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
- China Lays Plans to Tame Tech Giant Alibaba — E-commerce company to face softer treatment than its Ant affiliate, provided it distances itself from founder Jack Ma.
- EU to Sanction Chinese Officials Over Human-Rights Violations — Sanctions, which include a travel ban and asset freezes, would be the first over human-rights abuses since Tiananmen Square crackdown.
- China’s Baidu Aims to Raise $3 Billion in Hong Kong Share Sale — Internet search provider intends to sell 95 million new shares.
- U.S. Wants India’s Help on China, but There Are a Few Sticking Points — The Biden administration wants to embed India in plans to compete with China but must smooth over disagreements on a Russian weapons system.
- China Offers Vaccines to Tokyo, Beijing Olympics Participants — International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach announced the offer as the Tokyo Games approach with most of the world unvaccinated for Covid-19.
- China Regulator Fines Tencent, Baidu, Others Over Investment Deals — The move serves as a reminder that authorities are intensifying scrutiny over China’s powerful tech giants, antitrust experts say.
- Power or Profits: Beijing’s Pension Dilemma — By Joseph C. Sternberg. The Chinese badly need places to invest savings, but the necessary reforms endanger the party’s rule.
The Financial Times
- US and Asia allies launch major vaccine drive to counter China — The 1bn Covid jabs will be funded by US and Japan, made in India and distributed by Australia.
- Biden condemns Beijing over Hong Kong election law — US calls changes a ‘direct attack’ on democracy ahead of first high-level meeting of Biden era.
- Ukraine to nationalise aircraft engine maker to prevent Chinese takeover — Kyiv cites ‘national security’ as reason for returning Motor Sich to state ownership.
- To maintain tech supremacy the US must avoid ‘military-civil fusion’ — The strategic threat from China is real but American tech giants do not deserve special treatment.
The New York Times
- China’s Dr. Fauci Urges Restraint in Fighting Covid-19 — Zhang Wenhong has drawn a huge public following with a human touch and candid advice that sometimes runs counter to the government’s authoritarian instincts.
- Hungary Pays $36 Per Dose for Chinese Vaccine — The European nation has agreed to pay $36 per dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, according to contracts put online by a Hungarian official.
- China Turns to Elon Musk as Technology Dreams Sour — The Tesla boss and digital prankster is striking a chord, at a time of disillusionment with the tech industry and its leading tycoons.
Caixin
- Exclusive: China’s Biggest Policy Bank Fined Big Bucks for Illicitly Guaranteeing HNA Loan, Sources Say — China Development Bank gets slapped with a $6.6 million fine for failing to properly check the borrowing it was guaranteeing.
- Second China Railway Executive Probed for Alleged Corruption — Top anti-graft watchdog launches investigation into vice general manager of Beijing unit for ‘violations of party discipline and law’.
- JD.com Posts 31% Revenue Growth as Online Shopping Booms — Fourth-quarter profit surges sixfold, underscoring China’s massive shift to e-commerce amid the pandemic.
South China Morning Post
- Tokyo slams Beijing’s revamp of electoral system in Hong Kong, with Japanese firms wary of legislation changes — Japan “cannot overlook” the resolution passed by China’s National People’s Congress on Thursday to change the electoral system in Hong Kong, with Tokyo describing new laws requiring all political candidates to be “patriots” as a major setback to the city’s autonomy.
- China FDI up 34.2 per cent in US dollar terms in January-February — Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, excluding the banking, securities and insurance sectors, stood at 176.76 billion yuan in January and February, up 31.5 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce reported on Friday.
- American Rescue Plan: China worried about economic impact of Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion coronavirus bailout — US President Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue plan has raised the alert level in China, with government officials and advisers openly expressing fear that the massive injection of money into the global market could inflate asset bubbles, cause further financial market turmoil and lead to higher inflation.
- Ant Group vows to be carbon neutral by 2030, setting a goal post three decades earlier than China’s ambitious clean energy target — Ant Group, the financial technology affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, said on Friday it plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, joining other Chinese tech companies that have embraced the country’s official environmental goals.
- Pakistan blocks China’s TikTok after complaint over ‘indecent content’ — Pakistan on Thursday blocked the popular social media app TikTok after a court order over a complaint that it ran indecent content, a spokesman for the country’s telecoms regulator said.“The court has asked PTA to block access to TikTok,” Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) spokesman Khurram Mehran said, adding that the authority would comply with the order.
Bloomberg
- Biden Steers Off a Blunt Anti-China Message With Asia Allies — As President Joe Biden seeks to shore up ties with allies in Asia, he’s reshaping the message to avoid spooking them about America’s intentions when it comes to China.
- Ant Group CEO Simon Hu Said to Resign, Jing to Take Position — Simon Hu has unexpectedly resigned as chief executive officer of Ant Group Co., adding fresh turmoil to the financial technology giant as it grapples with Chinese government demands to overhaul its business.
- Alibaba-Backed Chinese AI Startup Megvii Files for Shanghai IPO — Megvii Technology Ltd. is poised to become the first major Chinese artificial intelligence startup to go public after it filed for a Chinese Depositary Receipt offering on Shanghai’s Star board on Friday.
- Tencent Said to Face Broad China Clampdown on Fintech, Deals — Pony Ma’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. has been put on notice.
- U.S. Imposes New 5G License Limits on Some Huawei Suppliers — The Biden administration has informed some suppliers to China’s Huawei Technologies Co. of tighter conditions on previously approved export licenses, prohibiting items for use in or with 5G devices, according to people familiar with the move.
Reuters
- Exclusive: China’s JD.com in talks to purchase stake in brokerage worth $1.5 billion – sources — JD.com Inc is in talks to buy part or all of a stake in brokerage Sinolink Securities worth at least $1.5 billion, three people said, as the e-commerce major aims to bolster its financial services operations.
- Africa proves rocky terrain for Russian and Chinese vaccines — Russia and China are racing to plug the COVID-19 vaccine gap in Africa, hoping to cement their influence on a continent where many countries have yet to administer a single shot.
- Analysis: CNOOC needs to double down on drilling and deals in carbon-cutting gas pivot — A rapid rise in offshore drilling and deepwater gas extraction may seem an unlikely path to lower emissions, but are central planks of Chinese energy major CNOOC Ltd’s plan to help hit Beijing’s climate goals.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: US and China play mind games over how to frame Alaska meeting — Beijing calls it a ‘high-level strategic dialogue’ — but Washington says it’s nothing of the kind.
- Economist: Why the internet has not freed China — How judgmental fans and cowardly advertisers empower Chinese censors.
- Economist: To crush democracy, China is changing Hong Kong’s political rules — The national parliament has called for sweeping changes.
- Economist: A confident China seeks to insulate itself from the world — Its new five-year plan is vague on growth but clear about self-sufficiency.
- Economist: China’s government is cracking down on fintech. What does it want? — The state is seeking to position itself at the heart of the industry.
- Economist: China’s budget forecast is more informative than its growth target — The economy often grows more slowly than the Ministry of Finance expects.
- Foreign Policy: China’s New Five-Year Plan Is a Disappointment — As domestic problems mount, Beijing’s planners are lowering expectations.
- Foreign Affairs: America’s Indo-Pacific Folly — Adding New Commitments in Asia Will Only Invite Disaster.
- The Diplomat: The Polar Policies in China’s New Five-Year Plan — The inclusion of Arctic and Antarctic policies within the new FYP represents the emerging importance of the two poles to China.
- VICE: The US Is Building Walls Around Science, and We’re All Poorer for It — In a world fractured by nations, races, and governing systems, can science transcend political borders?
