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
- Chinese Covid-19 Tests Were Pushed by Federal Agencies Despite Security Warnings — U.S. intelligence officials have said publicly that BGI products pose privacy risks.
- PC Giant Lenovo Plans China Listing, Sending Stock Soaring — Shares in the world’s largest PC maker hit their highest level since 2015.
- In Hong Kong, an American Priest Turned Lawyer Faces China’s Wrath but Keeps the Faith — John Clancey spent more than 50 years assisting the city’s powerless before being swept up in a crackdown on pro-democracy groups.
- Biden Trade Policy to Center on Workers, USTR Nominee Says — Katherine Tai expects new administration to confront China and enforce U.S.-Mexico-Canada pact.
- Maersk Sees Little Change in Tight Shipping Supply Near Term — With little excess shipping capacity amid high demand, there is scant relief on the horizon in congested supply chains, an executive says.
- Chinese Covid-19 Vaccine Far Less Effective Than Initially Touted in Brazil — Results of Sinovac’s shot were almost 30 percentage points lower than previously announced, as concerns grow over study’s transparency.
The Financial Times
- Tesla/China EVs: pricing power — US electric carmaker’s growing scale reduces costs, but increases the risk of regulatory intervention.
- China imposes tough new curbs on 23m people after Covid outbreak — Beijing limits travel and conducts mass testing in harshest measures since start of pandemic.
- Why Trump’s attempt to delist China from US will backfire — Bans on stock purchases harm the interests of American investors.
- Detained US lawyer urges Hong Kong to look to Ireland for inspiration — First expatriate arrested under security law tells activists their cause is not hopeless.
- Chinese freight platform to raise more cash on huge investor demand — Bids of $3bn were lodged in the $400m debut fundraising for Didi Chuxing’s logistics unit.
The New York Times
- China Places Over 22 Million on Lockdown Amid New Covid Wave — The country is experiencing its worst coronavirus flare-up since last summer, testing the government’s success in subduing the disease.
Caixin
- China Tightens Oversight of Personal Data Collection as Privacy Concerns Mount — Central bank lays out rules for credit reporting companies to curb abuse.
- Shanghai Stock Exchange Penalizes Brilliance Auto for Bond Violations — Bourse also blasts chairman and information disclosure chief of BMW partner’s parent company for irregularities related to an October failure to repay $154 million of bonds.
- Beijing Completes Equity Transfers Designed to Shore Up Stressed Pension System — Shareholders managed to finish the transfers, which have long been criticized for proceeding too slowly, in time to meet an end-of-year deadline.
- New Greater Bay Airlines Bulks Up Its Board With Industry Bigwigs — The Hong Kong-based airline will try to navigate a coronavirus-shattered travel market, starting with five planes by mid-2021.
- In Depth: Tesla Powers On as Rival Electric-Vehicle Makers Scramble to Compete in China — U.S. company’s continuing market dominance makes local producers nervous as government subsidies wind down.
- China Mulls Giving Green Light to Highway Self-Driving Car Tests — The draft plan would also open the door to a nationwide self-driving regulatory system.
- Takeout Delivery Driver Sets Self on Fire Over Withheld Pay — Case involving a deliveryman for Ele.me’s Fengniao service spotlights the difficult conditions faced by millions of workers in China’s thriving sector for low-end services.
- Update: Lenovo Stock Finally Comes Home After Two Decades Abroad — One of China’s oldest high-tech names will list its China depositary receipts on Shanghai’s STAR Market in a plan that could raise up to $1.4 billion.
- U.S.-Listed Video Streamer Bilibili Files for Secondary Listing in Hong Kong, CNBC Reports — Nasdaq-listed Chinese video streaming firm Bilibili has reportedly confidentially filed for a secondary listing in Hong Kong, following the trend of big U.S.-listed Chinese companies like Alibaba and JD.com in making secondary listings in the city in an attempt to expand funding sources.
- PayPal Becomes First Foreign Company to Offer Digital Payments in China — U.S. fintech giant PayPal has completed a stake acquisition deal that makes it the first foreign company to offer digital payment services in China, as Beijing vows to open up its domestic financial market to foreign investors.
