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
- Chinese ‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomat Enrages Australia With Twitter Post — Australian prime minister demands apology for official’s use of a photo, which Australia says is doctored, showing an Australian soldier apparently threatening an Afghan child.
- House to Vote on Booting Chinese Stocks From U.S. Over Audit Rules — Alibaba and other companies could be forced to remove shares from trading in U.S.
- Australia Threatens WTO Action Against China as Trade Row Intensifies — Australian barley exports to China have mostly stopped after Beijing imposed tariffs in May.
- China Is Ready to Restart Cruises, but Big Companies Are Left Out — Royal Caribbean and Carnival spent the past decade carving out China’s cruise market, but can’t yet participate in its revival.
- How NIO, a Chinese EV Startup, Rose, Fell and Rose Again — After nearing bankruptcy, NIO has recently surged to become the world’s fourth most valuable auto maker, surpassing GM and Daimler.
- ‘Their Goal Is to Make You Feel Helpless’: In Xi’s China, Little Room for Dissent — After one man was snatched off the street for tracking protests online, he spent four years in custody and remains under close police watch.
- China Regains Clout in Sri Lanka With Family’s Return to Power — Big projects backed by Beijing have gained fresh momentum now that the Rajapaksas have staged a political comeback.
- Measures of Chinese Economic Activity Signal Widening Recovery — Manufacturing and nonmanufacturing reach highest levels in three and eight years, respectively.
- China’s Sour Grapes Spell Trouble for Australian Wine — Australian wine is the latest commodity in Beijing’s crosshairs, leaving companies like Treasury Wines with few palatable options.
The Financial Times
- US/China investment: blackout — America’s list of sectors it won’t do business with appears to be expanding.
- China edges towards greater financial discipline — String of bond defaults changes assumptions on state guarantees.
- Australian winemaker to pivot from China in wake of trade fight — Treasury Wine Estates warns of risk to a third of earnings from new tariffs as shares fall 10%.
- China state group says official meddling contributed to default wave — XCMG president says struggling SOEs should be left to ‘die’ in unusually frank remarks.
- In 165 countries, China’s Beidou eclipses American GPS — Beijing extends its data reach into space and sea.
- EU proposes fresh alliance with US in face of China challenge — Brussels draft plan seeks to rebuild ties with common fronts on tech, Covid-19 and democratic interests.
- Hong Kong’s leader has ‘piles of cash’ at home after US sanctions — Carrie Lam says she has been left with no access to banking services.
- Chinese consumers move towards forefront of economic recovery — Households seen to be ready for more sustained rush to spend after months of caution.
The New York Times
- Hong Kong’s Courts Are Still Independent. Some Want to Rein Them In. — The judiciary is crucial to the city’s status as a global hub for trade and finance. But the Chinese Communist Party has been gaining more authority over it.
- Nike and Coca-Cola Lobby Against Xinjiang Forced Labor Bill — Business groups and major companies like Apple have been pressing Congress to alter legislation cracking down on imports of goods made with forced labor from persecuted Muslim minorities in China.
- Beijing Takes Its South China Sea Strategy to the Himalayas — China built a village in territory also claimed by the kingdom of Bhutan, echoing its aggressive tactics at the border with India and in places much farther away.
Caixin
- China Is About to Expand Pilot Programs for Outbound Investment — Foreign exchange regulator to increase scale of existing Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen trials, and add news ones in Hainan and Chongqing.
- Hong Kong Leader Has to Sit on Piles of Cash Because of U.S. Sanctions — Washington punished Carrie Lam following Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong.
- Top Securities Watchdog Launches Probe of Yongcheng Coal and Auditor — Surprise default on $153 million of bonds two weeks ago rattled China’s bond market and set off investigation by interbank bond market regulator.
- Swedish Truck-Maker Scania Drives Into China With Wholly Owned Venture — Company joins growing field of global brands taking advantage of relaxed ownership rules for foreign automakers.
- Cover Story: The Fight Over China’s Law to Protect Personal Data — Push by businesses and governments to tap facial recognition and big data clashes with individuals’ need to defend personal privacy.
- Smart Cars and Internet of Things Face Growing Cybersecurity Risks — China’s ‘cloudification’ is posing growing cybersecurity risks, experts say.
- China Exempts Tesla Model Y from Purchase Tax — China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has placed Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model Y on a list that grants new energy vehicles exemption from purchase tax, signaling that the U.S. automaker should soon start selling the electric sports utility vehicle in China, a market which it sees as one of its most important revenue sources.
