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
- Biden and China’s Xi to Hold Virtual Summit on Monday — Tensions between the two countries have grown since Biden took office.
- Biden and Xi Pressed for U.S.-China Climate Statement — Negotiators at COP26 are seeking to reach an agreement as the climate summit comes to an end.
- U.S. Firms Aid China’s Bid for Chip Dominance Despite Security Concerns — Silicon Valley venture-capital firms and chip-industry giants are ramping up deals in China’s semiconductor industry, alarming U.S. officials.
- Chinese Developers Rally on Policy Hopes as Evergrande Again Averts Default — Central bank considers easing rules on leverage to help struggling developers sell off assets.
The Financial Times
- Probe into Evergrande’s links to regional bank poses new threat — Sale of $1.5bn stake prompts concerns Chinese developer relied on lender it part-owned for financing.
- Olympics sponsors pressured over China’s ‘appalling human rights record’ — Human Right Watch urges global brands to censure Beijing over Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
- US-China thaw on climate change shifts the mood at COP26 — Rare show of co-operation welcomed at UN summit despite absence of major new commitments.
- Jefferies’ Asia chair to resign after less than 3 years — Jonathan Slone joined US investment bank in 2019 as part of its Asia equities division expansion.
The New York Times
- Zuo Fang, Chinese Journalist Who Challenged the Powerful, Dies at 86 — When he helped start Southern Weekly, he charted a course for a freer era for the country’s press, which later became increasingly constrained by Beijing.
- Hong Kong Broadcaster’s Swift Turn From Maverick Voice to Official Mouthpiece — RTHK has often set the news agenda with its aggressive coverage of the city. But a Beijing clampdown has changed that, with pro-China coverage filling the void.
- Hong Kong’s M+ Museum Is Finally Open. It’s Already in Danger. — The museum, billed as Asia’s premier art institution, faced construction delays and personnel problems. Now it faces its greatest challenge: the threat of censorship.
- The Show Goes On, Even After China Tried to Shut It Down — An Italian city rejected a request from the Chinese Embassy in Rome to cancel an exhibition by Badiucao, an artist who has been described as the Chinese Banksy.
Caixin
- China Opens Bond Market to Foreign Social and Sustainable Borrowers — Government units, development groups and businesses can issue ‘panda bonds’ under central bank-backed pilot program.
- Alibaba’s Double 11 Sales Growth Falls to New Low — While the e-commerce titan set yet another total sales record for its annual shopping extravaganza, the expansion slid into the single digits for the first time.
South China Morning Post
- China’s top chip maker SMIC in boardroom shake-up after posting record quarterly results amid ongoing semiconductor shortage — China’s top foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) is undergoing its biggest boardroom shake-up since last December, when it was added to a US trade blacklist, with role changes for high-ranking executives including former Taiwanese semiconductor veterans Chiang Shang-yi and Liang Mong Song.
- Joe Biden signs law blocking Chinese telecoms firms like Huawei, ZTE from new equipment licences — US President Joe Biden signed a law on Thursday to block Chinese telecommunications companies like Huawei and ZTE from obtaining new equipment licences from US regulators, the latest move from Washington to crack down on China’s tech giants over national security concerns.
- M+ opens at last, a museum of contemporary art and design for the world, amid a culture war in Hong Kong, where some wonder if it belongs — Whether it can fulfil its global ambitions and satisfy Beijing remains to be seen.
Bloomberg
- China Resists COP26 Push to End Coal as Energy Security Prevails — The latest position shows that China hasn’t really budged despite a surprise agreement with the U.S. on Wednesday.
- China’s Top Chipmaker Loses Second Senior Executive — Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. said its Vice-Chairman Chiang Shang-Yi resigned less than a year after joining China’s biggest chipmaker, the second departure of a senior executive in two months.
- China’s Dangerous Rush to Resolve the Property Crisis — Industries that count on overseas backers will have a hard time raising capital if the crackdown on real estate developers leads to their sudden collapse.
- Asia Solar Manufacturers Soar After U.S. Says No to Tariff Probe — Chinese solar manufacturers are surging after the U.S. rejected a request to investigate whether they were circumventing existing tariffs, a move that critics warned would drive up costs for clean power and escalate tensions with China.
Reuters
- Ping An seeks to sell $2.1 bln stake in Autohome – sources — Financial conglomerate Ping An Insurance Group of China is seeking to offload its 44% stake in auto services portal Autohome, three people familiar with the situation told Reuters.
- Biden signs legislation to tighten U.S. restrictions on Huawei, ZTE — U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed legislation to prevent companies like Huawei Technologies Co or ZTE Corp that are deemed security threats from receiving new equipment licenses from U.S. regulators.
- Tiananmen statue creator asks for immunity from Hong Kong security law — The Danish sculptor of a statue that commemorates pro-democracy protesters killed during China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 has asked Hong Kong authorities for immunity from a national security law so he can come and take it back to Denmark.
Other Publications
- The Economist: The non-zero costs of zero-covid — In business, China is becoming a world unto itself.
- The Economist: China still steals commercial secrets for its own firms’ profit — Despite saying it wouldn’t engage in cybertheft, it is ramping up its efforts.
- The Economist: Behind bars, Hong Kong’s democrats remain popular — The city’s jails are filling up with dissidents.
- Foreign Policy: Trump-Branded China Hawks Look to Take Over Congress — Former Trump officials are grooming a new generation of Senate candidates to make the hard-line approach to China the GOP’s default.
- Wired: Hackers Targeted Apple Devices in Hong Kong for Widespread Attack — Visitors to pro-democracy and media sites in the region were infected with malware that could download files, steal data, and more.
- Associated Press: ‘A big task’: China’s Olympic hockey team facing questions — For the first time since the NHL began sending players to the Olympics in 1998, there is concern the host country might not be able to score, much less win a game, at the world’s biggest sporting event.
