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 Reimposes Covid-19 Lockdowns as It Battles Worst Outbreak in Months — More than 20 million people have been quarantined just weeks ahead of biggest holiday of the year.
- China’s Chip-Independence Goals Helped by U.S.-Developed Tech — New approach to semiconductors, developed partly with the Pentagon’s backing, could threaten Intel and Arm’s dominance.
- Trump Administration’s Third Taiwan Visit Is No Charm for China — Trip by American envoy to U.N. a surprise last act in provocative campaign that could benefit Biden White House.
The Financial Times
- Chinese courier sets fire to himself in protest over unpaid Alibaba wages — Images of driver go viral on social media renewing concerns over tech sector’s working practices.
- Chinese investors flood Hong Kong’s bruised stock market with cash — Record holdings of city’s shares by mainland traders underscores their growing influence.
- Jack Ma vs Xi Jinping: the future of private business in China — The crackdown on Alibaba and Ant Group amounts to an unprecedented squeeze on a ubiquitous ecommerce empire.
- Australia cites national security to block China buying local builder — Canberra’s decision to stop CSCEC purchase sends a clear message to Beijing.
The New York Times
- China’s Stronger Currency Could Be a Fig Leaf for Biden — The renminbi has reached its strongest level in more than two years and shows no signs of stopping, signaling Chinese dominance in manufacturing and giving Biden breathing room.
- ‘Smart’ Office Cushions Track Workers by the Seat of Their Pants — A Chinese tech company wanted to track its employees’ health, but a human resources manager began inquiring about time away from their work stations, setting off a debate about workplace surveillance.
Caixin
- Hong Kong’s Largest ETF Suspends Investment in Chinese Firms on U.S. Blacklist — Company that runs $13.3 billion tracker fund says it won’t put any more money into companies sanctioned for alleged ties to the Chinese military.
- China Removes Limits on Credit Card Interest Rates — Further step toward letting markets determine rates could bolster smaller lenders while also fostering more competition between banks and fintechs.
- Lithium Prices in Overdrive as China’s Electric-Vehicle Sales Grow — Key metal pushing down costs of NEV batteries has soared 50% from August to $9,100 per ton.
- China Air Travel Drops by One-Third in 2020 — Travelers logged 420 million flights last year, down nearly 37% from 2019 levels, as airlines were hit by the global pandemic.
- China’s Smartphone Shipments Fall Nearly 13% in December Amid Virus Flare-Up — China’s smartphone sellers experienced a shipment contraction in December as coronavirus infections saw a year-end flare-up.
- Luxury Retailer Secoo Looks to Join Exodus of Chinese Companies from U.S. Stock Exchanges — Nasdaq-listed Chinese luxury retailer Secoo may join the exodus of U.S.-listed Chinese companies from American stock exchanges, as Washington increases its scrutiny amid mounting tech and trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
- Chinese Biotech Firm VISEN Raises $150m Led by Sequoia Capital China — Shanghai-based endocrine therapy developer VISEN Pharmaceuticals has raised an aggregate of $150 million in its Series B round to facilitate its development in the Greater China region.
- China’s Cathay Innovation Closes Its Second Fund at $792m — Cathay Innovation, a multi-stage venture capital partnership affiliated to Chinese cross-border investment firm Cathay Capital, on Monday announced the closing of its second global fund at €650m ($791.81 million).
South China Morning Post
- China’s air force unveils new twin-seat J-20 stealth fighter jet in video — China’s air force has revealed a new twin-seat version of its most advanced fighter jet in a music video marking 10 years since the J-20’s first flight.
- Beijing mouthpiece says US Capitol attack proves democracy is ‘a failure’ — Chinese state media has again mocked last week’s attack on the US Capitol in Washington, calling it the collapse of “the American beacon” for Western liberal democracy.
- Asian hedge funds swoop in on shares of China’s sanctioned telecommunication operators, lured by dividend payouts — Asia hedge funds including Long Corridor Asset Management bought shares of sanctioned Chinese telecommunications operators, trading against a market sell-off.
