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 Xi Flexes Power With Plan to Rewrite Communist Party History — Historical resolution would put leader on par with Mao and Deng, signaling strength despite economic, diplomatic challenges.
- China’s Power Crisis Has Solar and Wind Companies Seeing Green — Power sector measures triggered by blackouts could help drive next phase of China’s green power build-out.
- China’s Economy Rests on Three Shaky Legs — There is little sign so far of a major shift to support growth, but that may reflect overconfidence on Beijing’s part.
- Stocks Finish Mixed After Weak China Growth Data — China’s economy grew 4.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, slowing sharply from the previous period.
The Financial Times
- Chinese developer Sinic defaults as Evergrande deadline looms — More companies miss debt payments as country’s real estate sector contracts in third quarter.
- Xinjiang officials overseeing detention camps studied at Harvard — Two administrators received fellowships to attend university’s centre on governance and innovation.
- HNA creditors rebel against Chinese conglomerate’s restructuring plan — Collapse is a critical test of Beijing’s handling of ‘too big to fail’ entities.
- China’s magnesium shortage threatens global car industry — Production curbs in the country have hurt stockpiles of a key ingredient to make aluminium in vehicles.
- America’s political and business elites no longer agree on China — While Washington stays vigilant, the corporate world sees new opportunity.
The New York Times
- China Evergrande Gets Soft Treatment in Chinese Media — Officials want to avert public panic about the property developer’s financial woes. But they also want to send a message to spendthrift corporations.
- China’s Economy Continues to Slow, Rattled by Real Estate and Energy — Growth of 4.9 percent shows the country’s huge industrial sector has run into trouble. But exports and services are looking strong.
Caixin
- In Depth: The Volatile Cocktail Stirring Up China’s ‘Baijiu’ Market — Weak profit growth and a mania for investment prompted regulators to voice concerns — sending stock prices on a gut-wrenching ride.
- Chinese Actress’s Ex Fined $5 Million for His Part in Tax Evasion Scheme — Zhang Heng, who was also the agent of the disgraced star Zheng Shuang, had helped her cover up the 160 million yuan salary she got from a TV show.
- Huawei Wins Contract for Saudi Energy Storage Project as It Expands Into New Businesses — A unit of the telecommunications gear giant will help construct the 1,300 megawatt-hour project in the planned city of Neom.
South China Morning Post
- Jack Ma is on a study tour of agriculture in Europe as Alibaba’s founder travels abroad for the first time in more than a year — Ma, who retired as Alibaba’s chairman on his 55th birthday, is in Spain for a study tour, according to a person familiar with his itinerary.
- Alibaba launches own chip for its servers, cloud computing platform in ‘new breakthrough’ for e-commerce giant — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding has unveiled its own general-purpose central processing unit, a development that intensifies the country’s self-reliance efforts in semiconductors and roll-out of digital infrastructure nationwide.
- China opens VPN services to foreign investment in Beijing — The municipal government of Beijing has won the green light from China’s cabinet to allow up to 50 per cent of foreign ownership in virtual private network (VPN) services, widely used by multinational corporations operating in the country to skirt the Great Firewall and connect to overseas servers.
- FWD Group’s IPO hits potential roadblock as US regulator asks questions about Beijing’s hold over Hong Kong companies, sources say — FWD Group’s initial public offering has hit a potential regulatory roadblock as the Hong Kong-based insurer backed by tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai seeks to raise as much as US$3 billion in the United States, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg
- China’s Coal Rally Slows as Authorities Act to Tame Price — Coal futures in China notched up another record despite a wild reversal in the final minutes of trading as expectations firmed that authorities will take new action to tame an extraordinary rally.
- Secretive Body Leads Xinjiang’s AI Policing, Report Finds — A secretive Communist Party organ is taking an unusually hands-on role in directing a vast predictive policing effort in Xinjiang, according to a report that claims to unmask Beijing’s political architecture in the far Western region.
- Hong Kong Pension Fund Inflows Lowest in Three Years Amid Exodus — Hong Kong’s pension fund inflows likely dropped to their lowest in three years as residents take early retirement or leave the city, according to an independent research firm.
- Chinese Tycoon Takes On Cathay With New Airline in Hong Kong — A new airline with ties to Beijing is trying to muscle into Hong Kong, a patch long dominated by stalwart Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
Reuters
- Alibaba cloud has silver lining for Chinese chips — The $450 billion e-commerce group on Tuesday unveiled read more a self-developed processor for its fast-growing cloud computing unit. The chip, which will be used to power its own data-centre servers, boasts cutting-edge technology.
- Explainer: Is China finally ready to roll out a property tax? — China’s long-mooted – and long-resisted – property tax is set to gain new momentum as President Xi Jinping throws his support behind what experts say would be one of the most profound changes to the country’s real estate policies in a generation.
- Court rulings free Hong Kong police to probe older offences under security law — Police have launched investigations into acts that took place before the national security law was imposed a year ago, despite assurances by Beijing and Hong Kong that the financial hub’s legislation would not be retroactive.
Other Publications
- Australian Strategic Policy Institute: The Architecture of Repression — Including an interactive organisational chart of some 170 administrative entities that have participated in Xinjiang’s governance since 2014. The chart includes a brief profile of each party, government, military, paramilitary and hybrid entity at different bureaucratic layers, and more.
- The Economist: A triple shock slows China’s growth — Power cuts, the pandemic and a property slowdown: all have taken a toll.
- The Economist: What is China’s new hypersonic glide vehicle? — The country appears to have combined orbiting nukes with long-range gliders.
- Foreign Affairs: The New Cold War — America, China, and the Echoes of History.
- Quartz: Xi Jinping’s vision for China does not involve workers “lying flat” — Xi clarified that the drive doesn’t mean a uniform egalitarianism, a policy pursued under chairman Mao Zedong with disastrous consequences. But the new piece also draws a clearer picture of Xi’s ideal China.