- Tesla Rival Xpeng Motors Into New Year Fueled By New Credit Line — China’s electric vehicle startups have become investor darlings in the last year, with Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto all raising billions of dollars from the sale of their American depositary shares (ADSs) to expand their business and accelerate technological developments.
South China Morning Post
- Is this Chinese prototype the shape of maglev train tech to come? — China rolled out a prototype of a state-of-the-art maglev vehicle that its developers said could herald cheaper and faster next-generation magnetic levitation train transport, even approaching the speed of some planes.
- China-US rivalry: cancelled trips to Taiwan, Europe will help ease pressure for a while, observers say — The cancellation of two high-profile trips by American officials to Taiwan and Europe may provide some breathing space in the tense China-US relationship, but the calm is unlikely to last for long, diplomatic observers say.
- Mr ‘Pivot to Asia’ in line to be Biden’s policy point man on China: report — Kurt Campbell, the chief architect of former US president Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia” strategy is expected to take up a new position for Asia policies when president-elect Joe Biden takes office next week.
- China’s credit tightening measures to put pressure on property, local government financing vehicles — China may have started to rein in the pace of credit growth at the start of 2021 as December’s financial data fell below market expectations, and with policymakers signalling that they are leaning toward tapering off the expansionary monetary policy conducted last year.
- Most China, South Korean executives see Biden improving Washington-Beijing ties, survey shows — Chinese and South Korean business leaders are much more optimistic than their Japanese counterparts about the prospect for better US-China relations under the incoming administration of Joe Biden, according to a recent survey by leading newspapers in the three East Asian countries.
- China’s new rules on ‘unjustified’ foreign laws bolster ability to strike back at US long-arm jurisdiction — New rules strengthening China’s ability to strike back at “unjustified” foreign laws applied to citizens and businesses have been hailed as a necessary step to defend national interests, following a rash of sanctions from Washington on Chinese tech firms and politicians.
- China-Australia relations: breaking free of dependency on Australian iron ore would take years, but where is China looking? — Brazilian port operator Grao Para Multimodal’s executive director, Paulo Salvador, knows there is plenty of untapped high-grade iron ore in northern Brazil, but a mix of bureaucracy and limited capital have stymied efforts to begin production for years.
- Hong Kong privacy watchdog renews calls for Facebook to disclose new data-sharing arrangement with WhatsApp — Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog on Wednesday renewed its push to pressure the parent company of the messaging platform WhatsApp to postpone controversial changes to the way it shares users’ personal data, and demanded answers as to what sort of information would be involved.
- Prime harbourfront plot in Central should become world-class destination blending commerce with public spaces, designers say — A parcel of prime land at Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour to be sold in a rare tender process that values design merits as much as cost is likely to be transformed into a vibrant waterfront hub blending office and retail facilities with bustling public spaces, say industry experts.
- Huawei aims to deploy Harmony OS on 400 million devices in 2021, going beyond smartphones to reach many IoT gadgets — China telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co. aims to deploy Harmony OS on 400 million devices in 2021, according to a senior Huawei executive, as the Chinese telecoms giant manoeuvres to survive harsh US technology restrictions.
Bloomberg
- Trump’s China Investing Ban Spurs Broad Wall Street Pullback — Two months after Donald Trump issued an executive order banning U.S. investments in Chinese military-linked companies –- and more than a day after it took effect — the financial industry is still struggling to figure out what it can and can’t do under the new rules.
- Latin America’s China Strategy Needs an Overhaul — Especially in Brazil, savvy local leaders have an opportunity to turn Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative to their advantage.
- U.S. Unveils Plan to Counter China’s Rise From India to Taiwan — The Trump administration declassified its strategy to ensure continued dominance over China, which focuses on accelerating India’s rise as a counterweight to Beijing and the ability to defend Taiwan against an attack.
- China Tightens Oversight of Consumer Finance Firms With Scoring — China’s banking regulator is strengthening oversight of consumer finance firms with a new annual scoring system, continuing to step up scrutiny as the likes of Ant Group Co. are setting up new units in the industry.
- China Vaccine Faces First Global Test as Indonesia Starts Shots — Indonesia kicked off its mass inoculation drive using a vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. in a key test for the Chinese-developed shot amid questions over its efficacy.
