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 to Launch Beijing Stock Exchange to Steer Investment Into Innovation — Xi Jinping announces new trading venue as U.S. listing opportunities dwindle.
- John Kerry Seeks China’s Climate Cooperation, Gets an Earful on Fraying Ties — U.S. climate envoy says talks in China were constructive, detailed.
- Alibaba Pledges $15.5 Billion as Chinese Companies Extol Beijing’s ‘Common Prosperity’ Push — Tencent and others also rush to support government initiative to bolster social equality in China.
- Chinese Essayist Revives Worries About a New Cultural Revolution — The essay, hailing Beijing’s regulatory campaigns as a ‘profound revolution,’ prompted a rebuttal from a leading nationalist.
- China’s SMIC to Build $8.87 Billion Chip Production Line in Shanghai — Chip maker will team up with government to build the facility amid a global shortage.
- An Insider Details the Chinese Communist Party’s Disdain for “Expendable” Entrepreneurs — As the party emphasizes “common prosperity,” a well-connected investor recalls the freewheeling era when Beijing tolerated closer ties between officials and entrepreneurs.
The Financial Times
- Mystery of missing woman who struck deals with China’s ‘red aristocracy’ — Duan Weihong made the most of the brief ‘golden age’ for entrepreneurs before vanishing.
- Hui Ka Yan, the Chinese tycoon trying to save the Evergrande empire — Billionaire founder and chair of world’s most indebted property group must stave off liquidity crisis.
- New Beijing bourse faces tough road ahead despite Xi’s blessing — Analysts say there is little need for third stock exchange alongside Shanghai and Shenzhen.
- Beijing’s tech sector shock casts a long shadow — Action against online groups raises doubts about investing in China as a whole.
- Xi Jinping is aiming to redraw China’s social contract — A campaign to address vulnerabilities risks a return to radicalism.
- Steelmaking raw materials decouple under China’s influence — Iron slumps while the price of metallurgical coal soars.
- The downside of the economics of self-reliance — If a coming investment push is inward-looking, it might substitute global trade rather than complement it.
The New York Times
- China Tells Kerry Strained Ties Could Sink Climate Cooperation — President Biden’s climate envoy ended talks in China with a pledge to continue negotiations. But Beijing warned that broader U.S.-China tensions hurt cooperation.
Caixin
- China Bans Minors From Idol Groups, TV Talent Shows, Fan Club Events — A new notice also calls for harsher punishment for actors engaging in illegal or unethical behavior amid crackdown on celebrity fan culture
- Alibaba Jumps on ‘Common Prosperity’ Bandwagon With $15.5 Billion Pledge — E-commerce giant pledges $15.5 billion for 10 initiatives over five years as list lengthens of tech companies responding to President Xi’s campaign.
South China Morning Post
- China anti-corruption probe finds local governments are still ‘fabricating’ economic data — Further cases of economic data fraud by local governments in China have been reported by the country’s top anti-corruption agency following a two-year investigation.
- Taliban to ‘actively support’ belt and road plan of ‘trustworthy friend’ China — Afghanistan will continue to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Taliban have said, expressing hopes to rely on Beijing’s investment and support to rebuild the war-ravaged country while promising to protect Chinese interests there.
- New Beijing Stock Exchange could be the financial lifeline China’s small companies are crying out for, analysts say — A new stock exchange planned for Beijing could provide a financial lifeline for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have often struggled to access financing.
- China’s ‘baseless’ challenge to US solar panel tariffs rejected by WTO — A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel rejected all four of China’s claims against the United States relating to safeguard measures that the Trump administration imposed on solar panels imported from Chinese manufacturers.
Bloomberg
- City of Beijing Said to Seek Taking Didi Under State Control — Beijing’s municipal government has proposed an investment in Didi Global Inc. that would give state-run firms control of the world’s largest ride-hailing company, according to people familiar with the matter.
- JD.com Unit to Take Over China Logistics in $2.1 Billion Deal — A subsidiary of JD.com Inc. agreed to buy a controlling stake in China Logistics Property Holdings Co. in a deal valuing the firm at about HK$16.4 billion ($2.1 billion).
- HSBC’s CEO Has His Eye on China Wealth Beyond Xi’s Crackdown — HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn is betting on China’s middle classes. It’s an opportunity too big to miss, he believes, even as President Xi Jinping cracks down on the country’s wealthiest.
- Xi’s Beijing Bourse Seen as Scant Threat to Hong Kong Exchange — President Xi Jinping plan to establish a new exchange in Beijing will add a new threat to the business of Hong Kong’s bourse, but the impact should be limited, according to consultants and lawyers.
Reuters
- China faces difficulties in expanding COVID-19 vaccination drive, official says — China is facing growing difficulties in expanding its mass COVID-19 vaccination drive, but it will continue to inoculate more people and step up the programme of booster shots, a health official said on Friday.
- China’s tech sector gets dragged off hamster wheel — ByteDance, owner of the popular TikTok short-form video app, in August ended a near decade-long tradition of requiring that employees work an extra weekend day every other week. Some cheered, others mourned; one employee complained to Breakingviews her first pay slip following the change was smaller by one fifth without the overtime pay.
- Xi’s common prosperity becomes financial black box — Alibaba and Tencent have each pledged $15.5 billion to the Chinese president’s cause to ease inequality. Investors, though, are in the dark on how these huge sums will be deployed.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Xi Jinping Thought, for children — China rolls out new textbooks on the supreme leader’s political philosophy.
- The Economist: America wants China to end support for coal projects abroad — Why worry when China’s financing of them has already waned?
- Nikkei Asia: China’s elite scramble for path to Xi’s ‘common prosperity’ — Lavish donations inspired more by fear of the state than by altruism.
- Quartz: Beijing is having trouble selling its citizens on a partnership with the Taliban — In official speeches and state media, authorities have tried to sell the Taliban as a reformed, “more sober and rational” group capable of working with Beijing to secure Chinese interests.
- Protocol: Is China’s new limit on video games a big deal for its gaming sector? — Not really.