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 Plays Up Ascendancy Over West as It Sets Economic Path — Leader Xi Jinping to lay out plan to ensure nation’s rise and his authority at annual legislative session.
- China Taps U.S.-Trained Former Central Banker for IMF Role — Li Bo set to be deputy managing director at International Monetary Fund.
- Rare Truths About China’s Rare Earths — By the Editorial Board. Environmentalists and markets can end Beijing’s monopoly on minerals for smartphones and more.
- Hong Kong Is No Longer What It Was — By Edwin J. Feulner. Once a beacon of freedom, the city has become just another Chinese commercial center.
The Financial Times
- Hong Kong dropped from economic freedom index after crackdown — Decision highlights growing concern over China’s tightening grip on financial centre.
- China’s leaders focus on post-Covid economy at annual meeting — National People’s Congress set to be dominated by concerns over stability and rising debt.
- US vs China: Biden bets on alliances to push back against Beijing — The new administration believes it can develop a more effective China strategy if it can work closely with old friends.
- BlackRock Hong Kong-listed ETF hit by heaviest outflows in 2020 — The iShares FTSE A50 vehicle suffered net redemptions of $1.2bn despite A-share bull run.
- ‘Dependency’ of UK universities on China creates risks, report says — More than fifth of research in many high impact science and technology subjects involves collaboration with China.
- Evergrande courts Hong Kong tycoons to rev up electric vehicle push — Poker-playing billionaire’s wife pumps cash into indebted Chinese property group’s car project.
- Chinese and South African police seize fake Covid vaccines — Criminal gangs seek to capitalise on global demand for coronavirus jabs.
The New York Times
- Xi Maps Out China’s Post-Covid Ascent — But as Beijing rolls out a long-term plan, its top leader has also warned that “the United States is the biggest threat.”
- Blinken Proposes a Foreign Policy Not ‘Disconnected From Our Daily Lives’ — In his first major address, the secretary of state pledged to focus on how diplomacy has a direct effect on regular Americans. At the top of the list: dealing with China.
Caixin
- Exclusive: China’s Banking Regulator Names New Vice Chairman — CBIRC promotes its Chief Risk Officer Xiao Yuanqi, a veteran regulatory official who had worked at the central bank.
- Owner of Budget Makeup Brand Perfect Diary to Pretty Up Portfolio With Premium U.K. Skincare Line — The deal will see Eve Lom join the four other makeup brands under Yatsen and help the company expand into higher-end markets.
- Sanction-Hobbled SMIC to Keep Doing Business With Major Western Supplier — China’s leading chipmaker disclosed it recently extended a supply deal with Dutch firm ASML through the end of this year.
- China’s Coal Consumption Predicted to Grow 6% by 2025 — The China National Coal Association forecast growth both in consumption and production, but said the government’s push for renewables could dampen demand.
South China Morning Post
- US-China tech war: Beijing’s main policy lender pledges US$62 billion to fund tech innovation — China Development Bank (CDB), a policy lender that finances high-priority government programmes, has earmarked 400 billion yuan (US$62 billion) of loans this year to support strategic emerging industries and advanced manufacturing, as Beijing accelerates moves to cut reliance on imported technologies amid trade frictions with Washington.
- China population: Beijing mulls eliminating gender gap in retirement age as demographic crisis looms — The retirement age for women in China is lower than that of men, reflecting work and child care burdens from decades ago. As China’s population ages and its work force declines, the retirement age gap is coming under scrutiny, with changes possible in the near future. This is the first of a series of stories on women’s issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Women’s Day.
- China’s strict capital controls may be eased to allow investment abroad as bubble risks grow — Chinese authorities may finally feel the time is right for a new wave of financial opening to allow citizens to invest savings abroad, as pressure mounts from a tidal wave of liquidity resulting from aggressive stimulus policies in developed economies.
Bloomberg
- U.S. Wants Climate Change Issue to Be Separate From Other Talks With China — Making progress on global warming will be tougher as the superpowers wrangle over Taiwan, trade, and other issues.
- CNIC, GIC Said in Talks for Three Gorges Foreign Unit Stake — CNIC Corp. and GIC Pte are among investors in talks with China Three Gorges Corp. about investing in its overseas asset portfolio, according to people familiar with the matter.
- The Metal That Worries Tesla Most Is Getting Much Cheaper — Nickel tumbled after a major Chinese producer’s unexpected plan to add supply eased concerns about a structural deficit for the material that Elon Musk has said is the biggest concern for Tesla Inc. batteries.
- China’s Top Stock Funds Trashed by $111 Billion Moutai Wipeout — The most popular stock trade in China is unraveling, tarnishing the reputations of some of the country’s most successful money managers and undermining the outlook for the world’s second-largest equity market.
- China’s $1 Trillion Wealth Fund Gains 12% in ‘Unusual Year’ — China Investment Corp. posted a return of more than 12% on overseas investments in 2020 after markets rallied on loose monetary policies, marking a breakout year for China’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund.
Reuters
- China’s CIC eyes U.S. investment after fund with Goldman raised $2.5 billion — China’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is scouting for long-term investment opportunities in the United States, an executive said, after a fund co-established with Goldman Sachs Group Inc raised $2.5 billion, half of the targeted amount.
- China’s market rates unlikely to rise rapidly in short term: state media — China’s market interest rates are unlikely to rise rapidly in the short term despite the recent sharp uptick in U.S. bond yields, the state-run China Securities Journal said on Thursday.
Other Publications
- MERICS: China’s Social Credit System in 2021: From fragmentation towards integration — The party state’s ambitions remain clear: To expand, integrate and analyse existing data sources to improve and consolidate CCP rule. Despite current fragmentation, this also spells the way forward for the continued evolution of the Social Credit System.
- The Diplomat: In One Australian State, Trade With China Is Still Booming — Australia’s minerals trade has been divided almost clean in half by the country’s trade spat with China.
- Defense News: Why Biden’s new China czar requires comprehensive policy authorities — Though, the administration indicated it will infuse the China challenge into every National Security Council directorate, effective management will require the new China czar to serve as the hub for developing the comprehensive policy for engagement, competition and deterrence of China.
- Foreign Affairs: Great-Power Competition Is Coming to Africa — The United States Needs to Think Regionally to Win.
- Foreign Policy: China Is Losing Influence—and That Makes It Dangerous — The best thing Biden can do is lighten up on China and let gravity take its toll.
- SupChina: China to prioritize ‘green development,’ but will it be enough to peak emissions this decade? — According to the UN, the world still needs to dramatically increase its climate commitments to avert disaster. China has promised that its emissions will peak by 2030 — and political meetings in Beijing may soon reveal detail on whether, and how, that is likely to happen.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China worries over rare-earth supply disruption from Myanmar coup — Decade after drastic cut in exports to Japan, Beijing sees the tables turned.
- Nikkei Asian Review: Analysis: China firms up plan for 2035 road and railway to Taiwan — Audacious blueprint hints at Xi Jinping’s determination to change status quo.