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
- Blacklisted Chinese Telecoms Carriers Cut From Stock Indexes — Removals come after uncertainty about whether the shares would be covered by a U.S. government investment ban.
- Chinese Media Liken Capitol Riot to Hong Kong Protests — Beijing and Moscow, which have long faced criticism from American leaders for their democratic shortcomings, turn the tables on Washington.
- China Takes Its Pigs to the Futures Market — The new hog futures may smooth out some of the wild swings in Chinese markets.
- Biden’s Vow to Be Tough on Beijing Will Get Early Test With Hong Kong Arrests — Incoming administration has limited tools to respond to sweep of pro-democracy figures.
- Sinovac’s Covid-19 Vaccine Is 78% Effective in Brazil Late-Stage Trials — China’s shot also gives 100% protection against severe cases of the disease, raising hopes it can be widely used in the developing world.
The Financial Times
- Stacey Cunningham, NYSE president caught up in Sino-US tension — Flip-flops on delisting of Chinese telecoms groups have drawn scrutiny over exchange’s decision-making.
- ‘They threatened to storm in’: Hong Kong’s dawn raids on activists — Authorities widen purge of territory’s pro-democracy movement with mass arrests.
- MSCI to drop Chinese telecoms companies from important indices — China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom to be removed in compliance with Trump executive order.
- Beijing orders Chinese media to censor coverage of Alibaba probe — Directive to restrict reporting comes as speculation mounts over whereabouts of Jack Ma.
- The crushing of Hong Kong’s opposition — US and EU need a joint strategy on China and to avoid double standards.
- Alibaba and Tencent shares drop on US investor blacklist report — Trump administration block on US investments into Chinese tech groups could inflame tensions.
The New York Times
- Protesters Given Prison Terms for Beating Reporter at Hong Kong Airport — The sentences, stemming from an attack on a journalist for China’s state news media, were the heaviest yet in connection with the 2019 protests, a lawyer said.
- She Said #MeToo. Now She’s Being Punished Under Defamation Law. — A court case in China highlights the challenges for women there who accuse prominent men of sexual misconduct.
- Covid Vaccine Made by Chinese Company Sinovac Is Said to Be Effective — Sinovac Biotech has sold more than 300 million doses to the developing world, filling a gap left by Western countries.
Caixin
- Chinese SOEs May Speed Up Delisting U.S. Shares Amid Trump’s Crackdown, Sources Say — Chinese regulators urge U.S.-listed companies to pull out or risk getting caught up in rising political tensions.
- Zhejiang-Based Rural Lender Moves Closer to IPO — Bank of Ruifeng’s flotation on the domestic A-share market would be a first for the eastern China province.
- Coronavirus Lockdown Disrupts Logistics Across Northern China — Provinces neighboring hot spot Hebei erect highway checkpoints, bar travelers from entry.
- Shenzhen Office Rent Drops for Ninth Straight Quarter — Cost of office space in the South China tech hub falls 1.6% quarter-on-quarter in the last three months of 2020.
- Impossible Foods Aims to Take Bigger Bite Out of China’s Meat Market — Plant-based burger producer to slash prices in Hong Kong and Macao as it awaits regulatory approval to move into the Chinese mainland.
- Toyota Sees Growth in China as Other Carmakers Falter — Japanese automaker’s vehicle sales grew 11% in 2020 despite an expected 1.9% contraction in the overall market.
- China’s Silicon Valley Offers Tax Breaks for Venture Capitalists — Beijing finance bureau aims to bolster technological capabilities by dangling incentives for startup investors to wait 3-5 years before cashing out.
- More Funding Less Profits – The Chinese Online Education Paradox — The pandemic has driven demand for remote services of all kinds. Chinese online education companies are now building war chests for another round of fierce competition, which investors say will likely continue until one emerges as the industry’s dominant player.
- GGV Capital Clears its Name as Swindlers Use it to Con Investors — China’s investment spree has benefited an array of homegrown startups desperate for fresh capital, but it has also provided an opportunity for swindlers as well.
