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
- Evergrande Crisis All But Shuts Bond Market for China’s Junk Borrowers — Dollar issuance is likely to struggle into next year, raising refinancing risks.
- China’s Ambitious Climate Goals Collide With Reality, Hampering Global Efforts — Beijing commits to net-zero emissions before 2060, but for years to come it will continue burning a lot of coal to keep its economy charging ahead.
- Chinese Workers Say They Are Lured Abroad and Exploited for Belt and Road Jobs — Five laborers tried to sneak into Malaysia to escape low-paying work in Indonesia; tens of thousands are similarly desperate, labor-rights group says.
- China’s Hypersonic Missile Test Is Close to ‘Sputnik Moment,’ U.S. Military Chief Says — Gen. Mark Milley says Pentagon is focused on the military development.
The Financial Times
- China petrol price surge exacerbates energy crisis — New price caps on coal expected after planning agency meets power companies over ‘excessive profits.’
- US delisting threat looms over Chinese tech stocks — Washington poised to take action on US-listed China companies just as the market show signs of recovery.
The New York Times
- Beijing Olympics: China to Ease Rules for Athletes in Bubble — Vaccinated athletes will not have to quarantine, but competitors will still face strict rules and could be expelled for breaking them.
- China Digs More Coal for Power Needs, Despite Climate Change — Faced with electricity shortages, the country is racing to expand mining despite risks to the environment, miner safety and the economy.
- Why China Is the World’s Last ‘Zero Covid’ Holdout — The government has staked its political legitimacy on controlling the virus better than other countries, especially its geopolitical rivals.
Caixin
- Hong Kong Luxury Villa Linked to Evergrande’s Hui Pledged for Loan — Billionaire founder of debt-laden developer comes under increasing pressure to tap into his personal wealth in addressing crisis.
- Four Local Governments Violated Debt Policy on Eight Projects, Audit Finds — China’s State Council probes prohibited spending by heavily indebted government units in long-running campaign to deleverage the economy.
- Chinese Dairy Giant Yili Files Plan to Buy One-Third of Rival Ausnutria — Inner Mongolia-based company wants to boost its presence in the goat milk powder sector, a company source revealed.
South China Morning Post
- How China’s hottest online celebrity fell out with her agent, burning tech giant ByteDance in the process — TikTok owner ByteDance has decided to divest its stake in an influencer agency whose most valuable asset, Chinese online celebrity Li Ziqi, sued the company in a case that could impact the popular business model of investors cultivating and profiting from online personalities.
- China’s small manufacturers see taxes deferred as Beijing vows ‘timely and targeted’ economic adjustments — China’s struggling small and medium-sized manufacturers will see their taxes deferred for three months from November to help them cope with the high price of raw materials and surging production costs, the State Council said on Wednesday.
- Shanghai and Chongqing offer hints of how China’s property tax would work, and be ignored by runaway home prices — Shanghai and Chongqing, two of China’s biggest urban centres, offer a hint of what a property tax would look like as the Chinese legislature gave its nod last week to kick off the tariff after a decade of stop-go measures to rein in runaway home prices.
- National security law: dead person on trial? Hong Kong magistrate questions bid to prosecute disbanded vigil alliance — Legal status of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China is murky after it was ordered to be struck from Companies Registry, magistrate says.
Bloomberg
- China to Build Tajik Police Base to Secure Porous Afghan Border — Tajikistan has accepted a Chinese proposal to build a police outpost on the Afghan border, local media reported, in the latest indication of Beijing’s growing security concerns in the region after the U.S. withdrew from Kabul.
- Tsai Confirms U.S. Troops, Has ‘Faith’ They’ll Defend Taiwan — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said she is confident the U.S. would come to the island’s defense if China tried to invade, as Beijing and Washington continue to clash on cross-strait ties.
- Evergrande’s Next Bond Deadline Nears With Contagion Risk Rising — China Evergrande Group’s next bond payment deadline is fast approaching as investors scrutinize the developer for clues on the severity of a cash crunch that’s eroding confidence in other highly indebted peers.
- Beijing Said to Join Trial to Eliminate Hidden Government Debt — Beijing City will join a trial program aimed at eliminating all so-called hidden government debt, underscoring China’s deepening campaign to improve public finances and cut risks.
Reuters
- China warns unlicensed online brokerages they are breaking the law — A Chinese central banker warned that online brokerages not licensed in China are acting illegally if they serve Chinese clients via the Internet, sending New York-listed shares of Futu Holdings Ltd and UP Fintech Holding sharply lower.
- Australia says China’s ambassador to leave as term ends — Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Thursday China’s ambassador to Canberra is leaving his post, ending a tenure that has coincided with a deteriorating bilateral relationship.
- China’s Li Ning plans $1.4 bln share sale for international expansion — Chinese sportswear group Li Ning Co Ltd said on Thursday it planned to sell HK$10.5 billion ($1.35 billion) worth of new shares to raise capital for international expansion and for investment in newly launched product categories.
Other Publications
- The Economist: China’s long wait for a tax everyone loves to hate — The government will at last roll out a property tax.
- Nikkei Asia: Analysis: Xi’s new tax threatens China’s invincible housing market — Only those who understood politics knew they had to sell.
- Quartz: Evergrande is just the tip of China’s debt iceberg — In its report, S&P Global Ratings sampled over 25,000 firms, of which more than 5,700 were China-based. Examining the financials of those Chinese firms, they found that those in construction and engineering were the most heavily indebted, with 91% of firms exhibiting a high level of indebtedness.
