Catching Up With U.S., Bridgewater Founder Says — About 60% of all Chinese domestic assets are now accessible to foreign investors, up from just 1% in 2015, according to Ray Dalio.
- Yongcheng Coal Pays $4.9 Million of Interest on Defaulted $151 Million Debt — Henan state-owned coal mining company that sent tremors across China’s bond market and coal industry says it’s raising funds to retire the bonds.
- Caixin Summit: Former Central Bank Chief Denies China Engages in ‘Debt-Trap’ Diplomacy — Zhou Xiaochuan reiterates China’s commitment to multilateralism while other countries ‘pass the buck’ on international support.
- Default by Henan Coal Mining Company Sends Tremors Across China — State-owned Yongcheng Coal fails to repay $151 million, setting off chain reaction through coal industry and disrupting bond sales and prices in other provinces.
- China Signs On to the World’s Biggest Free-Trade Deal — 15 Asia Pacific nations inked RCEP on Sunday, which encompasses nearly a third of the world’s population and GDP.
- Caixin Summit: China Can Avoid the ‘Middle Income Trap,’ AIIB Economist Says — However, sustaining growth is going to be ‘much more difficult and challenging,’ Erik Berglof told forum.
- Caixin Summit: Fossil Fuel Demand Will Bounce Bank After Pandemic, Predicts IHS Markit Executive — Data provider’s Vice President Daniel Yergin tells forum that China and India are both seeing rising oil demand.
- Bond Downgrade Could Signal Trouble for Chinese Aluminum Giant — $1.5 billion debt downgrade may be early sign of stress at China’s largest private smelter.
- Qualcomm Joins List of Firms Approved to Sell Older Chips to Huawei — U.S. tech giant confirms receiving Washington nod to resume supplying some products, including 4G chips, to the embattled Chinese smartphone-maker.
- Cover Story: How China’s E-Commerce Giants Enable Illegal Online Gambling — Largely offshore gambling operators set up complex business chains linking Baidu, WeChat, Alipay, Pinduoduo and ZTO Express, investigators say.
- In Depth: The Local Governments on Track to Smash Rail Monopoly — Affluent provinces step into vacuum left as China’s national rail operator pivots to long-haul routes.
- American Air Restarts China Flights as Travel Curbs Ease — Carrier is allowed two flights a week from Texas to Shanghai, with Hainan Airlines and Sichuan Airlines also set to resume service.
- Carmaker Changan Joins Hands with Huawei, CATL to Create Premium Smart Car Brand — China’s state-owned carmaker Changan Automobile has announced plans to work with Huawei and Tesla battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to create an upscale smart vehicle brand, a move that came as some domestic automakers have scrambled to launch their high-end new energy vehicle brands in competition with Tesla, which is gaining ground in China with its popular Shanghai-built Model 3 sedans.
- Sales and Losses Surge for Tesla Rival Li Auto — Chinese electric vehicle startup Li Auto posted strong sales growth in the third quarter and forecast more for the rest of the year, even as its losses widened on higher R&D spending.
South China Morning Post
- Terrorism, coronavirus pandemic on the agenda as BRICS leaders meet — Leaders of five major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are expected to endorse a counterterrorism strategy when they meet for their annual summit via video link on Tuesday.
- US-China relations: Biden expected to keep Taiwan card in play against Beijing — Confrontation and the risk of military conflict over Taiwan between Beijing and Washington look set to continue under a Joe Biden administration, with military and diplomatic observers predicting no let-up to US sales of advanced weaponry to the self-ruled island.
- The RCEP has been signed, at last – but resistance to China could yet prove a hurdle before it takes effect — Analysts have singled out domestic resistance in countries at odds with Beijing as one of the potential banana skins ahead for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which was formed on Sunday by China and 14 other Asia-Pacific economies after years of hard-fought negotiations.
- China declares early victory in 2020 job creation goal, but questions linger over data — China created 10.09 million jobs in its cities between January and October, surpassing this year’s target of 9 million new urban jobs two months ahead of schedule, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.
- RCEP offers China a fresh start to counter US influence in Asia-Pacific — The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a trade pact which excludes the United States, is a new beginning for China to enhance its economic sphere of influence in the Asia-Pacific.
- FDI in China up 18.3 per cent in October — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose by 18.3 per cent in October from a year earlier to 81.87 billion yuan (US$12.4 billion), the Chinese commerce ministry said on Monday.
