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
- A Young Beauty in China Could Turn Investors’ Heads — Chinese cosmetics haven’t been on investors’ radar, but some young challengers are starting to shake things up.
- Air Force Purchase of Chinese Drones Spurs Security Concerns — The military uses drones for training and other purposes as lawmakers, experts warn of possible risks of data theft.
- Pakistan to Strengthen Its Control Over a Disputed Part of Kashmir — Move riles India, which also claims the territory. China is pushing to end region’s legal limbo.
- Pompeo Ends China-Knocking Tour of Asia With Stop in Vietnam — The U.S. Secretary of State also visited India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia this week carrying sharp warnings about Beijing’s policies.
- China’s Factory Recovery Continues as Service Sector Hits Seven-Year High — A gauge of China’s factory activity remained in expansionary territory for an eighth consecutive month, pointing to continued recovery across the world’s second-largest economy.
The Financial Times
- China Evergrande shares jump after developer raises $2.2bn — Move helps ease investor concerns over liquidity at world’s most indebted property group.
- Chinese economy outstrips US despite Beijing bashing — China emerging as the engine of global growth amid the Covid pandemic.
- Tory group in push for watchdog to counter Chinese interference — Body would highlight threats across government, business and academia.
- China boosts foreign access to huge onshore capital markets — Opening up futures trading is latest sign of how Beijing is forging ties with Wall Street.
- Huawei develops plan for chip plant to help beat US sanctions — Shanghai facility aimed at breaking Chinese company’s dependence on American technology.
- Washington looms large over drafting of China’s next five-year plan — Plenum calls for ‘self-reliance’ to counter US efforts to damage Chinese companies.
- Ping An-backed Lufax defies geopolitical tension with $2.4bn US IPO — Chinese online lender debuts on New York Stock Exchange.
The New York Times
- In Hunt for Virus Source, W.H.O. Let China Take Charge — As it praised Beijing, the World Health Organization concealed concessions to China and may have sacrificed the best chance to unravel the virus’s origins. Now it’s a favorite Trump attack line.
Caixin
- China Revises Rules to Offer Foreign Investors More Leeway — With overseas ownership of Chinese companies capped at 30%, exchanges will alert investors when foreign holdings hit 24% instead of 26% as before.
- China Manufacturing Sees Fastest Expansion in Nearly a Decade — In wake of the domestic Covid-19 epidemic, both supply and demand continued to gain momentum in October.
- China Factory Outlook Slips Slightly as Recovery Stays on Track — Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index in October eased to 51.4 from 51.5 in the previous month.
- China’s Steel Industry Argues It’s Forging a Low-Emission Future — Some 228 firms accounting for 610 million tons of production capacity are working to meet tougher pollution standards, official says.
- Construction-Machinery Makers’ Sales Soar on China’s Economic Recovery — Excavator sales up 64.8% on the back of rising investment in real estate and infrastructure.
- Huawei Launches What May Be Its Swan Song High-End Phone in Home China Market — Company unveils latest models from its Mate series, though limited chip supply due to U.S. sanctions means volumes are limited.
- Xiaomi Sees Smartphone Growth In China As Rivals Struggle — Xiaomi was the only major smartphone vendor that enjoyed shipment growth in China in the third quarter of 2020, despite an overall national contraction in sales.
- Tencent’s Mobile Game ‘Honor of Kings’ Amasses 100 Million Daily Active Users — “Honor of Kings”, a fantasy multiplayer role-playing battle title developed by Chinese gaming giant Tencent, has amassed 100 million daily active users worldwide, a landmark number achieved five years after the mobile game’s launch, according to a WeChat post.
- Chinese Beauty Company Yatsen Files for U.S. IPO — Guangzhou-based Yatsen Holding Ltd., the parent company of budget cosmetics and skin-care brand Perfect Diary, has filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), joining a flurry of Chinese firms planning to list on U.S. bourses this year despite mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington.
South China Morning Post
- China’s sovereign digital currency pilot in ‘early stage’ as transactions hit US$300 million — People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) governor Yi Gang said China is still in the early stages of developing its central bank digital currency even as the usage of the digital yuan expands rapidly across Chinese cities.
- China-Australia relations: import ban on Australian copper, sugar expected after blocks on lobster, timber, barley — China has banned imports of Australian timber from Queensland and suspended barley imports from a second grain exporter, while Chinese importers are also bracing for a new round of bans on copper ore and copper concentrate as well as sugar this week in the latest trade escalations between Beijing and Canberra.
- Hong Kong mogul Bill Wong looks beyond Covid-19, ready to hire pilots as he prepares Greater Bay Airlines for take-off — Bill Wong Cho-bau, a Hong Kong tycoon who invests heavily over the border, is making a HK$2 billion (US$258 million) bet with his launch of a new city airline that will focus on a region expected to recover fastest from the coronavirus pandemic.
