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 July Jitters Become a Summer Slump — The first read on August data suggests China’s economy slowed further, particularly in services but also in the previously strong manufacturing sector.
- Covid-19 Delta Variant Pummels China’s Services Sector — August reading of official nonmanufacturing PMI marks first time the measure has dropped into contractionary territory since February 2020.
- Chinese Tech Giant Meituan Logs Another Loss Despite Sales Jump — Under pressure amid crackdown, CEO says ‘fine-tuning’ of business will be long-term positive.
- China Evergrande Says Construction of Some Projects Has Stalled, Warns of Possible Default — Cash-strapped developer posts 29% drop in profit for first half of this year.
The Financial Times
- Heavily indebted Chinese developer Evergrande warns of default risk — Company cuts debt to roughly $89bn but says idle building projects threaten liquidity.
- Chinese media back diatribe calling for crackdown to be expanded — Nationalist commentator says Xi’s campaign will transform China from a capitalist ‘paradise.’
- China limits children to 3 hours of online gaming a week — Minors only allowed to play on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays under latest rules to hit tech groups.
- Meituan’s chief adopts Xi’s wealth redistribution rhetoric — Founder of Chinese tech company emphasises ‘common prosperity’ as regulatory crackdown mounts.
The New York Times
- China Tightens Limits for Young Gamers and Bans School Night Play — The restrictions reflect the government’s intensifying push for companies to jettison what it says are unhealthy cultural influences.
Caixin
- Evergrande Electric Car Unit Says Ballooning Losses May Force Production Delays — Unit may have to push back mass production from originally planned rollout later this year, with sources estimating a 2022 start.
- Moutai Chairman Ousted After Just 18 Months in the Job — Latest personnel shakeup at world’s most valuable liquor company follows a string of corruption scandals.
South China Morning Post
- AmCham in southwest China suspends operations at ‘48 hours’ notice’ — Group tells members it is acting in accordance with relevant Chinese laws, as person familiar with matter flags ‘compliance issue’ related to non-profits.
- China to cap annual urban rent increases at 5 per cent to rein in runaway prices and make homes affordable to job seekers — China’s government plans to put a lid on rental charges in the nation’s cities to rein in runaway housing costs, after years of draconian crackdowns have failed to make urban housing more affordable for the millions of people who enter the job market.
- Huawei employs more lobbyists in the EU than Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple, but spends less — Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co employs more lobbyists in the European Union (EU) than any other global tech company, as it tries to cope with increasing barriers to doing business on the continent.
Bloomberg
- China Threatens to Ban E-Commerce Companies That Flout IP Laws — China plans to tighten oversight of e-commerce companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Pinduoduo Inc., including by holding them accountable for intellectual property violations.
- China’s Flat-lining Carbon Market May Get Lift From New Permits — Participants in China’s carbon market expect 5 billion tons of emissions allowances to be issued around October, a move that will help kick-start what has so far been moribund trading.
- U.S.’s Kerry on Trip to Japan, China to Discuss Climate Efforts — China confirmed Kerry would visit from Tuesday to Friday and hold meetings with counterpart Xie Zhenhua.
Reuters
- Hong Kong’s strict quarantine rules threaten to erode allure of financial hub — Working on billion-dollar deals locked in hotel rooms for three weeks is becoming common for bankers in Asia’s financial hub even as counterparts in places like London and New York go straight back to their offices after travel.
- China culture crackdown a sign of ‘profound’ political change – commentary — China’s crackdown on celebrity culture and its moves to rein in giant internet firms are a sign of “profound” political changes under way in the country, a prominent blogger said in a post widely circulated across state media.
Other Publications
- The Guardian: Chinese university appears to ask for lists of LGBTQ+ students for ‘investigation’ — Survey by Shanghai University that asked colleges to research the political stance and ‘state of mind’ of members of LGBTQ+ communities has sparked alarm.
- Protocol: Tencent’s messaging platform blocks LGBTQ search terms — Searches with words like “gay,” “lesbian,” “LGBTQ,” come back with a notice: “Use the Internet in a civil manner. Say no to harmful information.”
- The Washington Post: Gay Games in Hong Kong face attacks as China’s proxies target LGBT groups — Attacks on the Gay Games from local lawmakers aligned with Beijing are revealing bigotry in the financial hub, where space for promoting ideas such as equality and diversity has shrunk under China’s tightening control.
- Nikkei Asia: Chinese components double to 60% in new Huawei smartphone — Teardown analysis reflects impact of U.S. sanctions on former No. 2 player.
