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’s Antigraft Watchdog Probes Party Leaders in Alibaba, Ant’s Backyard — Investigation raises questions about close ties between local top-level Communist Party members and the private sector.
- Kamala Harris Stresses Cooperation on Supply Chains in Singapore Visit — Vice president emphasizes strengthening economic ties with Southeast Asia as rising Covid-19 cases slow factory production.
The Financial Times
- Chinese tech shares rebound after JD.com earnings defy crackdown — Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management reveals it repurchased shares in ecommerce group.
- China’s crypto crackdown delivers windfall to global bitcoin ‘miners’ — Solving puzzles in return for digital coins has become more profitable as competitors exit.
- China’s courts take centre stage as defaults shake $17tn bond market — Judiciary takes stronger role in restructurings and bankruptcies but foreign investors still at a disadvantage.
- China warns thousands of officials over links with businesses — Corruption watchdog issues directive to Hangzhou authorities as Xi Jinping targets ‘social ills.’
- Shares in Hong Kong bourse rally after Chinese stock futures approved — Agreement will allow global investors to hedge exposure to mainland markets and inflicts another blow on SGX.
The New York Times
- In Southeast Asia, Kamala Harris Rebukes China — The vice president rebuked China and sought to fortify the image of the United States as a credible ally amid growing questions about Afghanistan.
Caixin
- China Seeks to Quell Investors Ganging Up to Drive Down IPO Prices — Compressing quotations in Shanghai’s STAR Market and Shenzhen’s ChiNext has been a recurring problem.
- China to Speed Up Public-Private Partnership Legislation — Finance Ministry puts a priority on completing overhaul of PPP rules after four years of delays and disputes after NPC raises the issue.
- JD.com Sees Profit Plunge, but Manages to Boost Revenue Despite Tech Crackdown — Chinese e-commerce giant’s second-quarter net profit slid to 794.3 million yuan from more than 16.4 billion yuan a year earlier as marketing and fulfillment costs ate into its growing income.
South China Morning Post
- National security law: Hong Kong censorship law changes open door to retroactive banning of previously licensed films — Amendments to the city’s Film Censorship Ordinance to be tabled next week at Legco increase maximum jail terms to three years for unauthorised screenings.
- SoftBank invests in Chinese-founded fintech start-up OPay after Masayoshi Son puts pause on China deals — A mobile payment start-up in Africa founded by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur Zhou Yahui has announced a fresh round of funding led by SoftBank, the Japanese multinational’s first big bet in Africa after CEO Masayoshi Son said he would pause investments in China amid regulatory uncertainty.
- Alibaba Cloud data leak ‘violated Cybersecurity Law’ in 2019 and must rectify, local Chinese telecoms regulator says — The telecoms authority of China’s eastern Zhejiang province has told the cloud computing unit of Alibaba Group Holding that it violated the country’s Cybersecurity Law and should make rectifications following a complaint about a 2019 information leak.
Bloomberg
- China Ride-Hailing Giant Didi Puts Europe Expansion on Hold — Didi Global Inc. suspended plans to expand in Europe partly because of government concerns over how the Chinese ride-hailing company handles passenger data, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- Ships Resume Docking at Ningbo Port After Two-Week Shutdown — Ships have resumed berthing operations at a halted container terminal in Ningbo, China, adding to optimism that full activity at one of the world’s busiest ports will be restored shortly after a two-week shutdown to quarantine dockworkers.
- New Chair of 205-Year-Old Swire Looks to China for Growth — As chairman of Swire Pacific Ltd., Merlin Swire steered the 205-year-old Hong Kong business empire through some of its worst crises in recent times, including the pandemic that almost sank its aviation unit last year.
Reuters
- Exclusive: SEC gives Chinese companies new requirements for U.S. IPO disclosures — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has started to issue new disclosure requirements to Chinese companies seeking to list in New York as part of a push to boost investor awareness of the risks involved, according to a document reviewed by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.
- China should avoid excessive, “flood-like” COVID measures – former CDC expert — The benefits of China’s zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19 continue to outweigh the costs but it should cut back on excessive measures that risk exhausting people, a former Chinese disease control official said on Tuesday.
- Exclusive: Limited Chinese cooperation hindering U.S. fentanyl fight – congress report — Weak cooperation between U.S. and Chinese authorities is hindering efforts to curb increasingly sophisticated forms of fentanyl trafficking, according to a U.S. congressional advisory report reviewed by Reuters.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: U.S. is still a ‘global leader,’ Harris says on Asia trip, as allies fret over China, Afghanistan — Vice President Harris’s visit to Singapore and Vietnam this week, only her second foray internationally, is emerging as a test of Washington’s ability not just to lead the way but also to counter an increasingly aggressive Beijing.
- Nikkei Asia: China-backed mining deepens Papua New Guinea’s golden dilemma — COVID raises economic need but history of disputes and Beijing’s rise fuel opposition.
- Nikkei Asia: Chinese officials lecture Hong Kong legislators on Five Year Plan — Beijing breaks protocol with visit, warning city to ‘get moving’ economically.
- Quartz: China’s new carbon trading market isn’t working — The price of emissions credits in China’s carbon trading market reached a record low on Aug. 20, the latest sign that the market’s structural flaws are preventing it from working as an effective weapon against climate change.
- Protocol: L2? L2.99? China and the U.S. are both failing to regulate self-driving cars — Marketing language often refers to the future, not the present — and drivers in both countries are getting confused, and sometimes hurt.
