Sep 11, 2020 11:14 PM

China Business Digest: Foreign Companies Can Own up to 50% of VPN Joint Ventures in China; TikTok Owner to Spend Billions in Singapore after U.S. Ban

China and India reached a consensus on easing border tensions. ByteDance plans to spend billions in Singapore while U.S. President Donald Trump said he won’t extend his deadline for the Chinese company to divest TikTok. Meanwhile, a survey showed that more than 70% of U.S. companies operating in China don’t plan to move factories out of the country amid rising pessimism over heightened tensions.

— By Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com)

** TOP STORIES OF THE DAY

Trump said he won’t extend deadline for U.S. TikTok sale

U.S. President Donald Trump said he won’t extend his Sept. 15 deadline for ByteDance Ltd. to sell the U.S. operations of its popular TikTok video-sharing app. “We’ll either close up TikTok in this country for security reasons, or it will be sold,” Trump told reporters Thursday before boarding the presidential aircraft for a campaign trip to Michigan. “There will be no extension of the TikTok deadline.” (Bloomberg)

Huawei plans to put Harmony OS on 200 million devices by 2021

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. plans to incorporate its homegrown Harmony operating system into 200 million products ranging from mobile phones to smart televisions over the next year, as the besieged Chinese tech giant seeks to combat U.S. restrictions on the company’s ability to purchase core components and software from American suppliers.

Shenzhen Stock Exchange cracks down on abnormal trading

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange took regulatory actions (link in Chinese) targeting 96 abnormal trading behaviors this week in response to a wild surge of some low-priced stocks on the exchange’s Nasdaq-style ChiNext board. Trading in shares of Xinjiang Tianshan Animal Husbandry Bio-Engineering, Shenzhen Changfang Group and Zhengzhou Sino-Crystal Diamond was halted. The exchange also reported evidence of violations to the top securities regulator.

TikTok owner to spend billions in Singapore after U.S. ban

ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese owner of video-sharing app TikTok, is planning to make Singapore its beachhead for the rest of Asia as part of a global expansion, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Foreign businesses now can own 50% of VPN joint ventures in China

China’s cabinet approved a plan allowing foreign telecom companies to own as much as 50% of joint ventures providing virtual private network (VPN) services to foreign businesses in Beijing, fulfilling a commitment to further open the services sector.

More than 70% U.S. companies say they don’t plan to move factories out of China

A survey showed that more than 70% of U.S. companies operating in China currently don’t plan to move factories out of the country, though fewer of them plan to increase investment in China amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the deterioration of China-U.S. relations.

Chinese hotelier Huazhu seeks to raise $946 million in Hong Kong

Debt-laden Nasdaq-listed Chinese hotel chain Huazhu Group Ltd. plans a secondary share offering in Hong Kong to raise HK$7.3 billion ($941 million), joining a parade of Chinese companies seeking to list closer to home.

China, India reach consensus on easing border tensions

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed Thursday to “quickly disengage” from contact along the border between the two countries following a recent skirmish in the area, according to a joint statement issued after a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Moscow.

China’s 20,000 new pig farms won’t ease pork prices just yet

China’s massive hog farms are expanding rapidly on the back of government incentives and record pork prices, but it could be months before production increases enough to cool the market and curb imports. (read the full story here)

Tesla plans to start exporting cars made at Shanghai factory

Tesla Inc. plans to begin shipping cars made at its Shanghai factory to other markets in Asia and Europe, according to people familiar with the matter. China-built Tesla Model 3s intended for delivery outside the country will likely start mass production in the fourth quarter. Shipments could start as soon as the end of this year, or early 2021, according to the people. (Bloomberg)

** OTHER STORIES MAKING THE HEADLINES

• 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, Shanghai-listed 360 Security said Thursday.

• State-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corp. formed (link in Chinese) a new pipeline company in North China’s Hebei province, specializing in building offshore oil pipelines

• Hong Kong police have detained 15 people over alleged mass trading misconduct behind a sudden surge in the stock price of Next Digital Ltd. last month following the arrest of the firm’s owner Jimmy Lai.

• The United States and China should resist the pressure of economic nationalism and work together to find solutions to global concerns including the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, a U.S. State Department adviser said at a Caixin event Thursday.

• Chinese fabless semiconductor firm 3Peak Inc. is looking to raise 2.31 billion yuan ($339 million) in an IPO on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market.

• Investment bank China Renaissance announced on Thursday the final closing of Huaxing Growth Capital’s third dollar-denominated fund, with over $600 million in committed capital.

** ON THE CORONAVIRUS

• As of Friday afternoon Beijing time, the number of coronavirus infections globally surpassed 28.19 million, with the death toll passing 909,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

• Western Europe surpassed the U.S. in new daily Covid-19 infections, re-emerging as a global hot spot after seemingly to bring the pandemic under control earlier in the summer. The 27 countries in the European Union plus the U.K., Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein recorded 27,233 new cases on Wednesday, compared with 26,015 for the U.S. (Bloomberg)

• On Thursday, the Chinese mainland reported 15 new symptomatic Covid-19 cases (link in Chinese), all imported. It reported 22 asymptomatic cases, also all imported.

Contact reporter Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)

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