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
- Alibaba Co-Founder Jack Ma Loses Title as China’s Richest Person — Bottled-water tycoon Zhong Shanshan tops annual list of the country’s wealthy.
- China’s Tencent Becomes an Investment Powerhouse, Using Deals to Expand Its Empire — The tech giant has investments worth an estimated $259 billion in Chinese and overseas startups.
- Stepping Up the Tech Fight Against China — Beijing has been churning out patents, spending on R&D, while the U.S. fiddles.
- Microsoft Warns of Chinese Hackers Targeting Email Product — So-called Hafnium group is attacking Microsoft Exchange Server, the tech giant says.
The Financial Times
- China/commodities: blue steel — Public infrastructure spending, and emission targets, will determine the earnings trend for local steelmakers.
- US and Asia allies plan Covid vaccine strategy to counter China — Biden administration in talks with Japan, India and Australia to distribute jabs across region.
- Jack Ma’s Ant forced into arms of banks he once dubbed ‘pawnshops’ — Fintech will have to rely on state-owned behemoths under online lending reforms.
- Iron ore and household spending stoke rapid rise in Australia GDP — Successful campaign to rein in Covid-19 infections helped economy grow 3.1% in fourth quarter.
- Australia’s treasurer warns global stimulus threatens financial stability — Josh Frydenberg defends Canberra’s approach to Beijing and unwinding the country’s Covid subsidy.
- China’s trade hand remains strong post-Trump — With US’s allies still divided, the era of Chinese ‘strategic opportunity’ has not run its course.
- Ecuador’s exporters caught between US and China after debt deal — Washington had agreed to help Quito pay Beijing to keep Chinese companies out of 5G telecoms network.
The New York Times
- ‘The East Is Rising’: Xi Maps Out China’s Post-Covid Ascent — But as Beijing rolls out a long-term plan, its top leader has also warned that “the United States is the biggest threat.”
Caixin
- Hong Kong Exchange’s New CEO Wins Regulatory Approval — JPMorgan banker Nicolas Aguzin, an Argentinian, takes office May 24 as the first HKEX chief of non-Chinese origin.
- Shaanxi’s New ‘Super Large’ Coal Mine Ticks Another Regulatory Box — The 10-million-ton mine in coal-rich province had to purchase capacity from others around the country to start operations.
- Baidu Completes Registration of New Electric Vehicle Venture with Geely — Baidu has completed registration of a new smart electric vehicle company with domestic automaker Geely, a source from Baidu said on Tuesday. The tech giant is focusing more on non-search businesses such as autonomous driving in an attempt to diversify its revenue streams beyond online advertising sales.
South China Morning Post
- China’s services sector: what is it and why is it important to the economy? — What is China’s services sector?China’s services sector is made up of various industries, including warehousing and transport services; information services; securities and other investment services; professional services; waste management; health care and social assistance; and arts, entertainment and recreation.
- China debt: foreign holdings of government bonds rise above 2 trillion yuan in February amid global rout — Foreign investors held more than 2 trillion yuan (US$309 billion) worth of Chinese government bonds for the first time in February, data showed on Wednesday, even as premiums over US debt shrank as a bond sell-off dented global markets.
- China’s top banking regulator sees surge of bad loans in 2021 as effects of coronavirus bite — When the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank by asset size, started to auction 657 million yuan (US$101.5 million) of its non-performing assets in six tranches on Monday, it drew strong interest from bad loan disposal firms.
Bloomberg
- China Turns the Screws on Renewables Just When It Needs Them — After shortchanging renewable energy developers for years to the point where it owes billions of dollars in unpaid subsidies, the Chinese government is now proposing that those companies may have to cancel part of the debt if they want to keep building new projects.
- China’s Winter Olympics Adds to Pressure for Tokyo to Hold Games — There are many reasons why Japan is determined to hold the already-delayed Tokyo Olympics this summer, but one that is seldom discussed publicly: China.
- China’s Economy Slowly Edges Toward World Dominance — China powered its way out of the coronavirus lockdown of 2020, becoming the only major economy in the world to grow last year. Its share of global output increased at the fastest pace in decades, which means it could overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest economy sooner than expected. It’s now on target to take the top spot as soon as 2028 — about two years earlier than predicted, according to estimates from the Brookings Institute.
- UBS Said to Seek to Raise Stake in China Joint Venture to 67% — UBS Group AG plans to deepen its control over its Chinese securities unit as two of its partners in the venture are seeking to sell their stakes.
- Ting Hsin Said to Mull $800 Million IPO of Chinese KFC Rival — Ting Hsin International Group, the Taiwanese food company behind the Master Kong brand, is weighing a Hong Kong initial public offering of its restaurant business in mainland China, people with knowledge of the matter said.
- Raimondo, Rhode Island Governor, Confirmed as Commerce Secretary — Gina Raimondo easily won Senate confirmation as U.S. Commerce secretary, placing the Rhode Island governor at the heart of President Joe Biden’s efforts to revive the U.S. economy and confront alleged unfair trade practices by China.
Reuters
- Concerns over China vaccine diplomacy “narrow-minded”: political advisory body — Concerns about China using vaccines to sway other countries are “narrow-minded,” a top political advisory body said, apparently dismissing a notion among rival powers that Beijing exploits the fight against COVID-19 to boost its global influence.
- China fines group-buying platforms owned by Meituan, Pinduoduo over improper pricing — China fined on Wednesday five community group-buying platforms owned and backed by the likes of Meituan, Pinduoduo, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group and Didi Chuxing, citing “improper pricing behaviour”.
Other Publications
- BBC: ‘If the others go I’ll go’: Inside China’s scheme to transfer Uighurs into work — China’s policy of transferring hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang to new jobs often far from home is leading to a thinning out of their populations, according to a high-level Chinese study seen by the BBC.
- Foreign Policy: Chinese BRI Investment Isn’t All Bad—or Good — As Sri Lanka shows, when it comes to Chinese debt, small states have agency and great powers have responsibilities.
- Foreign Affairs: China Is Not Ten Feet Tall — How Alarmism Undermines American Strategy.
- Axios: Biden’s trade nominee pledges to hold China to trade deal commitments — The Senate hearing for Katherine Tai, President Biden’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, was held last week. Tai appears popular with both Democrats and Republicans and is expected to be confirmed.