- China’s Horizon Robotics Raises $400 Million to Develop Autonomous Driving Chips — Horizon Robotics, a Chinese startup that develops artificial intelligence (AI) chips for smart vehicles, has bagged $400 million in a new funding round led by Baillie Gifford, YF Capital and battery-maker CATL, according to a company statement on Thursday.
- Baidu Picks CLSA and Goldman Sachs for Secondary Listing in Hong Kong, Bloomberg Reports — Nasdaq-listed Baidu is reportedly moving toward making a secondary listing in Hong Kong, as Washington threatens to delist U.S.-listed Chinese companies that fail to meet certain auditing standards.
South China Morning Post
- China GDP: IMF cuts 2021 growth forecast citing US tech decoupling, domestic debt, Hong Kong risks — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has trimmed back its growth projection for the Chinese economy in 2021, citing headwinds from technological decoupling with the United States and domestic financial risks, to restrictions on fundraising via Hong Kong for Chinese companies.
- Tesla faces a new foe as China’s search engine Baidu allies with Volvo’s owner Geely to make electric cars — China’s leading search engine, Baidu, has entered the fray to take on Tesla and a clutch of domestic smart electric car makers through a new partnership with vehicle manufacturer Geely.
- China’s biggest coronavirus outbreak in months stalls coal, steel deliveries as frigid temperatures compound problems — As if China’s biggest outbreak of coronavirus in months were not enough, the coldest temperatures in the capital and surrounding areas in years are delaying the delivery of critical supplies of coal, in addition to steel.
- What could Biden’s divided United States mean for China? — Beijing can expect American social divisions to play into the next US administration’s policies on China, diplomatic observers said as Chinese state media kept up its portrayal of the United States as “messed up” and “torn apart” society.
- China’s forex reserves strategy to be ‘dynamically optimised’ amid uncertain external conditions — Chinese authorities are adopting a “forward-looking” investment strategy for the country’s massive foreign-exchange reserves, with plans to “dynamically optimise” its portfolio even as the value of its reserves assets have climbed to a four-and-a-half-year high.
- Fossil fuel giant Sinopec teams up with solar firms on ‘green hydrogen’ projects to help China on path towards carbon neutrality — Fossil fuel energy giant China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec Group) has sought to join forces with four of the nation’s biggest solar energy players to work on ‘green hydrogen’ projects to help China achieve carbon neutrality.
- China tried to punish European states for Huawei bans by adding eleventh-hour rule to EU investment deal — At the eleventh hour of its painstakingly negotiated investment deal with the European Union, China tried to add a clause that would have frozen some of the benefits for EU states that restricted access for Huawei Technologies Co. and other Chinese telecoms firms, according documents reviewed by the South China Morning Post.
- China-Australia relations: bans on Australian imports ‘beginning to bite’ as commodity exports fall — Australia’s major commodity exports to China sank in November as Beijing’s trade restrictions hit home, although the impact of the slowdown was cushioned by redirected sales to other countries.
- ByteDance accuses Tencent of blocking its work-from-home tool Feishu on WeChat — TikTok owner ByteDance has accused Tencent Holdings of blocking its cloud office suite Feishu on WeChat as China’s tech giants fight for dominance in the enterprise collaboration market and the central government increases scrutiny of monopolistic practices in the tech sector.
Bloomberg
- China Urgently Needs to Contain Financial Risks, IMF Says — China urgently needs to take steps to contain financial stability risks as the economy’s recovery takes hold, according to the International Monetary Fund.
- A Better Picture of a Vaccine From China — The hazy picture surrounding an experimental vaccine from China became a little clearer this week.
- Dollar Hegemony Is Under Fire From China’s Rapid Growth Recovery — China’s light-speed recovery from the pandemic has reignited the perennial debate about how long the dollar’s 50-year dominance of global markets can persist.
- OCBC’s Wong to Succeed Tsien as First Female Singapore Bank CEO — Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. named Helen Wong as Singapore’s first female bank chief executive officer, putting her in charge of leading the island state’s second-largest lender through a severe economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
- China Is Said to Censor Local Media Coverage of Alibaba Probe — China has ordered its domestic media to restrict their reporting on an antitrust probe into Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as speculation over the future of one of the country’s largest corporations intensified, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
- Blast at Chinese Recycler Shows Battery Supply Chain Risks — China’s biggest battery manufacturer has urged a focus on safety issues after an explosion at a recycling affiliate, which has drawn attention to the risks in the industry’s supply chain.