- Mike Pompeo’s curiously timed Taiwan shift turns focus on Biden’s approach — There are arguably only two types of problems in the complex US-China relationship: those pertaining to Taiwan, and all the others. At a time when bilateral ties have been plunged into crisis on almost every front, from trade and tech to geopolitical hotspots including Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea, the Taiwan question remains the single most sensitive one, at least from Beijing’s perspective.
- China promises to support Myanmar peace talks with rebel groups — China promised to continue to support Myanmar’s peace talks with ethnic minority groups and to boost its coronavirus aid on the first stop of the foreign minister’s six-day tour of Southeast Asia.
- How will China’s GDP be hit by Beijing’s new caps on real estate lending? — China’s aggressive moves to tamp down risk in the real estate sector by curbing financing are not expected to significantly affect growth this year, provided other sectors of the economy continue to improve, economists have said.
- Taiwan’s coronavirus success, job opportunities lure foreigners to talent-thirsty island — When Tom Fifield first visited Taiwan as a tourist in 2008, it did not take him long to realise it was the place for him.
- China-Australia relations: Beijing slams Canberra for ‘politicising’ canned US$230 million deal on national security grounds — State-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation has dropped its bid for the Australian builder of the tallest residential tower in Sydney, Probuild, after indications that Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would block the deal on national security grounds.
- China’s food security is again on Beijing’s agenda, with the nation’s bitter history of hunger and famine in mind — It was in 1995 that Beijing first tasked every provincial governor with the difficult job of ensuring sufficient grain plantations and output in their provinces – an accountability system known as “provincial governors looking after the rice bag”.
- China’s railway investment loses steam as government turns from debt-fuelled building boom — China’s railway authority will prioritise restructuring its operations to enhance efficiency and revenue this year, rather than continuing to expand track mileage, in the latest example of Beijing moving away from debt-fuelled growth.
- China’s second-half car sales defy global slump with 8 per cent gain, as buyers return to showrooms in world’s largest vehicle market — China’s car sales increased during the six months ended in December, as customers returned to showrooms amid a tentative recovery in consumer sentiment in the first major economy to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown.
- HKMA has power to change Tracker Fund manager to get round US sanctions, Hong Kong leaders say — Hong Kong’s financial regulator has the power to change the manager of the city’s Tracker Fund to safeguard the interests of retail investors and pensioners facing potential losses after the US sanctioned certain Chinese companies, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday.
- Uncertainty over 900 jobs as US owner of lifestyle labels such as Timberland, North Face to move from Hong Kong to Shanghai, Singapore — The American owner of several major lifestyle labels including Timberland and The North Face will relocate its regional brand office from Hong Kong to Shanghai and its sourcing hub to Singapore, with about 900 workers facing uncertainty from the move.
- 600,000 elderly Hong Kong residents will need to apply for new personalised Octopus card for HK$2 fare scheme — Some 600,000 elderly Hong Kong residents will need to apply for new, personalised Octopus cards to benefit from a discounted public transport scheme, which has been extended to cover red minibuses, ferry services to outlying islands and trams.
- Ant Group fintech rival JD Digits restructures amid Beijing’s Big Tech crackdown — Fintech company JD Digits has been restructured as JD Technology with the addition of JD.com’s artificial intelligence and cloud businesses.
Bloomberg
- How China Won Trump’s ‘Good and Easy to Win’ Trade War — U.S. President Donald Trump famously tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win” in 2018 as he began to impose tariffs on about $360 billion of imports from China. Turns out he was wrong on both counts.
- Sheldon Adelson, Who Brought Vegas Casinos to China, Dies at 87 — Sheldon Adelson, who built the largest casino company in the world and used his wealth to support Republican candidates and groups, has died. He was 87.
- China’s Credit Growth Slows as Policy Support Normalizes — China’s credit growth moderated in December, suggesting that the massive increase in credit since last year may have peaked as the central bank seeks to normalize policy.
- Hong Kong Leaders ‘Not in a Hurry’ to Roll Out Covid-19 Vaccines — Hong Kong is in no hurry to roll out Covid-19 vaccinations, according to government advisers, preferring instead to see what happens in other, harder-hit places.