- GL Ventures Leads $265m Series C Round in Chinese SaaS Edtech Firm EEO — Empower Education Online (EEO), a Chinese Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider in the edtech field, has secured $265 million in a Series C round of financing led by Hillhouse Capital’s venture capital unit GL Ventures, the lead investor announced on November 28.
- China On Cusp of Becoming Third Ever Country to Collect Lunar Samples as Chang’e 5 Prepares for Moon Landing — China’s Chang’e 5 lunar probe completed the separation between its lander-ascender combination and orbiter-returner combination in the early morning of Monday, paving the way for the unmanned spacecraft’s soft landing on the moon to retrieve rock samples, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
South China Morning Post
- China military: ‘leaders’ lack of combat experience’ a drag on modernisation drive — A lack of combat experience and knowledge of modern warfare at the top are hampering the Chinese military’s modernisation drive and ability to confront growing security challenges at home and abroad, analysts said.
- China bars four US NGO workers from entry in Hong Kong tit-for-tat — China will bar four people working for American NGOs from entering the country as Washington and Beijing continue their tit-for-tat over Hong Kong.
- China’s yuan rises for sixth straight month, the longest streak since 2014, before Biden takes office — The yuan’s exchange rate rose against the US dollar in November for the sixth straight month – its longest appreciation streak in six years, reflecting Beijing’s determination to boost the yuan’s international demand while also bracing for the incoming administration of US president-elect Joe Biden.
- China-India relations: Chinese defence minister declares military support for Nepal against shared rival — China pledged to enhance its military relationship with Nepal and support its territorial integrity at a time when the small Himayalan neighbour is embroiled in border disputes with India.
- China’s bond defaults may lead to poor places becoming poorer and rich places richer — One consequence from recent defaults in China’s bond market is that there is likely to be an acceleration of money flowing from the country’s poor provinces into a handful of already affluent areas such as the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.
- China unlikely to ease up on stimulus just yet even as economic recovery gathers pace in November — China’s economic recovery accelerated in November, according to data published on Monday, but Beijing is unlikely to ease up on its support measures just yet given the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in key trading partners and questions about the outlook for domestic employment, analysts said.
- 5G: China will account for nearly 80 per cent of global subscriptions by end-2020, Ericsson says — China will account for nearly 80 per cent – or 175 million – of a projected 220 million global 5G subscriptions by the end of the year, according to a new report by Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson.
- Moon landing imminent for China’s Chang’e 5 on its mission to collect lunar samples — A moon landing is imminent for China’s Chang’e 5 mission, which will soon begin taking lunar samples, state media reported on Monday.
- China widens exit for offshore stock investment plans in Hainan, Chongqing as yuan gathers strength against global currencies — Beijing plans to expand two pilot programmes that allow residents to buy overseas equities under quotas amid investors’ increasing demand for global asset allocation.
- China-US animosity frustrates Beijing’s ‘Fox Hunt’ for overseas fugitives — China’s Operation Fox Hunt, a state-sanctioned chase around the world for fugitive suspects, relies as much on goodwill between international law enforcement agencies as legalities.
- China looks to boost middle class as it wraps up Xi Jinping’s anti-poverty drive — A critical mission for President Xi Jinping over the next 15 years is likely to be doubling the size of China’s “middle-income” group after Beijing reaches its goal of eliminating absolute poverty next summer, analysts say.
- China’s economic activity extended its strong growth in November as manufacturing, services sentiment grows — China’s economic activity extended its strong growth in November, according to data released on Monday.
- China food security: how’s it going and why’s it important? — China needs to feed its 1.4 billion people, around one fifth of the world’s population.
- China-Australia relations: WTO action ‘the next step’ for Canberra over Beijing’s barley duties — The Australian government is “expecting” to bring a formal case against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over barley anti-dumping duties.
- Hong Kong fourth wave: two major travel agencies slash staff as Covid-19 subsidy ends with no relief for sector in sight — Hong Kong’s battered tourism sector suffered yet another blow on Monday as two of the city’s major tour operators revealed they were laying off at least 20 per cent of their respective workforces in a bid to stay afloat during the rapidly worsening coronavirus outbreak.
