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
- U.S. Enlists Allies to Counter China’s Technology Push — Combined efforts in semiconductors, artificial intelligence seen as way to thwart Beijing’s ambitions.
- China Got Its Economy Growing Again, but a Shortfall in Babies Will Be Harder to Fix — Some economists say a shrinking workforce threatens China’s chances of overtaking the U.S. as the world’s largest economy.
- Cold War-Era Defense System to Get Upgrade to Counter Russia, China — The U.S. and Canada move to modernize a missile-surveillance system in the Arctic that officials say is outdated.
- U.S. to Impose Sweeping Rule Aimed at China Technology Threats — Biden administration plans to let the Trump-era rule on technology purchases and deals take effect, despite U.S. business objections about its scope.
- Go East, Young Man: China Needs to Set Its Labor Force Free — To keep growth high in the years ahead, China must loosen up controls on internal migration—before it is too late.
- How Europe Became the World’s Biggest Electric-Car Market—and Why It Might Not Last — Subsidies and more choices have helped spur consumer demand, but China serves as a warning that such momentum can be fleeting.
- China’s Factory Activity Falls to Weakest Level in Nine Months — Official gauge of factory activity retreated more than expected as manufacturers suspended production during the Lunar New Year holiday.
- China Uses Expulsions, Pandemic to Disrupt Foreign Journalists, Report Says — Professional group says correspondents face stepped-up harassment and surveillance as U.S.-China ties have worsened.
- NYSE Moves to Delist Chinese Oil Company — Trading in Cnooc will be halted March 9 as Biden administration lets Trump order targeting certain Chinese firms stand.
The Financial Times
- Hong Kong protesters defy ban to show support for detained leaders — Demonstrators gather outside court after 47 charged in biggest sweep under new security law.
- Biden pressed for tough response to China’s repression of Uighurs — Some lawmakers call for boycott of winter Olympics in Beijing over its policies in Xinjiang.
- China developer default marks latest test in under-pressure sector — Ping An-backed China Fortune Land fails to repay $530m bond.
- China’s exporters hit by global shortage of shipping containers — Disruption to supply chains lengthens delivery times and leaves goods waiting at ports.
- Skydio valuation raises American hopes in drone war with China — Placement of DJI on trade blacklist has opened new opportunities for US manufacturers.
- Chinese investors turn away from Australia after Canberra crackdown — Investment fell 61% last year after deals were scuppered over security concerns.
- China’s vaccination programme beset by delay and reluctance — International travel restrictions expected until next year.
- NYSE to suspend trading of China’s Cnooc next month — Exchange moves to delist state oil group to comply with order signed by Donald Trump.
- Retail traders’ hold on China’s stock market slips as institutions rise — Increasing influence of professional investors comes as fee-free trading booms in US.
The New York Times
- Is Hong Kong’s Security Law Bad for China? — The president may be putting personal ambition ahead of his country’s best interests.
- China Appears to Warn India: Push Too Hard and the Lights Could Go Out — As border skirmishing increased last year, malware began to flow into the Indian electric grid, a new study shows, and a blackout hit Mumbai. It now looks like a warning.
- Hong Kong Charges 47 Democracy Supporters With Violating Security Law — Before Sunday, only a handful of people had been formally charged with breaking the law that China imposed last year, which carries a potential sentence of life in prison.
- China’s Retirement Home Industry is Plagued by Ponzi Schemes — Rooms and beds for retirees are in short supply as the population ages, leaving many vulnerable to companies pitching risky investments.
- China Tried to Slow Divorces by Making Couples Wait. Instead, They Rushed. — A new rule requiring a cooling-off period before a divorce could be granted led to an outcry, as well as a surge of applications to beat the deadline.
- A Spreadsheet of China’s Censorship Shows the Human Toll — An online spreadsheet with an anonymous minder tabulates Xi Jinping’s crackdown on speech.
Caixin
- Cover Story: The Green Finance Challenge Facing China’s Banks — National goal for slashing greenhouse gas emissions will create huge demand for financing while raising the climate-change risks of lending.
- Chinese Police Snatch Back 80 Billion Yuan From Disgraced P2P Platforms — Disclosure by banking regulator is one-tenth of the estimated total unpaid debts held by the platforms’ investors.