- MSCI Deletions Trigger Rush to Sell Chinese Telecom Stocks — MSCI Inc. will remove China’s three major telecommunications companies from its indexes on Friday, giving global funds just one day to adjust billions of dollars of passive investments.
- Hong Kong Releases Detained Democrats, But Holds Onto Passports — Hong Kong police have not yet charged any of the more than 50 democracy advocates arrested this week under controversial national security legislation, but did seize their passports and travel documents, according to local broadcaster RTHK.
- China’s Biggest Carmaker Targets Best Sales Growth in a Decade — SAIC Motor Corp., China’s biggest automaker, is aiming to boost sales by 14% this year, the most in over a decade, as it steps up efforts in the increasingly competitive new generation, electric-vehicle segment.
- China’s Pig Futures Sink on Debut After Long-Awaited Listing — China’s live hog futures tumbled on their first trading day after a hotly anticipated debut as the industry looks for a safeguard against wild swings triggered by one of the world’s worst animal disease outbreaks.
- Beijing’s Coldest Spell Since 1966 Is Spurring Energy Prices — A cold blast across China that’s brought temperatures in Beijing to the lowest since 1966 is wreaking havoc on energy markets, creating record power demand and sending coal and gas prices soaring.
- Europe’s Contested Deal With China Sends Warning to Joe Biden — After more than seven years of negotiation with Beijing, the European Union’s landmark deal with China landed with a thud. Ill-timed, unenforceable and naive were just some of the charges leveled at the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment concluded Dec. 30.
- Tencent Is Said to Boost Stake in Grocery App Xingsheng Youxuan — Tencent Holdings Ltd. has increased its stake in Xingsheng Youxuan, investing $100 million in the Chinese online grocery startup at a valuation of about $5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
- China’s Baidu Is Said to Team With Geely on Electric Cars — Baidu Inc. and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. will team up to make electric vehicles for the Chinese market, a person familiar with the matter said, deepening the internet giant’s foray into automobiles as its core business slows.
- Soaring Shipping Costs Could Curb China’s Export Boom — Global demand for Chinese goods has been so strong recently it’s creating a shortage of containers and driving up shipping costs, potentially impeding the nation’s exports in coming months.
- China, U.S. Start 2021 With Hong Kong Arrests, NYSE Delisting Saga — It’s been a troubling start to the new year for anyone hoping 2021 might see some detente between the U.S. and China.
- City Near Beijing Locked Down, Millions Tested as Outbreak Grows — A city of 11 million people near China’s capital has been locked down and its residents tested en-masse for the coronavirus amid the worst outbreak in about two months in the country, which has largely contained Covid-19 within its own borders.
- Evergrande’s Aggressive Share Buybacks Fail to Impress — China Evergrande Group’s latest round of share buybacks is falling flat with investors, even after the embattled developer snapped up shares at a premium and took major steps to avert a debt crisis.
- Goldman-Backed Tuhu Is Said to Seek Funding at $4 Billion Value — A Chinese online car-services platform backed by investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. is seeking fresh funding at a valuation of about $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Wong Questioned, US Lawyer Released in Hong Kong Crackdown — Hong Kong (AP) — Jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was arrested on a new charge under the national security law on Thursday while an American rights lawyer who was detained in a sweeping crackdown was granted bail.
- China Sentences Ex-State Bank Chief to Life on Bribery — China sentenced Hu Huaibang, a former chairman of the nation’s biggest policy bank, to life imprisonment on charges of corruption, the second harsh punishment doled out this week in a sign President Xi Jinping is escalating a campaign to crack down on lawbreaking state officials.
Reuters
- Beijing raises guard as COVID-19 cases rise in Hebei province — Beijing closed places of worship on Friday and authorities in the Chinese capital restricted access to a highway to the city of Shijiazhuang, nearly 300 km (185 miles) to the southwest, which is battling a new cluster of coronavirus infections.
- China says pressure to stabilise foreign trade, foreign investment remains huge in 2021 — China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao said on Friday the pressure on China to stabilise foreign trade and foreign investment remains huge in 2021.
