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
- HSBC Searches for China’s Wealthy With an Army of Roaming Bankers — Pinnacle is critical to CEO Noel Quinn’s plan to revive the bank’s lagging fortunes.
- TuSimple IPO Filing Shows Self-Driving Trucks Still a Money-Loser — U.S. regulators earlier this month notified the startup it is probing a large Chinese investment.
- Quick to Contain Covid-19, Asia Trails West in Vaccinations — Mainland China and Hong Kong have covered around 5% of their populations; most Asian countries are at less than 3%.
- Tencent Stresses Regulatory Compliance as Profits From Gaming, Payments Surge — Gaming giant benefited from a pandemic lockdown last year but faces scrutiny from Chinese regulators.
The Financial Times
- Tencent confirms talks with Chinese antitrust regulators — Gaming and payments group defends compliance record after ‘voluntary’ meeting with authorities.
- Xinjiang sanctions are sign of western resolve on China — Retaliation by Beijing against EU officials puts investment deal in jeopardy.
- MEPs hope for diplomatic thaw before decision on China deal — Brussels’ bureaucratic hurdles could buy time for de-escalation of Beijing spat.
- Sanctions row threatens EU-China investment deal — Diplomatic escalation between Brussels and Beijing deepens uncertainty over treaty.
- China’s tech giants face a reckoning with the regulators — The country’s ecommerce platforms are caught between consumers and government.
- Rethinking Supply Chains — From the US-China trade war, to Brexit, to pandemic-led delays to manufacturing and shipping, the global supply chain is firmly in the spotlight. How is the business of trade adapting in a changing world? This is the first of a three-part series.
- In charts: Asia’s manufacturing dominance — Semiconductor and automotive supply chains have shifted east, particularly to China.
- Pandemic reveals weak links in global supply chain — Vaccine nationalism, Brexit and US-China tensions reflect a political environment more hostile to global trade.
- Doubts overshadow China’s pledge to vaccinate developing countries — Concerns over transparency, efficacy and supply weaken global demand for country’s Covid-19 jabs.
The New York Times
- How Illicit Oil Is Smuggled Into North Korea With China’s Help — New satellite images obtained by The New York Times show that China has allowed tankers to use its infrastructure and territorial waters to deliver oil to North Korea.
- China Doesn’t Respect Us Anymore — for Good Reason — We’ve stopped following our formula for success.
Caixin
- Analysis: How the U.S. Trading Ban Fueled Sell-Offs of Hong Kong-Listed China Stocks — Some companies have seen share prices plunge as U.S. investors rushed to dump their holdings to meet a deadline set by Washington.
- ByteDance Snaps Up Shanghai Game-Maker as Tussle With Tencent Intensifies — Moonton, which has found particular success in Southeast Asia, will remain largely independent after the deal.
- In Depth: China Telecom Comes Home With Mainland Listing — Funding for new initiatives and its recent exile from New York could be factors driving the state-owned giant’s plan for a Shanghai IPO.
- Geely’s Shanghai Listing Plan Hits the Brakes on Pending Regulatory Approval — CSRC is reportedly questioning carmaker’s tech credentials for STAR Market.
- In Depth: How Suning Fell Into Crisis as JD.com Surged — Chinese retailing giant lacked focus — investing in TV sports and soccer — sold assets to prop up profits and frittered away its former commanding position.
- Chinese Game Livestreamers Huya and DouYu Both Report Solid Revenue Growth as Their Merger Remains Uncertain on Antitrust Concerns — Huya and DouYu, China’s two largest game-centric livestreaming platforms, which Tencent looks to merge, both reported solid revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2020, as their paying user bases expanded.
South China Morning Post
- Tencent posts 175 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit, as it faces tighter scrutiny from Chinese regulators and seeks new growth opportunities — Tencent Holdings reported on Wednesday a 175 per cent rise in profit for the fourth quarter, beating market estimates as the internet giant deals with increased scrutiny from the Chinese government’s crackdown on Big Tech companies.
