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’s Economic Data: A Guide for the Dazed and Confused — Investors are right to be skeptical about China’s economic data. Here’s how to interpret it.
- Beijing’s Bid for Financial Supremacy — China plans to displace the U.S. as investors’ top target, and global crises have sped up its effort.
- NYSE Scraps Plans to Delist Chinese Telecom Stocks — Shares of China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom climb in Hong Kong.
- Defense Bill Orders Study of Illicit Finance Risks Posed by China — The National Defense Authorization Act directs the Treasury Department to do a study on the money-laundering risks related to China’s government and companies.
- Merger of U.S. Insurer Genworth and China Oceanwide Fizzles — Deadline passes to complete $2.7 billion deal reached in 2016; Genworth’s shares tumble.
- Amazon Banned From Using AWS Logo in China Trademark Ruling — The AWS trademark belongs to a Chinese software services company, Beijing’s high court rules.
- Where Is Jack Ma? Alibaba’s Founder Has Kept a Low Profile Since October — Tech entrepreneur was last seen publicly when he criticized Chinese regulators for stifling innovation in the financial industry.
- Moutai Helps Guizhou Drink Away its Woes—and Debt, Too — The higher the liquor giant’s share price, the merrier for the province’s government. But other investors should be wary of a hangover.
The Financial Times
- Covid has bolstered China’s global dominance of steel — Beijing’s economic response to the pandemic ramped up demand for the metal.
- Ex-chairman of China’s Huarong Asset Management sentenced to death — Lai Xiaomin found guilty of taking bribes totalling $279m, other acts of corruption and bigamy.
- Joe Biden’s New Year resolution? A fresh approach to China tech — ‘Nothing the US did in 2020 has convinced me the world’s data is any safer from Chinese spying’.
- ‘We need a real policy for China’: Germany ponders post-Merkel shift — The country will be key to whether Europe works more with the US to defend democracy or seeks to engage Beijing.
- NYSE reverses plan to delist Chinese telecoms groups — US exchange was set to drop state-run companies to comply with Trump administration order.
- Foxconn ramps up EVs push via deal with Chinese start-up — Byton tie-up aimed at helping Apple supplier replicate its dominance of traditional tech manufacturing.
- Political pressure weighs on HSBC over Hong Kong activists — International banks caught between China and US grapple with compliance problems.
The New York Times
- In a Topsy-Turvy Pandemic World, China Offers Its Version of Freedom — Surveillance and censorship bolster Beijing’s uncompromising grip on power. But in the country’s cities and streets, people have resumed normal lives.
Caixin
- Multiple Chinese Bank Stocks Plummet as New Rules Bite — Regulations cap real estate lending to specific ratios of total loans in ongoing effort to cool the property market.
- China Railway Expects Growth to Bounce Back This Year — Passenger traffic fell almost 40% in 2020, as Covid-19 kept people away.
- Corruption Watchdog Probe Sinks Former China Aircraft Carrier Program Chief — Hu Wenming, ex-chairman of China Shipbuilding Industry, accepted bribes and violated party discipline, graft buster says.
- IQiyi VR Arm Raises Cash for Hardware, Content in Latest Funding Round — Investors are betting big on future growth as demand for VR services has yet to materialize in China.
- Nio Starts Trade-In Deals to Boost Customer Loyalty, Sales — As competition with Tesla grows, the Chinese EV-maker is rolling out its ‘Nio Certified’ service nationwide to keep customers sweet.
- Trustbridge Leads $500m Round for Tencent-Backed Chinese Healthtech Firm DXY — DXY, a Tencent-backed Chinese healthtech firm, has secured $500 million in a new funding round led by growth-oriented private equity (PE) firm Trustbridge Partners.
South China Morning Post
- Chinese Communist Party introduces new rules on what members can say as it ‘boosts internal democracy’ — The Chinese Communist Party has revised its restrictions on what its members are allowed to say in public in a set of regulations published on Monday.
- Chinese vaccine makers to apply for clearance in the Philippines, as Duterte tries to block probe into illegal inoculations — Two Chinese pharmaceutical firms plan to apply this week for their Covid-19 vaccines to be cleared for emergency use in the Philippines, according to a top diplomat, while President Rodrigo Duterte has blocked his security chief from appearing in a Senate inquiry on vaccines.
