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 Borrows at Negative Rates for the First Time — Including bonds with positive yields, the euro-denominated deal raised about $4.7 billion.
- Foreign Meat Is Dropping Off the Menu in China as Local Pork Prices Fall — Swine fever outbreaks are still occurring, but the country has moved to repopulate its pig farms.
- When AAA Means Something Different in Chinese — Defaults by several companies owned by local governments in China have helped send AAA yields sharply higher.
- Large Chinese Broker Faces Probe After State-Owned Coal Miner’s Default — Haitong Securities shares fall in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
- China Shifted Some Borrowing to Companies as It Fought the Pandemic — Corporate borrowing had moderated in China but rebounded this year, driving a surge in the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio.
The Financial Times
- China blasts Five Eyes over Hong Kong comments — Intelligence alliance says Beijing has breached its international obligations.
- Joyy shares plunge after Muddy Waters attacks Chinese tech group — US-listed company’s livestreaming platform targeted days after sale to Baidu.
- China wakes up to the need for a greener diet — Meat consumption is high, but there is also a strong appetite for alternatives.
- Covid brings China’s high-growth rental industry to its knees — Rare protests in Beijing reveal growing tensions as landlords and tenants demand their money.
Caixin
- Cash-Strapped Danke Apartment Seeks Buyer — Chinese apartment rental platform needs $45.7 million to continue operating in a troubled sector that faces new problems post-pandemic.
- Lax Safety Measures Blamed for Deadly Blaze at PipeChina Gas Terminal — Authorities act to rectify issues that caused seven deaths in fire in a Beihai LNG storage site.
- BMW’s Main China Venture Partner Sued by Singapore Creditor — Cash-strapped Brilliance Auto has struggled with massive debt defaults.
- Chief Executive Quits Troubled $18.5 Billion Chinese Chip Champ — Wuhan’s HSMC lost semiconductor industry veteran Chiang Shang-yi in July as funding failed to materialize.
- Chinese Biotech Startup D3 Bio Raises $200 Million in Series A Round — Chinese biotech startup D3 Bio, a precision medicine developer, has closed its Series A funding round at $200 million to support the development of the firm’s portfolio in oncology and immunology.
- Bond Default Dominoes as Tunghsu Fails to Pay Due Interest — A Chinese manufacturer of display panels has failed to pay 66 million yuan ($10 million) in interest on two bonds as China’s market-rattling string of corporate defaults continues.
- Video Streamer Bilibili Posts Strong User Growth as Losses Widen — Nasdaq-listed Chinese video streaming platform Bilibili reported solid user growth in the third quarter, but its losses nearly tripled as it spent heavily on marketing.
- Creditors Approve Restructuring of Indebted Peking University-Linked Conglomerate — Creditors of Peking University Founder Group Corp. (PUFG) have approved a plan to restructure the state-owned industrial and investment conglomerate, making another step forward in efforts to resolve its nearly 150 billion yuan ($22 billion) debt pile.
South China Morning Post
- China dumps US Treasuries for fifth consecutive month, sending holdings to lowest level since February 2017 — China’s holdings of US government debt have fallen to their lowest level since February 2017, following a fifth successive month of net US Treasury sales in September, according to a US government report.
- Taiwan, US to hold new economic dialogue but hopes for trade deal ‘on back-burner’ — Taiwan and the United States will hold their inaugural economic dialogue in Washington on Friday in a bid to strengthen cooperation ahead of a new US administration, but analysts do not expect progress on a bilateral trade deal any time soon.
- US-China rivalry: Pentagon invests US$12.7 million in rare earth producers to reduce reliance on China — The US Department of Defence has invested more than US$12.7 million in three American producers of rare earth metals as the country seeks to reduce its dependence on China for the much sought-after raw materials.
- China Singles’ Day: do record sales really show a rebound in consumer spending? — Chinese consumers may have spent a record amount during the annual Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza early in November, but experts are split over whether it shows an acceleration in consumer spending following the coronavirus pandemic or simply savvy shoppers taking advantage of cutthroat deals.
- What is China’s dual circulation economic strategy and why is it important? — What is China’s dual circulation strategy?
