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
- China Exports Generate Record Trade Surplus — With November exports up 21% from a year earlier and import growth slowing, surplus hit $75.42 billion.
- Chinese Arms Industry Ranks Second Behind U.S., Report Says — The country’s global sales are larger than those of Russia and European nations.
- Chinese Professor Pleads Guilty in Huawei Theft Case — Bo Mao admitted to lying to federal agents involved in a Justice Department probe of the Chinese technology giant.
- China’s Record Exports Are the Flipside of the Pandemic in the U.S. — Few would have pegged surging Chinese exports to the U.S. as a likely outcome for 2020 a year ago. But that looks likely to persist a while yet.
- Jack Ma’s Ant Group Ramped Up Loans, Exposing Achilles’ Heel of China’s Banking System — Partnering with the fintech giant has higher risks for smaller lenders, which are already on shaky ground.
- ‘Crude Oil Treasure’ Debacle Leads to Fine for Chinese Bank — Investment product generated big losses for individual investors when U.S. oil prices briefly went negative.
- Covert Chinese Trade With North Korea Moves Into the Open — China is no longer trying to hide smuggling activity as it seeks to help Pyongyang endure sanctions, U.S. officials say.
- Shares of Chinese Companies on U.S. Blacklist Fall as Index Eviction Looms — FTSE Russell’s decision hits shares of companies including Hangzhou Hikvision Digital.
- U.S. Exports, Imports Rise for Fifth Month as Shipments to China Hit a Record — A continued recovery in global commerce is being driven by a strong economic rebound in China.
The Financial Times
- Chinese drugmaker gets $500m boost to push Covid-19 vaccine — Sinovac looks to increase production and distribution worldwide after trailing western rivals.
- Huawei invests in China chip groups as US curbs strangle supplies — Chinese company steps up efforts to become self-sufficient in semiconductors as sanctions bite.
- From Tokyo to Beijing, growing old is hard to do — The economy-sapping shadow cast by Japan’s demographic decline holds sombre lessons for China.
- India and China compete over Indian Ocean debt-relief diplomacy — Sri Lanka and Maldives seek bailouts as Asian giants dangle dollars to gain edge.
- Three priorities for the US to de-escalate the China conflict — Small steps will be needed to rebuild trust but there are gains to be made on trade and dialogue.
- FTSE drops 8 Chinese groups from indices after Trump order — Ban on investment by US citizens triggers index reshuffle.
The New York Times
- Scandal Dogs China’s ‘King of Vaccines,’ Partner to AstraZeneca — The British-Swedish drugmaker has joined with a huge Asian company to produce a Covid-19 vaccine in China, where shady reputations are common in the pharmaceutical industry.
- China Peddles Falsehoods to Obscure Origin of Covid Pandemic — To push the idea that the virus didn’t come from China, the government has misrepresented experts’ remarks and given dubious theories the veneer of science.
- Ridiculed in China, Ou Hongyi Wages a Lonely Climate Crusade — In China, where any hint of protest is viewed with suspicion, one teenager is trying to draw attention to the dangers human development poses to the world.
Caixin
- Central Bank Mulls Issuing a Second Personal Credit Reporting License — China’s credit reporting capacity is straining under the pressure of a retail finance boom.
- China Securities Watchdog Says U.S. Bill on Foreign Government Control Is Discriminatory — CSRC says it firmly opposes practice of ‘politicizing securities supervision’.
- Ant Group Among Four Firms Set to Clinch Singapore Digital Bank License — City-state’s central bank says it will let Chinese financial services giant serve local corporate clients.
- Bank of China Fined $7.7 Million After Crude Futures Carnage — Banking regulator cites grab-bag of transgressions over product that lost investors $1.4 billion when oil prices turned negative.
- Former Chair of BMW’s Chinese Partner Faces Graft Probe — Qi Yumin, who chaired troubled north-eastern car-maker Brilliance Auto until last year, is under investigation for unspecified violations.
- Sinopec Puts Up $4.4 Billion to Curb China’s Dependence on Foreign Ethylene — Energy major’s new cracker will have annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, as Beijing looks to reduce reliance on imports of the key plastic raw material.
- Cover Story: How Chinese Apartment Rental Giant’s Business Fell Apart — Danke Apartment ran out of cash offering below-cost leases as the pandemic cooled the market and its CEO was detained.