- China’s economic recovery continues as manufacturing activity rises to highest level since January 2011 — The Chinese manufacturing sector continued to show strong activity in October, indicating the nation’s robust rebound from the coronavirus pandemic continued in the first month of the fourth quarter.
- China’s tech R&D to go into overdrive as five-year plan seeks self-reliance, more innovation — China’s technology sector is expected to double down on research and development over the next five years, as the country’s new economic road map pushes for increased self-reliance and innovation amid trade disputes with the United States, according to analysts.
- China must control financial risk as its markets open wider, regulatory body says — China must safeguard against financial risk as it prepares to open its markets wider to private and foreign investors, a regulatory body chaired by the country’s top economic adviser said on Saturday.
- Hong Kong homebuyers snap up CK Asset’s new launch in Sha Tin, snubbing K Wah’s two-year old Kai Tak project — Hong Kong’s homebuyers jumped at the chance for life in the luxury district of Sha Tin, snapping up a new residential project launched there, while giving their collective cold shoulder to a two-year old leftover development at the city’s former airport site.
- Ant IPO: how US-China trade tensions are driving foreign investment in world’s largest public offering — Despite the looming threat of US financial sanctions against Chinese technology companies, Ant Group’s upcoming dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai has sent investors into a frenzy.
- Hong Kong Disneyland hopes to cast magic spell over tourism slump with November reopening of delayed Castle of Magical Dreams — The delayed reopening of Hong Kong Disneyland’s centrepiece attraction is due this month as part of a massive upgrade of the loss-making theme park.
- China eases rules, widens US$222 billion inbound investment path, offering the renminbi as a safe haven against global volatility — China’s yuan-denominated assets will get a fresh catalyst this month from some policy measures to give foreign stock and bond managers wider access to the capital markets. That also means exposure to the second-best Asian currency in the past 12 months.
- What does the perfect electric vehicle look like in China? It must go far and travel anywhere, without breaking the bank — This final instalment of a three-part series on new energy vehicles (NEVs) looks at what constitutes the perfect electric car in China, comprising a balance between sticker price and driving range, battery size and charging infrastructure. The first instalment on rural markets is here, and the second part on battery makers is here.
- Hong Kong retail sales show signs of life as third wave of coronavirus eases, but decline still hefty 12.9 per cent — Hong Kong’s retail sales showed signs of improvement in September amid an easing third wave of coronavirus infections, although the year-on-year decline was still significant at 12.9 per cent.
- Beyond propaganda: China’s 2035 vision assumes that it will overtake US as the world’s No 1 economy — Beijing’s 2035 vision for “basic socialist modernisation” includes few specific targets and did not specifically mention the United States. But the message is clear between the lines that China will stay on its growth trajectory to replace the US as the world’s top economy in the next 15 years.
- China-US tension: Portugal feels Washington’s ire as Beijing comes wooing with an eye on strategic Azores — As the US-China rivalry intensifies around the world, European states have increasingly found themselves caught in the middle.
- Hong Kong registers 80 per cent month-on-month rise in vacancies in September even as jobless rate remains high, labour minister says — Hong Kong registered an 80 per cent jump in job vacancies in September over the previous month, as the city’s labour minister pointed to a recovering employment market amid a 16-year high jobless rate of 6.4 per cent.
- Retail loans a bright spot for China’s major banks as coronavirus continues to bite into profits — Leading Chinese banks reported declines in their third quarter profits, as a swelling pile of sour loans among borrowers hit hard by the coronavirus continued to bite into their bottom lines.
- Shanghai’s global hub ambitions take a hit as high-tech rival Shenzhen’s new-found autonomy threatens to put it in the shadows — Shanghai’s efforts to build itself into an international financial hub suffered a blow when Beijing granted greater autonomy to its high-tech rival, Shenzhen, aimed at boosting its role as a model for the country’s development, according to analysts.
- Will China’s self-sufficiency drive raise the risk of a US conflict? — China’s new five-year road map to steer the nation towards self-sufficiency and spur growth through domestic demand could lead to even bigger conflicts with the United States.
Bloomberg
- China Gained Ground on India During Bloody Summer in Himalayas — Both armies prepare for a long winter after battle lines were redrawn in months of tense fighting.
- China’s Xi Wants to Diversify Supply Chains Amid U.S. Curbs — Chinese President Xi Jinping called for setting up independent and controllable supply chains to ensure industrial and national security, just as the U.S. moves to cut China off from key exports.
- China Is Getting Ready for a World Without Trump — By removing two key crutches for the yuan, the central bank is preparing for a less volatile world.
- Xinjiang Covid Outbreak Is China’s Biggest Since Summer — A testing blitz in China’s far west region of Xinjiang uncovered the country’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the summer, even as authorities said all infections have been found.