- China sells first sovereign bond at negative interest rate, taking advantage of record low borrowing costs to raise capital — China has sold the nation’s first negative-yielding sovereign bond, the latest to take advantage of the record low cost of money amid the global coronavirus pandemic to finance its borrowing.
- China-Australia relations: US$58.5 million Sydney property deal halted by ‘chilling effect’ on foreign investments — A group of Chinese investors has withdrawn its bid to purchase a A$80 million (US$58.5 million) office tower in Sydney after the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) delayed approval of the deal for eight months.
- China tweaks global yuan strategy in signal of growing caution — China has tweaked one word in its policy to internationalise the yuan, a change that analysts see as a sign of Beijing’s new-found caution in promoting the international use of the currency.
- Zhuhai, second richest city in mainland Greater Bay Area after Shenzhen, touts upbeat economic growth to attract talent — Zhuhai may be the smallest of the nine cities in Guangdong province within the Greater Bay Area, but the mainland Chinese city that sits on the Pearl River Delta estuary punches well above its weight.
- Hong Kong Observation Wheel launches augmented reality app to give visitors a feel of city’s historic past — The Hong Kong Observation Wheel has launched an augmented reality (AR) app to showcase historic developments of the iconic Central harbourfront dating back to the 1890s.
- Big names move out in revamp of Hong Kong shopping streets, replaced by stores for locals, not Chinese tourists — Familiar storefronts are shuttered, rents have plunged and retailers of cheaper goods have arrived. In the second of a three-part series on Hong Kong’s battered retail scene, the Post looks at the ongoing overhaul of the city’s main shopping streets. Read part one here.
- Sony PS5 sells for twice its retail price in Hong Kong on launch day, with inflated prices expected until Christmas — Sony Corp’s new PlayStation 5 (PS5) launched in Hong Kong on Thursday, but huge demand for the next-generation video game console is keeping many people from picking one up at the regular retail price.
Bloomberg
- China Property Site KE Said to Raise $2.1 Billion in Share Sale — Chinese online real estate platform KE Holdings Inc. will raise $2.1 billion in a follow-on offering after pricing the new shares at a 5% discount to their last close, according to people familiar with the matter.
- China Cosmetics Firm Yatsen Raises $617 Million in U.S. IPO — Chinese cosmetics company Yatsen Holding Ltd. raised $616.9 million in a U.S. initial public offering priced at the top of a marketed range, as authorities continued threatening to force firms from the Asian nation off American exchanges.
- China Credit Stress Spreads Wider as Developer Defaults on Bond — A Chinese residential developer defaulted on a domestic bond, as credit stress in the world’s No. 2 economy shows no sign of abating.
- China Power Giant Makes Foray Into Mexican Renewables With Zuma — China’s State Power Investment Corp. is expanding in Latin America’s clean-energy market by acquiring Mexico’s largest independent renewables company.
- Soybeans Ease After Hitting Six-Year High on China Demand Surge — Soybean futures fell for the first time in a week, easing from a rally to a six-year high that’s been fueled by increasing demand in top importer China and weather concerns in major producing areas of South America.
- China’s Booming Exports Mean Beijing Can Handle Strong Yuan — China’s ability to keep selling more of its goods abroad means officials will be in no rush to rein in their strongest yuan in more than two years.
- China’s Xi Vows No Decoupling in Call to Halt Protectionism — President Xi Jinping pledges that China wouldn’t engage in decoupling, in an address to Asia-Pacific leaders just days after the region inaugurated the world’s largest free-trade agreement
- Tanzania Places China Commercial Bank Under Administration — Tanzania’s central bank took over the management of China Commercial Bank Ltd. from Thursday due to liquidity problems as the East African nation continues to tighten up banking supervision and encourage consolidation.
- Stock Fund With 61% Return This Year Likes China, EV Stocks — A high-performing Matthews Asia fund manager says China is in a “sweet spot” for investors, thanks to rising individual wealth in the nation.
- Beijing Critic’s Bank Accounts Frozen as China Raises Pressure — A vocal advocate of Chinese government reform living in the U.S. said that several banks have frozen his accounts back home, in another sign that Beijing is stepping up pressure on overseas dissidents.
- DBS CEO Welcomes China Fintech Clampdown After Ant Scrutiny — DBS Group Holdings Ltd.’s top executive welcomes the increased regulatory scrutiny of financial technology companies in China and elsewhere in Asia, saying it will create fairer competition with banks that have been subject to stricter oversight.
