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’s Shrinking Population Is Deeper Problem Than Slow Growth for Its Economy — The people count points to longer-term structural issues that will impede growth in the future.
- China Says Economy to Return to Faster Growth as Covid Isolation Ends — Vice Premier Liu He says Beijing will focus on boosting domestic demand this year.
- Foreign Investors Pulled $91 Billion From China’s Bond Market Last Year — Sales marked the only annual outflow on record, despite buying in December.
- Luxury Brands See Early Signs of Recovery in China — Burberry and Cartier-owner Richemont sound positive note about key market, as China eases its Covid restrictions.
- Oil Demand to Hit Record Level This Year as China Reopens, IEA Says — Beijing’s rapid pivot away from its zero-Covid approach has largely taken oil markets by surprise.
- Disney Gets Boost as China Clears Marvel Superhero Films for Release — Screening approvals suggest Chinese censors might be easing up on Hollywood movies.
- Chinese Healthcare Stocks Are an Expensive Bet — Companies with higher-end products that can compete globally could benefit handsomely from rising healthcare spending.
- Macau Tycoon Jailed 18 Years for Running Casino Betting Syndicate — Alvin Chau was convicted of leading betting scheme for high-rollers to avoid paying taxes.
The Financial Times
- Macau gaming: Chau’s jail term warns punters and investors alike — Caution should now be applied to local gambling stocks.
- Macau ‘junket king’ Alvin Chau sentenced to 18 years in prison — Former Suncity boss is highest-profile target of Beijing’s crackdown on VIP gambling and capital outflows.
- Deutsche Bank prices ‘panda bond’ to raise Rmb1bn — First debt issuance under China’s new rules to improve access to country’s onshore capital markets.
- Burberry and Richemont sales hit after China’s Covid surge hammers demand — Stronger numbers from Europe and Japan not enough to offset hit to luxury goods groups.
- What it would take for Apple to disentangle itself from China — The tech giant increasingly finds itself beholden to America’s biggest geopolitical rival. But is diversification even possible?
- Third-term Xi Jinping seizes the hour and misses his moment — China’s authoritarian leader fails to fulfil the promise he once showed at Davos.
- US-China relations pursue an ominous path — The suspicion is that President Biden’s competition imperative will take precedence over his co-operative one.
- China pins growth hopes on struggling small businesses — Mom-and-pop enterprises crucial to driving post-Covid revival after GDP expansion slows in 2022.
- China tech stocks stage $700bn recovery rally — Beijing’s loosening of Covid restrictions and move to ease regulatory crackdown have boosted shares.
- Thailand’s motor industry becomes a Japan-China battleground — ‘Detroit of south-east Asia’ courts investment from both of Asia’s giants.
- China past Covid infections peak, top economic official claims — Chinese vice-premier Liu He tells Davos meeting that country is returning to normal faster than government expected.
The New York Times
- A Shrinking, Aging China May Have Backed Itself Into a Corner — A demographics challenge has been building for years, but Beijing’s preparations are lagging. Now, many worry that current measures may offer too little, too late.
- Why China’s Shrinking Population Is Cause for Alarm — China struggled for years to curtail its rapid population growth. Now that its population is declining, economists and others fear serious implications for China and countries around the world.
- China Returns to Davos With Clear Message: We’re Open for Business — Emerging from coronavirus lockdown to a world changed by the war in Ukraine, China sought to convey reassurance about its economic health.
Caixin
- In Depth: Lithium Tops Out — Supply of the key raw material for electric car batteries looks set to catch up with demand, as a flood of investment into mining the metal foreshadows an impending glut.
- China’s Emergence From ‘Zero Covid’ May Spur Global Growth — Davos panelists discussing ‘China’s Next Chapter’ project strong rebound of economy turbocharged by consumers will trillions in excess savings.
- CATL Cleared for $945 Million Lithium Mining Acquisition — Bankruptcy court accepts battery giant’s proposal to pay off Sinuowei Mining Development’s debt and buy out its investors.
South China Morning Post
- US importers shipping more to America’s east coast ports than west coast amid global supply chain shifts — American containerised imports from China surpassed by the rest of Asia in sign that diversification and decoupling are under way.
- Top China, US economic officials in first face-to-face meeting in 2 years — Two sides had a ‘frank exchange of views’ on issues of concern, US treasury department says.
- Baidu’s Robin Li, NetEase’s Ding Lei no longer delegates of China’s top political advisory body — The founders of Baidu, NetEase and Sogou are no longer among the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s latest delegate list.
- TikTok banned from University of Texas campus on cybersecurity concerns raised by governor and US government — The University of Texas at Austin has banned the use of the viral short video app owned by China’s ByteDance on the school network after the state governor banned its use on government devices.
Nikkei Asia
- China to launch state-owned ride-hailing platform — Move is response to ‘disorderly expansion and data security problems’ in sector.
- Macao junkets king Alvin Chau sentenced to 18 years in prison — Suncity Group founder faced raft of charges over running ‘criminal empire’.
Bloomberg
- Chipmaker Black Sesame Considers $200 Million Hong Kong IPO — Black Sesame Technologies, a developer of artificial intelligence chips and systems for cars, is considering a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise about $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Apple Gets Boost in India as Chinese Suppliers Luxshare, Ningbo Given Clearance — More than a dozen of Apple Inc.’s Chinese suppliers are receiving initial clearance by India to expand in the country, helping the tech giant’s efforts to diversify its assembly network beyond China.
- Ex-HK Leader Carrie Lam Excluded From China’s Top Advisory Body — Carrie Lam, who as Hong Kong’s leader presided over the city’s most turbulent period in decades, failed to make it on to China’s top advisory body in the latest lineup.
- China Sets Another Solar Record Despite Supply Chain Disruptions — China set another record for solar power capacity last year as the country sped up renewable installations to reach its ambitious climate targets.
Reuters
- ‘Say their names’ – Families urge Blinken to use China trip to free U.S. detainees — The Biden administration’s recent high-profile prisoner swaps have spurred calls for Washington to do more for U.S. citizens held in China.China to launch state-backed transport platform for ride-hailing, trucking.
- China to launch state-backed transport platform for ride-hailing, trucking — China will soon launch a state-backed platform for transport which includes services of ride-hailing, cargo trucking, road transport, railway, ferry and flight services, Chinese state media Beijing Daily reported on Wednesday.
- China’s BYD takes cautious approach to U.S. in global EV push — Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD is embarking on a rapid global expansion to challenge Tesla but for now it’s stuck in the slow lane on its rival’s home turf.
- Biden administration imposes China chip curbs on Macau — The Biden administration on Tuesday hit Macau with sweeping new export controls it previously imposed on shipments of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to Beijing, flagging the risk that the technology could be diverted from the region to the rest of China.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Modi’s China Policy Is a Failure — The Indian government has tread carefully—and invited trouble.
- The Information: VC’s $8 Billion ByteDance Headache — $8 billion. That’s roughly the amount of money investors like Sequoia, Susquehanna International Group, Coatue Management and Tiger Global Management have poured into TikTok owner ByteDance—money that is largely locked up at the moment.
- The Guardian: China’s football crisis: what happened next after Covid struck? — There are finally positive signs for the game, but only after three years that diminished the CSL from its global standing.
In Case You Missed It
- The Wire China: Sundown for Suncity — How Alvin Chau’s Suncity empire touched casinos from Vladivostok to Melbourne, and what his downfall signifies for China, casinos and Macau.