- China’s band of daigou shoppers turn to domestic sales after coronavirus halts overseas trips for luxury goods — An increasing number of young women from across China are joining a movement seeking to take advantage of a growing domestic consumption drive, a key element of the government’s new dual circulation strategy.
- October air traffic climbs again as ‘golden week’ holidays and cheap deals drive recovery in China’s post-Covid air travel — China’s air travel industry continued to rebound in October as pent-up demand during the “golden week” holiday and so-called fly-at-will promotions boosted traffic.
- China’s marginal RCEP gains will not offset trade war impact on economy, studies show — China may claim a symbolic victory in the signing of the world’s biggest trade deal in the face of ongoing US disinterest in multilateralism, but the direct economic benefits will be marginal, studies show.
- How China’s factories are pivoting from an export-oriented business model to rely more on domestic sales — If you build it, will they buy? That’s the big question facing China’s manufacturers as they are being told by the highest levels of government to embrace an inward-facing model of domestic consumption.
- China economy continues strong growth trajectory in October, but imbalances remain — China’s economy expanded strongly in October, as the recovery in consumption continued to gather pace, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Monday showed.
- Ant Group’s IPO ‘hiccup’ and tech sell-off brushed off by investors amid rush to tap into China’s rebounding economy — The collapse of the world’s largest ever initial public offering by China’s Ant Group is already in the rear-view mirror for investors keen to tap into China, the only major economy on track to grow this year.
- China-Australia relations: ‘don’t expect RCEP to solve trade dispute’ — The signing of the world’s biggest free-trade agreement has the potential to spur China and Australia towards resolving their escalating trade conflict but is unlikely to directly result in a settlement, analysts and trade lawyers said.
- Hong Kong stock exchange aims to modernise IPO process, slashing times for debutants to list as it strives to protect global crown — Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is proposing a revamp that would drastically speed up the process of initial public offerings, helping the city maintain its edge as a hub for stock market listings.
- Hong Kong tycoon and International Chamber of Commerce adviser calls on G20 to cooperate to save SMEs amid pandemic — The International Chamber of Commerce, to which prominent Hong Kong businessman Victor Fung Kwok-king is a top adviser, has urged the Group of 20 to take urgent action to avert the risk of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide going under amid the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- New World’s Harvard-educated scion upends Hong Kong developers’ ‘build and sell’ business model as city sits at crossroads — Cheng Yu-tung, one of Hong Kong’s best-known tycoons, spared no expense when he led a 1985 effort to build a harbourfront convention centre to host the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty 12 years later.
- Canada’s new immigration scheme for Hong Kong may lead to exodus of young from city, experts say — Canada’s latest immigration scheme for Hong Kong may spark an exodus of talent from the city as heightened local political tensions push educated young people to seek opportunities elsewhere, according to experts.
- Budweiser, Anta Sports and Meituan join Hang Seng Index, displacing Swire Pacific from Hong Kong’s stock benchmark — Chinese online food delivery giant Meituan will become a major constituent of the Hang Seng Index from December 7, in a long-awaited move that will further raise the status of technology companies in Asia’s third-largest stock market.
- Hong Kong economy forecast to shrink by record 6.1 per cent for full year although coronavirus relief measures cushion blow — Hong Kong’s economy was expected to shrink by 6.1 per cent this year – the lowest on record – the government said on Friday after weighing the city’s performance in the first three quarters and the cushioning effects of its massive coronavirus relief measures.
- Singles’ Day: annual shopping event helps raise performance of China’s cloud services sector — Within seconds after midnight struck for this year’s edition of Singles’ Day, the world’s largest shopping festival, hundreds of thousands of orders started rolling through the e-commerce platforms of Alibaba Group Holding, as eager consumers rushed to grab steep discounts on various merchandise sold online.
- Agricultural drone maker XAG raises US$182 million in funding round led by Baidu, SoftBank — Agricultural drone maker XAG raised 1.2 billion yuan (US$181.6 million), the company announced on Monday, marking the largest funding round to date in China’s agricultural technology industry.
- China Hi-Tech Fair shows post-pandemic innovation around AI, robotics, smart city — Hi-tech innovation for a post-pandemic world took centre stage in China’s biggest technology show, which kicked off its five-day run in Shenzhen on Wednesday, as the country’s economic recovery gains momentum.
Bloomberg
- JD’s Revenue Beats in Sign Chinese Consumers Moved Online — JD.com Inc.’s revenue climbed a better-than-expected 29% after shoppers who shifted online during the pandemic continued to drive a modest recovery in Chinese consumer spending.
