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
- Didi Global Considers Going Private to Placate China and Compensate Investors — Ride-hailing giant has been contemplating delisting plan as crackdown widens and has obtained support from cybersecurity watchdog
- China Moves to Reassure Global Banks and Investors After Market Rout — Securities regulator says future policies will be introduced more cautiously to avoid market volatility
- China Tech Stocks Rebound, but Investors Remain Cautious — The Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 8% after China moved to contain the fallout from a regulatory assault on tech firms
- China’s New Ambassador to the U.S. Adopts Placating Tone — Comments by Qin Gang, a trusted aide to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, indicate a desire to reset relationship, but on China’s terms
- Outspoken Chinese Industrialist Gets 18-Year Sentence for Causing Public Disorder, Other Offenses — Conviction of farming executive Sun Dawu and 19 others signals risks for private entrepreneurs in China.
- China Meets With Taliban, Stepping Up as U.S. Exits Afghanistan — Foreign minister, signaling a growing role for Beijing in the country, urges group to pursue peace efforts
- Gunman in Pakistan Fires on Car Carrying Chinese Engineers — The attack was the latest on China’s citizens in the country, which is a close ally of Beijing
The Financial Times
- European stocks rise as China seeks to ease regulatory jitters — Oil producers and miners rally as commodities rebound lifts dividend payouts
- Beijing seeks to ease fears on Wall Street after tech crackdown — China’s market watchdog holds call with global banks as regulatory assault sends shockwaves through stocks
The New York Times
- China’s New U.S. Ambassador Is Likely to Reflect Beijing’s Confidence — Qin Gang rose from working for a foreign news agency to becoming a trusted aide to Xi Jinping, China’s top leader.
- The Chinese Sports Machine’s Single Goal: The Most Golds, at Any Cost — China relies on a system that puts tens of thousands of children in government-run training schools. Many of the young athletes are funneled into less prominent sports that Beijing hopes to dominate.
- China Offers the Taliban a Warm Welcome While Urging Peace Talks — Worried about the war in Afghanistan, China has stepped up diplomatic efforts with the government and the group to encourage a political settlement after the U.S. withdrawal.
- A Rural Tycoon Criticized Beijing. Now He’s Been Jailed for 18 Years. — Sun Dawu described enduring “misery beyond words” during monthslong police interrogations that forced what he said was a false confession.
Caixin
- Regulator Fines Banks $1.4 Million for Property Loan Violations — Shanghai office of CBIRC penalizes branches of the four biggest state-owned banks as China continues attack on irregularities in the real estate market
- China’s TikTok Denies Facial Scanning Tech Collects Personal Data — ByteDance says Douyin app’s special effects function is ‘not facial recognition’ amid growing concerns about privacy and deep fakes
- Tightening of Tech, Tutoring Sector Rules Is Not ‘Suppression,’ State Media Says as Shares Tank — In a commentary, Xinhua says China’s latest regulatory efforts are designed to protect livelihoods and preserve data security
South China Morning Post
- China’s ban on private tutoring may create a black market as demand for education services remains high — China’s ban on private tutoring for children has put an abrupt end to a once-bustling industry but may actually create a black market with significantly higher prices, according to industry insiders and parents.
- Huawei removes self-driving car chief after remarks about Tesla ‘killing’ people go viral on social media — Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co has removed the executive in charge of its smart driving unit after he sparked controversy by telling a conference audience that the self-driving technology used by Tesla was “killing” people.
- China’s smartphone market cools in second quarter as Huawei drops out of top five vendor rankings — Smartphone shipments in mainland China declined 17 per cent in the quarter ended June, as the void left in the market by US-blacklisted telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co could not be filled by the country’s other big Android handset vendors.
Bloomberg
- Didi’s Shares Surge on Report It’s Considering Going Private — Didi Global Inc. surged after the Wall Street Journal reported the firm is considering going private to placate Chinese regulators and compensate investors for losses.
- China Hog Tycoon’s Stiff Sentence Sends Warning to Billionaires — China has sent a hog farming tycoon to 18 years in prison for a range of crimes, delivering another message to the financial elite of the world’s second-largest economy they will pay a heavy price for challenging the ruling Communist Party.
- Tencent Is World’s Worst Stock Bet With $170 Billion Wipeout — China’s unprecedented crackdown on its technology industry has turned Tencent Holdings Ltd. from a market darling into the world’s biggest stock loser this month.
- Tiger Global’s 20-Year Run in China Hits Snag on New Crackdown — After making a fortune in China for two decades, Tiger Global Management is taking a hit from the nation’s unexpectedly widespread regulatory crackdown.
Reuters
- China’s GCL plans Ethiopian ammonia plant and hydrogen facilities — Chinese solar panel maker GCL Group plans a plant in Ethiopia to make ammonia using the natural gas produced from fields it has been developing under a deal with the local government, the company said on Thursday.
- China’s CATL unveils sodium-ion battery – a first for a major car battery maker — China’s CATL on Thursday became the first major automotive battery maker to unveil a sodium-ion battery, saying it planned to set up a supply chain for the new technology in 2023.
- Biden nominates Huawei prosecutor for key China export post — U.S. prosecutor Thea Kendler, an attorney on the criminal case against China’s Huawei and its Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, will be nominated for a Commerce Department post vital to controlling exports to China, the White House said on Wednesday.
Other Publications
- The Economist: China’s crackdown on the online-education business marks a turning-point — Less capitalism, more state
- The Economist: China’s techlash gains steam. Again — Online-education firms will not be the last victims
- Nikkei Asia: Analysis: China engages in fierce propaganda war during Sherman visit — Using online media, Beijing shapes the narrative while the meeting was ongoing
- Foreign Affairs: China’s Sputnik Moment? — How Washington Boosted Beijing’s Quest for Tech Dominance
- Foreign Policy: China Is Using Tibetans as Agents of Empire in the Himalayas — What life is like for the quarter-million residents of fortress villages in Tibet.