- China Video Giant Joyy Dives After Muddy Waters Calls it a Fraud — Joyy Inc.’s shares tumbled the most ever after short-seller Muddy Waters called it a “fraud tech company,” casting doubt over a pioneer of Chinese livestreaming that’s selling its local video business to Baidu Inc.
- Morrison Defiant After China Airs 14 Grievances With Australia — Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wouldn’t compromise Australia’s national security and sovereignty, as Beijing ramped up its criticism of his government and warned it against making China an enemy.
- As Travel Bubbles Begin, Don’t Expect a Miracle — The new Hong Kong-Singapore connection will be costly, risky and possibly unworkable. It’s still worth a shot.
- China Tech Companies See No Let-Up in Trump Pressure — The Trump administration is doing as much as it can to make its combative policies irreversible.
- Ant Alumni Who Cashed Out Before IPO Flop Have Big Ambitions — Jack Ma’s understudies changed the face of tech in China. The next generation faces a stiffer challenge as the regulatory landscape shifts.
- China’s Next Big Default Pressure Point? Local Debt Vehicles — Beijing wants to keep troubled local debt vehicles at arm’s length. This determination will be put to the test.
- China’s Yuan Is a G-10 Currency to HSBC’s New FX Research Chief — The yuan is now one of the most actively traded currencies in the world and should be included in the top tier of foreign-exchange as China opens its capital markets to the world.
- China $214 Billion Fund Manager Looks to Boost Overseas Inflows — One of China’s largest asset managers is targeting to almost double the foreign cash it oversees as the nation’s economic rise and financial opening increases demand.
- Key Trump Aide Taking China Message on Vietnam, Philippines Trip — U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien is traveling to Vietnam and the Philippines this week as the Trump administration continues its efforts to counter China and deepen ties with the Southeast Asian nations, according to two U.S. officials.
- China’s Role in U.S. Bond Market Shrinks With Other Foreigners — The share of U.S. debt being held by foreign investors just keeps on shrinking.
- U.S. Should Work With Europe to Counter China, Senators Say — The best strategy for the U.S. to counter a rising China is to partner with allies in Europe, according to a report from the Republican majority on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
- China Raises $4.75 Billion as Euro-Bond Sale Draws Bumper Bids — China priced its first euro-denominated bond sale in about a year, after taking advantage of ultra-low borrowing costs to help pare its reliance on dollar debt.
- Trump’s Temper Tantrum on China, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan — The combination of force withdrawals and military aggression will hobble the Biden administration and harm national security.
- China Takes Full Advantage of Europe’s Super-Cheap Borrowing — The country’s euro-denominated bond sale is an exercise in national marketing. And why not, when it’s this cheap?
Reuters
- Global crude market finds support mainly from China demand — China, the global oil market’s lifeline this year, has stepped up purchases from exporters like Russia, the United States and Angola in recent weeks, while buyers elsewhere pare orders as coronavirus infections surge and fresh lockdowns are put in place.
- Canada names China, Russia as main cyber-crime threats; sees risk to power supply — Canada on Wednesday identified state-sponsored programs in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as major cyber crime threats for the first time, and said it feared foreign actors could try to disrupt power supplies.
- Turkey to buy Chinese COVID-19 candidate vaccine doses, in talks with Pfizer — Turkey will sign a contract within days to buy at least 20 million doses of a COVID-19 candidate vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech, the health minister was cited as saying, adding that Ankara was also in talks to buy doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine.
- China Sinopharm’s coronavirus vaccine taken by about a million people in emergency use — Nearly one million people have taken an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) through the country’s emergency use programme, the firm said late on Wednesday.
- China to cut tariffs, boost imports of high-quality goods and services: Xi — China will continue to cut its tariffs and expand imports of high-quality goods and services, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, while vowing to push reforms and promote an innovation-driven growth model.
- In Shenzhen, the world’s largest electronics market gets a cosmetics makeover — It’s 10 p.m. in the world’s largest electronics market, and lines of delivery workers who once hauled computer components and knock-off phones now push carts overflowing with Mac lipsticks, Bioderma cleansers and other foreign beauty brands.