- China’s Luxury Thirst Keeps Eastern Europe Cranking Out Cars — Chinese appetite for high-end cars is proving a boon for eastern European economies that had earlier fretted about an over-reliance on auto plants.
- Oil Extends Gains on Latest Vaccine Breakthrough, China Recovery — Oil extended gains in New York as Moderna Inc. reported its Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective against the virus.
- Biden Transition Teams Hint at Economic Policy From China to Climate — His transition team is progressive and has some big ideas, but they’ll also be practical.
- Crackdowns Everywhere Show Xi Strengthening Party Grip on China — The past few weeks have shown that Chinese President Xi Jinping can move extremely fast when he hones in on long-term threats to the Communist Party. And right now they revolve around the convergence of technology, finance and Hong Kong.
- Budweiser, Anta, Meituan Rise After Hang Seng Index Inclusion — Shares of Meituan, Anta Sports Products Ltd. and Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd. rose on their first trading day since the compiler of Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index said the three would be joining it.
- Trump Plans More Actions on China in Coming Weeks to Bind Biden — U.S. President Donald Trump plans several new hard-line moves against China in the remaining weeks of his term, according to a senior administration official, potentially tying the hands of President-elect Joe Biden.
- China’s Strengthening Recovery Cements Status as Global Outlier — China’s economic rebound gathered pace in October, cementing the nation’s status as the only major economy tipped to grow this year.
- Evergrande Feels the Squeeze in Key Shadow Financing Market — China Evergrande Group has seen a steep drop in its main source of non-bank financing over the past three months, adding to challenges for the embattled developer that just narrowly escaped a full-blown cash crunch.
- In China, Some SOE Defaulters Look Like They Never Meant to Repay — In China, state-owned defaulters are shifting out good assets before creditors take them to court. Investors are getting nervous.
- China Copper Futures Have Timing and Luck to Succeed — The country’s latest international futures contract has timing and structure on its side.
- China’s Electric Vehicle Surge Excites Investors, But Look Again — A surge in electric vehicle purchases in China is drawing investors. They need a reality check.
- Biden and Xi Can Keep U.S.-China Cold War From Turning Hot — Let’s hope it doesn’t take another Cuban Missile Crisis to bring the U.S. and China to detente.
- Asia Pacific Nations Sign Biggest Regional Trade Deal — Asia Pacific nations including China, Japan and South Korea on Sunday signed the world’s largest regional free-trade agreement, encompassing nearly a third of the world’s population and gross domestic product.
- China Is Also a Loser in Zambia’s Covid-19 Debt Default — Zambia has become the continent’s first Covid-19 default. It doesn’t help that no one knows exactly who owes what.
- Dalio Says Now Is ‘Special Moment’ for Markets as China Ascends — Ray Dalio believes global markets are at a “very special moment,” with China on the rise and the relative power of the U.S. facing challenges.
- A Wild Week in China Roils Tech Stocks, Debt Markets, Hong Kong — Chinese authorities moved on a number of fronts to rein in potential risks to the Communist Party’s rule, touching everything from tech firms to bond markets to political dissent in Hong Kong.
Reuters
- China’s Didi Chuxing, BYD roll out customized car model for ride-hailing service — China’s Didi Chuxing and electric vehicle maker BYD on Monday launched their purpose-built D1 van model for ride-hailing services, the ride-hailing giant’s CEO Will Cheng said on Monday.
- China’s factory output beats forecasts as Asia shakes off COVID slump — China’s factory output rose faster-than-expected in October and retail sales sped up, as the recovery in the world’s second-largest economy from its COVID-19 slump gathered momentum.
- Factbox: China state enterprises facing debt problems — Chinese banks and fund managers dumped their holdings of riskier bonds last week after a series of credit shocks involving state-owned enterprises (SOEs) jolted China’s corporate bond market.
- China’s Huachen Automotive Group says creditors applied for company restructuring — China’s Huachen Automotive Group said Monday that its creditors had applied to a Chinese court to restructure the company.
- Australian coal exports to China slump, but prices are mixed: Russell — China’s unofficial ban on coal imports from Australia is starting to take its toll on volumes, with departing cargoes down sharply so far in November. But something odd is happening with prices.
- China’s fourth-quarter economic growth will accelerate from third quarter: stats bureau — China’s fourth-quarter economic growth will accelerate from the third quarter, Fu Linghui, spokesman of the National Statistics Bureau said on Monday.
- China says U.S. should stop unreasonably suppressing Chinese firms — China’s commerce ministry said on Monday that the United States should stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese firms, responding to Washington’s decision to ban U.S. investments in firms tied to the Chinese military.
