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
- Supply-Chain Tech Firm Taps Goldman, China’s Sovereign-Wealth Fund — Chicago-based Project44 raises $202 million as prominent investors target logistics tech.
- A Rising Yuan Sets the Stage for More China-U.S. Currency Friction — China’s foreign-exchange reserves haven’t risen much in the past year, but there are other telltale signs that the central bank may be resisting a stronger yuan.
- Invesco Forges a Different Path in China From Its Bigger U.S. Rivals — After 18 years in the country, the American asset manager wants to keep its local partner and is targeting a role in China’s $400 billion social-security fund.
- Janet Yellen and China’s Liu He Speak by Video Call — Treasury Secretary Yellen discussed the Biden administration’s economic plans and issues of concern, though neither side disclosed details.
- A Christian Congregation Fled Xi Jinping’s China, but Escaping Control Had a Price — Picking cabbages and tangerines to survive, about 60 church members from southern China are seeking asylum in South Korea, citing persecution by the Communist Party.
- Hong Kong Plans Law to Tie Mobile-Phone Numbers to User’s Identity — The city’s government moved to make people provide their identities when buying SIM cards, a change that critics said will infringe on individual freedoms and privacy.
- China Factories Delay New Orders as Costs Rise, Risking Supply Shortages — Buffeted by rising costs, some Chinese manufacturers are refusing to accept new orders or are considering shutting down operations temporarily—moves that could put more strain on global supply chains and cause more inflation.
- Hong Kong to Remember Tiananmen Square Without Mentioning the Massacre — Hong Kong police banned a vigil remembering the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown for the second year in a row, forcing people to consider alternative plans or risk being sent to jail.
The Financial Times
- A tough road ahead for US on forced labour — Biden administration is sending strong signals towards China when it comes to trade policy.
- China’s economic boom leaves manufacturing hubs short of power — Factories ordered to shut for days after hot weather and coal concerns exacerbate supply problems.
- China-backed AIIB leaves door open to lending to Myanmar’s junta — Development bank says it does not base decisions on ‘form of government’ but on broader checklist.
- China’s three-child policy may not halt the demographic free fall — In its swing from restricting to encouraging births, Beijing cannot afford to repeat past mistakes.
The New York Times
- China Reports a Human Case of Rare H10N3 Bird Flu — The World Health Organization said that such an infection was “a vivid reminder that the threat of an influenza pandemic is persistent.”
- How China’s Tencent Avoided an Antitrust Push, For Now. — Tencent’s popularity may help it avoid trouble with Beijing. But its vast power could still squelch innovation in the world’s largest online market.
- Have Three Children? No Way, Many Chinese Say. — Intense workplace competition, inadequate child care and widespread job discrimination against pregnant women have made childbearing an unappealing prospect for many.
- China Adds More Parks to Its Cities to Raise Quality of Life — A national push to build urban parks is transforming Chinese cities, as the country tries to improve the quality of daily life.
Caixin
- Exclusive: China to Lower Cap on Banks’ Deposit Rates — The move can ease fierce competition among lenders that previously helped push up lending rates and businesses’ borrowing costs.
- China Seeks to Strengthen Money Laundering Law With Higher Fines, Broader Scope — PBOC releases draft revision that would improve enforcement against terrorist financing and stipulate nonfinancial parties’ obligations in monitoring their clients for illegal activity.
- In Depth: The $15 Billion Chinese Fast Fashion App You’ve Never Heard Of (Part 1) — Closely-held Shein is valued among the world’s biggest tech startups and is challenging Western rivals like Zara with a wide product range sold at bargain-basement prices.
- Battery Maker CATL Tops 1 Trillion Yuan in Market Cap — EV boom drives surge to $157 billion on Shenzhen’s ChiNext board though some analysts warn the company is overvalued.
South China Morning Post
- Taiwan chip maker TSMC has begun construction at its Arizona factory site — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has started construction at a site in Phoenix, Arizona, where it plans to spend US$12 billion to build a chip fabrication facility, the firm’s chief executive said on Tuesday.
- Hong Kong’s street shops in flux as pandemic upends businesses, creates new opportunities — Hong Kong’s street shop landscape has transformed dramatically following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, reflecting the changing fortunes of investors and industries amid the unprecedented dislocation it has caused.
Bloomberg
- China Huarong Kept on Watch for Possible Downgrade by S&P — S&P Global Ratings continues to weigh a potential downgrade of China Huarong Asset Management Co., more than a month after peers cut their grades on the firm.
- Don’t Discount Putin in Rush to Counter China — Responses to China’s growing assertiveness will top the agenda next week at a meeting of Group of Seven leaders and a NATO summit that follows. Russian cyber capabilities may become a last-minute addition to proceedings.
- China May Have Most to Lose From Prolonged JBS Meat Shutdown — A prolonged shutdown at global meat supplier JBS SA could hit China the hardest as the country is the world’s biggest beef buyer and accounts for almost a third of the producer’s export revenue.
Reuters
- China Development Bank to sell $2 billion onshore bond amid greenback glut — Leading policy bank China Development Bank (CDB) said on Wednesday that it would sell its first dollar-denominated onshore bond in nearly six years as Chinese banks struggle with a mountain of dollars on deposit.
- Mining rig maker Canaan argues against wholesale crackdown on bitcoin mining in China — A major Chinese maker of bitcoin mining machines argued against an indiscriminate crackdown on cryptocurrency mining in China, saying the business helps make better use of electricity and contributes to employment and the local economy.
- China’s banks are bursting with dollars, and that’s a worry — A mountain of dollars on deposit in China has grown so large that banks are struggling to loan the currency and traders say it poses a risk to official efforts to control a fast-rising yuan.
- U.S. agency not doing its job to halt tech to China’s military -congressional report — The U.S. Commerce Department is failing to do its part to protect national security and keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China’s military, according to a U.S. congressional advisory report seen by Reuters.
- NBA stars urged to end China endorsements over forced labor — A U.S. congressional commission on Tuesday called on American basketball stars to end endorsements of Chinese sportswear firms that use cotton grown in China’s Xinjiang region, warning against complicity in forced labor they say takes place there.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China ousts Taiwan as Apple’s biggest source of suppliers — Number of US companies in supply chain also slides despite Trump’s trade war.
- CNBC: Australia weighs taking China to the WTO again — this time for a dispute over wine — Australia is considering whether it should get the World Trade Organization involved in an ongoing dispute with China, Trade Minister Dan Tehan told CNBC on Wednesday.
- CNBC: China to hand out $6.2 million in digital currency to Beijing residents as part of trial — China will hand out 40 million renminbi ($6.2 million) of its digital currency to citizens in Beijing in a lottery.
- The Guardian: US secretary of state warns Pacific leaders about ‘coercion’ in veiled swipe at China — Antony Blinken takes a shot at Beijing’s growing influence with rallying call for ‘international rules-based order.’