- Mainland Chinese commerce official backs Hong Kong joining RCEP trade bloc, with city leader Carrie Lam hoping to start talks ‘at earliest opportunity’ — China’s vice-minister of commerce has thrown his support behind Hong Kong joining the world‘s biggest free-trade deal to expand cooperation with other Asian countries amid the economic turmoil of Covid-19, with the city’s leader hoping to begin accession talks “at the earliest opportunity”.
- Hong Kong court acquits Roy Cho and associates in Convoy’s fraud case, dealing blow to regulator’s crackdown on white collar crime — Three executives were acquitted of charges of defrauding Convoy Global Holdings in Hong Kong, dealing a blow to the financial regulator’s attempt to instil financial discipline and crack down on white-collar malfeasance in the world’s fourth-largest capital market.
- Measures cooling Hong Kong’s residential property market should remain with homes so expensive and sector’s resilience, finance chief says — Measures cooling Hong Kong’s residential property market should stay in place given it remains strong and prices continue to leave home ownership beyond the reach of many, according to the city’s finance minister.
- Hong Kong’s new face mask market: from outdoor furniture manufacturers to filmmakers, here’s how companies adapted — Hong Kong-based outdoor furniture maker 3i Corporation saw its exports to the US and Europe start to stagnate at the beginning of the year as the first reverberations of an economically disastrous global pandemic were felt.
- Meituan’s third-quarter sales rise as antitrust clouds gather over China’s internet giants — Meituan, operator of China’s largest e-commerce platform for services, expects “reinforced regulation” to promote more innovation and balance of interests in China’s internet industry, following Beijing’s release of a draft antitrust guideline in November.
- UK unveils 5G plan banning Huawei gear installation from September 2021 — The UK will ban the installation of 5G equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies Co. by the end of next September.
- Has the day in the sun finally arrived for green hydrogen and fuel cells on China’s road to attain carbon neutrality by 2060? — The second in a four-part series on China’s carbon neutrality goal of 2060 looks at the nation’s roll-out of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) and refuelling stations more than a decade ago. The technology’s day in the sun may be arriving. The first part of the series is here.
- China rebukes internet companies for weak user data protection in their apps — Chinese regulators have reprimanded some of the country’s biggest technology companies for weak protection of user data, about a year after the government cracked down on a large batch of apps for breach of personal information.
Bloomberg
- China’s Fight With Australia Risks Backfiring as Biden Era Nears — China’s economic offensive against Australia is partly designed to warn countries against vocally opposing Beijing’s interests, particularly with Joe Biden looking to unite U.S. allies. Yet it’s already showing signs of backfiring.
- Meituan’s Sales Surge Alongside China’s Appetite for Takeout — Meituan reported a 29% rise in quarterly revenue after China’s economic recovery boosted restaurants and whetted consumers’ appetite for takeout.
- Crop Prices Set for Best Month in Five Years on Supply Worries — Crop prices are rounding out their biggest monthly advance in more than five years on China’s buying spree and concerns about South American dry spells.
- Hong Kong Tightens Gatherings, Sends Civil Servants Home — Hong Kong introduced the city’s toughest public-gathering restrictions in months and decided to send civil servants back to work-from-home arrangements as the government steps up efforts to contain the latest wave of coronavirus infections in the Asian financial hub.
- Ant Is Said to Face Slim Chance of Getting IPO Done in 2021 — The chances that Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. will be able to revive its massive stock listing next year are looking increasingly slim as China overhauls rules governing the fintech industry, according to regulatory officials familiar with the matter.
- China Says Global Grain Price Rally Not Down to Its Import Boom — A Chinese government official rebuffed the idea that the nation’s massive corn and wheat imports are to blame for the jump in international prices, saying the coronavirus pandemic and uncertainty in global food trade drove “panic” in the industry.
- H.K. Doctor Is Cleared in Massive Securities Fraud Probe — Hong Kong’s securities watchdog has failed to secure convictions in its largest-ever investigation after a key figure in the city’s so-called nefarious networks was cleared of charges.
- China Needs to Raise Green Finance Standards to Meet Targets — China needs to improve its green finance standards and require banks to reveal more carbon emission information for the country to meet its carbon neutral pledge by 2060, according to a top official from the green finance sector.
- CNOOC Targeted by U.S. After Years of South China Sea Drilling — China’s third-biggest oil company faces a U.S. blacklist, which could spur major outflows from its Hong Kong-listed unit, after years of involvement in offshore drilling in disputed South China Sea waters.
