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CSCI Morning News Circular - 20180403

1. Macro News

• China Urges More Trade Talks as Tariffs on U.S. Goods Begin. China urged trade talks with the U.S. to prevent greater damage to relations while saying that previously announced retaliatory measures on American imports took effect Monday.  [Bloomberg]      
• China Exports Shrug Off Talk of Trade War, Factory Gauge Surges. A gauge of activity at China’s manufacturers posted its first gain since November, as factories recovered from a seasonal dip at the start of the year and export demand shrugged off threats of a trade war.  [Bloomberg]   
• China's manufacturing activity picks up in March. China's manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in March, official data showed. The country's manufacturing purchasing managers' index came in at 51.5 this month, accelerating from 50.3 in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.  [China Daily]   

1. Industry News

• Telecom firms post growth in earnings. The total revenue of the country's three telecommunication operators amounted to 1.4 trillion yuan ($223 billion) last year, with net profit reaching 133.3 billion yuan owning to strong demand for faster wireless data services.  [China Daily]   
• China Unveils Plan to Lure Big Tech Stock Listings Back Home. China took a major step toward seeing Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc. and others list in its domestic market, announcing a trial program that would allow the technology giants to see their shares bought and sold in the world’s most populous country.  [Bloomberg]      
• China to Cut VAT Rate of Manufacturing Sector to 16%. Starting May 1, the VAT rate on the manufacturing industry will be cut to 16% from 17%, according to statement on government website. China also to cut VAT rate of sectors including transportation, construction, telecommunications services to 10% from 11%.  [Bloomberg] 
• Corporate News
• Ascentage Pharma is the latest mainland biotech company to choose Hong Kong for IPO. Anti-tumour drug researcher Ascentage Pharma has become the latest Chinese biotechnology company to choose Hong Kong for going public, in further evidence that an impending listing rules revamp will help the city take market share from New York, the primary listing exchange for firms without revenue in the nascent sector.  [SCMP]   
• CRRC wary of long-term impact. China Railway Rolling Stock Corp is concerned about the impact of proposed US tariffs on Chinese rail equipment and is taking actions. "As rail equipment has been included in Section 301, we are concerned about whether it will affect the rail equipment (trade), and bring about a whole market change," VP Jia said.[China Daily]
• China FAW delivers 50 tractors to Rwanda. FAW Jiefang Automotive Co, Ltd, the truck subsidiary of one of China's "Big Four" auto makers FAW Group, has delivered 50 tractors to Rwanda, the company said. The tractors were delivered to KESI Investment Ltd., a leading logistics and transportation company in the country.  [China Daily]
• FAW-Volkswagen Audi Q plant goes operational. The FAW-Volkswagen Audi Q plant in Changchun city went into operation Thursday. The plant is projected to generate an output value of 160 billion yuan a year. The Sino-German auto joint venture FAW-Volkswagen Automotive plans to roll out 16 new Audi models in China this year.  [China Daily]
• CCB eyeing consumer finance for growth. China Construction Bank is stepping up its efforts to foster new drivers of growth. "Consumption has become an increasingly strong driving force for economic growth, and we consider retail banking, especially consumer finance, as a very important direction that bank loans will head for," said president Wang Zuji.  [China Daily]
• Huawei net profit up 28% in 2017. Huawei said Friday that its net profit grew by 28% to 47.5bn last year. Its sales increased by 16% from 2016, reaching 603.6bn yuan. The strong profit growth, compared with 0.4% in 2016, was driven by buoyant consumer and enterprise sales and lower costs due to improved management.  [China Daily] 
• Huawei eyes bigger slice of high-end pie. Smartphone vendor Huawei Technologies Co Ltd unveiled its latest smartphones in Paris on Tuesday, in a new push to grab market share from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co in Europe.  [China Daily]        
• Fosun Says Real Estate Investments Compliant With Chinese Laws. Fosun sees little impact from China’s outbound investment curbs, Senior VP Alex Gong says at briefing. Fosun will increase investments in India and Africa, Chairman Guo Guangchang says. Fosun sees little impact from China-U.S. trade war, CEO Wang Qunbin says.  [Bloomberg]
• Fullshare to Get 10bn Yuan Credit From Bank of Communications. Fullshare entered into pact with Bocom to get indicative overall financing credit of 10b yuan, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The term of the agreement is five years.  [Bloomberg]
• Datang Renewable Aims to Lower Wind Curtailment to <10% in 2018. Datang Renewable Power aims to lower its wind curtailment rate to below 10% in 2018, from 15.3% in 2017 and 21.2% in 2016, President Zhou Kewen says at a media briefing in Hong Kong.  [Bloomberg]
• Jiangxi Copper Posts 2017 Net of 1.6b Yuan With China Standards. The company’s 2017 net income compared with restated 784.1m yuan for previous year based on China accounting standards, according to statement to Shanghai stock exchange.  [Bloomberg]
• C-Mer Eye Care to Open Two New Hospitals in China in 2018. The company will focus on China and add hospitals by building its own as well as through merger and acquisition, Hong Kong Economic Journal reports, citing co. Chairman Dennis Lam.  [Bloomberg]
• Jiangxi Copper Proposes Issuance of Up to $1B of Bonds. The company proposes to issue $800m to $1b of bonds, either on one-off basis or in tranches, according to statement to Hong Kong stock exchange.It will seek shareholders’ approval of the bonds issuance.  [Bloomberg]
• Sunac China Full Year Core Profit Jumps 259% Y/y to 11.1B Yuan. Sunac China reported revenue for the full year that missed the average analyst estimate. FY revenue 65.9 billion yuan, estimate 79.27 billion yuan. Final dividend per share 50.1 RMB cents vs 25.7 RMB cents year earlier.  [Bloomberg]
• Ping An Is Said to Start Work on Up to $3 Billion OneConnect IPO. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. is starting preparations for an initial public offering of its OneConnect financial management portal that could raise as much as $3 billion.  [Bloomberg]
• China State Const. Eng. Won 40.2bn Yuan Projects Recently. China State Construction Engineering Corporation won the projects, value of which accounts for 4.2% of 2016 revenue, according to a statement to Shanghai stock exchange.  [Bloomberg]