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 Evergrande Hires Financial Advisers as Protests Erupt at Its Offices — Developer warns of slower sales and possibility of cross-default on its debts.
- Evergrande’s Cash Problem is Now Beijing’s Political Problem — Protesters crowded the headquarters of China’s most indebted property developer after some wealth management products it backed failed to pay out on time.
- China Tells Internet Companies to Stop Blocking Links From Rivals — Tencent, Alibaba and others were called to meeting with Chinese officials, as Beijing seeks to end practice that has become common among large tech companies.
- Companies Tied to Chinese Exile Guo Wengui to Pay $539 Million to Settle SEC Action — Regulator says companies violated investor-protection laws.
- Chinese Sexual-Harassment Case Resumes With #MeToo Supporters Under Watch — Backers of a civil case brought by a former intern at China’s state broadcaster see it as a test of government’s willingness to address gender issues.
- SEC Chair: Chinese Firms Need to Open Their Books — China’s companies must allow their audit firms to be audited or their shares won’t trade in U.S. capital markets.
The Financial Times
- China uses anti-fraud app to track access to overseas financial news sites — Police identify and question people on back of software meant to prevent online scams.
- China’s Evergrande faces investor protests as liquidity crunch worsens — Indebted property developer hires restructuring advisers to tackle almost $310bn in liabilities.
- Tencent and Alibaba pledge to open up apps to competitors — Tech rivals say they will comply with Beijing’s orders to give access to ‘walled gardens.’
- Alipay break-up is power grab by China’s government — Transactions data offers new opportunities for state surveillance.
The New York Times
- China Evergrande Warns of Financial Pressure, Hires Advisers — China Evergrande hired restructuring experts, sending its shares lower and adding to worries about what its fate might mean to the country’s economy.
Caixin
- Meituan Offers Glimpse Into How Takeout Delivery Times Are Set — Internet giant describes how its algorithms work, promises to tweak them to ease pressure on drivers.
- Battery Giant CATL Invests $2 Billion to Boost Lithium-Ion Product Output — New factory will be built in cooperation with the city of Yichun in mineral-rich Jiangxi province.
- Tianqi Lithium Revives Plan to List in Hong Kong — The world’s top producer of the battery raw material has returned to the plan it abandoned three years ago after a drop in lithium prices sank its valuation.
South China Morning Post
- Hong Kong’s IPO pipeline fills up as Ximalaya, Xintiandi seek to list, helping city catch up with New York in global fundraising race — Hong Kong’s pipeline for initial public offerings (IPOs) is starting to fill up as more companies emerged from the summer lull to file their listing plans, potentially helping the city catch up with New York in the global race for fundraising.
- China’s first C919 aircraft bound for China Eastern Airlines to enter final assembly — China’s first C919 narrow-body aircraft to be delivered to launch customer China Eastern Airlines is about to enter final assembly, China’s aviation regulator said on Monday, with delivery due before the end of the year.
- Hong Kong rights group behind prison letter-writing campaign disbands after minister’s national security law warning — Disbandment follows security chief Chris Tang warning such campaigns threatened national security, and revelation that some groups’ non-profit status could be targeted.
Bloomberg
- Why Evergrande’s Endgame Will Be Like the Hunger Games — To muscle out a decent recovery rate, Evergrande’s bond holders need to get tough and political — just like investors in its wealth management products.
- Chinese EV Maker Once Worth More Than Ford Wipes Out $80 Billion — Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd. shares plunged anew Tuesday, extending a decline that has wiped out more than $80 billion in market value from the would-be electric-car maker this year.
- Evergrande Stock Traders Are Facing Increasing Liquidity Risk — Getting out of China Evergrande Group’s shares is becoming increasingly difficult, according to a measure of market liquidity.
Reuters
- Chinese #MeToo plaintiff heads back to court for what could be last time — The plaintiff in a high-profile Chinese #MeToo case headed into a second closed-door hearing in Beijing on Tuesday in what she said could be her last time in court in her lawsuit against a prominent state TV host.
- China’s People’s Daily slams medical beauty ads, urges regulation — China’s People’s Daily newspaper said it was “imperative and urgent” to regulate advertisements bombarding people with recommendations for cosmetic surgery, procedures and treatments, as they had become excessive, and some made false claims.
- Ant may find it easy to move on after breakup — Beijing wants Jack Ma’s financial technology giant to separate its payments, credit scoring and lending businesses, and is diluting it with assorted government investors. But these stakeholders might be friendly, and the loan operation looks to get a wider business remit.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asia: Meituan squeezed by Xi’s tech crackdown and prosperity drive — Regulatory pressure on food delivery leader has echoes of Alibaba’s humbling.
- Quartz: What are critical minerals? — Demand for these minerals—rare earths for catalysts and powerful permanent magnets, lithium for batteries, and aluminum for packaging, among others—is expected to keep growing quickly.
- The Los Angeles Times: China is purging celebrities and tech billionaires. But the problem is bigger than ‘sissy men’ — The changes are part of Xi’s new “common prosperity” campaign to narrow the gap between rich and poor and create “material and spiritual wealth.”
