Sep 10, 2020 08:27 PM

China Business Digest: U.S. Revokes More Than 1,000 Visas of Chinese Nationals; Electric-Vehicle Sales Rise for Second Month in a Row

The U.S. canceled more than 1,000 visas for Chinese nationals citing security risks. Another internet giant taps into online banking business. Embattled EV maker Byton expects a new financial lifeline. Meanwhile, electric-vehicle sales rose for second month in a row. And investors don’t have much of an appetite for shares of Yum China, the operator of KFC on the Chinese mainland, as it makes a secondary listing in Hong Kong.

— By Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com) and Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)

** TOP STORIES OF THE DAY

U.S. cancels visas for Chinese nationals over security risks

The U.S. has revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese nationals under a May 29 presidential proclamation to suspend entry from China of students and researchers deemed security risks, a State Department spokeswoman said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Internet security giant wins approval to buy banking stake

A unit of 360 Security Technology Inc. won regulatory approval to become the largest shareholder of Kincheng Bank of Tianjin Co. Ltd. as the internet security company moves to tap into the financial services sector. The deal makes Kincheng Bank the third privately owned digital bank controlled by an internet giant.

Troubled Byton expects new funding to resume business

Chinese electric vehicle startup Byton Ltd. set up a new financing platform to raise capital from shareholders to support a restructuring that may lead to a business resumption. The company plans to raise 2 billion yuan $(292 million) through the new vehicle to fund production of its first all-electric model M-Byte.

Sichuan Trust still can’t repay $3.6 billion due investors

Sichuan Trust Co. Ltd. still can’t repay 25 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) due investors, though it is scraping up hundreds of millions of yuan by liquidating assets and plans to sell its headquarters building and its stake in a securities brokerage. The company said it has been speeding up the recovery of funds through strengthening collection, project restructuring, legal proceedings and disposal of assets.

Electric-vehicle sales rise for second month in a row

In August, a total of 109,000 new-energy vehicles were sold in China, up 25.8% year-on-year, according to data released Thursday (link in Chinese) by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. In July, China’s new-energy vehicle industry recorded annual sales growth for the first time since the middle of last year.

Samsung, LG Display to stop supplying Huawei with panels

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Display Co. Ltd. are expected to stop supplying premium smartphone panels to Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. after new U.S. restrictions take effect next week, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing South Korean online media Chosun Biz.

EU and China to hold ‘decisive’ summit, European Chamber president says

Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said Thursday that the EU and China will hold a summit Monday in an effort to conclude bilateral investment treaty negotiations.

Chinese voice chat firm Yalla files for U.S. IPO

Voice-centric social networking and entertainment company Yalla Group Ltd., which splits its operations between the United Arab Emirates and China, has submitted an application to list on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the latest Chinese tech startup to join a recent U.S. listing spree.

Yum China shares sag in Hong Kong trading debut

Shares of Yum China traded lower in their Hong Kong stock market debut, as the company joined a growing group of New York-listed Chinese firms making second listings in Hong Kong. The stock was down nearly 5% midway through its first trading day at HK$392.4 ($50.60), versus an IPO price of HK$412.

China sells 51% more excavators in first eight months of 2020

China’s sales of excavators soared 51.3% in the first eight months of this year to 20,939 units, boosted by an infrastructure boom the government is relying on to revive an economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of excavators sold in the first eight months is already close to 90% of sales for all of 2019, according to the China Construction Machinery Association.

** OTHER STORIES MAKING THE HEADLINES

• A fire at a printed circuit board factory in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, is threatening to disrupt supplies to global auto parts giant Robert Bosch GmbH and its customers.

• The U.S. government accepted a bid for a cluster of luxury residential properties in Hong Kong and expects to close the sale in late December, according to a spokesperson at the U.S. Consulate General for Hong Kong and Macao.

• As of September, two of China’s three main mobile carriers — China Unicom and China Telecom Corp. Ltd. — have together developed (link in Chinese) over 300,000 5G stations, covering all major cities in China.

• A total of 136 companies have been singled out (link in Chinese) as part of a two-month national inspection of the e-cigarette industry. Some of the firms are accused of accepting illegal online e-cigarette ads.

• Centrally controlled state-owned enterprise China Electronics Corp. has entered the country’s vast cloud computing market. The unit’s use of exclusively domestic technologies is being seen as a precaution in case Chinese firms are cut off from U.S. computing technology, especially products made by Intel Corp.

• Huawei’s proprietary Harmony operating system will be run on its smartphones in 2021, the firm announced Thursday at its annual developer conference in Dongguan, Guangdong province.

• China imported integrated circuits worth 1.5 trillion yuan in the first eight months of this year, up 15.3% year-on-year, official data released on Thursday showed, despite Beijing’s recently ramped-up efforts to develop its own semiconductor industry.

** ON THE CORONAVIRUS

• A 19-year-old man in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing has been confirmed as an asymptomatic coronavirus case despite twice testing negative for the virus during a recent quarantine, raising the possibility that he may have passed the pathogen to others.

• As of Thursday afternoon Beijing time, the number of coronavirus infections globally surpassed 27.88 million, with the death toll passing 904,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

• On Wednesday, the Chinese mainland reported seven new symptomatic Covid-19 cases (link in Chinese), all imported. It reported 15 asymptomatic cases, also all imported.

** AND FINALLY

Walt Disney Co.’s live-action remake of “Mulan” is set to debut in Chinese movie theaters on Friday. Based on a Chinese folk story and starring household names including Jet Li and Liu Yifei, the movie seemingly tailored to appeal to audiences in the country.

However, there are doubts over the movie’s reception, as it has already been mired in political controversy and hit by negative reviews online.