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
- Behind the Rise of U.S. Solar Power, a Mountain of Chinese Coal — Reliance on coal-fired electricity to produce solar panels raises concerns in the West.
- Two U.S. Companies Seek Continued Tariffs on Imported Solar Panels — The tariffs, which largely affect imports from Chinese-owned companies, were imposed in 2018 and are due to expire next year.
- SEC to Set New Disclosure Requirements for Chinese Company IPOs — New disclosures focus on structure of Chinese shell companies, uncertainty around Chinese government actions.
- A Cash-Strapped Corner of China Finds a Financial Tonic—Hard Liquor — The rise of China’s biggest liquor company, Kweichow Moutai, has been a gift for the indebted province that is the company’s majority shareholder.
- How Shein Became the Chinese Apparel Maker American Teens Love — Company leverages its country’s robust garment districts to produce low-price clothes that are attracting younger shoppers.
- Investors Lost Hundreds of Billions on China in July — China moves to reassure global investors who have been drawn to country’s strong growth, booming tech industry.
- China’s #MeToo Advocates Laud Police Detention of Pop Star Kris Wu — Women’s rights activists see celebrity’s detention on suspected rape as a breakthrough after years of resistance from authorities; Mr. Wu denies the allegations.
- Hong Kong Cuts Ties With Teachers Union, Saying It Incited Protests — Move comes after Chinese state media called for the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union to be eradicated.
- Hong Kong Man Arrested on Suspicion of Booing China’s National Anthem During Olympics — Police investigated after videos circulated online of people jeering at a mall during a gold medal ceremony.
The Financial Times
- China’s young ‘lie flat’ instead of accepting stress — Crackdown on after school tutoring reflects Xi’s effort to alleviate pressure on family life.
- China Evergrande boosts asset sales in bid to stave off cash crunch — Highly indebted developer sells $420m stake in internet group as financial pressures mount.
- China’s EV start-ups challenge giants in Europe and Japan — Green shift proves a tailwind for new companies as battle among local players heats up.
- China’s education crackdown causes crisis for parents — Ban comes as families prepare to send children to expensive private tutors over the summer break.
- Hong Kong’s Olympics success exposes deep political fissures — Police probe fans who shouted down Chinese national anthem during medal ceremony.
- Investors rethink China strategy after regulatory shocks — Reassurances ring hollow after crackdown on education stirs nerves over foreign investment.
- US regulators launch crackdown on Chinese listings — SEC to require more disclosures about companies’ structure and contacts with Beijing.
The New York Times
- Flooding Death Toll in China Rises Sharply — The total more than tripled since last week, suggesting delays in reporting other deaths.
- Taiwan’s Gold Medal Win Over China in Badminton Raises Tension — The Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, who beat a Chinese team to take gold, had emphasized their Taiwanese identity on social media.
- Hong Kong Targets Student Unions to Tame Universities — The authorities are clamping down on universities, which they consider hotbeds for unrest. The groups say they are fighting for survival.
- Those Virus Sequences That Were Suddenly Deleted? They’re Back — Chinese researchers have uploaded genetic sequences of coronaviruses to a scientific database more than a year after they took them offline.
- Police in China Detain Canadian Pop Star on Suspicion of Rape — Kris Wu, a 30-year-old celebrity, is the most prominent figure in China to be held over #MeToo allegations.
- He Sang 2 Songs at an Election Rally. Hong Kong Says He Violated the Law. — Anticorruption officials arrested Anthony Wong Yiu-ming, a Cantopop singer, who has publicly supported the Chinese territory’s pro-democracy opposition.
Caixin
- After Market Turmoil, China Securities Regulator Pledges to Make IPO Policies More Predictable — Government assurances come after recent actions against U.S.-listed Chinese companies spooked investors, leading to massive sell-offs.
- U.S. Investment Ban on Firms With Alleged Links to China’s Military Takes Effect — Ban follows Beijing’s tougher regulations on big tech and the online tutoring industry, which have dampened investor confidence and triggered a sharp market sell-off.
- SEC Requires Additional Disclosures for Chinese IPOs — Chairman Gary Gensler demands more information on the risks that Chinese government actions could affect company values following $1 trillion China share sell-off.
- Former Senior Banking Regulator Probed by Graft Buster — Cai Esheng, who once held a senior post in the now-defunct CBRC, is under suspicion for ‘serious violations of discipline and laws.’
South China Morning Post
- Xi’an orders Didi Chuxing to ban unlicensed vehicles, threatening more than half its fleet in the city — The western Chinese city of Xi’an has ordered ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing to ban unlicensed vehicles from operating on its platform, a move that could take more than half of the company’s fleet off local streets if followed.
- World’s largest iPhone factory escapes Henan floods but facing worker shortage as it ramps up production, local media reports — The world’s largest iPhone factory, run by Foxconn Technology Group in Zhengzhou, has emerged largely unscathed from local flooding and is now preparing for iPhone 13 production, the official Henan Daily reported on Monday.
- Brain behind TikTok’s AI engine quits to join the University of California as professor — A director at the artificial intelligence (AI) laboratory at Beijing-based ByteDance is leaving to take a position at the University of California, following other prominent AI scientists like Fei-Fei Li and Andrew Ng who gave up their corporate jobs for teaching and research.
- Interpol suspends red notice for Uygur activist Yidiresi Aishan — Interpol has suspended a red notice for a Uygur man sought by Beijing after the international police body received “new information”.
Bloomberg
- Huarong Moves to Restructure, Exit Units in Downsizing Push — China Huarong Asset Management Co., the country’s bad-debt manager that has roiled markets with doubts about its future, will exit one unit and restructure another to focus on its core businesses as it seeks to shore up its finances.
- China’s Putting Pigs in 13-Story ‘Hog Hotels’ to Keep Germs Out — China is taking hog biosecurity to new levels — 13 stories in fact.
- Tale of Fake Hewlett-Packard Gear Spurs Arrest in China, Lawsuit — When three Chinese nationals were jailed in Beijing almost a decade ago and accused of selling fake Hewlett-Packard Co. networking gear, it looked like an example of U.S. companies getting what they’d long demanded: aggressive protection of intellectual property in the world’s most populous nation.
Reuters
- Ericsson wins 5G radio contracts in China – sources — Sweden’s Ericsson won a 3% share in a joint 5G radio contract from China Telecom and China Unicom, according to sources familiar with the matter.
- China’s Evergrande to sell stakes in HengTen internet unit for $418 million — China’s most indebted property developer Evergrande Group has agreed to sell stakes in its internet unit HengTen Networks Group Ltd worth a total of HK$3.25 billion ($418.2 million), an exchange filing showed on Sunday.
- China’s education ministry says Huai Jinpeng is its new party chief — China’s education ministry said on Monday that Huai Jinpeng has been appointed as its new party chief.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asia: China backs state-owned enterprises with $32bn in rescue funds — Move to quell investor concerns risks prolonging lives of ‘zombie’ companies.
- Rest of World: Alibaba and Tencent are getting ahead of Beijing’s sweeping internet reforms — China’s biggest tech rivals are moving to make their platforms interoperable. It’s a calculated gamble that might just pay off.
- Quartz: Chinese battery giant CATL’s bet on sodium is a hedge against lithium — CATL, China’s homegrown lithium-ion battery giant, counts brands like Tesla and Volkswagen among its customers, and plans to set up a supply chain for the pioneering technology by 2023.