- China’s advanced DF-17 hypersonic missile likely to have been part of recent military drill — China’s military has carried out training that may have involved its most advanced hypersonic missile, the DF-17, which analysts say is capable of striking US bases in the region.
- Beijing using ‘cognitive warfare’ to sway Taiwan public opinion by feeding it misinformation, warns report — Mainland China has been waging “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan, using weapons such as misinformation and an army of online trolls in an attempt to sway public opinion in Beijing’s favour, a local think tank has warned.
- Yum China, operator of KFC and Pizza Hut, vows to cut harmful plastic packaging by almost a third — Yum China Holdings, one of China’s largest restaurant operators, is aiming to cut its use of environmentally harmful plastics by almost a third in the next five years by shifting to paper straws and biodegradable packaging.
- Deal or no deal? What next for China-EU investment pact and why it may fail — The European Union and China have hailed the striking of an investment accord before the end of 2020 as a milestone for both economies after seven years of negotiation.
- Electric-car maker Xpeng shrugs off concerns Tesla’s steeply discounted Model Y will win over mainland Chinese drivers — Chinese electric-car maker Xpeng Motors has attempted to allay concerns that the popularity of rival Tesla’s new locally-built Model Y sport utility vehicle (SUV) could damage its prospects.
- China’s digital currency trial returns to Shenzhen for Round 2, with twice the participants and double the payout — Shenzhen, China’s technological hub, will start its second trial of the nation’s digital currency this week, giving away virtual gift packets to its citizens as the nation steps up its testing efforts in a bid to launch the world’s first sovereign digital currency.
- China says US sanctions have no ‘legal effect’ in Hong Kong or China, but analysts urge caution — After China’s banking and insurance regulator claimed US financial sanctions have no “legal effect” in Hong Kong or China, analysts have warned that financial institutions might still face penalties if found providing services to sanctioned entities.
- China’s coal-price indices stop revealing surging prices as demand soars and inventories ‘fall below warning line’ — All four of China’s major coal-price indices have stopped being updated after a concurrence of factors sent the price of coal surging in recent weeks – signalling that the government has stepped in to cool the overheated coal market.
Bloomberg
- NYSE Abruptly Reverses Plan to Delist Chinese Telecom Companies — The New York Stock Exchange has abruptly reversed plans to delist three major Chinese telecommunications companies after consulting regulators about an investment ban ordered by President Donald Trump.
- Japan Chip Sector Boosted by Report TSMC to Build Tokyo Facility — Stocks involved in Japan’s semiconductor supply chain jumped in Tokyo on Tuesday following a report that chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will build an advanced packaging facility in the city together with Japan’s Trade Ministry.
- China Stock Index Tops 2015 Bubble Peak, Closes at 13-Year High — China’s stock benchmark has ended above its 2015 bubble high, marking a recovery from one of the country’s worst equity crashes.
- NYSE Delisting: China Inc. Has One More Reason to Leave — Listing this far from home has never been a good idea. Traders on both sides of the Pacific are flying blind.
- Hong Kong Block Trade Bonanza Raises $1.8 Billion In One Day — Issuers took advantage of Asian stocks hitting fresh records on Monday to sell $1.8 billion worth of stock in five block trades which were all increased in size, a new year frenzy highlighting bullish sentiment in the market.
- FTSE Russell Removes Three More Chinese Firms After Trump Order — FTSE Russell is set to pull another three Chinese firms from its indexes to comply with a U.S. order sanctioning companies with military ties following the removal of eight stocks last month.
- Hong Kong Faces Uneven Recovery in 2021 With Virus Still a Worry — Recession-hit Hong Kong is facing a long and bumpy road to recovery after closing out yet another tumultuous year in 2020.
- JPMorgan Said to Be in Talks With China Bank on Wealth Venture — JPMorgan Chase & Co. is seeking to establish another Chinese joint venture in wealth management as the nation’s financial opening has spurred a rush by global banks to capture a piece of a market that is estimated to grow to as much as $30 trillion in 2023.
- Ant Can Dovetail With Beijing’s Agenda But Will Never Be a Super-Unicorn Again — The company has assets that could play well with Beijing’s agenda. It just won’t be a super-unicorn again.
