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CSCI Morning News Circular - 20180814

1. Macro News

• China's FDI remains stable, quality improves. China's foreign direct investment has remained stable in scale and optimized in quality as the business environment has become more attractive, according to industry experts. FDI into the Chinese mainland rose 4.1%% YoY to $68.32bn in the first six months of 2018, according to the MOC.  [China Daily]   
• Turkey Takes First Steps to Bolster Banks Amid Lira's Decline. Turkish policy makers made their first move to bolster the financial system and investor confidence amid a plunge in lira. Promising to "take all necessary measures," the central bank in Ankara lowered the amount commercial lenders must park at the regulator and eased rules that govern how they manage their lira and foreign-currency liquidity.  [Bloomberg]    
• Construction Industry Continues to Weigh on Singapore. Construction has continued to weigh on Singapore’s GDP growth, which came in at a disappointing 0.6% quarterly pace in three months ended Jun, trade ministry reported Monday. On a YoY basis, construction contracted for a seventh quarter in a row, its longest stretch since 2003 and overall GDP slid to 3.9%.  [Bloomberg]               

1. Industry News   

• West China's first international standard 5G network to be launched. China Telecom, one of the three major network operators in China, launched west China's first international telecommunication union standard 5G network at its branch in Chengdu, Sichuan province, reports thepaper.cn.  [China Daily]      
• Chinese Banks to Boost Lending to Govt Projects. Many Chinese banks have told local units to increase lending to government-driven projects, China Securities Journal reports. Loans are expected to flow into infrastructure construction, advanced manufacturing projects, as well as medium, small and micro-sized companies.  [Bloomberg]    
• 7 medical IPOs approved in H1. A total of 360 healthcare enterprises in China have seen their IPO plans approved to date, with seven more companies joining the list in 1H18, a slight deceleration. Among the seven enterprises, four were listed on the mainland's A-share market. The remaining three were listed on the HK Stock Exchange.  [China Daily]
• Corporate News
• Saudi Fund in Talks to Invest in Tesla Buyout Deal. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is working to be part of any investor pool that emerges to take The Saudi Kingdom’s , which recently built a stake just shy of 5 percent in Tesla, is exploring how it can be involved in the potential deal.  [Bloomberg]
• Agile Group Says 1H Net Income to Increase More Than 90% Y/Y. Agile Group Holdings unaudited 1H net income is expected to increase more than 90% year on year, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. Increase attributed to higher gross margins from group’s property sales.  [Bloomberg]         
• PetroChina Said to Mull Temporary Halt of U.S. LNG Purchases. PetroChina may temporarily halt U.S. LNG spot cargo purchases through the winter heating season to avoid potential tariffs amid U.S.-China trade conflicts. PetroChina would boost spot cargoes from other countries or swap U.S. shipments with other nations in East Asia to avoid paying additional tariffs.  [Bloomberg]     
• Tycoon Victor Li Bets Big on Hong Kong’s Frothy Property Market. Tycoon Victor Li made his first land purchase in Hong Kong since taking the reins of CK Asset Holdings Ltd. from his billionaire father Li Ka-shing, splashing out on a development site above a subway station.  [Bloomberg]     
• HNA to Sell Radisson Holdings to Chinese Hotel Giant Jin Jiang. HNA Group agreed to sell hotel company Radisson Holdings Inc. to Jin Jiang Int’l Holding Co. The sale would add to the more than $17bn in divestments that the company has made this year, a tally that includes stakes in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and NH Hotel Group SA.  [Bloomberg] 
• Ping An’s Prudential Pursuit Would Set Record for China M&A. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. is now weighing the biggest-ever acquisition from the country. The Shenzhen-based insurer has evaluated acquiring Prudential Plc’s Asian operations. The regional business is worth about 40bn pounds ($51.5bn), according to Panmure Gordon & Co., and any buyer may need to pay a premium to gain control.  [Bloomberg] 
• China's Third-Wealthiest Man Is About to Get $1.7B. China Evergrande Group is about to make its billionaire chairman even richer. The developer, which has regularly bought back its own shares, will hold a board meeting on Aug. 20 to consider paying a special dividend for the past two financial years. Assuming a payout of 50% of 2016-17 profit, as announced in Mar, that could amount to 11.5bn yuan ($1.7bn) for Hui Ka Yan, who owns c.78% of the co.  [Bloomberg]
• Sportswear giant Li Ning cautious over outlook amid worsening US-China trade wa Chinese sportswear giant Li-Ning is “cautious” about the nation’s business environment even though it may not be directly affected by the escalating trade war between China and the U.S., according to its founder.  [SCMP]    
• China’s CNPC ‘takes over Total’s share in big Iran gas project’. CNPC has taken over the share in Iran’s multibillion-dollar South Pars gas project held by France’s Total, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported. Total signed a contract in 2017 to develop Phase II of South Pars field with an initial investment of US$1bn.  [SCMP]   
• Chip giant Qualcomm wins Taiwan reprieve as global antitrust battle rages. Qualcomm, the smartphone chip maker fighting regulatory actions and lawsuits threatening its most profitable business, has reached a settlement with Taiwan’s antitrust regulators that reverses most of a US$773mn fine.  [SCMP] 
• China Unicom to use cutting-edge tech for Winter Olympics. Virtual reality video streaming and facial recognition technologies will be used in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, as China Unicom scrambles to help build the event into a smart sports gathering enabled by cutting-edge communication technologies.  [China Daily]  
• Ford takes 'significant step' in China with new SUV. Ford Motor Co. said that it is localising a mid-sized SUV called Territory early next year for customers in smaller, emerging cities, where the model will see more growth potential than in large cities. Developed with its local partner Jiangling Motors Corp, the model will be available in gasoline, mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions.  [China Daily]  
• Walmart, JD back online grocer. Chinese online grocery and delivery company Dada-JD Daojia announced it had raised $500mn from US-based retail giant Walmart Inc and Chinese e-commerce behemoth JD in its latest round of financing. Walmart invested $319mn in the latest fundraising, while JD invested $181mn. [China Daily] 
• China Mobile plans IPO for subsidiaries amid strong H1 performance. China Mobile plans to spin off and list three to four of its subsidiaries, said its MD and CEO Li Yue at an Aug 9 news conference on interim results, news outlet TMTPost reported. Specific details such as listing time and location are still to be decided, said the CEO.  [China Daily] 
• Li Ning proft rises to HK$269m yuan. Li Ning reported its first-half net profit grew by 42 percent to 269 million yuan on revenue of 4.71 billion yuan, up 17.9 percent year-to-year. The basic earnings per share were 11.1 fen. The company did not declare an interim dividend.  [The Standard]