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
- How Xi Jinping Is Reshaping China and What It Means for the West — Key findings from The Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the Chinese president.
- HSBC Takes the Slow Boat to China — A much-anticipated strategic update continues the bank’s frustratingly slow pivot toward Asia, only with lower shareholder returns.
- China’s Reckless Labs Put the World at Risk — By Mike Pompeo and Miles Yu. Beijing is obsessed with viruses, but not biosafety. We are paying a high price for its lapses.
The Financial Times
- China focuses on Africa energy as Belt and Road lending dries up — Chinese development banks have been supporting local projects during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Turkey’s Uighurs fear betrayal over Chinese vaccines and trade — Erdogan accused of toning down rhetoric about oppressed Muslims to avoid upsetting Beijing.
- HSBC offers lesson in corporate realpolitik — Bank’s pivot to China is a recognition of the country’s decoupling from the west.
- China urges Biden to lift sanctions and stop meddling — Foreign minister’s remarks follow frosty exchanges in first weeks of US administration.
The New York Times
- ‘Diplomacy Is Back’: Linda Thomas-Greenfield Is Confirmed as Biden’s U.N. Envoy — Ms. Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat, will go the U.N. calling for the United States to re-engage with the global body, while dealing with Republican concerns about her prior remarks on China.
Caixin
- Hong Kong’s Plan for 30% Stamp Duty Hike Sinks Stocks — Government says it needs to raise revenue as it reports record budget deficit.
- Citic Securities Plans $464 Million Asset Management Unit — China’s largest brokerage joins parade of financial services companies marching into the mutual fund business.
- West Looks On as China Dominates Global 5G Market — Nation now has 70% of the world’s base stations for the cutting-edge technology, according to new government statistics.
- China’s Hydrogen-Powered Vehicle Dreams Inch Ahead — New data show state-backed organizations have ordered 690 of the clean-burning-fuel vehicles this year, led by a request for 500 garbage trucks from Guangzhou.
- Chip Startup Horizon Robotics Joins Hands with Automaker to Develop Smart Cars — Beijing-based artificial intelligence chip developer Horizon Robotics and automaker SAIC Motor have signed a deal to jointly develop smart, internet-connected vehicles, as Beijing aims to increase the use of homemade semiconductors amid U.S. sanctions.
South China Morning Post
- China space programme: Tianwen-1 enters Mars’ parking orbit ahead of touchdown in May — China’s Mars probe has entered the red planet’s parking orbit where it will operate for the next three months before attempting to land, according to the China National Space Administration.
- Beijing is exploring digital yuan cross-border payments by joining with Hong Kong, Thailand, UAE and the Bank of International Settlements — Beijing has joined Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), to explore cross-border payments for digital currencies, a move that could potentially create a new path for China to promote the use of yuan in global payments and weaken the US dollar’s position as the world’s dominant reserve currency.
Bloomberg
- Volvo and Geely Call Off Merger, Agree to More Collaboration — China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. and its Swedish affiliate Volvo Cars will collaborate more closely on electric and self-driving vehicles while putting off earlier plans to merge.
- Chinese Ride-Sharing Giant Didi Plans Entry Into Europe — Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. plans to make its debut in Western Europe, people familiar with the matter said, as the company seeks new growth markets ahead of a long-awaited initial public offering.
- Tesla Reversal Delivers $10 Billion Hit to China’s EV Tycoons — The Chinese electric-vehicle upstarts who rode Elon Musk’s coat-tails to riches have lost around $10 billion in recent weeks as Tesla Inc.’s staggering rally shifted into reverse.
- Moutai’s $80 Billion Rout Sends Signal for China’s Stock Market — Kweichow Moutai Co. investors are selling their shares at the fastest pace in more than two years, a warning for a market that owes much of its rally to a handful of large caps.
- Tencent-Backed Edtech Startup Seeks Funding at $20 Billion Value — Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed Yuanfudao is seeking fresh funding at a valuation of more than $20 billion, people familiar with the matter said, as the cash-burning battle in China’s online education arena shows no sign of abating.
- Biden, Schumer Rush to Confront Chip Shortage Idling Auto Plants — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is asking the chamber’s top Republicans and Democrats to draw up legislation aimed at improving U.S. competitiveness with China in manufacturing and technology, including bolstering the supply of American-made semiconductors.
- Biden Nominee Open to Using Trump-Era China Investment Ban — President Joe Biden’s nominee to be Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s No. 2 indicated the U.S. is open to using a Trump-era investment ban to punish Beijing for violating international trade rules.
Reuters
- Factbox: Biden trade czar’s to-do list – China tariffs to UK post-Brexit — Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, will have a full inbox waiting if she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate after a confirmation hearing on Thursday.
- Exclusive: Senators revive bill to combat Chinese censorship of U.S. companies — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators will revive legislation as soon as Wednesday to counter Chinese censorship in the United States, a new effort by Congress to hold Beijing accountable for its growing efforts to stifle criticism beyond its borders, Senator Jeff Merkley told Reuters.
- Top U.S. Senate Democrat directs lawmakers to craft bill to counter China — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he has directed lawmakers to craft a package of measures to counter China’s rise, capitalizing on bipartisan hardline sentiment on Beijing in Congress to strengthen the U.S. tech sector and counter unfair practices.
- Chinese car maintenance start-up Tuhu plans U.S. IPO after $400 million fundraising: sources — Chinese car maintenance service start-up Tuhu is considering a U.S. initial public offering this year, after raising up to $400 million from a funding round earlier this month, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Other Publications
- Kyodo News: 12 Japan firms will kill business deals involving Uyghur forced labor — Twelve major Japanese companies have established a policy of ceasing business deals with Chinese companies found to benefit from the forced labor of the Muslim Uyghur minority in China’s far-western Xinjiang region, a Kyodo News investigation showed Sunday.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Biden and Canada’s Trudeau pledge to counter China in first meeting — Tackling climate change and COVID-19 pandemic also discussed in videoconference.
- Foreign Policy: Can a Dam Deal Buy Beijing’s Support for Myanmar’s Junta? — China wants an unpopular billion-dollar project restarted, but it has walked a fine line around the coup.
- POLITICO: Biden orders supply chain review for 4 industries — The president seeks to determine whether American companies are relying too much on foreign suppliers, particularly those in China.
- The Diplomat: Can the US and China Cooperate in Africa? — Competition aside, Washington and Beijing have many shared interests on the African continent, from security to economics to public health.