- Olympics-China simulates possible Tokyo atmosphere to train athletes — China’s huge army of Olympic athletes are preparing behind closed doors for this year’s Tokyo Games, simulating the kind of atmosphere they might experience in Japan, the Xinhua news agency reported.
- China central bank will prioritize monetary policy stability in 2021 -Xinhua — China will prioritize monetary policy stability in 2021, the Xinhua news agency on Friday quoted central bank governor Yi Gang as saying.
- Blast kills one at China factory run by unit of battery maker CATL — One person was killed and six were seriously injured in an explosion at a factory in China operated by a subsidiary of battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), authorities said on Friday.
- China fines seven financial institutions $31 million over irregularities — China’s banking and insurance watchdog on Friday fined seven financial institutions a total 199.5 million yuan ($30.85 million) for irregularities in overcharging fees and insufficient information disclosure on products.
- Chinese telecom firms lose $5.6 billion in value as index providers drop them — Index providers MSCI Inc, FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones Indices said they would cut three Chinese telecom companies from benchmarks, part of a widening fallout from a U.S. investment ban that has battered their share prices.
- Record cold weather in China sends power demand through the roof — Exceptionally cold weather sweeping through China has caused a huge increase in power demand in the world’s largest energy consumer and hampered transportation.
- Australia’s Port Hedland iron ore shipments to China jump 16% in December — Iron ore shipments to China from Australia’s Port Hedland rose by 16% in December from a month earlier, despite a short weather related shutdown, the Pilbara Ports Authority said on Friday.
- U.S. envoy to U.N. to visit Taiwan; China says playing with fire — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, will visit Taiwan next week for meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders, Taiwan’s government and the U.S. mission to the U.N. said, prompting China to warn they were playing with fire.
- China says U.S. behaviour towards telcos shortsighted — China’s foreign ministry on Friday said the United States’ behaviour towards three of its telecoms companies is shortsighted, after global index providers cut the telcos from benchmark indices.
- Chinese bargain hunters pile into stocks blacklisted by Trump — As U.S. investors dump shares in Chinese companies blacklisted by outgoing President Donald Trump, bargain hunters in China are taking the opposite side of that trade, wagering that a Joe Biden presidency will reverse the investment ban.
- Factbox-Trump administration measures against Chinese companies — Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump has toughened his stance towards Beijing in the final months of his presidency with a slew of measures targeting Chinese companies.
- China’s internet regulator weighs tighter curbs on payment, shopping platforms — China’s top internet watchdog canvassed public opinion on Friday for a plan to update rules more than two decades old, aiming to widen oversight of online services to cover payment, shopping and livestreaming platforms.
- China study says Wuhan COVID infections 3 times higher than official figure — The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified, could be around three times the official figure, according to a study by Chinese researchers based in the city.
Xinhua
- Around 1,800 enterprises in Uzbekistan backed by Chinese investment — The number of companies back by Chinese investment in Uzbekistan neared 1,800 by the end of 2020, second only to Russia in the Central Asian country, the Uzbek State Statistic Committee said Friday.
- U.S.-listed Chinese firms trade roughly flat — U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded roughly flat on Thursday with five of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Cynicism explains a flawed new EU-China commercial pact — European officials differ over whether they have just handed China a big, unnecessary, political win.
- The Economist: China wants to delist its own companies: the bad ones — New rules to clear the dregs off its stock exchanges.
- The Economist: Deutschland AG continues to pour billions into China — Never mind the growing geopolitical rift between Beijing and the West.
- POLITICO: China 2021: Experts make their one big prediction — China Watcher polled leading experts for their predictions on what the already-eventful year 2021 will bring from the People’s Republic.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China’s Alibaba probe is not all bad news — New competition regulator is showing needed transparency and professionalism.
- Washington Post: Matt Pottinger exits, but his China strategy is here to stay — Even though Pottinger’s name was largely unknown to the public, his influence on U.S. foreign policy will be felt for years to come. The incoming Biden administration is set to preserve many of the changes in the government’s approach to China that Pottinger, along with other like-minded officials, worked to implement.