- China’s Race for First Covid-19 Vaccine Raises Safety Questions — Chinese companies have made a seemingly unstoppable push to the front of the race for a coronavirus vaccine. Yet their speedy ascent has been unhindered by common scientific setbacks being reported by Western rivals, raising questions about how stringently they are vetting and reporting potential safety issues.
- ‘Hydrogen Wars’ Pit Europe v. China for $700 Billion Business — Governments, energy giants, automobile companies and lobbying groups say hydrogen use is pivotal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change. That’s triggered a global race to stake claims in what could be a $700 billion business by 2050, according to BloombergNEF.
- World’s Top Hedge Fund Soars 275% With Bets on China Schools — Between January and September, QQQ Capital Management posted gains of 275%, making it the top hedge fund in the world, according to Eurekahedge data.
- China Plans to Import More Oil as Glut Pressures Prices — Against a backdrop of sagging demand and signs of growing supply, the world’s biggest oil buyer raised the quota for use of overseas oil by non-state entities next year by more than 20% versus 2020, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Commerce earlier Monday.
- China Wants to Build a Tibet With More Wealth and Less Buddhism — Sitting in a home built by Chinese authorities near Tibet’s capital of Lhasa, one of the highest cities in the world, Sunnamdanba tells foreign journalists on a government-sponsored tour how much the Communist Party has improved life — and how irrelevant religion has become for him.
- China’s Mega Listings Intensify Rivalry Between Stock Exchanges — Ant Group Co.’s highly-anticipated initial public offering in Shanghai is set to intensify rivalry between the bourse and its competitor Shenzhen, as both aim for the top spot in China’s $9.9 trillion equity market.
- U.S. Sees More Support for ‘Clean Network’ Plan to Counter China — The U.S. has brought 49 countries, representing two-thirds of global economic output, into its “Clean Network” initiative aimed at limiting Chinese companies from access to sensitive sectors such as cloud computing and 5G mobile networks, a senior administration official said.
Reuters
- China’s regulators conduct regulatory talks with Ant Group’s top executives — Four of China’s top finance regulators conducted regulatory talk with Ant Group’s top executives including founder Jack Ma on Monday, China’s securities regulator said in a statement.
- Estee Lauder tops estimates on China demand, online boost — Estee Lauder Cos Inc beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly results on Monday, benefiting from strong Chinese demand and a surge in online orders for its skincare products, sending its shares about 4% higher in premarket trading.
- New energy vehicles to make up 20% of China’s new car sales by 2025 — Sales of electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles in China, the world’s biggest auto market, are forecast to rise to 20% of overall new car sales by 2025 from just 5% now, the State Council said on Monday.
- China state banks plan curbs on metals, forex trades if U.S. election fuels volatility — Two major state-owned Chinese banks warned on Monday that they could restrict trading of precious metals and foreign exchange products if this week’s U.S. presidential election fuels market volatility.
- China says will safeguard Chinese journalists’ rights after U.S. visa rule — China’s foreign ministry said on Monday it will take all necessary measures to protect Chinese journalists in response to the United States delaying visa renewals for Chinese reporters.
- In Tibet, China preaches the material over the spiritual — Dzekyid, a 54-year-old barley farmer, presents himself as a role model for his neighbours and for the success of China’s efforts to tie economic development to social control in Tibet.
- China rejects Australia’s appeal to remove barley import tariff, say sources — China has rejected Australia’s appeal to scrap a tariff on its barley exports, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, all but closing the door on a trade worth about A$1.5 billion ($1.05 billion) in 2018.
- China says finds biohazards in Australian timber imports — China has repeatedly found biohazards in imports of Australian timber, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday in response to a report that Beijing had halted shipments from Queensland.
- Sailing: China’s Li Quanhai named president of World Sailing — World Sailing named long-term board member Li Quanhai as its new president, making him the first person from China to take up the role.
- Australian lobster halted by Chinese customs checks, fuels trade dispute concerns — Australia has stopped sending rock lobster to its biggest market of China after new Chinese customs inspections were imposed on the live seafood, an industry group and the Australian government said.
- Indebted China Evergrande to raise $2.2 billion from Xinjiang Guanghui stake sale — Debt-strapped China Evergrande will raise 14.9 billion yuan ($2.23 billion) by selling a 40.96% stake in Xinjiang Guanghui Industry Investment Group to Shenergy Co , a Xinjiang Guanghui subsidiary said on Sunday.
- China local authority warns of coronavirus on packaging of imported Brazilian pork — Packaging on a batch of frozen pork imported from Brazil which had entered a district in Eastern China’s Shandong province has tested positive for the coronavirus, the local government said.
