FREE

CSCI Morning News Circular - 20180302

1. Macro News

• Trump Says U.S. to Use All Tools to Pressure China on Trade. President Donald Trump is warning the U.S. will use “all available tools” to prevent China’s state-driven economic model from undermining global competition, the latest warning to Beijing as America readies a host of trade actions.  [Bloomberg] 
• US final quarter growth revised down to 2.5pc.S. economic growth was revised down slightly to a still-solid 2.5 percent annual rate in the final three months of last year, as business spent less on investment and restocking shelves than the government had previously estimated.  [The Standard] 
• China becomes Vietnam's top export market in first two months of 2018. China became Vietnam's biggest export market in the first two months of this year, the Vietnamese General Statistics Office said on Thursday, noting that the biggest export market in the same period last year was the United States.  [China Daily]    

1. Industry News

• Securities and Futures Commission imposes a whopping HK$497mn in fines last year. The Securities and Futures Commission imposed a record HK$497mn in fines in 2017 even though it undertook fewer investigations, as the regulator made corporate fraud and misfeasance its top enforcement priority, according to a report by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.  [SCMP] 
• Chinese companies moving inland to jump the IPO queue. In an attempt to find a shortcut to an IPO, Chinese companies are breaking with tradition and moving from big coastal cities to small inland towns. VST Automotive Navigation Co Ltd is one of the firms seeking to benefit from fast-track IPOs intended to help tackle poverty.  [China Daily]      
• China Is Said Raising Up to $31.5bn to Fuel Chip Vision. China’s government aims to raise as much as 200 billion yuan ($31.5 billion) to invest in homegrown chip companies and accelerate its ambition of building a world-class semiconductor industry.  [Bloomberg] 
• Corporate News
• CEFC-related firms lose USD150mn after chairman’s arrest. More than USD150mn in market value was wiped off stocks in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shenzhen from companies closely related to Fortune 500 major, CEFC China Energy, as news that its chairman Ye Jianming was being investigated rattled investors.  [SCMP] 
• Fosun buying US$40m majority stake, and will launch full takeover, of Austrian luxury textiles firm Wolford. Fosun Group is buying a controlling 50.87% in Vienna-listed luxury textiles maker Wolford for €33mn (US$40mn), which will trigger a mandatory takeover offer for the whole business, the Austrian company has confirmed.  [SCMP] 
• China’s Huawei modifies Porsche Panamera to prove its smartphone chip’s AI capability. Huawei Technologies said it is the first mobile device manufacturer in the world to use an artificial intelligence (AI) powered smartphone to drive a car. Not just any car – a Porsche Panamera that is autonomously operated by its Mate 10 Pro handset.  [SCMP] 
• Chalco Says Output, Operations Are Normal After A-Shares Fall. Chalco says company has no significant information to disclose, after shares in Shanghai lost 27% since trading resumed on Monday, biggest three-day loss since 2007, according to a statement to Shanghai stock exchange.  [Bloomberg]   
• Citic Bank Is Said to Halt Property-Backed Loans in Beijing. China Citic Bank Corp. has halted new consumer loans in Beijing for individuals pledging their property as collateral. Citic Bank decided to temporarily halt such lending for its own internal business reasons, rather than under prompting from Chinese regulators.  [Bloomberg]    
• Xiaomi Is Said to Weigh Dual Listing in China and Hong Kong. Chinese authorities have asked Xiaomi to list on the mainland, WSJ reports. The company is considering a dual listing in mainland China and Hong Kong. Xiaomi IPO is expected to raise $10b in 2H.  [Bloomberg]    
• Noble Group Warns Survival Hangs on Deal After Immense Loss. Noble Group Ltd. said a controversial debt restructuring was the only hope for survival after a $4.94 billion loss triggered a warning from its auditor that the commodity trader may not be able to continue operating.  [Bloomberg]    
• China Jinmao Proposes Issue of Yuan-Denominated Senior Notes. Unit Franshion Brilliant plans to sell yuan- denominated senior notes guaranteed by China Jinmao, according to co.’s statement to Hong Kong stock exchange.  [Bloomberg]    
• Xinte Energy Plans Project to Double Polysilicon Capacity. The company plans to invest in a 36,000-ton polysilicon project, boosting its total production capacity to 66,000 tons annually, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.  [Bloomberg]    
• Yancoal Considers Bid for $2 Billion Rio Tinto Coal Portfolio. The Australian unit of China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. is considering joining the bidding for Rio Tinto’s Queensland coal mines, Yancoal Australia CEO Reinhold Schmidt says in a phone interview.  [Bloomberg]    
• CEFC Chairman Ye Probed by Chinese Authorities. Ye Jianming, the founder and chairman of rapidly expanding Chinese conglomerate CEFC China Energy Co., has been investigated by government authorities, domestic media outlet Caixin reported.  [Bloomberg]        
• Partnership store with Alibaba signals offline foray. China Unicom has teamed up with Alibaba Group to set up a brick-and-mortar electronics store in Shanghai to sell interactive, technology-powered products. The shop marks the telecom carrier's first business partnership with Alibaba, which has been involved in the telecom carrier's mixed-ownership reform since August 2017.  [China Daily]
• Alibaba, NTU Singapore launch joint research institute on AI technology. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) jointly launched a research institute on Wednesday by signing a Memorandum of Understanding.  [China Daily]    
• Geely reaches for the skies. For Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, even the sky is no limit to its ambition, literally. The Chinese carmaker, which made headlines last week by becoming the largest shareholder in Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler, is to produce flying cars in China.  [China Daily]
• JD opens door to Australia, NZ. JD has officially opened its Australia and New Zealand headquarters in Melbourne, Australia as it accelerates expansion in overseas markets amid fierce competition from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Amazon.com Inc.  [China Daily]    
• China's Huawei set to help build e-government for Algeria. Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is set to help Algeria build e-government by digitizing a large volume of official documents of various ministries, a senior manager from Huawei told Xinhua in an interview.  [China Daily]