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 Bids Good Riddance to Trump — Bitter messages from Beijing punctuate tumultuous time in U.S.-China relations under former president.
- Chinese Telecom Carriers Ask NYSE to Make Another U-Turn on Delisting — Companies say they operated in accordance with laws and regulations, and followed regulatory requirements of listing venues.
- Jack Ma Is Back, but Ant’s Troubles Are Far From Over — A tougher regulatory approach—and probably slower growth—now look inevitable.
- Beijing Fills the Mideast Vacuum — China’s projection of power isn’t only a regional concern. It will eventually pose a threat to the U.S.
- Biden Sends Important Foreign-Policy Signal With Taiwan Inauguration Invite — Taiwan envoy formally attends presidential swearing-in for first time since 1979; China restrained in response.
The Financial Times
- Crackdown on Jack Ma’s empire gathers pace despite reappearance — Beijing increases pressure on Ant Group hours after tech billionaire breaks public silence.
- China imposes sanctions on Trump officials including Mike Pompeo — Beijing targets former US secretary of state and 27 others for violating its sovereignty.
- The right answer to Xi Jinping is a one-China policy — To counter Beijing’s strategy of divide and rule, the US and its allies need consistent policies.
- Coronavirus drives retreat of Chinese VCs to safer deals — Investors lavish funds on known companies in favoured sectors at expense of tech start-ups.
The New York Times
- Trump’s Last-Minute Moves Against China Complicate Biden’s Agenda — The departing administration’s decision to push through a declaration that China is committing genocide was the latest in a series of actions that risk politicizing the issues.
Caixin
- Exclusive: Sovereign Wealth Fund Executive to Become Chairman of Major Insurance Firm — New China Life’s current Chairman Liu Haoling is set to resign as top shareholder China Investment Corp. positions a successor.
- With Trump Gone, China Telcos Appeal to Stay Listed in New York — U.S.-listed shares of China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom slated for New York delisting following a November executive order by Donald Trump.
- China Breaks Record for New Wind Power Capacity, Just Before Subsidies Expire — Developers installed more than 71 million kilowatts of new capacity in 2020, with half of it going online in December.
- Chinese Battery Giant Says It Had Nothing to Do With Latest Tesla Fire — CATL says it doesn’t make the type of a battery used in the model that caught fire.
- Carmaker BYD to Raise $3.9 Billion Through New Share Sale — Chinese automaker BYD, which is investing heavily in electric cars and batteries, has announced a plan to raise HK$29.9 billion ($3.9 billion) through a sale of new shares amid bullish market sentiments over the prospects for new energy vehicles.
- Alibaba’s Jack Ma Reemerges After Long Absence — China’s most famous businessman made an uncharacteristically low-key appearance at an online conference Wednesday, in what some believe was a bid to tamp down rumors he was missing.
- Chinese Mainland Speeds Up Chip Equipment Buying from ASML — The Chinese mainland was the third-largest revenue source for Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML in 2020, even as the U.S. tightened the screws on non-American companies providing China with the hardware, software and other services it needs to build up its chip sector.
- Chinese Edtech Startup Erwan Nets Nearly $100 Million in Series D, E Funding Rounds — Edtech startup Erwan Technology has secured nearly $100 million in a new financing round to tap the burgeoning demand for wealth management and investment education services among China’s wealthier generations.
South China Morning Post
- China-US relations: angels can triumph over evil and get ties back on track, Beijing says — China’s relationship with the United States can be restored and “kind angels can triumph over evil forces”, Beijing said on Thursday, in an upbeat statement after earlier imposing sanctions on a raft of American officials who served under Donald Trump.
- Do fintech giants Alipay and WeChat Pay have monopoly power? China’s new regulation leaves experts guessing — A new regulation drafted by China’s central bank, which seeks to determine whether nonbank institutions qualify as monopolies, has analysts and legal scholars pondering on the potential of Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Pay being subject to penalties or broken up.
- China’s weak consumer spending requires its leaders to upgrade policy toolkit, Beijing adviser says — Even though the Chinese economy continues its rapid recovery from the coronavirus shock, Beijing’s traditional policy prescriptions are too outdated to be successful in igniting a strong improvement in subdued consumer spending, a prominent adviser to the central government has warned.
- Japan weighs in on South China Sea dispute, adding to pressure on Beijing — Japan has joined a battle of diplomatic notes over the South China Sea dispute, adding to pressure on Beijing over its expansive claims in the strategically important waterway.