- China Loves Elon Musk and Tesla (TSLA). How Long Will That Last? — Tesla’s unprecedented success in China has helped Musk become the world’s richest man. How long can the good times last?
- Pompeo, U.S. Diplomats Scrap Travel, Including Taiwan Visit — Secretary of State Michael Pompeo scrapped an 11th-hour trip to Belgium and directed senior diplomats including United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft to cancel overseas travel amid concern about leaving the country after last week’s invasion of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
- Sequoia-Backed Cloud Tech Firm Is Said to Weigh $500 Million IPO — Chinese cloud communications company Beijing Ronglian Yitong Information Technology Co., also known as Yuntongxun, is weighing an initial public offering that could raise as much as $500 million, people with knowledge of the matter said.
- China’s Virus Flare Up Threatens to Delay Legislative Meetings — A fresh wave of coronavirus outbreaks are raising new doubts about China’s ability to kick off its annual provincial legislative meetings in the coming days, with two provinces already postponing planned sessions.
- HSBC Grooms Top Bankers for Make-or-Break Push Into China — As HSBC Holdings Plc pins its future on China, Europe’s largest bank is grooming a set of well-connected bankers to navigate its fraught relationship with Beijing in the long run.
- Lenovo Selects CICC for $1.5 Billion Shanghai Listing — Lenovo Group Ltd. is working with China International Capital Corp. to prepare for its planned listing in Shanghai through the issuance of Chinese depositary receipts, which could raise about 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion).
- Vanguard Says It Sold Stakes in U.S.-Sanctioned Chinese Firms — Vanguard Group said it has liquidated its holdings of U.S.-sanctioned Chinese companies.
- China Nears Approval of Its First Public REITs to Ease Debt — China plans to approve its first real estate investment trusts to help local governments finance infrastructure projects while allowing retail investors to tap into what may become a $3 trillion market.
- China’s Covid Shot 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.
- U.K. to Fine Firms That Hide Chinese Imports From Uighur Labor — Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the U.K. will fine companies if they cover up imports from the Xinjiang region of China, where international observers have accused Beijing of overseeing forced labor by Uighur Muslims.
- 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.
- 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.
Reuters
- State Street managed Hong Kong fund to resume investment in shares banned to Americans — Hong Kong’s largest tracker fund, managed by a State Street unit, will resume investing in stocks from which Americans are banned, it said in a statement on Wednesday, the latest global U-turn linked to a November executive order from Donald Trump.
- China pushes technical solutions in race to meet climate goals — China will promote large-scale carbon capture projects and track methane emissions from coal and oil and gas extraction, as part of its contribution to global efforts to limit temperature rises, the environment ministry said on Wednesday.
- Senegal in talks to buy COVID vaccine from China’s Sinopharm, says minister — Senegal is in talks to buy at least 200,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm, Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr said on Wednesday.
- China’s Sinovac to double annual COVID-19 vaccine capacity to 1 billion doses — A unit of Sinovac Biotech could double annual production capacity of its CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine to 1 billion doses by February, the group’s chairman said on Wednesday.
- Bets on for Macau’s Sands China after U.S. billionaire Adelson’s death — Sands China Ltd’s adjustment to life after the death of billionaire founder Sheldon Adelson, coming a year before the firm’s gaming licence expires, could open up opportunities for Chinese investors to acquire a stake, industry executives said.
- Hong Kong teenager returned by China appears in city court on protest-related charges — One of the Hong Kong people detained in China last year for illegal border crossing appeared in one of the city’s courts on Wednesday to hear charges of arson and possession of offensive weapons related to the anti-government protests of 2019.
- Ford sold 602,627 vehicles in China in 2020, up 6% year-on-year — Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it sold 602,627 vehicles in China last year, up 6% from 2019, its first annual growth in the world’s biggest car market since 2017.
- New Brazil data shows disappointing 50.4% efficacy for China’s CoronaVac vaccine — A coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech was just 50.4% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in a Brazilian trial, researchers said on Tuesday, barely enough for regulatory approval and well below the rate announced last week.
- World Bank economist: China needs to learn to restructure emerging market debt — Increasing debt distress in emerging markets means that China, now the world’s largest official creditor, will need to start restructuring debts in the same way that Paris Club lenders did in past crises, World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart told the Reuters Next conference on Tuesday.