- Chinese Soccer Champion Ceases Operations as Beleaguered Sponsor Pulls Support — Jiangsu FC says it’s seeking new backers as retailer Suning.com announces its own state-led bailout.
- Wuhan Gives Up on Troubled $18.5 Billion Chipmaking Project — A year after grinding to a halt, Wuhan Hongxin dismisses workforce, telling employees ‘there is no plan for production resumption,’ one worker says.
South China Morning Post
- China’s rare earths facing ‘race to the bottom’ due to underpricing — China’s rare earths are underpriced due to vicious competition and face low resource utilisation, which would lead to a race to the bottom, the country’s industry minister said on Monday.“Our rare earths did not sell at the ‘rare’ price but sold at the ‘earth’ price … because of competitive bidding, which wasted the precious resource,” said Xiao Yaqing from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
- China-Australia relations: Chinese investment in Australia plummets in 2020 amid tensions — Chinese investment in Australia fell by 61 per cent in 2020 to the lowest level recorded by the Australian National University in six years, coinciding with a worsening diplomatic dispute.
- Suning.com sells 23 per cent stake to Shenzhen International and Shenzhen Kunpeng — Shares of Shenzhen-listed Suning.com surged 10 per cent on Monday after Shenzhen International Holdings and Shenzhen Kunpeng Equity Investment Management agreed to acquire 23 per cent of the online electric appliance retailer for 14.8 billion yuan (US$2.28 billion).
Bloomberg
- Biden Putting Tech, Not Troops, at Core of U.S.-China Policy — The Biden administration is moving to put semiconductors, artificial intelligence and next-generation networks at the heart of U.S. strategy toward Asia, attempting to rally what officials are calling “techno-democracies” to stand up to China and other “techno-autocracies.”
- China Region Declares War on Crypto Mining, Stirring Wider Fear — China’s Inner Mongolia has banned cryptocurrency mining and declared it will shut all such projects by April, spurring fears the world’s No. 2 economy will take more steps to eradicate the power-hungry practice.
- France’s Huawei Ban Begins to Kick In With Purge in Urban Areas — Phone companies including Altice Europe NV’s SFR unit and Bouygues Telecom have begun removing Huawei Technologies Co.’s wireless equipment from large French cities after the government moved to purge the Chinese vendor from all but isolated parts of the country.
- Inter Milan Risks Getting Caught in Chinese Owner’s Debt Woes — The decision by embattled Chinese conglomerate Suning Appliance Group Co. to shut down a soccer club in its hometown of Jiangsu is raising concerns that the next to get entangled in the indebted company’s efforts to raise cash could be its prize asset in Italy, FC Internazionale Milano SpA.
- PE Firms Are Feasting on China’s $5.5 Billion Logistics M&A — Deals targeting logistics companies in China have delivered the best start to the year on record, generating bumper profits for private equity firms.
- Hong Kong’s Property Crisis Has No Easy Solutions — Hong Kong has a housing crisis that goes beyond a critical shortage of land. There is no easy solution.
- China Targets National Carbon Trading Online by End of June — China wants online trading in its national carbon market to begin before the end of June as it seeks more tools to help cut emissions.
Reuters
- Foreign journalists in China see ‘rapid decline in media freedom’: survey — China used coronavirus prevention measures, intimidation and visa curbs to limit foreign reporting in 2020, ushering in a “rapid decline in media freedom,” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) said on Monday.
- U.S. doubles down on protecting university research from China — A U.S. national security commission is recommending that American universities take steps to prevent sensitive technology from being stolen by the Chinese military, a sign of growing concerns over the security of academic research.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: Suspicions of securities scandals stand out in Chinese market — Foreign investors on the rise but face potential risk amid insufficient oversight.
- Axios: Trump’s assault on Chinese tech left loose ends galore — President Trump’s haphazard war on Chinese tech has left the Biden administration with a raft of unfinished business involving efforts to restrict Chinese firms and products in U.S. markets.
- AP News: China not ready to allow the Boeing 737 Max back in the air — Beijing isn’t ready to follow the United States in allowing Boeing’s 737 Max back into the air after a pair of fatal crashes two years ago.
- CNN: Apple had a blowout quarter in China. But can its success there continue? — Apple blew through its December quarter record for sales in China when it reported earnings last month.