- As Biden takes office, US still viewed as ‘grey rhino’ risk for Chinese economy — The outlook for China-US trade ties under a Joe Biden presidency has been met with mixed views by Chinese economists, with some saying the United States remains the nation’s biggest “grey rhino” – a very obvious yet ignored threat – in terms of economic risk this year.
- China’s Xinjiang more than doubled its US exports in 2020, despite Trump’s sanctions and bans — Xinjiang’s exports to the United States more than doubled last year, despite increasing pressure on US companies to cut ties with the western Chinese region.
- China doubles new renewable capacity in 2020 and raises thermal plants base to five-year high — China more than doubled its construction of new wind and solar power plants in 2020 from a year earlier, government data showed, reflecting Beijing’s pledge to cut fossil fuel dependence and bring carbon emissions to a peak within a decade.
- Chinese capital Beijing sets sights on building ‘trillion yuan’ hi-tech manufacturing clusters — The city of Beijing will develop new “trillion yuan” hi-tech manufacturing clusters and strengthen its capabilities in areas such as artificial intelligence and quantum communication research, according to its new five-year action plan to be a global science and technology hub.
- China-Australia relations: Beijing raises wool import quota, but move not seen as sign of warming ties — Undeterred by the strong Australian dollar, Chinese buyers are snapping up Australian wool after Beijing lifted this year’s wool import quota – a rare positive sign amid frayed relations between the two countries.
- Tencent-backed video sharing app Kuaishou kicks off Hong Kong IPO targeting US$5 billion — Kuaishou Technology, the short-video platform backed by Tencent, will offer its shares at a maximum price of HK$93 each, as it aims to raise up to HK$38.6 billion (US$5 billion) in Hong Kong’s biggest initial public offering for 14 months.
- Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s annual Lunar New Year night parade to be replaced by online shopping platform — Hong Kong’s annual Lunar New Year night parade will be moved mostly online, organisers have announced, as social-distancing rules amid the ongoing fourth wave of coronavirus infections prompt more muted celebrations to welcome the Year of the Ox.
- US-China tech war: moment of truth looms for ex-Huawei unit Honor in new smartphone launch — Huawei Technologies Co’s former budget smartphone brand, Honor, will unveil its first new device as an independent company on Friday, serving as an example of how domestic enterprises tied to firms blacklisted by Washington can survive the US-China tech war.
- Departing US FCC chair says Chinese telecoms threats are top national security issue — Outgoing US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai said potential Chinese espionage and threats to US telecommunications networks and internet freedom are the biggest national security issue that regulators will face in the next four years.
- Twitter locks out Chinese embassy in US over post on Uygurs as censorship debate widens — Twitter has locked the official account for the Chinese Embassy to the US after a post that defended the Beijing government’s policies in the western region of Xinjiang, where critics say China is engaged in the forced sterilisation of minority Uygur women.
- Tencent-ByteDance rivalry: Tencent Games takes up top ad spot on China’s TikTok, raising eyebrows — Tencent Holdings has paid for an advert on the splash screen of ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, raising eyebrows amid increasing competition between the two tech giants as the latter moves into gaming and payments.
- China’s would-be chip darling Tsinghua Unigroup bedevilled by debt and bad bets — Tsinghua Unigroup, a Chinese conglomerate that has long sought to become a semiconductor powerhouse, is now caught between a rock and a hard place, as debt woes mount while key chip units are failing to thrive, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Bloomberg
- How President Biden Can Fix Trump’s ‘Failed’ China Policy — One scholar’s alternative to ‘impatient unilateralism and decoupling’.
- China’s Smile to Biden Comes With a Warning — Dissecting messages from China is like unpacking a Russian doll. There are plenty of layers to get to the truth.
- CATL Latest Chinese Firm to Offer Bonus If Workers Forgo Holiday — Workers at Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., China’s biggest maker of batteries for electric cars and a Tesla Inc. supplier, can make a bit of extra money over the Lunar New Year, so long as they forgo their holiday.
- Ant Group’s Valuation Seen Dropping to $108 Billion on Crackdown — Ant Group Co.’s valuation may be cut further under new measures proposed by China to curb market concentration in its online payments market, according to new estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence.
- Record Chinese Inflows Push Hong Kong Stock Index Past 30,000 — Investors in mainland China are showing unprecedented interest in Hong Kong stocks, powering the city’s fastest rally for a new year in more than three decades.
- Twitter Locks Out Chinese Embassy in U.S. Over Post on Uighurs — Twitter Inc. has locked the official account for the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. after a post that defended the Beijing government’s policies in the western region of Xinjiang, where critics say China is engaged in the forced sterilization of minority Uighur women.
