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 Seeks to Quell Mortgage Revolt Among Frustrated Home Buyers — Analysts estimate home buyers could walk away from as much as $150 billion to $370 billion in home loans.
- China Tries to Jump-Start Its ETF Market With Foreign Money — Dozens of Chinese exchange-traded funds are now available in Hong Kong via a popular cross-border trading link.
- Jeep Owner Stellantis to End China Joint Venture — Car maker blames lack of progress in its plan to take a majority share in the joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group.
- Chinese Export Hubs Order Mass Covid-19 Testing, Raising Risk of Lockdowns — Swift action in Shanghai and Tianjin are reminder of economic costs of Beijing’s zero-tolerance policy.
- Russia and Iran Are Allies Against West, Rivals in Commodity Sales — The contest for market share in India and China is hurting Tehran’s ability to withstand economic pressure from Western sanctions.
- Opinion: Sen. Marco Rubio: Expose Secret Chinese Communist Party Cells — The CCP is operating inside many of America’s most well-known and respected financial firms.
The Financial Times
- Stellantis retreats from lossmaking Jeep partnership in China — Franco-Italian carmaker pulls back after failing to take majority share in joint venture with GAC.
- China braced for renewed lockdowns as Omicron subvariant spreads — Shanghai and Tianjin order mass testing as infectious BA.5 strain threatens economic recovery.
- Mongolia says Russia-China gas pipeline will break ground in 2024 — Prime minister Luvsannamsrai tells FT that Rio Tinto’s Gobi Desert copper mine is on track.
- China’s zero-Covid policy has damaged its stock of global talent — Beijing’s approach may have long-term consequences for the internationalisation of the country’s workforce.
- China’s growth hopes rest on troubled local government financing vehicles — LGFVs forced to offer retail investors high yields to fund infrastructure development.
- India escalates crackdown on Chinese phonemakers — Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have been hit by claims of tax evasion and unlawful remittances in legal actions.
- Tiger Global-backed Missfresh faces fight for survival — Chinese grocery delivery group valued at $3bn a year ago is now worth just $88mn.
- Rio Tinto warns of ‘considerable headwinds’ citing China Covid disruption — Miner’s share price drops as low iron ore demand clouds outlook.
The New York Times
- Peeling Paint in Hong Kong Reveals Work of Newly Relevant ‘King’ — When he was alive, the graffiti of Tsang Tsou-choi, or the “King of Kowloon,” was considered peculiar and personal. In a radically changed city, his mostly vanished art now has a political charge.
- A North Dakota City Attracted a Corn Mill. Then Came Questions About Its Chinese Owners. — Officials in Grand Forks are enthusiastic about the potential benefit to the economy, but the connection to China stoked a backlash.
- As Biden Reaches Out to Mideast Dictators, His Eyes Are on China and Russia — Looking to make Moscow pay for its Ukraine war, and box China out of Mideast tech deals, the U.S. president tries to fall back on old Gulf alliances.
- DJ Suonandajie and Other Chinese Players Sets Sights on MLB Draft — Players from China have signed as international free agents, but a new wave of recruits is trying a different path: attending a U.S. college to become eligible for the draft.
Caixin
- Cover Story: Will a Barrier to the Yangtze River Save Poyang Lake? — The lake region is home to about 30% of Jiangxi province’s 45 million people, 20% of the province’s farmlands and 30% of its grain output.
- China Private Investment Fund Regulations Stuck in Limbo for Another Year — Proposed legislation to boost governance over 20 trillion yuan sector fails to make it onto State Council’s legislative work plan.
- Another Tomorrow Holding Unit Cleared for Bankruptcy — Fallen tycoon Xiao Jianhua’s E An insurance company to enter reorganization as Chinese regulators continue cleaning up financial risks.
South China Morning Post
- Record-breaking Chinese bridge clears hurdle to faster transport in border province — The world’s longest single-tower suspension bridge, which passed a load test on Monday, cuts travel time between cities along southwestern belt and road corridor by nearly 90 minutes.
- Taiwan welcomes ‘loyal friend’ ex-US defence chief Mark Esper on four-day visit — Mark Esper’s long-time support for Taiwan has included calling on the US to review its one-China policy.
- Huawei to launch updated home-grown operating system HarmonyOS 3 amid US sanctions as China seeks tech self-sufficiency — The sanction-hit Chinese telecoms giant says it plans to launch this month an updated version of its self-developed operating system, first introduced nearly three years ago.
Bloomberg
- China Is Pariah for Global Investors as Xi’s Policies Backfire — After drawing foreign capital into China’s markets for years, President Xi Jinping is now facing the risk of a nasty period of financial de-globalization. Investors point to one main reason why: Xi’s own policies.
- Ganfeng Draws Tesla, Electric Cars Into Xinjiang Labor Debate — A supplier that’s crucial for Tesla and a host of automakers plans to explore for metals in a region of China tied to allegations of human rights abuses.
- China’s New Iron Ore Giant to Manage Global Supply and Simandou — China is planning a state-backed iron ore company to oversee everything from massive mine investments in West Africa to buying the steelmaking material from global suppliers, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Hong Kong Talent Pool Drained Further as Graduates Join Exodus — Recruiters say they’re struggling to hire overseas students.
- Did Buffett and Munger See BYD’s One Problem? — The billionaire investors have shown a knack for getting in at the right moment. If confirmed, this move may show they’re also experts at bowing out.
Reuters
- Exclusive: HSBC set to push back against Ping An breakup proposal — HSBC Holdings Plc is set to speed up its exit from non-core markets and deploy additional capital in Asia, in a bid to push back against a breakup proposal put forward by its biggest shareholder.
- China expedites local government debt issuance to bolster capital of smaller banks — The central government will take multiple measures to enhance the capitalisation of small and medium-sized banks and build up their resistance to risks, the state-run newspaper reported late on Sunday.
- Analysis: Pacific bloc, united, demands climate action as China, U.S. woo — Leaders at a four-day summit of the Pacific Islands Forum, meeting in Fiji’s capital Suva, bristled at a Chinese attempt to split some of the nations off into a trade and security agreement, while Washington pledged more financial and diplomatic engagement.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Is China facing an energy crunch, too? — Officials are anxious to avoid the widespread blackouts of 2021.
- Foreign Policy: The G-7 Infrastructure Plan Won’t Succeed Unless It Learns from Past Failures — Rather than antagonizing political opponents and geopolitical rivals, the U.S. government should entrust infrastructure development to the World Bank—and fund it generously.