- SF Holding Said to Seek About $4 Billion Loan for Acquisitions — The parent of big Chinese courier SF Express is in talks with banks for a loan of around $4 billion for acquisitions, according to people familiar with the matter, who are not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified.
- JPMorgan Doubling Singapore Private Bankers for Rich Chinese — JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to double the number of private bankers serving Chinese clients from Singapore over the next two years, signaling its ambition to tap growth from Asia’s second-largest wealth market.
- Vaccines, China Give Investors Reason for Optimism — Investors have reason for optimism amid the misery, with signs the pandemic is coming under control in developed economies.
- China Urges U.S. to Drop Probe That Claims Yuan Undervalued — China said a preliminary U.S. ruling that it allegedly provided a trade subsidy to some exporters by undervaluing the yuan violated international rules.
- Hong Kong Gets First Rate Swap Tied to UN Sustainable Goals — New World Development Company Ltd. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. have completed Hong Kong’s first interest rate swap linked to United Nations sustainable development goals.
- China’s Recovery on Track as Factory Index Climbs to 3-Year High — China’s economic rebound is gathering pace toward the end of the year, with an official gauge of manufacturing rising faster than expected in November, fueled by exports.
- Suning.com Is Said to Mull E-Commerce Business Stake Sale — Suning.com Co., one of the largest retailers in China, is considering selling a stake in its e-commerce business as it aims to ease financing pressures, according to people familiar with the matter.
- China Planning Hydropower on Key Tibet River: Global Times — China plans to exploit the hydropower resources of a Tibetan section of a river that is a key source of water to Bangladesh and India, the Global Times reported.
- There’s More Than Wine in Australia-China Trade Tension — The cost of playing both sides of an economic superpower battle is increasing.
- The World Is About to Find Out How Tough Biden Will Be on China — After four years of tussling with President Donald Trump, the relationship between the U.S. and China has changed for the long haul, perhaps for good. And the election of Joe Biden as U.S. president is unlikely to change the direction of the overall relationship.
- Treasury Wine Retreats From China After Crippling 169% Tariffs — Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. unveiled an emergency plan to find new markets for its best-known labels after China imposed crippling anti-dumping duties of 169% on its wine over the weekend.
- China Seeks to Import Jet Fuel Ahead of Lunar New Year Holidays — Lunar New Year may be more than two months away but one Chinese fuel supplier is already gearing up for an expected surge in air travel.
- H.K. to Suspend In-Person Classes as Virus Cases Mount — Hong Kong will suspend face-to-face classes at kindergartens, primary and secondary schools amid a rise in locally-transmitted cases of Covid-19. Meanwhile, South Korea tightens restrictions outside Seoul. Stephen Engle reports on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia.” (Source: Bloomberg)
- Bitcoin and China Are Winning the Covid-19 Monetary Revolution — The virtual currency is scarce, sovereign and a great place for the rich to store their wealth.
- Australia Says China Trade Curbs Hurt Global Confidence — Australia’s trade minister said China’s steps to curb imports of his country’s goods are “aggressive” and undermine confidence in the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
- South African Retailers Turn From China to Source Local Clothes — South African retailers including The Foschini Group Ltd. and Woolworths Holdings Ltd. are increasing investment in local clothing manufacturers — both to reduce a dependency on Chinese imports and secure a supply chain thrown into disarray by Covid-19 restrictions.
- Xi Jinping Scores Big Against Extreme Poverty But China Still Has Its Poor — Xi Jinping will soon celebrate the end of extreme rural destitution. Hundreds of millions of Chinese continue to struggle.
- Apple Suppliers’ Exodus From China Won’t Slow Down Under Biden — The splintering of the global tech supply chain that began during President Donald Trump’s watch looks set to persist under his successor.
- China Should Further Open Up Finance Sector, PBOC Official Says — China’s finance sector should open up further to support the “dual circulation” economic strategy and mitigate risks in the industry, a central bank official said.
- China Says It Needs 4.7% Annual Growth to Reach 2035 GDP Target — A Chinese official said the country’s average annual growth needs to reach 4.73% to achieve a 2035 target of doubling the size of its economy.
- China Charges PlusToken Organizers in $2.3 Billion Crypto Scam — A Chinese court in the eastern province of Jiangsu charged organizers of PlusToken with building a pyramid scheme which collected billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies from members.
