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
- Covid-19 Was Spreading in China Before First Confirmed Cases, Fresh Evidence Suggests — The number, and genetic sequencing, of the first cases identified by China suggest coronavirus was spreading before early December 2019.
- Underfunded and Under Pressure, U.S. Pensions to Keep Investing in China — Large U.S. pension plans relying on ambitious returns to fill massive shortfalls aren’t finding it easy to steer clear of regulatory risk in China.
The Financial Times
- Taiwan strengthens its security team — Reshuffle signals president’s resolve to tackle long-delayed defence reforms.
- China/blockchain: digital realm — Investors seeking bitcoin exposure in local markets face constraints.
- China admits 4 soldiers died in Himalayan clash with Indian soldiers — Beijing gives first official narrative of skirmish at border in June last year.
- China’s clampdown on Jack Ma’s Ant boosts rivals — High-interest lenders fill market vacated by fintech group, increasing fears of rising defaults.
- Italy launches probe into €1.25bn PPE contract with China — Prosecutors say Italian business owners pocketed €65m after illegally acting as middlemen.
- Chinese stocks touch record as traders return after lunar new year — CSI 300 briefly surpasses 2007 peak on positivity surrounding economic recovery.
The New York Times
- China Is Preparing for Another Olympics in Beijing, Like It or Not — With the Winter Games less than a year away, a powerful and confident China is promising retaliation if any country boycotts the event over human rights.
- China Acknowledges 4 Deaths in Last Year’s Border Clash With India — It was the first explicit admission by the People’s Liberation Army that it had lost soldiers in the June brawl. India says 20 of its troops were killed.
Caixin
- New Rental Contracts Hit Six-Year High Over Lunar New Year — The usual holiday slump didn’t happen this year as Beijing urged people to avoid traveling amid Covid-19 flare-ups around the country.
- Copper Futures Near 10-Year High on Growing Optimism for China’s Economy — Two-day rally comes as the outlook improves for real estate and power industries as world’s largest consumer of the industrial metal returned to work after a weeklong holiday.
- U.S. Consulate Properties in Hong Kong Cleared for Sale — Property developer Hang Lung agreed in September to pay $33 million for 26 luxury units, but deal was delayed for Chinese government approval.
- Xiaomi Overtakes Samsung, Huawei in Russia for Smartphone Sales Online — Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi overtook Samsung and Huawei to become the largest seller in Russia’s online smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2020, as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country led to more online purchases.
South China Morning Post
- Canada lawmakers to vote on accusing China of genocide against Uygurs in Xinjiang — Canada’s main opposition party called on Thursday for the House of Commons to formally declare that China is committing genocide against more than 1 million Uygurs in the western Xinjiang region.
- China set to be first country where e-commerce sales outstrip bricks-and-mortar retail in 2021 — The Chinese retail market is poised to become the first in the world to be dominated by e-commerce transactions as Lunar New Year retail sales beat expectations amid a pandemic-driven economic slowdown.
- China mulls allowing investment in overseas stocks, insurance, says foreign exchange official — China is considering plans to allow investment in overseas securities and insurance within the annual individual quota of US$50,000, a foreign exchange official said on Friday, in a move that could signal a slight easing of the country’s strict capital controls.
Bloomberg
- Daimler CEO Puts Struggling Chinese EV Brand Denza on Notice — Daimler AG Chief Executive Officer Ola Kallenius said the success of the latest Denza crossover will determine the future prospects of the Chinese electric-car brand with partner BYD Co. Ltd., following years of lackluster sales.
- China May Ban Rare Earth Technology Exports on Security Concerns — China may ban the export of rare-earths refining technology to countries or companies it deems as a threat on state security concerns, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- Tencent Raises $8.3 Billion With Its Biggest-Ever Loan — Tencent Holdings Ltd., the creator of the messaging platform WeChat, has raised $8.3 billion in the biggest offshore syndicated loan in Asia for a Chinese firm since 2016.
- Credit Suisse Is Pushing for Full Control of China Venture — Credit Suisse Group AG is seeking to gain full control over its securities venture in China amid plans to double its headcount and revenue in the world’s fastest growing major economy.
- Blinken Rallies ‘Quad’ Democracies to Counter Assertive China — New U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held his first virtual meeting since President Joe Biden’s election with counterparts from Japan, India and Australia, showing support for the so-called Quad grouping that seeks to counter an increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.
- USDA Says 2021 Farm Exports to China Will Touch Record High — The value of U.S. farm exports to China will touch $31.5 billion in the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the highest ever, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday in a report.
Reuters
- China hikes half-year rare earth output quotas to record level — China on Friday hiked its rare earth output quotas for the first half of the year by more than 27% to record levels, potentially easing concerns of supply shortages after a spike in prices.
- Yellen says U.S. will keep tariffs on China in place for now — The United States will keep tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by the former Trump administration in place for now, but will evaluate how to proceed after a thorough review, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC on Thursday.
- U.S. House revives bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang — The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labor, and allow further sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for abuses against Muslims.
Other Publications
- Protocol: I helped build ByteDance’s censorship machine — I wasn’t proud of it, and neither were my coworkers. But that’s life in today’s China.
- Economist: Why China’s Didi can succeed where Uber has struggled — To glimpse the future of the ride-hailing business, look east.
- Economist: China faces fateful choices, especially involving Taiwan — To many Chinese, the island’s conquest is a sacred national mission.
- Foreign Affairs: An Unsentimental China Policy — The Case for Putting Vital Interests First.
- POLITICO: Trump’s gift to Biden: Record ag exports to China — U.S. farm sales and shipments to China have surged since late last year, most notably for corn, the Agriculture Department said.
- SupChina: China hints at ending birth limits in northeastern region — but most people hate the idea — China’s northeast is suffering from declining birth rates and the migration of its young people to other parts of China. Can removing China’s current two-child policy help?
- Foreign Policy: Biden’s Eisenhower Strategy for China — The U.S. administration’s new foreign-policy doctrine is not so new.