- China suspends imports from Ecuadorian company after coronavirus found on seafood packaging — China suspended imports from FIREXPA S.A., an Ecuadorian seafood product manufacturer, after the novel coronavirus was found on the packaging of a batch of imported frozen fish, according to a notice by the General Administration of Customs.
- China’s factory activity growth slows slightly in October — China’s factory activity expanded at a slightly slower pace in October but was slightly above analysts’ expectations, suggesting a continuing economic recovery as the country rebounds from the coronavirus shock.
- Brazil will buy China COVID-19 vaccine, VP Mourão says, contradicting Bolsonaro — Brazil’s government will “of course” buy a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine that is being tested in the country, Vice President Hamilton Mourão said on Friday, in the latest example of him contradicting President Jair Bolsonaro.
- Alibaba to kick off China’s first post-pandemic ‘Singles Day’ early — China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will kick off its mega-shopping extravaganza “Singles Day” early this year, a move that will likely see a big jump in its sales as the easing of the country’s COVID-19 pandemic drives an economic rebound.
- China’s Lufax falls 14% in New York debut after $2.36 billion IPO — Shares of Lufax Holding Ltd , one of China’s largest online wealth management platforms, fell 14% in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, after the company raised $2.36 billion in its initial public offering.
Xinhua
- FAW’s sedan brand Hongqi posts strong sales growth — China’s leading automaker First Automotive Works (FAW) Group Co. Ltd., said sales of its iconic brand Hongqi surpassed 153,000 units in the first 10 months of this year, up 103 percent year on year.
- China’s transport investment up 9.8 pct in first three quarters — China’s fixed-asset investment in the transport sector grew 9.8 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2020 on the back of continued recovery from the impact of COVID-19.
- China’s non-manufacturing PMI rises in October — The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s non-manufacturing sector came in at 56.2 in October, up from 55.9 in September and marking the highest level this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday.
- China’s central bank injects liquidity into market via reverse repos — China’s central bank pumped cash into the banking system through open market operations to maintain liquidity Monday.
- China unveils plan for new energy vehicle industry — China, on Monday, unveiled a development plan for its new energy vehicle (NEV) industry from 2021-2035 that aims to accelerate the country into an automotive powerhouse.
- China’s online retail sales up in first three quarters — China’s online retail sales reached over 8 trillion yuan (about 1.19 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters, up 9.7 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).
- Feature: Israeli innovative company aims to expand business in China via CIIE — Watergen, an Israeli high-tech company, will showcase its water-from-air solution at the upcoming third China International Import Expo (CIIE) with the hope of expanding its business in China.
- Cambodia’s rice export up 17 pct in 10 months, China remains top market — Cambodia exported 536,305 metric tons of milled rice in the first 10 months of 2020, up 17 percent over the same period last year, Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon told Xinhua on Monday.
- FAW’s sedan brand Hongqi posts strong sales growth — China’s leading automaker First Automotive Works (FAW) Group Co. Ltd., said sales of its iconic brand Hongqi surpassed 153,000 units in the first 10 months of this year, up 103 percent year on year.
- Chinese biotech firm BGI sees booming revenue, profits in first 3 quarters — Chinese biotech company BGI Genomics Co., Ltd. registered robust growth in its revenue and profits in the first three quarters on the back of rocketing demand for diagnostic kits.
- ZTE sees revenue growth in first three quarters — Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE saw its revenue increase 15.4 percent year on year in the first three quarters, according to the company’s quarterly report.
- China’s YTO Express reports profit growth — YTO Express Group, a leading express delivery firm in China, saw increases in its revenue and profit in the first three quarters.
- Bank of Communications profit decline narrows — The Bank of Communications, one of China’s largest commercial banks, saw narrowing profit decline and growing revenue in the first three quarters of the year as the country’s economy recovers and consumption rebounds.
- Chinese shares close higher on Monday — Chinese stocks closed higher on Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.02 percent to 3,225.12 points.
- Hong Kong stocks close 1.46 pct higher — Hong Kong stocks closed up 352.59 points, or 1.46 percent, to 24,460.01 points on Monday.
- S.Korean stocks rise on positive Chinese economic data — South Korean stocks rose on Monday as foreign and institutional investors bought shares on the positive economic data from China.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China stocks flourish in Trump era despite hostile politics — The most hostile U.S. policy toward China in a generation has not stopped the gains in Chinese stocks, which have outscored every major market in Asia bar India since Donald Trump’s 2016 election triumph — and analysts expect more is to come whatever the result of Tuesday’s presidential race.
- The Diplomat: Vietnam Is Losing Its Best Friends to China — Over the past few years, China’s economic gravity has begun to pull Cambodia and Laos out of Vietnam’s orbit.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Tokyo startup takes cue from China smartphone battery rental — Using imported business model, Inforich now has 21,000 machines in Japan.