- Mercedes and BMW’s Dominance Wanes as Electric Brands Ascend — Mercedes-Benz narrowly beat BMW AG for the title of world’s best-selling luxury-car brand in 2020, a year in which cracks started showing in German dominance of the all-important China market.
- Investors Have a New Default Worry in China’s Credit Market — Investor confidence in China Fortune Land Development Co. Ltd. is tumbling as concerns grow about its debt repayment abilities just as Beijing steps up efforts to cut risk in the real estate sector.
- Johnson Risks China Spat With Attack on ‘Demented’ Medicine — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson set himself on a collision course with the Chinese government with a thinly veiled attack on traditional medicine, which he said was to blame for the coronavirus pandemic.
- China Stock Index Heads Toward Record in Best Ever Start to Year — The priciest equities in more than five years are proving no deterrent for stock traders in China, where the benchmark is now nearing its all-time high.
- Asia Hedge Funds Bought Shares of Sanctioned China Mobile Firms — Asia hedge funds including Long Corridor Asset Management Ltd. bought shares of sanctioned Chinese telecommunications operators, trading against a market sell-off.
- Turkey Set for 10 Million New Doses in Second Vaccine Shipment — Turkey expects to receive 10 million new doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. over the next two weeks, as authorities prepare to begin inoculating by Friday.
- China’s Covid Vaccine Has Four (Wildly) Different Efficacy Rates — Days before a global rollout kicks off with the President of Indonesia receiving the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. vaccine on live television, uncertainty swirls over the efficacy of the leading Chinese shot, for which four different protection rate numbers have been released in recent weeks.
- China Said to Let Banks Sell Bad Personal Loans to Cut Risks — China plans to allow some commercial banks to start selling soured personal loans to distressed asset managers as soon as this month, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Chinese Electric-Car Maker Xpeng Gets $2 Billion Credit Line — Chinese electric-car maker Xpeng Inc. has signed an agreement with banks for a 12.8 billion yuan ($2 billion) line of credit.
- Upbeat Xi Says Time on China’s Side as Turmoil Grips U.S. — President Xi Jinping issued an unusually upbeat assessment about China’s future, noting that “time and the situation” were on the country’s side in a new year marked by domestic turmoil in the U.S.
- Worsening U.S.-China Tensions Put Companies in Crosshairs — The Trump administration’s final days are proving as confounding as ever for companies and investors stuck in the middle of an increasingly contentious U.S.-China relationship.
- Asia’s Icy Winter Snarls Ports and Sends Energy Prices Soaring — China’s coldest winter in decades meant state-owned energy giant Sinopec was desperate to unload heating fuel from a vessel headed to a northern port, yet freezing temperatures that have swept parts of Asia froze a thick sheet of ice and blocked access.
- Could Biden’s Green New Deal Enrich China’s Solar Industry? — China’s efforts to corner the market in solar panels will complicate Biden’s clean-energy plans.
- China’s Very Distressed Real Estate Developers Are Also Very Clever — Watched closely by Beijing regulators, the real estate sector has found twisty ways to pile up even more debt and avoid scrutiny.
- China’s Record $30 Billion Bond Defaults Seen Rising This Year — Defaults by Chinese companies are likely to top last year’s record as tighter monetary policy squeezes borrowers, according to China Merchants Securities Co.
- BlackRock Selling Stakes in Sanctioned Chinese Mobile Firms — BlackRock Inc. has been selling stakes in three Chinese telecommunication providers after the U.S. put them on its sanctions list.
- California WeChat Users Sue Tencent Over Fear of Chinese Censors — A group of California WeChat users sued Tencent Holdings Ltd., the Chinese owner of the messaging and payment app, for allegedly violating their right to privacy by surveilling and censoring their communications.
- Ericsson Wins Key Ruling Over Samsung in U.S.-China Fight — Samsung Electronics Co. can’t use a Chinese court ruling to block an American court from determining royalty rates on Samsung and Ericsson patents, a federal judge in Texas ruled Monday, in a closely watched case over global royalty disputes.
- Nio at Record High After Unveiling New Sedan, Battery Pack — Chinese electric-car maker Nio Inc. significantly outperformed peers on Monday after the company unveiled a new luxury sedan and a bigger volume battery pack over the weekend.
