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.
Paid subscribers automatically have this list emailed directly to their inboxes every day by 10 a.m. EST. Subscribe here.
The Wall Street Journal
- Alibaba Reshuffles E-Commerce Teams Amid Competition, Slowing Growth — The Chinese e-commerce giant also names new CFO.
- China Seeks First Military Base on Africa’s Atlantic Coast, U.S. Intelligence Finds — Alarmed officials at the White House and Pentagon urge Equatorial Guinea to rebuff Beijing’s overtures.
- China Moves to Boost Slowing Economy — People’s Bank of China reduces the amount of money banks must hold in reserve, signaling concerns amid a property market slump.
- Rout in Chinese Internet Stocks Rolls On in Hong Kong — Hang Seng Tech Index slides to a low as U.S. delisting and Beijing’s regulatory crackdowns weigh on sector.
- Chinese Tariffs Fuel Boom in U.S. Trade With Tech Exporter Taiwan — Partnership expands as island and U.S. move toward formally strengthening ties despite objections from Beijing.
- Two Sports Organizations Take Different Approaches to the Peng Shuai Crisis — The International Olympic Committee has spoken to the Chinese tennis star since her social-media account accused a Chinese official of sexual assault. The women’s tennis tour has been unable to reach her.
- Defense Bill Slowed by Fights Over Uyghur, Nord Stream 2 Policy Amendments — NDAA includes pay raises for troops and money for military construction, ships and aircraft.
- U.S. Hope for Iran Nuclear Talks Now Rests on China, Russia — Beijing has greater economic clout and more aggressive foreign policy than during original talks for 2015 deal.
- China Evergrande’s Managed Restructuring is Under Way; Stocks and Bonds Sink — Developer hasn’t started formal talks about what a workout would look like.
- Hong Kong Issues a Threat to the WSJ — ‘We reserve the right to take necessary action,’ writes the regime, flagging an editorial for ‘incitement.’
The Financial Times
- Evergrande shares tumble as new debt payment deadline looms — State representatives join new risk committee as central bank cuts reserve rate.
- Alibaba finance chief to step down in company restructuring — Chinese ecommerce giant has been hit by Beijing’s crackdown on tech groups and rising competition.
- China is faltering, but the world is not feeling the effects — The link between the country’s growth and other economies started to loosen before the pandemic.
- Honduras becomes new front in US-China struggle over Taiwan — President Xiaomara Castro’s pledge to shift diplomatic ties to Beijing from Taipei irks Washington.
- Clear ambition is required if Europe is to rival China’s Belt and Road — The EU’s ‘Global Gateway’ infrastructure plan risks faltering without proper funding and explicit aims.
- Chinese mining groups scour Afghanistan for opportunities — Executives look to secure rights to minerals and metals as Beijing seizes on US exit.
- US defence chief warns of China ‘rehearsals’ for attack on Taiwan — Lloyd Austin cites concern over scale and frequency of Beijing’s military sorties.
The New York Times
- China Cuts RRR as Evergrande, Kaisa Face Deadlines — Evergrande and Kaisa must come up with hundreds of millions of dollars in days. Beijing sought to reassure markets overall, but signaled it might let Evergrande fail.
- China Calls on ‘Little Inoculated Warriors’ in Its War on Covid-19 — The country regards children as crucial in its quest for herd immunity, but some parents, worried about the vaccines’ safety, are pushing back.
- How TikTok Reads Your Mind — It’s the most successful video app in the world. Our columnist has obtained an internal company document that offers a new level of detail about how the algorithm works.
- Chinese Tourists Aren’t Coming Back Any Time Soon — Even before Omicron’s arrival, China was discouraging its citizens from traveling abroad. That has had a huge impact on global tourism.
- To Counter China, Austin Vows to Shore Up Alliances With Others in Region — “America is a Pacific power,” the defense secretary said as he laid out a strategy to block efforts by China to dominate the region.
Caixin
- Property Sales in China Fall for Fifth Straight Month — Sales of the top 100 developers were down by 37.6% in November, report says.
- Crypto Exchange to Leave Mainland Clients With One Option: Withdraw — Huobi announces it will no longer allow mainland users to do anything other than take their assets off the platform.
- China’s Securities Watchdog Says It’s Making Progress With U.S. on Talks Over Company Audits — CSRC affirms freedom of Chinese companies to list where they choose.
- Analysis: China Dusts Off Proven Playbook After Evergrande Default Warning — Hint of default after long-running debt struggle prompts provincial government to send in a working team and top regulators to pledge coordinated response.
South China Morning Post
- Beijing 2022 Olympics: China warns it will respond if US announces diplomatic boycott — US politicians should stop calling for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics to avoid hurting bilateral ties and China will take “countermeasures” if necessary, China’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
- China wants to turn Macau from a casino den into a tech base for the Greater Bay Area — China is forging a new identity for Macau, the world’s largest casino den, as a regional technology hub, according to Chinese technology industry executives and officials.
- Didi’s exit from New York tests Hong Kong’s mettle as the listing sanctuary for Chinese stocks — The US delisting of Didi Chuxing could offer a test case for whether Chinese companies being investigated by Beijing would be welcomed in Hong Kong, which is ramping up stock market reforms to keep up with US bourses.
Bloomberg
- China Bond Rally May Stall After PBOC Signals Limits to Easing — A rally in China’s sovereign bonds that pushed the benchmark yield down by the most since July may leave less room for gains, after the central bank delivered the easing traders had been rushing to price in.
- SenseTime Seeks to Raise Up to $768 Million in Hong Kong IPO — China’s biggest artificial intelligence firm SenseTime Group Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $768 million from a Hong Kong initial public offering in a test of investor appetite in volatile stock markets.
- Ray Dalio Says Comments on China Human Rights Were Misunderstood — Ray Dalio took to social media on Sunday to say that his views on China had been misunderstood after he had “sloppily answered” a question about his investments in China during an interview on CNBC last week.
Reuters
- Bridgewater’s Dalio clarifies his recent comments on China — Billionaire investor Ray Dalio, who founded the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, said on social media on Sunday he wanted to “clarify” comments he made last week in which he appeared to brush off human-rights abuses in China.
- Beijing biotech firm banks on GM corn in race to be China’s Monsanto — As China prepares to open its $120 billion corn market to genetically modified (GM) seed, little-known Dabeinong Biotechnology hopes to reap the benefits of early biotech investments and a law keeping foreign firms on the sidelines.
- SenseTime launches Hong Kong IPO to raise up to $767 mln -term sheet — Chinese artificial intelligence startup SenseTime Group is looking to raise up to $767 million in its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.
Other Publications
- Politico: U.S. Space Force general warns of China’s growing military space potential — “I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion they will be the leader in space at the end of the decade, but they are on an incredible pace,” he said.
- Protocol: Chinese ed-tech firms’ poignant pivots — Beijing’s tutoring ban has forced ed tech and private tuition companies to explore new opportunities, from clothing to coffee to agriculture.
- Rest of World: China forced DiDi off a U.S. stock exchange. Who’s next? — Tech giants like Alibaba are open targets, and new players are in limbo.