- U.S. counter-intelligence chief worried about China, Russia threats to vaccine supply chain — The U.S. counter-intelligence chief said on Tuesday he was worried about threats from China and Russia to disrupt the coronavirus vaccine supply chain in the United States.
- Toughening stance on China’s Xinjiang, Britain introduces new company rules — Britain will introduce new rules for companies to try to prevent goods linked to China’s Xinjiang region entering the supply chain, foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Tuesday, toughening London’s response to allegations of forced labour.
- 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.
- Analysis: The trillion dollar weapon in the U.S.-China tech stock war — The threat of a $1 trillion U.S. sanctions hit on the Chinese internet giants that have led emerging market stocks to their first record high since 2007 is overshadowing the rally, just as increased scrutiny from Beijing itself squeezes valuations.
- 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.
- 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.
Xinhua
- China’s Hainan posts strong foreign investment growth — With free trade port policies helping woo investors, China’s southern island province of Hainan reported strong foreign investment growth last year.
- China to conduct classified supervision for insurance asset management companies — China will grade insurance assets management companies (AMCs) and supervise them accordingly, said the country’s banking and insurance regulator.
- China’s fifth distressed-assets manager opens for business — China’s fifth national asset-management company opened for business on Jan. 9 and joined its four predecessors established in 1999 to handle distressed assets, Shanghai Securities News reported.
- Over 98 percent Chinese trademark registrations applied for online — More than 98 percent of trademark registrations in China were applied for online in 2020, the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) said Wednesday.
- China’s WJ-700 UAV makes maiden flight — China’s WJ-700, a high-altitude, high-speed and long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of conducting reconnaissance and strike, has performed its maiden flight, its developer announced Wednesday.
- E-commerce boosts income of Chinese farmers: ministry — E-commerce has helped bump up the income of Chinese farmers, contributing to the country’s efforts on rural vitalization, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Wednesday.
- China’s NEV sales beat expectations — Sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) in China went up 10.9 percent year on year in 2020 amid government efforts to encourage their use and ease pressure on the environment, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed Wednesday.
- China’s auto exports down 2.9 pct in 2020 — China’s automobile exports dropped 2.9 percent year on year in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed on Wednesday.
- China auto sales down 1.9 pct in 2020 — The number of automobiles sold in China totaled 25.31 million last year, down 1.9 percent from 2019, data from an industry association showed Wednesday.
- Hong Kong ranks as 2nd largest IPO market in 2020 — Hong Kong remained a popular fund-raising center for global businesses last year as the funds raised through initial public offerings (IPOs) in its stock exchange ranked the second largest globally only after Nasdaq.
- China’s agricultural product wholesale prices edge up — The wholesale prices of China’s agricultural products edged up Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
- China’s benchmark power coal price edges up — China’s benchmark power coal price rose slightly during the past week.
Other Publications
- Axios: Trump seeks scrutiny of Chinese funding at U.S. schools — The Trump administration is trying to push through a last-minute policy to heighten scrutiny of Chinese government funding in American education, according to multiple administration officials familiar with the rule.
- Axios: Newly declassified report lays out U.S. strategy in Asia — The Trump administration has declassified a report which lays out its Indo-Pacific strategy, including “accelerating India’s rise,” blocking China from establishing “illiberal spheres of influence,” and maintaining “U.S. strategic primacy” in the region, according to a copy viewed by Axios.
- Foreign Policy: Bengaluru Is the New Shenzhen as Apps Displace Devices — In the global internet economy, India’s tech industry has a leg up on China’s.
- IPVM: Patenting Uyghur Tracking – Huawei, Megvii, More — A patent application authored by Huawei and the PRC government includes Uyghur-detection analytics, in the latest proof that the China tech giant uses this explicitly racist technology.
- The Atlantic: MAGA-land’s Favorite Newspaper — How The Epoch Times became a pro-Trump propaganda machine in an age of plague and insurrection
- Foreign Affair: How America Can Shore Up Asian Order — A Strategy for Restoring Balance and Legitimacy.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China backs Myanmar on Rohingya response with eye on Biden — Foreign Minister Wang woos Southeast Asia with vaccines and economic aid.