Reuters
- China and electric cars offer automakers hope after a dire 2020 — Sales of luxury cars in China and electric drives in Europe were the two bright spots for European automakers in a 2020 blighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, company updates showed on Tuesday.
- Britain introduces new company rules to stop links to China’s Xinjiang — Britain will introduce new rules for companies to try to prevent goods from China’s Xinjiang region entering the supply chain, foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Tuesday, toughening London’s response to allegations of forced labour.
- EU seeks space alliance to defend against U.S. and Chinese ambitions — The European Union will pursue a more aggressive European space strategy to prevent being muscled out by U.S. and Chinese launcher technology, setting up an European alliance with industry this year, a EU official said on Tuesday.
- China will give Myanmar some COVID-19 vaccines, says ministry — China will give Myanmar a batch of coronavirus vaccines for free, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday, as the government’s top diplomat wrapped up a two-day visit to Myanmar.
- India says trust with China ‘profoundly disturbed’, US ties on upswing — India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday that trust with China had been deeply impaired after last summer’s border clash which resulted in the first combat deaths in 45 years.
- VW’s Skoda says deliveries fell 19% in 2020, biggest hit in China — Global deliveries by Volkswagen’s Skoda Auto fell 19.1% to 1.005 million vehicles in 2020, hit by the COVID-19 pandemic which caused production outages and closures of dealerships, the Czech carmaker said on Tuesday.
- China says WHO team will fly from Singapore to Wuhan on Jan. 14 — A World Health Organization (WHO) team of international experts investigating the origin of the novel coronavirus will arrive in the Chinese city of Wuhan from Singapore on Thursday, a Chinese official said.
- Exclusive: China plans further Hong Kong crackdown after mass arrest – sources — The arrest of more than 50 democrats in Hong Kong last week intensifies a drive by Beijing to stifle any return of a populist challenge to Chinese rule and more measures are likely, according to two individuals with direct knowledge of China’s plans.
- Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng secures $2 billion credit line to expand manufacturing — Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Inc said on Tuesday it has secured a credit line of 12.8 billion yuan ($2 billion) from five Chinese banks to expand manufacturing and sales.
- Analysis: Tesla’s Model Y to emerge disruptor as China EV sales zoom in 2021 — New models will help electric vehicle sales in China zoom this year, after tepid business in a virus-riddled 2020, and analysts predict Tesla’s Model Y pricing will emerge as a major disruptor in the world’s biggest car market.
- Angola gets breathing space from Chinese creditors, says finance minister — Angola has secured three years of payment relief from Chinese creditors and expects to get more than $700 million in its next tranche of International Monetary Fund financing in the coming days, its finance minister said on Monday.
- Britain to tighten laws on imports linked to alleged Chinese human rights abuses: Telegraph — Britain will tighten the law on importing goods linked to alleged human rights abuses in China as ministers take a tougher stance on Beijing, The Telegraph reported on Monday.
- Wall Street firms reduce exposure to Chinese telcos as U.S. ban approaches — Wall Street firms in Hong Kong including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan on Monday moved to reduce exposure to Chinese telecom companies named in a U.S. ban on investments in companies Washington considers linked to China’s military.
- BlackRock says ETFs match index cuts of China stocks — Top asset manager BlackRock Inc said its iShares ETFs have complied with index provider moves to drop certain China securities in response to pressure from Washington.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: China Breaks Decades of Climate Gridlock — By overturning the principle that the West must decarbonize before developing countries, Beijing has opened the way for real action.
- The Guardian: ‘Our souls are dead’: how I survived a Chinese ‘re-education’ camp for Uighurs — After 10 years living in France, I returned to China to sign some papers and I was locked up. For the next two years, I was systematically dehumanised, humiliated and brainwashed.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Top Chinese automaker SAIC warns of 22% profit fall — Company misses sales target as foreign joint ventures struggle.
- Nikkei Asian Review: 3 US-listed China tech companies seek over $6bn in Hong Kong — Tencent Music, Vipshop and Joyy seek hedge against potential New York delisting.
