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
- Didi Global Plans to Delist From New York Stock Exchange — Chinese ride-hailing giant says it plans to pursue a listing in Hong Kong.
- Citigroup Applies for China Securities License — Wall Street bank joins JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and others in seeking a deeper foothold in the country.
- U.S. to Lead Global Effort to Curb Authoritarians’ Access to Surveillance Tools — Administration official cites China’s use of monitoring technologies, which Beijing has defended, in calling for tighter export rules.
- Pandas Face Rival for Goodwill Ambassador: Pangolins — Taipei is sending a pair to its sister city Prague, which cut ties with Beijing after a hoped-for panda visit went bust; ‘They look like living conifer cones.’
- Chinese Developers Kaisa, Aoyuan Face Growing Debt Challenges — Kaisa fails to pull off a bond swap, while creditors ask Aoyuan to repay loans after rating downgrades.
The Financial Times
- Didi delisting: big data is now a strategic resource — Ride-hailing group’s switch from New York to Hong Kong highlights growing distrust over sensitive information.
- Citi applies to re-enter China investment banking market — Wall Street group wants to launch a wholly owned business after exiting securities joint venture in 2019.
- Hong Kong IPOs shrink as investors favour rival markets — New listings have raised 10% less this year as Beijing cracks down on tech groups.
- Chinese art auction stokes concerns about fate of missing entrepreneur — Sale of painting owned by Duan Weihong raises possibility Beijing is forcibly disposing of her assets.
- Didi’s US exit shows Xi is the ultimate arbiter for China’s companies — Ride-hailing app’s pivot to list in Hong Kong seen as a vindication of president’s crackdown.
- Alibaba challenged as TikTok generation starts shopping on short video apps — Douyin, TikTok’s sister app, and Kuaishou take on China’s leading online shopping giant.
The New York Times
- Didi of China Moves to Delist From New York Stock Exchange — With plenty of its own money and a greater desire to control the private sector, Beijing is pushing its companies to tap investors closer to home.
- Putting Principles Before Profits, Steve Simon Takes a Stand — The WTA chief has spent years in tennis working quietly to put players first. Suspending tournaments in China over the treatment of star Peng Shuai has made him the most talked-about leader in sports.
- Who, and Where, Is Peng Shuai? — China’s censorship of the tennis star’s #MeToo allegations has not been able to silence a chorus of concern for her safety. The Women’s Tennis Association moved to suspend all tournaments in China.
- IOC Says It Held Second Video Call With Peng Shuai — Olympic officials insisted they “shared the same concern as many” about the safety of the Chinese tennis star but offered no details of what they discussed with her.
Caixin
- Didi’s Delisting, Relisting Plan Faces Bumpy Ride, Experts Say — China’s new data security regulations will be a hurdle for a Hong Kong IPO.
- Top China Solar Wafer Maker Slashes Prices as Supply Overhang Looms — Longi Green Energy cuts rates for some of the components used to make photovoltaic cells by almost 10% in bid to prop-up sales amid surge in production capacity brought by new market entrants.
- Razer Founder’s Group Offers $1.38 Billion Buyout — Tan Min-Liang and partners propose taking Hong Kong-traded, Singapore-based maker of gaming hardware private as share price languishes.
South China Morning Post
- Timeline: how Didi forced its way from Beijing to New York – and ended up in Hong Kong — Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said on Friday that it will start the process of delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and move forward with plans for a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO).
- Tech stocks from Meituan to Alibaba lead losses in Hong Kong as Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi prepares for US delisting — Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday as concerns about Chinese companies being kicked off American stock exchanges delivered a punch to technology giants, compounded by Didi Global’s move to delist from New York.
- Third of Hongkongers with BN(O) status considering UK move, 6 per cent are doing so, Oxford University survey finds — Research reveals potential movers tend to be millennials or younger, well off financially and university-educated.
Bloomberg
- Jimmy Lai’s Flagship Apple Daily to Shut Taiwan Operations — Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai’s Next Digital Ltd. will shut the Taiwanese unit of its flagship Apple Daily this month, people familiar with the matter said, marking the final demise of a once-influential media empire brought down by China’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement.
- Evergrande’s Hui Summoned by Guangdong Government After Filing — China Evergrande Group Chairman Hui Ka Yan was summoned by the Guangdong government after the troubled property developer said it plans to work with creditors on a restructuring plan for its offshore debt.
- Uyghur Human Rights Bill to Proceed in House, Democrat Says — A senior Democrat said the U.S. House is poised to take up legislation related to human rights in China next week, potentially including a bill that would target goods produced in the Xinjiang region where the government is allegedly holding Uyghur Muslims in forced labor camps.
Reuters
- China easing rules for US business travellers, approvals in 10 days — China will cut to no more than 10 days the time required for approval of travel by U.S. business executives, its ambassador to the United States said on Thursday, promising to turn “an attentive ear” to concerns raised by businesses.
- China top representative in Macau to advise govt on national security – state media — China’s top representative in the semiautonomous gambling hub of Macau will begin advising the former Portuguese colony’s government on national security matters, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.
- China regulator says more testing needed to certify C919 aircraft — China’s aviation regulator said on Friday that there is still a huge amount of testing to be done for the home-grown narrowbody C919 aircraft to be certified, raising doubt over planemaker COMAC’s year-end target.
Other Publications
- The Economist: China says it is more democratic than America — Western dysfunction tempts the Communist Party to make risky boasts.
- The Economist: Women’s tennis takes a stand against China — Will any other sport dare follow?
- The Economist: Africa’s ties to China and the West are starting to look more alike — China’s lending is slowing, even as the West is promising more.
- The Washington Post: Opinion: Congress needs to act on Xi Jinping’s genocide now — Biden administration officials have been quietly telling lawmakers to slow down.
- Quartz: The UK spy chief’s warning about China’s “data traps” highlights digital supply-chain risks — “If you allow another country to gain access to really critical data about your society, over time that will erode your sovereignty, you no longer have control over that data.”
- MIT Technology Review: The US crackdown on Chinese economic espionage is a mess. We have the data to show it. — In the most comprehensive analysis of cases to date, MIT Technology Review reveals how far it has strayed from its goals.