- Picking Up the Pieces as One of China’s Biggest Apartment Rental Platforms Crumbles — Apartment rental specialist Danke is rapidly coming undone, with landlords and tenants protesting on the streets of China’s biggest cities and unpaid employees threatening to sue. After starting the year on a high following a Nasdaq IPO, the 5-year-old company is bidding farewell to 2020 on a more somber note, with shuttered offices and a loan partnership with Tencent-backed WeBank in tatters.
- Sinovac Secures Half a Trillion Dollars for R&D on Cusp of Vaccine Rollout — Chinese vaccine-maker Sinovac Biotech Ltd. has secured half a trillion dollars to boost research and production of its frontrunner coronavirus vaccine candidate that could be weeks away from being administered around the world.
- Chinese EV Brand Nezha Raises $306 Million in First Tranche of Series C Led by HD Capital — Nezha, an electric vehicle (EV) brand owned by the lesser-known Chinese automaker Hozon Auto, has closed 2 billion yuan ($305.5 million) in the first tranche of its Series C round led by the country’s equity investment firm HD Capital, the company announced on Thursday.
- Chinese State-backed AI Unicorn CloudWalk Files for $573m STAR Market IPO — CloudWalk Technology, a Chinese state-backed AI unicorn that develops facial recognition solutions, has filed a prospectus with the Shanghai stock exchange, seeking to raise 3.75 billion yuan ($573.5 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) on its Nasdaq-style STAR Market.
South China Morning Post
- China threatens to retaliate if US sanctions officials responsible for banning Hong Kong opposition legislators — China has warned the US that it will retaliate if Washington imposes sanctions on the officials responsible for the disqualification of Hong Kong opposition legislators.
- China’s handling of Australia row highlights what may be an increasingly hard line in diplomatic affairs — A speech by vice-minister of foreign affairs Le Yucheng at a Beijing forum over the weekend looks to be one of the most important references in gauging the guiding principle of future Chinese diplomacy.
- US under Biden could reboot Canada-China ties by dropping Meng Wanzhou extradition, Canadian ex-officials say — A new US administration has a chance to recalibrate Canada-China relations by resolving the case of a Huawei executive that has strained ties between the three nations, former Canadian officials said.
- China’s US, Australia trade continues to grow in record-breaking month despite ongoing geopolitical spats — China’s two-way trade with sparring partners Australia and the United States expanded in November from a year earlier despite ongoing tensions, in what was a record breaking month for Chinese exports.
- China’s US-listed electric carmakers NIO and Xpeng rev up to catch up with Tesla on their home turf as NEV battle heats up — Tesla’s challengers in China are revving up their output of electric cars, as manufacturing mostly returns to normal in the first major economy to emerge from coronavirus lockdown, helping the country extend its lead in the worldwide market for new-energy vehicles (NEVs).
- India and China gear up for a new battle, this time over water — Amid an unending seven-month long border stand-off between their troops and an economic decoupling, the frayed ties between India and China now have a fresh flashpoint: water.
- Time for a reset in US-China relations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi says — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Monday for Beijing and Washington to resume dialogue to reset ties between the major powers after months of increasing hostility, ahead of the incoming US administration under president-elect Joe Biden.
- China digital currency: Suzhou to hand out 20 million yuan million of virtual red packets as part of trial — A Chinese city is handing out virtual red packets of money to its citizens as part of the country’s drive to launch the first sovereign digital currency.
- Climate change: China is sowing seeds of industrial and social change to meet Xi Jinping’s carbon neutrality pledge by 2060 — This third part of a series on China’s carbon neutrality goal looks at the social transformations and technological hurdles along the path to meet the government’s target in 2060. The rest of the series is here. .
- China’s closer ties with Hong Kong’s bond market to create ‘enormous opportunities’ for city — Discussions have begun to allow Chinese investors to trade bonds in Hong Kong, a move that will “generate enormous opportunities” for the city’s financial services industry and has the potential to strengthen its status as an international financial centre.
- China estimates shadow banking worth US$12.9 trillion as it moves to clean up high-risk sector — China’s banking regulator has for the first time clearly defined shadow banking activities and estimated their value to be about 84.8 trillion yuan (US$12.9 trillion) in 2019, a step that may lead to further cleaning up of the opaque sector that authorities say endangers financial stability.
- China trade: exports surge to record levels, as coronavirus lockdowns return to the West — China’s exports surged at the fastest pace in almost three years in November, bringing the biggest monthly export haul in the country’s history, data released by its customs agency on Monday showed.
- China reveals new generation of top-level government appointees, including an ex-copy machine salesman and fighter jet designer — A new generation of Chinese cadres in their late 50s have assumed ministerial and provincial positions, including top roles at the commerce and agriculture ministries, as Beijing reshuffles government rankings after finalising its 2035 development vision.