- China coal: Australia ban continues to weigh on supply, imports down 40 per cent even as Russia moves to fill gap — China’s imported coal supplies are under pressure amid a prolonged ban on Australian imports that shows “no sign of being lifted in the near term”, and new restrictions at the border with Mongolia.
- Kuaishou spent big on getting more users in 2020, but analysts say losses belie bright long term outlook — Kuaishou Technology, the operator of China’s second-largest short video app and main rival to ByteDance’s Douyin, posted a huge net loss in its first earnings report since listing in Hong Kong, but analysts said its long term outlook is still bright.
- Xiaomi posts 261 per cent rise in quarterly profit after winning preliminary injunction against US investment ban — Xiaomi Corp’s fourth-quarter profit rose 261 per cent to beat market estimates on the back of expanded sales and global market share, as the Chinese smartphone giant defied a US ban on American investments.
Bloomberg
- Hong Kong Suspends BioNTech Shot on Loose Vial Caps, Stains — Hong Kong and Macau temporarily suspended Covid-19 vaccines manufactured by BioNTech SE because of a packaging defect, dealing a blow to inoculation drives seen as key to reviving the cities’ pandemic-battered economies.
- China’s New Belt and Road Has Less Concrete, More Blockchain — The U.S. response to it has been “too little, too late,” says a new task force report.
- China’s $2.3 Trillion Hidden Debt Could Climb Even Further — China’s local governments had 14.8 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion) of hidden debt last year, and the figure could climb even further this year, according to a government-linked think tank.
- China Is Said to Mull State-Backed Company to Oversee Tech Data — China’s government has proposed establishing a joint venture with local technology giants that would oversee the lucrative data they collect from hundreds of millions of consumers, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Shelved IPOs Surge in China After Watchdog Tightens Scrutiny — Chinese firms have flocked to pull planned initial public offerings this year after regulators moved to tighten requirements to protect investors and safeguard financial stability.
Reuters
- Old H&M comment on ‘forced labour’ in China’s Xinjiang raises online storm — At least one Chinese online retailer appeared to drop H&M’s products amid social media attacks on the Swedish company for saying it was “deeply concerned” about reports of forced labour in the farwestern region of Xinjiang.
- Exclusive: China’s Didi leans towards New York for IPO, eyes valuation of at least $100 billion – sources — China’s top ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing is leaning toward picking New York over Hong Kong for its initial public offering (IPO), eyeing a valuation of at least $100 billion via the float, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
- China triples output of COVID-19 vaccines from early February: Xinhua — China’s daily output of COVID-19 vaccines has reached about 5 million doses, more than tripling the 1.5 million-dose daily production rate on Feb. 1, official media said on Wednesday.
- U.S. senators push solar lobby to detail firms’ links to forced labor in China — Two U.S. senators have asked the leading solar energy lobbying group to clarify U.S. dependence on solar products linked to forced labor in China’s Xinjiang, part of push in Congress to address what Western countries say are rights abuses by Beijing.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China-EU investment deal caught in Xinjiang sanctions crossfire — European Parliament head says Chinese tit-for-tat response will have ‘consequences’.
- Nikkei Asian Review: US Congress pushes $100bn research blitz to outcompete China — Beijing’s challenge drives Washington to take greater hand in industrial policy.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Japan shies away from sanctions on China over Xinjiang — In echo of Tiananmen Square, Tokyo takes different path than that of key allies.
- The Economist: How do China’s autonomous regions differ from provinces? — Autonomous regions are supposed to protect ethnic minorities. They don’t.
- Foreign Policy: The U.S. Doesn’t Need China’s Collapse to Win — A misguided theory of great-power competition will only lead to grief.
- Foreign Affairs: There Will Not Be a New Cold War — The Limits of U.S.-Chinese Competition.
- Axios: Poll: Russians warm toward China — Russians increasingly consider China a friend, and the U.S. an enemy.
- The Diplomat: The Logic of China’s Vaccine Diplomacy — An in-depth look at where China’s vaccines are going hints at the motivations behind the campaign.