- Australia ‘will always be Australia,’ PM responds to China grievances — Australia’s prime minister on Thursday pushed back over a list of more than a dozen grievances raised by China regarding his country’s human rights diplomacy, independent media and investment policies, saying “we will always be Australia”.
- China’s Sinopec plans to produce over 30 bcm natural gas in 2020 — China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, said on Thursday it plans to produce more than 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas in 2020, marking an increase of just 1.1% from its output in 2019.
- Key U.S. Commerce Dept official involved in China policy resigning — Cordell Hull, a high-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Commerce who helped craft U.S. policies on exports to China, said he was leaving his post in early December.
- Rivian CEO eyes smaller electric vehicles for China, Europe — Electric vehicle startup Rivian, which is backed by Amazon and Ford Motor Co , on Wednesday said it plans to follow up its first two products, a full-size pickup and SUV, with smaller models targeted at China and Europe where it may eventually build some vehicles.
- Canada’s opposition parties urge Trudeau government to ban Huawei 5G, say China is threat — Canada’s opposition on Wednesday called on Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to get tougher on China, including by officially banning Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s 5G technology from being used in the country.
- Short-seller Muddy Waters takes aim at Chinese social media firm JOYY — China’s JOYY Inc shares dropped 20% on Wednesday after U.S. short-seller Muddy Waters accused the social media platform of being a “multibillion-dollar fraud” and decided to bet against the stock.
- Infineon insulated from U.S.-China tensions: CEO — German chipmaker Infineon Technologies is relatively well insulated from geopolitical tensions between the United States and China thanks to its focus on power-management chips, CEO Reinhard Ploss said on Wednesday.
- Chinese-American Raytheon engineer sentenced to prison for technology exports — A Chinese-American electrical engineer who worked for Raytheon Missile and Defense was sentence on Wednesday to 38 months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. export control law, the U.S. Justice Department announced.
- U.S.-China relations could have fresh start under Biden, insurance veteran Greenberg says — U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has an opportunity to start fresh with China, a move that would benefit both nations, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, chairman of Starr Insurance Companies, told Reuters on Wednesday.
- Like Biden, U.S. Republican report urges international cooperation on China — Two months before President Donald Trump is due to leave office, the Republican leader of a U.S. Senate committee issued a report on Wednesday urging Washington to work closely with allies in Europe to counter the threat posed by China.
Xinhua
- China adopts new steps to bolster consumption, facilitate Internet Plus Tourism — China is to unveil measures to prompt its consumers to buy more as the prominent restraint on the country’s economic development lies in consumption.
- Nasdaq-listed Bilibili reports record high Q3 revenue, up 74 pct — Chinese online entertainment platform Bilibili Inc. notched up a total net revenue of 3.23 billion yuan (about 493.3 million U.S. dollars) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, up 74 percent year on year.
- Consumption a greater driver for Chinese economy in 2021 — Private consumption could emerge as a greater driver of the Chinese economy in 2021 with the release of increased precautionary savings and a full recovery of the job market, according to a research report from Morgan Stanley.
- China Focus: AI hosts fuel China’s livestream shopping boom — “OMG!”, “Buy it! Buy it!” were some of the catchphrases that an AI-powered virtual host picked up from China’s “King of Lipstick” Li Jiaqi, the cosmetic salesman who once sold 15,000 lipstick tubes in just five minutes through livestreaming.
- Large compressed tea in China sets world record — A column of compressed tea set a world record for the largest volume on Thursday in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
- China’s non-financial ODI down 3.2 pct from January-October — China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) declined 3.2 percent year on year in the first 10 months of 2020, official data showed on Thursday.
- China to raise gasoline, diesel retail prices — China will raise the retail prices of gasoline and diesel starting Friday, the country’s top economic planner said Thursday.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China braces for multiple bond defaults at state-owned enterprises — Local governments urged to step up supervision of projects to lessen risk.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Japanese government to stop buying Chinese drones — Cybersecurity requirements aim to protect data for defense and infrastructure.
- Axios: Bitcoin’s bull run — Bitcoin’s market cap — the amount of bitcoin in the world multiplied by its current price — is at an all-time high.
- The Atlantic: How Xi Jinping Blew It — Public opinion toward China has darkened, and with Joe Biden set to become president, there is little prospect of Beijing fixing its mistake.