- China’s plan to boost innovation and what it could mean for research in Greater Bay Area — China is looking to revamp its “national team” in the global competition for scientific and technological leadership, including bigger roles for its companies and attracting more international talent to join. Some experts think the strategy would particularly benefit the government’s Greater Bay Area scheme, which includes Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
- Hong Kong’s finance chief forecasts economic recovery next year, but admits it all depends on Covid-19 vaccine and US-China relations — Hong Kong’s economy could recover in the second half of 2021, the city’s finance chief said on Monday, but admitted it would depend on forces largely out of his control.
- Hong Kong’s plan for stake in Zhuhai airport could be boon for cargo business, but passenger flights another story: experts — Hong Kong’s planned tie-up with mainland China’s Zhuhai airport is likely to strengthen the financial hub’s global competitiveness in the cargo business, although the benefits for passengers are less clear, industry experts and an Airport Authority member say.
- Hong Kong finance minister sounds alarm over city’s financial stability as recurrent spending nears half a trillion dollars a year — Ballooning spending was pushing Hong Kong further into the red and new sources of income were needed to help balance the government’s books and reassure global markets that fiscal responsibility remained a top priority, finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday.
- Locals explore Hong Kong in their thousands, but travel industry still suffering as coronavirus keeps visitors away — More than 7,000 people joined local tours as part of Hong Kong’s push to boost its economy, but visitor numbers remained dismal as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hammer tourism, the city’s top travel official said on Sunday.
- Hong Kong’s strict Covid-19 social distancing rule spoils mood for homebuyers, bringing streak of sell-out weekends to an end — Hong Kong’s streak of sell-out weekends of residential property ended when two developers sold fewer than a third of the combined 212 flats on offer in two districts, as the city’s strictest social distancing measures to date dampened sentiments.
- Lantau Tomorrow: silver bullet for Hong Kong’s housing woes or costly white elephant? — The Hong Kong Legislative Council on Friday approved an initial funding requested to kick-start a feasibility study for Lantau Tomorrow Vision, a massive land reclamation scheme aimed at creating the city’s next housing and business hub.
- Finland, home of Nokia, may lock out Huawei, ZTE under new 5G security law — Finland, the home market of 5G equipment maker Nokia, is set to introduce a new telecommunications law, which may be used to exclude China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp from its mobile networks.
- Game boosters helping gamers jump China’s Great Firewall anger players overseas as Beijing turns a blind eye — When Riot Games’ League of Legends: Wild Rift finally launched on October 29, Japanese gamers who had been eagerly awaiting the title for a year were quick to download the mobile game. But they did not expect the flood of antagonistic Chinese players they found when they started playing.
Bloomberg
- China Foreign Reserves at Highest Since 2016 as Trade Booms — China’s foreign exchange reserves rose by more than $50 billion in November to the highest since August 2016, likely boosted by the weaker dollar and a trade surplus at record highs.
- HSBC Swept Into H.K. Turmoil as Ex-Lawmaker’s Account Frozen — HSBC Holdings Plc has once again found itself in the middle of the debate over Hong Kong’s political future after a former pro-democracy lawmaker, who has fled into self-imposed exile, criticized the bank for freezing accounts he and his family held.
- JD Health Shares Surge 28% in Hong Kong’s Gray Market Trading — JD Health International Inc. jumped in Hong Kong’s gray market trading, a sign that the city’s biggest IPO of the year is off to a good start.
- Chinese Probe Orbiting Moon With Earth-bound Samples — Beijing (AP) — A Chinese probe was orbiting the moon on Monday in preparation for the returning of samples of the lunar surface to Earth for the first time in almost 45 years.
- Taiwan Stronger-Than-Expected Trade Bolsters Asia Export Rebound — Taiwan exports surged at their fastest pace since February as a resurgence in demand for traditional manufacturing goods added to already strong shipments for high-tech products.
- U.S. Poised to Sanction More China Officials Over Hong Kong — The U.S. is preparing to sanction at least a dozen more Chinese officials over their role in the recent disqualification of Hong Kong legislators, according to two people familiar with the plans.
- Hong Kong Police Security Unit Arrests Eight Over Campus Protest — The Hong Kong police’s new national security unit made a series of arrests over a university protest last month, a case that has heightened concerns about an erosion of academic freedom in the Asian financial hub.
