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
- New Age of Chinese Nationalism Threatens Supply Chains — Assumption that China and East Asia offer multinationals a stable security environment must now be revisited.
- Iran, China Sign Economic, Security Agreement, Challenging U.S. Pressure — The deal, five years in the making, seeks to boost Chinese investment in Iranian infrastructure and deepen defense cooperation.
- New Trade Representative Says U.S. Isn’t Ready to Lift China Tariffs — In first interview since taking office, Katherine Tai discusses tactics and her role as an Asian-American in President Biden’s cabinet.
- U.S. Condemns Chinese Boycotts of Companies Shunning Xinjiang Cotton — Biden administration voices support for firms seeking to ensure products aren’t made with forced labor, as Beijing denies abuse allegations.
- China, Long a Source of Deflation, Starts Raising Prices for the World — Pressured by supply-chain woes and commodities costs, Chinese manufacturers are increasing prices, adding to inflation fears.
- China Helped Rev Up, and Then Slow Down, the Global Commodities Boom — Prices of industrial metals that go into batteries and electric vehicles have fallen from records, as China eases buying and oversupply worries grow.
- A U.S. Diplomat’s Wife Was a Social Media Star—Until Chinese Trolls, Aided by State Media, Came After Her — Tzu-i Chuang was referred to as the ‘most famous diplomatic wife’ before she became the target of a vicious, monthslong attack on social media.
- China’s Tech Giants Have Chip Ambitions, Too — Beijing pours billions semiconductor sector, but private-sector companies also have incentive to invest.
- Beijing Targets American Business — By Matt Pottinger. The U.S. and China’s Communist Party are strategic and ideological competitors. CEOs have to decide which side they want to help win.
- Elon Musk Likes This EV Battery and It Costs Less—but the U.S. Isn’t Sold on It — Iron-powered electric vehicles are surging in China, but concerns remain about their range and cold-weather performance.
- Suez Canal Blockage Sends Asian, European Exporters Scrambling — Getting products between regions may require expensive airfreight or slower route around tip of Africa; delays seen for consumer and industrial goods.
The Financial Times
- A second cold war is tracking the first — US-led western alliance is once again squaring up to Russia and China.
- China’s scattergun sanctions show the limits of EU engagement — Beijing has shown huge recklessness about whether CAI gets passed.
- The Fed’s new dance — Officials are facing a challenge from China which is racing ahead of America in many areas of fintech.
- UAE to produce China’s Sinopharm Covid vaccine — Julphar deal with G42 will allow Gulf state to accelerate global supply plan.
- UK chambers removes Xinjiang genocide opinion reference after China sanctions — Essex Court was targeted by Beijing in wake of members’ advice to NGOs on internment of Uyghurs.
- China places sanctions on US and Canadian citizens — Retaliation for western action over Uyghurs underscores worsening relationship between Beijing and Washington.
- China embraces rail to transport goods to Europe — Manufacturers turn to ‘steel camels’ in face of shipping container shortages, high costs and delays.
- China and Iran sign 25-year agreement to expand ties — Beijing has become Tehran’s most important commercial partner as US sanctions have tightened.
- Beijing targets British MPs for ‘gross interference’ over Xinjiang — China imposes sanctions and warns criticism of internment camps threatens to undermine relations.
- US fears China is flirting with seizing control of Taiwan — Chinese warplanes fly through island’s air defence zone in latest show of strength by Beijing.
- China/baijiu: foreign investors snub local liquor maker — Declining share prices stick in the throat.
- Chinese apparel brands rally on support for Xinjiang cotton sourcing — Western groups including H&M and Nike face backlash after expressing concerns over forced labour in the region.
The New York Times
- An Alliance of Autocracies? China Wants to Lead a New World Order. — As President Biden predicts a struggle between democracies and their opponents, Beijing is eager to champion the other side.
- In China Sex Scandal, Many See a #MeToo Moment — A young woman from a modest background gets a long prison term. The powerful officials who paid her draw lighter punishment. The Chinese public has questions.
- Serbia Hails Chinese Companies as Saviors, but Locals Chafe at Costs — While the government is welcoming Chinese investors to save moribund businesses and bring much-needed capital, many Serbians are complaining of environmental and political impacts.
- China, With $400 Billion Iran Deal, Could Deepen Influence in Mideast — The countries signed a sweeping pact on Saturday that calls for heavy Chinese investments in Iran over 25 years in exchange for oil — a step that could ease Iran’s international isolation.
- Biden Defines His Underlying Challenge With China: ‘Prove Democracy Works’ — At his news conference on Thursday, the president provided a revealing look into how he viewed the threat from Beijing.
- The Agency at the Center of America’s Tech Fight With China — Washington lawmakers, lobbyists and other parties have been vying to influence how the Bureau of Industry and Security, under the Biden administration, will approach a technology relationship with China.
- ‘Insult to the Country’: Hong Kong Targets Art Deemed Critical of China — Pro-Beijing lawmakers have called for work by the dissident artist Ai Weiwei to be removed from a new museum, and accused local arts groups of undermining national security.
