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
- Fast-Fashion Giant Shein Files to Go Public — The China-founded online fashion company was valued at $66 billion earlier this year.
- PBOC Governor Calls for New Growth Drivers to Transform China’s Economy — China’s central bank governor highlighted the need to nurture new growth drivers, warning against continuing to rely on infrastructure and real-estate sectors.
- Shein Still Needs to Prove It’s a Bargain — The fast-fashion firm has filed to go public, in what could be one of the largest U.S. market debuts in years.
- The Cost of Doing Business With China? A $40,000 Dinner With Xi Jinping Might Be Just the Start — Beijing’s green lights for Broadcom and Mastercard are seen as isolated successes tied to politics.
The Financial Times
- The human cost of China’s property crisis — One of the world’s biggest real estate collapses has hurt buyers, households and families across the country.
- What Hong Kong’s banker malaise signifies — Not just a cyclical blip?
- Deloitte and KPMG ask staff to use burner phones for Hong Kong trips — Policies come as Beijing increases control over international financial hub.
- Goldman pares back ‘growth at all costs’ China strategy — Bank wary of uncertainty created by US-China tensions, chief David Solomon tells FT’s Global Banking Summit.
- Quant hedge funds bet on China despite investor exodus — Regulators step up scrutiny of sector but traders still drawn by China’s low correlation with other markets.
The New York Times
- Inside U.S. Efforts to Untangle an A.I. Giant’s Ties to China — American spy agencies have warned about the Emirati firm G42 and its work with large Chinese companies that U.S. officials consider security threats.
- Can U.S.-China Student Exchanges Survive Geopolitics? — The flow of students between the countries has been a mainstay of their relationship, even when ties have soured. Now these exchanges, too, are under threat.
- Gold Bars and Tokyo Apartments: How Money Is Flowing Out of China. — Chinese families are sending money overseas, a sign of worry about the country’s economic and political future. But a cheaper currency is also helping exports.
- Shein, the Fast-Fashion Giant, Is Said to Have Filed for an I.P.O. — The retailer, founded in China, filed confidentially to take the company public in the U.S., a person familiar with the plans said.
Caixin
- Multiple Former ICBC Executives Under Corruption Probe — Cong Lin and An Liyan, former heads of ICBC’s Hong Kong-based investment banking unit, in corruption inquiry; several other former ICBC executives likely under investigation.
- China Appoints New Party Chief of Top Tax Authority — Hu Jinglin, a former vice finance minister, succeeds Wang Jun at the State Taxation Administration.
- Chinese Court Begins Hearing Lawsuits Over Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight — The families of more than 40 Chinese passengers are suing for damages or to set up a fund to restart search efforts, among other things, the relatives said.
- Politburo Deliberates New Rules to Tighten Party Control Over Foreign Affairs — The regulations “are of great significance to the sound implementation of the policies, principles and strategic plans made by the CPC Central Committee on external affairs,” the Politburo said at the meeting, according to Xinhua.
South China Morning Post
- US and China pitch rival supply-chain visions in latest clash over global trade and economic needs — Hours before Beijing is to launch international expo featuring tech giants like Tesla and Apple, Joe Biden unveils White House ‘resilience council’.
- China, Vietnam seek rail and hi-tech ‘interconnection’ as trade, investment skyrocket — Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City, with trade and Vietnamese infrastructure on the agenda.
- Britain ‘not closed’ to Chinese money: UK’s investment minister — At the UK’s Global Investment Summit in London, Dominic Johnson said while the geopolitical picture remains fraught, he is still looking to attract Chinese investors, particularly electric vehicle manufacturers.
- China eager for closer supply chains and no decoupling, Premier Li Qiang tells inaugural expo, in latest charm offensive — Premier Li Qiang spoke during the opening ceremony of the inaugural China International Supply Chain Expo on Tuesday in Beijing.
- Opinion: Transparency is China’s best chance of overcoming international suspicions over latest outbreak of respiratory illness — Beijing’s response to Covid-19 created a trust deficit it will struggle to overcome without releasing as much information as possible about the latest outbreak. By Josephine Ma.
Nikkei Asia
- Japan and Vietnam upgrade security ties with eye on China — Leaders discuss potential equipment aid from Tokyo amid South China Sea tensions.
- China set to boost dominance in Asia renewable energy, report says — Over the past decade, Chinese companies have made “significant strides” in the energy sector by installing 128 gigawatts of power abroad, more than the existing capacity of Australia.
- China central bank chief flags regional debt servicing ‘difficulties’ — Pan tells Hong Kong event he is focused on mitigating short-term property risks.
- Opinion: China’s slowdown will not stop growth in Southeast Asia — Region’s economies can offset impact by attracting relocating supply chains. By Priyanka Kishore.
Bloomberg
- China Backs Off Trade ‘Coercion’ Against Lithuania, Envoy Says — China has dropped trade measures targeting Lithuania that amounted to “coercion” as the two governments gradually move toward restoring diplomatic relations, the Baltic nation’s top diplomat said.
- India Said to Add $5 Billion Aircraft Carrier to Counter China — India is set to add another aircraft carrier to its fleet worth almost 400 billion rupees ($4.8 billion) as it seeks to counter China’s naval presence in the Indian Ocean region, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Chinese Car Brands Are Selling Leftover Gas Vehicles to Mexico — The country has become a large export market for China’s vehicles, most of which are gas-powered and cheaper than those of rivals.
- Chinese AI Firm SenseTime Dives After Short-Seller Takes Aim — SenseTime Group Inc. shares plummeted their most since April after short-seller Grizzly Research released a report accusing the Chinese AI company of inflating its revenues.
- Opinion: The Old Military-Industrial Complex Won’t Win a New Cold War With China — China’s rapid advances as a military superpower demand a more creative partnership between Western governments and companies and universities. By Adrian Wooldridge.
Reuters
- West’s de-risking starts to bite China’s prospects — Data released over the past month has provided clear evidence of the negative impact de-risking strategies are having on the world’s second-largest economy.
- Slowing China still leads the race for commodities — Investors are worried but risk ignoring the structural changes underpinning the country’s continuing voracious appetite for raw materials.
- How China’s Shein became a fast-fashion giant — Founded by Chinese entrepreneur Chris Xu in 2012, Shein has since grown into a global fashion marketplace, serving customers in more than 150 countries and employing with more than 11,000 people.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: Erasing Tibet — Chinese Boarding Schools and the Indoctrination of a Generation.
- POLITICO: 5 questions about the latest disease outbreak in China — It’s more likely the bill is coming due for China’s prolonged Covid lockdown than a novel virus emerging.
- The Washington Post: These three men are vying to lead Taiwan — and fend off threats from China — Taiwan will go to the polls on Jan. 13 to choose its next president in a vote that could reignite U.S.-China tensions if Beijing takes the results badly.
- AP: One year after protests shook China, participants ponder the meaning of the brief flare of defiance — For the young people who took part, it was their first protest. Now, many of them are pondering what’s next.
- The Economist: Will China save the planet or destroy it? — The country’s carbon emissions will soon peak. Then comes the hard part.
- Rest of World: Inside Foxconn’s struggle to make iPhones in India — Chinese engineers are flying to India to train the next generation of iPhone builders.
- The Guardian: China influencing leading British universities, documentary claims — Channel 4’s Dispatches claims University of Nottingham closed school under Beijing pressure and Imperial College professor collaborated on AI.