- China’s Exports Surge in Year-End Rush as Pandemic Fuels Demand — China’s exports jumped in November by the most since early 2018, pushing its trade surplus to a monthly record high and underlining how global demand for pandemic-related goods is supporting a growth rebound in the world’s second-largest economy.
- China Lenders’ Holdings of Corporate Debt Fall as Defaults Climb — China’s commercial banks are reducing their exposure to local corporate bonds after a spate of high-profile defaults rocked the nation’s credit markets in November.
- Indonesia Gets First Batch of Vaccine From China’s Sinovac — The first batch of Covid-19 vaccine ordered from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. arrived in Indonesia, marking a new phase in the country’s fight against Southeast Asia’s worst outbreak.
- India Accuses China of Helping Rebel Groups on Myanmar Border — Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on its border with Myanmar in recent months, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly standoff in the Himalayas.
- Third World Is a Battleground in the China-U.S. Cold War — As rifts among the Western democracies heal, rivalry is turning toward Central Asia, Africa and Central America.
- This Year Chinese Sovereign Bonds Became a Global Yield Play — Bond investors looking for yield and an effective hedge against a broad downturn in equities are increasingly turning to China.
- Australia Adds to Warning on Possible Wheat Export Ban to China — China may impose trade restrictions on Australian wheat exports similar to the curbs on barley and other commodities, Abares said, adding to expectations that the crop may be next to get ensnared in a worsening trade fight.
- Cheap Platinum Back in Vogue as Chinese Buyers Tap Cash Hoards — Even before the release of the next James Bond film — “No Time to Die” — Swiss watchmaker Omega is offering a platinum-gold version of the Seamaster Diver 300M that actor Daniel Craig wears when playing 007.
- China Regulator Fines Bank of China for Risk-Management Flaws — China’s financial regulator fined Bank of China Ltd. 50.5 million yuan ($7.7 million) for risk-management transgressions after the price of one of the lender’s crude oil futures products collapsed, triggering a $1 billion loss for its clients.
- Tesla Ordered to Pay Chinese Model S Buyer For Concealing Damage — Tesla Inc. was ordered by a Beijing court to compensate the buyer of a used Model S car after concluding the electric automaker concealed structural damage on a vehicle it sold on its official website.
- U.S. Ends Exchange Programs With China it Says Are Propaganda — The U.S. Department of State has terminated five exchange programs with China which it said “are fully funded and operated by the PRC government as soft power propaganda tools,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement.
Reuters
- Brexit and China tensions weigh on shares as pound gets hit — World shares fell on Monday as growing worries of a no-deal Brexit hit the pound hard and fresh Sino-U.S. tensions offset bets over more stimulus in Europe and the United States.
- Russia approves clinical trials for Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Ad5-Ncov: Ifax — Russia has granted approval for clinical trials to be held for the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Ad5-Ncov involving 8,000 volunteers, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday.
- Exclusive: U.S. preparing new sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdown – sources — The United States is preparing to impose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing’s disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong, according to three sources, including a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
- China says firmly opposes U.S. interference in its domestic affairs — China said on Monday it firmly opposes and strongly condemns U.S. interference in its domestic affairs if a media report that Washington is preparing new sanctions on Chinese officials over a Hong Kong crackdown is true.
- China says firmly opposes U.S. sanctioning Chinese officials — China firmly opposes and strongly condemns U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposing sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
- Flush with cash, Chinese hog producer builds world’s largest pig farm — Behind the walls of a hulking industrial compound in rural China, top pig producer Muyuan Foods is trying to raise more hogs on a single site than any company in the world – a risky investment with deadly African swine fever lingering.
- China’s COVID-free ‘Hawaii’ chases local tourist dollar with a vengeance — Millions of domestic tourists are descending on China’s southernmost island province of Hainan, presenting a surreal contrast with grim hospital scenes, shuttered restaurants and stifling home quarantine elsewhere in a virus-ravaged world.
- China in no rush to tighten policy despite quickening recovery: former stats official — China is unlikely to tighten its monetary policy soon, even though an economic recovery could gain steam in coming months, Xu Xianchun, a former vice head of the National Bureau of Statistics, told Reuters.
- China’s exports surge on hot demand for PPE, remote working tech — China’s exports rose at the fastest pace in almost three years in November, as strong global demand for goods needed to ride out the pandemic landed the world’s second-largest economy a record trade surplus.
- Australia upgrades forecast for agricultural exports despite China tensions — Australia upgraded its forecast for agricultural exports for the 2020/21 season as heavy rains boosted production, even as mounting trade tensions with China have hurt demand for several commodities this year.
