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 Scrapes Together More Cash From Tech Company Stake Sale — The troubled property giant sold a roughly 5.7% stake in HengTen Networks, raising $145 million.
- Chinese Journalist Who Reported From Wuhan Is Gravely Ill After Prison Hunger Strike — Washington calls for Beijing to release Zhang Zhan, while her family tries to persuade her to accept some food, but to no avail.
- China Has Built Mock-Ups of U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Warships in the Desert — Satellite images indicate realistic military training as tensions over Taiwan rise.
- U.S. Tests Israel’s Iron Dome in Guam as Defense Against Chinese Cruise Missiles — System gets tryout at Pacific base, countering Beijing’s buildup.
- Chinese Developer Kaisa to Speed Up Asset Sales After Missing Payment — Company says it will seek to negotiate a more feasible payment plan with investors and expedite sales at its property-development projects.
The Financial Times
- Global holdings of Chinese stocks and bonds rise by $120bn in 2021 — Exposure to renminbi securities surpasses $1.1tn despite crackdown and market tumult.
- Chinese developer Kaisa pleads for ‘patience’ as market strife spreads — Real estate groups including Evergrande rush to sell assets as contagion reaches higher-rated debt.
- China struggles to regulate house prices despite glut of controls — Evergrande debt crisis prompts other developers to offer discounts, worrying authorities.
- Fed warns ailing China real estate sector poses risks to US economy — Central bank is also monitoring volatility in meme stocks, it says in semi-annual report.
- US and China urged to collaborate on cancer drugs through new initiative — Coalition seeks to cut time needed to collect data on safety and efficacy of medicines.
The New York Times
- U.S. Urges Release of Chinese Citizen Journalist Who Documented Covid — Zhang Zhan, who was imprisoned after exposing the failures of the government’s initial response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, is near death, friends and family say.
- Federal Reserve Warns of Stress in China’s Property Market — The U.S. central bank voiced concern as China Evergrande’s debt troubles have raised alarm in global financial markets and at home.
Caixin
- China to Provide Cheap Funding for Carbon-Reduction Loans — Central bank rolls out lending tool to support financial institutions in backing projects aimed at helping in China’s fight against climate change.
- China Bans Livestreaming From Pitching Stocks and Brokerage Accounts — Securities regulatory commission orders livestreamers to stick to high-level analysis and bars bizarre clothing and provocative language.
South China Morning Post
- Chinese media continues tirade against Taipei for letting chip maker TSMC comply with US request for semiconductor supply data — Chinese state-run media on Tuesday continued its tirade against the decision by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to hand over chip supply chain information to the US government, blaming Taipei for being soft on Washington.
- China power crisis: Zhejiang scraps rationing as electricity crunch shows signs of easing — China’s eastern Zhejiang province has called time on electricity rationing that has throttled the nation’s economy over the past two months, offering relief to factories and businesses struggling to operate.
- China reiterates ban on online and offline advertising for off-campus tutoring as it keeps up pressure on industry — The Chinese government has doubled down with its crackdown on private tutoring, ordering a complete ban on all online and offline advertising of off-campus education programmes that target kids in kindergarten, primary and middle schools.
- Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu raises US$500 million as IPO plans hit roadblock amid regulatory tightening — Social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu, known as China’s answer to Instagram, has raised US$500 million from existing investors in a new fundraising round after the company was forced to put its plans for an initial public offering on the back burner.
Bloomberg
- China to Make Digital Yuan and Payment Apps More Connected — China’s digital yuan will be further interlinked with mobile payment apps that have dominated the country’s retail transactions, according to China’s central bank governor.
- China Tightens Oversight of $3.7 Trillion Mutual Fund Market — Chinese regulators moved to tighten oversight of the nation’s 23.9 trillion yuan ($3.7 trillion) mutual fund market, banning product recommendations by unlicensed firms and individuals.
- Evergrande Faces Biggest Payment Test Yet as Grace Periods End — China Evergrande Group is facing its biggest payment test since signs of a liquidity crisis emerged at the firm five months ago.
- Foreign Firms to Expand in China Despite Challenges, HSBC Says — International firms are expanding their businesses in China despite trade tensions and supply-chain challenges from the pandemic, a HSBC Holdings Plc. survey finds.
Reuters
- U.S. eyes January rollout of first projects to counter China’s Belt and Road – official — A U.S. delegation led by President Joe Biden’s deputy national security adviser, Daleep Singh, identified at least 10 promising projects in Senegal and Ghana during a series of “listening tours” last week, the official said.
- Embattled Evergrande NEV seeks regulatory approval for electric model in China — China Evergrande Group’s electric vehicles (EV) unit Evergrande NEV is seeking Chinese regulatory approval to sell its inaugural Hengchi 5 sport-utility vehicles, as the embattled company vows to start making cars early next year.
- Taiwan says China can blockade its key harbours, warns of ‘grave’ threat — China’s armed forces are capable of blockading Taiwan’s key harbours and airports, the island’s defence ministry said on Tuesday, offering its latest assessment of what it describes as a “grave” military threat posed by its giant neighbour.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: Huawei Strikes Back — To Beat China on Tech, America Must Invest in the Developing World
- Foreign Policy: Australia Shows the World What Decoupling From China Looks Like — The bottom line: Beijing’s attempt to bully Canberra has been a spectacular failure.
- Protocol: New Oriental’s big pivot: from tutoring to agriculture — It’s a mark of how damaging Beijing’s ed-tech crackdown has been to once-giant companies.