Caixin
- China Has a Plan to Keep Local State Firms From Going to Deep Into Debt — SASAC wants its local counterparts to improve how they track SOE debt by evaluating metrics like debt level and profitability to prevent another wave of defaults.
- China’s Central Government Tightens Its Belt — Of the 102 central government-controlled organizations that have disclosed their 2021 general public budgets, only 11 projected higher spending from last year.
- In Depth: China’s Long March to Become a Consumer-Driven Economy — Five-year plan seeks to reduce inequality, boost spending with a focus on driving long-standing urbanization policy.
- Bilibili Becomes Latest U.S.-Listed Stock to Fall in Hong Kong Market Debut — Shares end 3.47% lower, representing a more modest decline than those suffered by other Chinese tech stocks pursuing secondary listings in face of U.S. accounting crackdown and threatened delisting.
- Joyy Doubles Livestreaming Revenue as Popularity of Bigo Live Grows — Chinese video-based social media company Joyy nearly doubled its livestreaming revenue to 3.6 billion yuan ($550.8 million) in the fourth quarter of 2020, largely helped by the increased popularity of livestreaming platform Bigo Live.
South China Morning Post
- Suez Canal blockage: China to see minor raw material disruptions, but accident further exposes ‘risks’ of global supply chains — Any upheaval in the Chinese economy due to the blockage of the Suez Canal by a massive container ship is likely to be minimal given most of its intermediate supply chains are located in the Asia-Pacific region, economists and analysts say.
- US-China relations: Beijing’s plan for aviation supremacy faces bumpy ride as American export controls show no signs of easing — China’s plan to become a powerhouse in civil aircraft manufacturing could be derailed by US export controls on aviation products, as tension between Beijing and Washington shows no sign of easing despite a new administration in Washington.
- Comeback king: China’s disgraced live-streaming ‘sales king’ sells in 12 hours what a Hong Kong mall sells in 12 months — China’s disgraced “king of live-streaming sales” made a big comeback on Saturday when he sold more than US$300 million worth of goods in a single show lasting 12 hours, a record for streaming platform Kuaishou, showcasing the market potential of live-streaming e-commerce after growing in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bloomberg
- Great Wall Bets on Hydrogen, Will Use to Power New SUV — Great Wall Motor Co., China’s biggest maker of sport-utility vehicles, plans to roll out its first hydrogen-powered SUV this year.
- Worst Yuan Selloff in Year Drives Traders Back to Daily Fix — China’s daily yuan fixing is once again drawing attention. The currency is set for its biggest monthly slide since last March, spurring traders to look closely at the reference rate again to scour for policy signals.
- China-Iran Deal: There’s Less To It Than Meets the Eye — Beijing is interested in cheap oil, but it won’t risk other, more lucrative relations for Tehran.
- Tencent Music Plans $1 Billion Buyback After Archegos Selloff — Tencent Music Entertainment Group announced a $1 billion share buyback Monday, days after the Chinese online music company was caught up as one of the names hit by a liquidation of holdings by former Tiger Management trader Bill Hwang.
- Europe Has a Better Way to Deal With China Than Sanctions — As tensions escalate and the U.S. seeks allies in its rivalry with China, the EU should reconsider its investment deal with Beijing.
- Evergrande Sells Online Unit Stake for $2 Billion Before IPO — China Evergrande Group raised HK$16.4 billion ($2.1 billion) selling a stake in its online home and car sales platform ahead of a planned U.S. listing, in the latest move by the giant developer to tap outside investors to finance growth.
Reuters
- Guterres says UN negotiating with China on unfettered access to Xinjiang — The United Nations is holding “serious negotiations” with China on gaining unfettered access to the Xinjiang region to verify reports that Muslim Uighurs are being persecuted, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
- China generated over half world’s coal-fired power in 2020: study — China generated 53% of the world’s total coal-fired power in 2020, nine percentage points more that five years earlier, despite climate pledges and the building of hundreds of renewable energy plants, a global data study showed on Monday.
- China’s Didi Chuxing to start ride-hailing service in South Africa — China’s Didi Chuxing, which is backed by SoftBank, said on Monday it would start a ride-hailing service in Cape Town, South Africa.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: China’s national carbon trading market eyes June debut in Shanghai — Exchange anticipated to have up to 10,000 participants by 2025.
- Foreign Policy: Biden Revives the Truman Doctrine — By David Adesnik. His call to wage a global war for freedom echoes the dawn of the Cold War.
- Axios: Blinken evasive on punishing China for COVID handling — Secretary of State Antony Blinken evaded questions about whether the U.S. would seek retaliatory actions against China for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, instead saying that the focus should be on preventing another pandemic in the future.
- The Diplomat: The Myanmar Crisis and the Contradictions of ‘Non-Interference’ — By Kyaw Khant. As the situation in Myanmar worsens, it is becoming harder for outside nations to remain neutral.
- Oil Price: Can Silicon Valley Beat China In Clean Energy Tech? — Many investors are already aware of the fact that China is the world’s most dominant player in the solar and clean energy sector.
- MERICS: China sets hopes on blockchain to close cyber security gaps — Kai von Carnap looks at how China is deploying blockchain technology to meet these challenges and analyzes both its rate of success and the implications China’s approach has for other parts of the world, including Europe.