Reuters
- China banking regulator says property market is biggest ‘grey rhino’ — China’s property market is the biggest “grey rhino” – a very obvious yet ignored threat – in terms of financial risks, given it is so deeply intertwined with the financial industry, the head of the country’s banking regulator said.
- Global investors see China stocks bull run lasting well into 2021 — Global investors are betting Chinese stocks will extend their bull run and that mainland corporate earnings in 2021 will be boosted by a world economic recovery and more predictable Sino-U.S. relationship.
- China’s factory activity expands at fastest pace in over three years — China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in November, while growth in the services sector also hit a multi-year high, as the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic stepped up.
- China grants Tesla green light to start selling Shanghai-made Model Y SUV — Tesla Inc has obtained permission to start selling its Shanghai-made Model Y sports utility vehicle in China.
- China to force firms to report use of plastic in new recycling push — Restaurants, e-commerce platforms and delivery firms will be forced to report their utilisation of single-use plastics to the authorities and also submit formal recycling plans, China’s commerce ministry said in proposals published on Monday.
- EXCLUSIVE-Trump to add China’s SMIC and CNOOC to defense blacklist -sources — The Trump administration is poised to add China’s top chipmaker SMIC and national offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, according to a document and sources, curbing their access to U.S. investors and escalating tensions with Beijing weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
- China completes farm product quarantine protocols of U.S. trade deal: Global Times — China’s customs authority has completed the quarantine protocols agreed under the Phase one trade deal between China and the United States allowing for the imports of various farm goods, the Global Times reported on Monday.
- Chinese banks’ profit growth seen recovering to 2-3% in 2021: report — China’s banking sector is likely to show annual profit growth of 2-3% in 2021 after an expected 7% fall this year due to hit of the global pandemic, Bank of China, the country’s fourth largest lender, said in a report on Monday.
- China steelmaker Jiangsu Shagang plans $2.25 billion Henan province consolidation drive — China’s biggest private steel producer, Jiangsu Shagang Group, said on Monday it will invest 14.8 billion yuan ($2.25 billion) in buying up and modernising steel mills in central Henan province in a project to create a high-end manufacturing base.
- Steak out: China’s coronavirus testing chokes beef trade — In a supermarket in downtown Beijing, refrigerator shelves normally filled with steak from around the world sit empty as tougher testing for the novel coronavirus creates supply bottlenecks and raises prices for importers.
Xinhua
- China’s manufacturing PMI rises in November — The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 52.1 in November, up from 51.4 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.
- China’s non-manufacturing PMI rises in November — The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s non-manufacturing sector came in at 56.4 in November, up from 56.2 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
- China starts shipping tracks for Indonesia’s high-speed railway — A southern Chinese port on Saturday shipped the first batch of made-in-China steel tracks to be used in Indonesia’s Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR).
- China to expand outbound investment schemes — China will expand the scale of two pilot schemes that allow domestic investors to access foreign assets, the country’s foreign exchange regulator said Sunday.
- ASEAN officials, businessmen laud China-ASEAN Expo for deepening regional cooperation, free trade — The ongoing 17th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) has significantly deepened regional cooperation and will further facilitate free trade following the signing of the landmark Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s biggest trade pact, senior officials and businessmen from the ASEAN countries have said.
- First shipment of China-made Tesla sedans reaches Europe — Concluding a month-long journey, the first-ever transport of China-made Tesla Model 3 cars to be sold in the European market reached the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium late on Thursday.
- First batch of China-made Tesla sedans arrives at Belgium’s Zeebrugge port — After roughly one-month at sea, the vessel carrying the first batch of made-in-China Tesla Model 3 heading for Europe has arrived at Zeebrugge port in Belgium on Thursday evening, according to the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data of the vessel.
- Chinese shares close lower Monday — Chinese stocks closed lower on Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.49 percent, at 3,391.76 points.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: Beijing-backed Tsinghua Unigroup’s chip projects hit by delays — Chipmaker faces cash crunch as local governments temper support.
- Defense News: Asia-Pacific militaries bet on unmanned systems to meet regional challenges — Asia-Pacific nations are embracing the use of unmanned solutions for maritime missions, with several nations bordering the Pacific Ocean and with extensive littorals either operating or planning to acquire unmanned systems for use in the domain.
- Foreign Policy: China’s Monster Fishing Fleet — Though not alone in its destructive practices, Beijing’s rapacious fleet causes humanitarian disasters and has a unique military mission.