- Wall Street Steps Up Hiring in China, With Analysts in Demand — Fresh hiring in China by global banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc. as Beijing opens its $53 trillion financial market helped push the nation’s headcount of research analysts to a record for a fifth straight year.
- Tesla Poised for Expansion After Just Missing 2020 Target — Tesla Inc. came close to meeting its 500,000 vehicle-deliveries goal for 2020, setting the stage for a new year in which it’s expanding in China and poised to open new factories in Texas and Germany.
- Australia’s Influence in Pacific Islands Grows as China’s Wanes — Australia is moving to boost ties with small island nations off its eastern coastline, pushing back against China’s growing influence in the Pacific Ocean as the virus outbreak hinders travel.
Reuters
- Carmaker Bentley posts record 2020 sales thanks to China boost — Volkswagen’s luxury British automaker Bentley posted record sales of 11,206 cars in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing the company’s factory to close during the first lockdown in England, as demand in China soared by nearly 50%.
- China issues rules on national carbon emission exchange — China’s environment ministry said on Tuesday it had issued regulations on the long-awaited national carbon emission trading scheme.
- China’s CNBG has supplied 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to UAE — United Arab Emirates (UAE) has received a total of three million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China National Biotec Group (CNBG), the company said on Tuesday.
- In sudden u-turn, NYSE scraps plan to delist three Chinese telecom firms — The New York Stock Exchange said it no longer intends to delist three Chinese telecom giants – a shock reversal of an announcement made only last week and deepening confusion over a U.S. crackdown on firms said to be linked to China’s military.
- Factbox: Benchmark index providers remove Chinese firms after U.S. investment ban — Global index providers have cut Chinese companies named in a U.S. Defense Department list from their benchmarks following a U.S. government order forbidding investors in the United States from investing in them.
- Chinese watchdog to encourage rural bank mergers — China’s top banking watchdog said on Tuesday it would encourage founders of rural banks to boost capital, and would promote mergers and acquisitions in the sector to cut financial risks.
- China urges calm and restraint after Iran enrichment announcement — BEIJING (Reuters) -China urged calm and restraint on Tuesday after Iran said it had resumed 20% uranium enrichment at an underground nuclear facility, which breaches a 2015 nuclear pact with major powers, including China.
- China’s Alibaba to shut down Xiami music app next month — Alibaba Group will close its music streaming platform Xiami Music next month, in a move that marks a step back from its ambitions to push into China’s entertainment industry.
- Stemirna COVID-19 vaccine candidate obtains clinical trial approval in China — A COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Chinese firm Stemirna Therapeutics obtains approval to conduct human testing from China’s medical products regulator, the firm’s partner said on Tuesday.
- Jack Ma’s disappearing act fuels speculation about billionaire’s whereabouts — Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s absence from public view in the past two months, including missing the final episode of a TV show on which he was to appear as a judge, has fueled social media speculation over his whereabouts amid a Chinese regulatory clampdown on his sprawling business empire.
Xinhua
- China’s ARJ21 jetliner hits record-high annual delivery of 24 — China’s ARJ21 regional jetliner hit a record high annual delivery of 24 aircraft in 2020, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) Tuesday.
- E-vouchers in Beijing help generate 13 bln yuan of sales volume — Beijing Municipality distributed 39 million e-vouchers during a seven-month campaign in 2020 to spur consumption dampened by the COVID-19 epidemic.
- Chinese shares close higher Tuesday — Chinese stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.73 percent to 3,528.68 points.
- China’s agricultural product wholesale prices edge up — The wholesale prices of China’s agricultural products edged up Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
- NYSE says no longer intends to delist three Chinese telecom players — The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will no longer intend to move forward with the delisting of three Chinese telecommunication companies’ shares, said the NYSE late Monday.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China slashes eco-car subsidies 20% as sales rebound — New-energy-vehicle market expected to reach 1.8m units in 2021.
- Nikkei Asian Review: US yanks $480m aid to Sri Lanka with eye on China — Grant cancellation seen pushing Indian Ocean nation closer to Beijing.
- CNBC: China’s electric carmakers are paying top dollar to snap up prime storefronts — The new trend offers welcome relief to China’s commercial property developers who are still reeling from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Brookings: Avoiding the climate canard in US-China relations — Already, the early outlines are coming into focus around questions of how best to strike a balance between broad-gauge competition and limited cooperation in the U.S.-China relationship.