- Tencent-Backed Huohua Siwei Is Said to Pick Banks for U.S. IPO — Chinese online education firm Huohua Siwei, backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Kuaishou Technology, has picked banks to work on its U.S. initial public offering which could raise as much as $500 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
- China Fails to Meet U.S. Trade Deal Target in 2020 Amid Pandemic — China failed to meet its 2020 trade deal targets with the U.S. in a year marked by pandemic-related disruptions and an increasingly tense relationship with the Trump administration.
- China New Year Travel Slump to Slow Consumer Spending Recovery — China expects a sharp downturn in travel over the Lunar New Year period compared with pre-pandemic levels following new restrictions to control coronavirus outbreaks, threatening a nascent-recovery in consumer spending.
- China Stocks Rise Most in a Week as Buyers Shift From Hong Kong — China’s stocks climbed the most in a week as mainland traders shifted investments back onshore, as Hong Kong’s benchmark declined soon after passing a key milestone.
- White House Calls China Sanctions on Trump Aides ‘Unproductive’ — The White House called last-minute Chinese sanctions on former Trump administration officials “unproductive,” saying they were an effort to sow partisan rancor as Joe Biden takes office.
- China’s Big Three State Telcos Seek Review of NYSE Delisting — China’s three biggest telecommunications firms said they requested a review of the New York Stock Exchange’s decision to delist their shares more than a week ago, a move triggered by an executive order issued by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
- China Barricades Part of Capital as Outbreak Escalates — Beijing has imposed a lockdown of 1.7 million people in part of the Chinese capital as officials race to prevent a Covid-19 resurgence in the country’s northern region from seeping into its most important city.
- Electric Car Maker BYD Raises $3.9 Billion in Upsized Sale — BYD Co., a Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer backed by Warren Buffett, raised HK$29.9 billion ($3.86 billion) from an upsized sale of its Hong Kong-listed shares, capitalizing on rising demand for new-energy vehicles and a blistering stock rally.
- Jack Ma’s Video Chat Prompts a $58 Billion Sigh of Relief — He appeared for less than a minute and said nothing about the Chinese government clampdown that had left his business empire in crisis.
- China Plans Online Payment Rules That May Hit Ant, Tencent — China proposed measures to curb market concentration in its online payment market, potentially dealing another blow to financial technology giant Ant Group Co. and its biggest rival Tencent Holdings Ltd.
- Hong Kong Set to Grant Approval of Pfizer Shot, SCMP Reports — Hong Kong is set to grant emergency approval for the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine, the South China Morning Post reported, citing an unidentified government source.
- China Should Adopt Softer Foreign Policy — An aggressive foreign policy has only cemented anti-Chinese hostility around the world. It’s time for Beijing to play defense, not offense.
- A New Wave of Investors Invades Hong Kong as Elliott Decamps for Japan — The legendary activist hedge fund has been decamping Hong Kong since 2018. It really doesn’t need to engage with the wave of new investors from the mainland.
- ASML: China’s $150 Billion Chip Push Has Hit A Dutch Snag — Europe’s largest tech company supplies the machines that can make next-generation semiconductors. But it’s isn’t selling these to China.
- Startups Look Forward as China Cracks Down on Alibaba (BABA), Tencent (TCEHY) — Antitrust moves could rein in the country’s most powerful corporations and give smaller players fresh chances.
- Will U.S. or China Reach Mars First? Space Race Heats Up — Both countries plan to visit the red planet, the moon, and more.
- China Sanctions Trump Administration Figures Including Pompeo — China imposed sanctions on former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and other Trump administration officials even as Joe Biden was being inaugurated as president, saying they had made “crazy moves” that harmed U.S.-China ties, Bloomberg News reports.
- ASML Beats Estimates, Grapples With Chip Supply Shortage — ASML Holding NV, a crucial supplier to Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, beat analyst expectations for the first quarter and is planning a significant share buyback in the first quarter, with U.S.-China tensions doing little to disrupt strong demand.
Reuters
- India’s vaccine diplomacy in South Asia pushes back against China — India will give millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine to South Asian countries in the next few weeks, government sources said on Thursday, drawing praise from its neighbours and pushing back against China’s dominating presence in the region.
- Pakistan: China to gift half million doses of Sinopharm vaccine — Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday that China has agreed to provide half a million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 free of cost to Pakistan by January 31.
