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 Campaign to Crush Democracy in Hong Kong Is Working — Freewheeling former British colony almost brought to heel by new national security law used to quell street protests, ban foreign lobbying and gut the legislature.
- In Hunt for Covid-19 Origin, Patient Zero Points to Second Wuhan Market — The man with the first confirmed infection of the new coronavirus told the WHO team that his parents had shopped there.
The Financial Times
- Retail traders’ hold on China’s stock market slips as institutions rise — Increasing influence of professional investors comes as fee-free trading booms in US.
- Suning plans $2.5bn stake sale in bid to strengthen finances — Chinese retailer and owner of Inter Milan aims to offload up to a quarter of Suning.com as debt obligations loom.
- European Parliament ponders the price of principle on China — EU faces credibility problem over labour concerns in its investment treaty with Beijing.
- Xi asserts success of China’s anti-poverty drive to cement his status — President extols personal role in effort to burnish his credentials as epoch-defining leader.
The New York Times
- A Spreadsheet of China’s Censorship Shows the Human Toll — An online spreadsheet with an anonymous minder tabulates Xi Jinping’s crackdown on speech.
Caixin
- Shenzhen Bourse Wants to Shine a Light on Shady IPO Shareholders — ChiNext board raises disclosure requirements in an effort to expose secret investors and cheap share deals.
- Li Ka-Shing Is Again Hong Kong’s Richest Person as Zoom Investment Pays Off — The city’s many property tycoons saw their wealth shrink slightly last year, Forbes ranking shows.
- NetEase Calls on Google to Lower App Store Commissions as Profits Tumble — CEO of China’s second-largest online game developer says U.S. tech giant’s fees are ‘unhealthy and probably unsustainable’.
- Investment Gains Boost Tesla Challenger Li Auto to First Profit — Chinese electric car startup Li Auto turned a profit in the fourth quarter of 2020, marking its first time in the black since it started deliveries of its first and only model Li ONE at the end of 2019.
South China Morning Post
- Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou takes HSBC to court in Hong Kong to seek access to bank’s internal papers — Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has taken HSBC to court in Hong Kong to seek access to documents relating to her extradition case, days after the request was rejected by a London court.
- China to overtake UK as the world’s top offshore wind farms installer as it works towards carbon-neutral goal — China, which installed the most offshore wind capacity for a third year in a row of over 3 gigawatts last year, is expected to surpass Britain as the global leader this year as its coal-dominated electricity industry seeks to decarbonise, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
- Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent rank low in protecting digital rights, but it’s not all their fault, study finds — Chinese internet giants Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings – the triumvirate known as BAT – rank among the lowest in terms of ensuring user privacy and freedom of expression on their platforms, according to a new survey comparing such policies by leading Big Tech companies.
Bloomberg
- China’s Oil Reserves Are Close to Reaching Storage Capacity — China’s oil stockpiles have risen to around 100 days worth of net imports, making it increasingly challenging to find extra storage tanks and facilities to hold supplies, two people with knowledge of supply levels said.
- China’s ANE Logistics Is Said to Mull $500 Million Hong Kong IPO — Shanghai ANE Logistics Ltd., a less-than-truckload shipping operator backed by Carlyle Group Inc., is weighing a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise about $500 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
- China Trucking Startup Said To File Confidentially for U.S. IPO — China’s Uber-like startup Full Truck Alliance has confidentially filed for an initial public offering that could raise at least $1 billion as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Biden Trade Pick Says China Must Deliver on Phase-One Pact — President Joe Biden’s nominee for trade chief called on China to live up to the commitments in its trade pact with the U.S. — the strongest signal yet that the new administration plans to build on the accord brokered by its predecessor rather than scrap it.
Reuters
- Exclusive: China’s Huawei, reeling from U.S. sanctions, plans foray into EVs – sources — China’s Huawei plans to make electric vehicles under its own brand and could launch some models this year, four sources said, as the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, battered by U.S. sanctions, explores a strategic shift.
- Forbidden fruit: Taiwan urges people to eat more pineapples after China ban — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on people to eat more pineapples to help farmers on Friday, saying Taiwan had been “ambushed” by a ban on the fruit by neighbouring long-time rival China which claims the island as its own.
- Breakingviews – Evergrande contagion tests Beijing’s generosity — Evergrande’s troubles are proving contagious. Suning.com, one of China’s best-known retailers, recently threw a financial lifeline to the embattled property developer. That added to the $10 billion company’s own debt woes. A government bailout looks imminent, but Beijing has reason to hold back.
Other Publications
- New Yorker: Inside Xinjiang’s Prison State — Survivors of China’s campaign of persecution reveal the scope of the devastation.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China guides its self-driving startups into the fast lane — Shifts in the regulatory landscape are a boost for a key tech sector.
- Economist: Can China’s new carbon market take off? — A decade in the making, its emissions-trading system is now live.
- Economist: The rivalry between America and China will hinge on South-East Asia — China’s advantages in the tussle are not as big as they seem.
- Axios: Dutch parliament recognizes China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide — The Dutch parliament on Thursday passed a nonbinding motion recognizing China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang as “genocide.”
- Foreign Policy: Influence Without Entanglement in the Middle East — How China is outflanking the United States—and staying under the radar.
- Foreign Policy: Why China Favors Democracy Over Dictatorship in Myanmar — To secure Beijing’s economic and regional interests, a reliable democratic government is better than an unpredictable and expansionist military junta.
- AP News: It’s a smash hit! Chinese return big-time to movie theaters — With the coronavirus well under control in China and cinemas running at half capacity, moviegoers are smashing China’s box office records, with domestic productions far outpacing their Hollywood competitors.
- The Diplomat: Is International Pressure Coalescing on China’s Xinjiang Policy? — Separate moves from Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. show signs of growing backlash to China’s human rights abuses.
- Defense News: New report flags Chinese push to field support ships, planes for greater reach — The Chinese military’s buildup is increasingly focused on ferrying forces to faraway places, with new logistics capabilities coming online quickly, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