- Arms sales by China’s four biggest companies in the sector rose by 5% in 2019: SIPRI think tank — Arms sales by China’s four biggest companies in the sector rose by 4.8% in 2019 compared with 2018 to $56.7 billion, a leading conflict and armaments think-tank said on Monday.
- China, U.S. need to proceed together with ‘good will’: Chinese envoy — China and the United States need to proceed together with “good will” to improve relations, the Chinese ambassador to Washington said on Saturday, as ties remained fraught between the world’s two biggest economic powers.
- JD.com becomes first online platform to accept China’s digital currency — Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc said on Saturday it has become the country’s first virtual platform to accept Beijing’s homegrown digital currency.
Xinhua
- Global CFOs upgrade China’s economic outlook in Q4 rating: survey — Global chief financial officers (CFOs) have upgraded China’s economic outlook to “Modestly Improving” in the last quarter of the year from “Stable” in the third quarter, showed a recent survey by the CNBC Global CFO Council.
- China’s development increases Bayer’s confidence and determination to invest — Bayer, an innovative company with core competencies in health care and agriculture, has not only stepped up its investment in the Chinese market, but also deepened its integration into China’s economic and societal development.
- Chinese insurers’ business growth recovering from COVID-19: Fitch — The growth of China’s insurance sector is expected to recover from the impact of COVID-19 in 2021, supporting business expansion for both life and non-life insurers, according to reports from Fitch Ratings.
- Bank of China fined over crude oil futures product — China’s banking regulator said Saturday it has made administrative punishment decisions and taken regulatory measures following an investigation into a risk incident related to a crude oil futures product sold by the Bank of China (BOC).
- China’s forex reserves rise in November — China’s foreign exchange reserves grew to 3.1785 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of November as the country’s forex market continued to run steadily, official data showed Monday.
- China’s central bank injects liquidity into market — China’s central bank injected liquidity into the banking system through open market operations on Monday.
- Chinese shares close higher Friday — Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.07 percent to 3,444.58 points.
- China Vanke property sales increase in November — China Vanke Co. Ltd., one of the country’s major property developers, saw sales rise in November.
- China’s medical equipment industry expands in 2019 — China’s medical equipment industry saw a total revenue of more than 720 billion yuan (about 109.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, an industry report showed.
- China rolls out new generation of monorail train — Chinese railcar maker CRRC Qingdao Sifang has recently produced a new generation of straddle-type monorail train with a designed maximum speed of 100 km per hour.
- China foreign trade up 7.8 pct in November — China’s foreign trade expanded 7.8 percent year on year in November, official data showed Monday.
- China’s wearable devices shipment reports double-digit growth in Q3 — China’s shipment of wearable devices registered double-digit growth in the third quarter of this year (Q3), according to an industrial report.
- Major digital trade conference wraps up in China’s Wuhan — An international digital trade conference closed on Sunday in central China’s Wuhan city, with business deals valued at 356.1 billion yuan (54.5 billion U.S. dollars) signed.
- China’s steel imports report steep Jan.-Oct. rise — China’s steel imports registered rapid growth in the first 10 months of the year, while the decline in exports narrowed, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
- Property giant Evergrande reports rising sales in November — China Evergrande Group, one of the country’s leading developers, reported surging sales last month, the company said in a statement.
- Taiwan’s leading bookstore Eslite expands e-commerce — Taiwan-based major bookstore chain Eslite launched its new e-commerce platform Eslite Online Tuesday, extending its online business from books to general merchandise.
- Chinese shares open mixed Monday — Chinese stocks opened mixed on Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.06 percent to open at 3,446.65 points.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China makes digital yuan transfers as easy as using a phone — Currency pilot program to launch in Suzhou as JD.com jumps on board.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Xi sets new rules and goals to extend reign as China’s leader — Communist secretary general tightens grip with eye on 2022 party congress.
- Washington Post: Defense bill offers Biden’s team a new framework to counter China — The flagship China-focused program in the defense bill is the new Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which aims to establish a regionwide approach to countering China in its immediate area of influence. The program’s inspiration comes from the European Deterrence Initiative, launched in 2014 to bolster the presence of U.S. forces to help defend NATO allies against Russian aggression.
- Foreign Policy: Report Sheds Light on How Biden’s Future NSC Chief Wants to Reshape U.S. Foreign Policy — Jake Sullivan spent several years working on a less ambitious approach to U.S. global interests that could disappoint both internationalists and progressives.