- Shanghai to start testing ‘high-risk’ cold storage food imports for coronavirus — Shanghai city government said all imports of what it called “high-risk” imported cold-storage food will need to be tested for coronavirus and have packaging disinfected before being stored or sold in the city.
- AllianceBernstein applies to set up China mutual fund unit — U.S.-based asset manager AllianceBernstein’s Hong Kong unit has applied to set up a mutual fund in China, the Chinese securities regulator’s website showed.
- China’s Xi calls for further development of Yangtze economic belt — China’s President Xi Jinping has called for further development of the Yangtze River economic belt as part of the country’s “dual circulation” strategy, the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
- China aims for moderate export expansion, no longer focuses on surplus-think tank — China will no longer aim at achieving trade surpluses and solely expanding exports, but will pivot to moderately expanding imports for a balance between inbound and outbound shipments, a senior official from a state-affiliated think tank said on Sunday.
- Australia hopes Asia-Pacific trade deal will improve ties with China: report — Australia hopes that an ambitious trade deal to be signed on Sunday between 15 Asia-Pacific economies will help improve the country’s strained relations with China, Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said.
- China regulator says financial innovation must not create oligopolies — China should ensure financial innovation maintains fair competition and does not create oligopolies or construct barriers to entry, a Chinese regulatory official said Saturday.
Xinhua
- Spotlight: “Singles Day” shopping festival promotes growth of China-Europe freight logistics — “Singles Day,” held on Nov. 11 every year, is the world’s biggest 24-hour online shopping event. The number of orders registered on Chinese online retail giant Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform Tmall was a staggering new record of 583,000 in a single second. Between Nov. 1 and Nov. 11, sales on platform totaled 498.2 billion Chinese yuan.
- China’s passenger car sales continue to rise — China’s passenger car sales continued to expand in October, as the better-than-expected economic recovery and export market has stabilized consumer confidence.
- China’s additive manufacturing sector sees rising revenue, profits — China’s major additive manufacturers reported a total operating revenue of 7.5 billion yuan (about 1.14 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of the year, official data showed.
- China Shouguang vegetable price index up 0.67 pct — The China Shouguang vegetable price index, a barometer of the country’s vegetable market, rose 0.67 percent to 120.56 points Monday.
- China’s central bank injects liquidity into market — China’s central bank pumped cash into the financial system through open market operations to maintain liquidity in the market Monday.
- China’s FDI inflow rises for 7th month — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 18.3 percent year on year to 81.87 billion yuan (about 12.4 billion U.S. dollars) in October, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Monday.
- China’s industrial output up 6.9 pct in October — China’s value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.9 percent year on year in October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.
- China’s garment industry sees better performance — China’s garment industry has seen better performance amid the country’s effective epidemic control measures and a rebound in global demand.
- China’s passenger car sales continue to rise — China’s passenger car sales continued to expand in October, as the better-than-expected economic recovery and export market has stabilized consumer confidence.
- Int’l travel fair kicks off in Shanghai — The 2020 China International Travel Mart (CITM), one of the largest travel fairs in the Asia-Pacific region, was inaugurated on Monday in Shanghai.
- Foreign trade of China’s Henan up 2.9 pct in January-October — Foreign trade of central China’s Henan Province rose by 2.9 percent to 459.45 billion yuan (about 69.79 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of this year, local authorities said.
- China’s consumer spending gains steam in October — China’s consumer spending continued to pick up pace in October amid the effective containment of the COVID-19 epidemic and steady economic recovery at home, official data showed Monday.
- Sinopec unloads world’s biggest liquified natural gas carrier — China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has unloaded the world’s largest liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier “AL MAFYAR” for the first time as it berthed in north China’s Tianjin Municipality.
- Leading Hungarian bedding company sees huge potential in Chinese market at CIIE — Hungarian bedding company Naturtex is looking forward to expanding exports to China after its successful participation in the China International Import Expo (CIIE), according to the firm’s international business coordinator.
Other Publications
- Quartz: A US rare earths miner is staging a comeback to take on China — The Mountain Pass rare earths mine in California’s Mojave desert has had its ups and downs through the years. A new owner acquired the mine, and slowly restarted operations. Now that company, MP Materials, is about to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stated mission: restore the full rare earth supply chain to the US and eliminate dependence on China, which currently dominates the global rare earth industry.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Chinese premium brewers and distillers toast return of nightlife — Beer and baijiu lead alcohol market as industry rebounds from pandemic downturn.