- Asset manager Nuveen exits sanctions-hit Chinese companies — Nuveen, the $1.1 trillion asset management arm of TIAA, has sold out of its holdings in the Chinese companies that will be barred to U.S. investors by recent sanctions, it said in an email to Reuters.
- Column: Ignore or enforce? Biden’s dilemma on China’s commodity purchases — President Joe Biden inherits a problematic trade deal with China and the unpalatable choices of trying to make Beijing meet its commitments on purchases of U.S. commodities, renegotiating, or simply ignoring China’s failure to meet the terms.
- Twitter locks account of China’s U.S. embassy over its defence of Xinjiang policy — Twitter has locked the account of China’s U.S. embassy for a tweet that defended China’s policy towards Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, which the U.S. social media platform said violated its stand against “dehumanizing” people.
- Column: China’s U.S. grain haul sparks flashbacks to 1972 ‘grain robbery’ — China within the last year has bought historic volumes of U.S. corn and soybeans at prices significantly lower than those today, conjuring up memories of an American trade fiasco involving the Soviet Union a half-century ago.
- Appealing to ‘kind angels’ China strikes optimistic tone with Biden administration — China struck an optimistic tone toward President Joe Biden’s new administration on Thursday, saying “kind angels can triumph over evil forces” and playing down early irritants as the result of an atmosphere poisoned by Donald Trump’s term in office.
- China concerned over locked Twitter account of its United States embassy — China is concerned over news that social network Twitter has locked the account of its embassy in the United States, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
- Wanted: Communist Party leadership to keep Vietnam in sweet spot amid U.S.-China tensions — Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party gathers for a congress next week that will help shape the country’s global role for the next five years, selecting new leaders and setting policy as tensions bubble with Beijing and Joe Biden settles in at the White House.
- China doubles new renewable capacity in 2020; still builds thermal plants — China more than doubled its construction of new wind and solar power plants in 2020 from a year earlier, government data showed, reflecting Beijing’s pledge to cut fossil fuel dependence and bring carbon emissions to a peak within a decade.
- Breakingviews – Chinese monopoly rules threaten super-app model — The future of China’s financial super-apps has been thrown into question. The central bank is defining unhealthy dominance in specific market-share terms, while emphasising the separation of digital payments from interest-bearing accounts. That complicates efforts to cross-sell more profitable financial services and threatens Ant and Tencent’s business models.
- China’s top steelmaker Baowu Group vows to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 — Top steel producer China Baowu Steel Group said it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in response to the country’s climate goals set out last year.
- Departing U.S. FCC chair warns of threats to telecoms from China — Outgoing U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai said potential Chinese espionage and threats to U.S. telecommunications networks and internet freedom are the biggest national security issue that regulators will face in the next four years.
- Vaccines become latest frontline in China’s campaign to win hearts of Taiwanese — Beijing is touting a state programme that gives Taiwanese in China priority for COVID-19 vaccines, prompting concern within Taiwan’s government which sees it as the latest Chinese tool to win over the island’s population.
- Chinese telecom firms seek review of NYSE delisting decision — Telecom companies China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, China Mobile and China Telecom Corp said on Thursday they had requested the New York Stock Exchange to review its decision to delist their American depositary shares.
- Brazil lacks timeline on when coronavirus vaccines will arrive from India and China — Brazil’s foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, said on Wednesday he still could not provide a timeline when new coronavirus vaccine doses would arrive from India and China, raising concern in a country that is lagging others in vaccinating its people.
- Brazil’s JBS says China lifted pandemic-related bans on two meat plants — Brazil-based meatpacker JBS SA said on Wednesday China has lifted bans on two meat plants imposed in 2020 over coronavirus concerns.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: Biden’s first 100 days: Administration slams China sanctions on Trump officials — New NSC spokeswoman calls Beijing’s actions ‘unproductive and cynical’.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China to pump $1.6tn into tech infrastructure through 2025 — 5G, EV chargers and AI to be boosted as Beijing eyes prolonged tensions with US.
- Foreign Affairs: To Build Back Better, Biden Needs to Fix Trade — Trump Has Left a Ticking Time Bomb at the WTO.
- New Yorker: Janet Yellen’s Confirmation Hearing Provides a Glimpse Into the Biden Era — In policy terms, the hearing provided a fascinating glimpse of what Washington politics will be like post-Trump. For the foreseeable future, three topics are set to dominate the agenda: the coronavirus, spending and taxes, and China.
- The Atlantic: Joe Biden Has a Europe Problem — The new president has a daunting list of foreign-policy challenges. Among the biggest will be managing a longtime ally.
