CX Daily: Wuxi Biologics Among 33 Chinese Firms to Land on Market-Rattling U.S. Government List

List /

Wuxi Biologics among 33 Chinese firms to land on market-rattling U.S. government list

The U.S. Department of Commerce listed 33 Chinese entities it said use American export items in ways that it has been unable to trace, injecting fresh volatility into markets.

The highest-profile among them was Chinese novel drugmaker Wuxi Biologics Cayman Inc., which suspended trading in Hong Kong after its addition to the department’s unverified list sparked a record sell-off.

Wuxi Biologics shares sank as much as 32% in Hong Kong earlier Tuesday, leading health-care stocks lower. The CSI Health Care Index dropped as much as 2.6% to its lowest level in nearly two years.

Capital /

Businesses should abide by ‘traffic lights’ in capital expansion, People’s Daily says

The Communist Party’s official newspaper endorsed Beijing’s latest slogan of regulating capital expansion with “traffic lights,” saying the approach sets rules and a bottom line aimed at ensuring that businesses “obey the leadership of the party.”

The People’s Daily editorial (link in Chinese) said the country should improve management of market access, strengthen market source control and industry supervision, enhance anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition regulations, and prevent capital from growing wild.

FINANCE & ECONOMY

MYBank, one of China’s first privately funded online-only banks, received three fines since 2020.

Banking /

Ant-backed MYBank fined for anti-money laundering violations

Ant Group-backed online lender MYBank was slapped with a 22.37 million yuan ($3.52 million) fine by China’s central bank for multiple violations including breaching credit scoring management and anti-money laundering rules.

MYBank was criticized for failing to follow regulations on financial statistics, account management, transaction clearing management, know-your-customer requirements and requirements to report suspicious transactions, the Hangzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China said in a statement.

Nine staffers were also fined a combined 490,000 yuan for their parts in the violations, the regulator said.

Regulators /

Chinese and Singaporean regulators vow to support ETF connect

China’s top securities regulator and Singapore’s central bank said they’ll support the two countries’ exchanges in launching exchange-traded fund (ETF) products that can be traded on each other’s markets, according to a Monday statement from the Chinese side.

Fang Xinghai, a vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), and Ho Hern Shin, a deputy managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), also discussed strengthening cooperation in securities and futures markets, regulatory approaches, and green finance at a bilateral supervisory roundtable Jan. 26, the statement said.

Index /

Caixin New Economy Index rises on increased capital investment

The contribution of high value-added industries such as advanced materials to China’s total economic inputs expanded in January due chiefly to increased capital investment, a Caixin index showed last week.

The Mastercard Caixin BBD New Economy Index (NEI) came in at 29.5 last month, indicating that new economy industries accounted for 29.5% of China’s overall economic input activities. The reading was up from 28.1 in December.

Covid-19 /

Hong Kong expert warns of Covid ‘tsunami’

Hong Kong reported 614 new Covid infections Monday, the highest daily tally in two years and nearly double its previous peak of 351 cases set Saturday.

The alarming daily number forced the city government to impose more measures on local residents, including putting close contacts of the confirmed cases into home quarantine. Experts warned that the peak of the epidemic has yet to come.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister tests positive for Covid-19 in Beijing

Southwest border city Baise sealed for Covid flare-up

BUSINESS & TECH

A Liberia-flagged tanker carrying around 1 million barrels of bitumen mix collided with a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier last April near Qingdao, spilling about 9,400 tons of oil into the sea. Photo: Maritime Safety Administration

Leakage 

Yellow Sea tanker ship collision spilled 9,400 tons of oil, report says

A tanker collision off China’s eastern coast last April leaked about 9,400 tons of oil into the Yellow Sea and caused economic losses of 6.2 billion yuan ($973 million), according to a government report.

It will take more than 10 years for the fishery in the affected area to recover to the pre-pollution level, said the report published Jan. 28 by a department affiliated with China’s Ministry of Transport.

The incident exposed the shortcomings in the maritime emergency response, the report said, and should raise concerns about the high risk of future oil spills amid a rise in shipping.

Travel bubble /

Thailand plans travel bubble talks with China and Malaysia

Thailand plans to hold travel bubble talks with China and Malaysia this month, days after resuming a quarantine-free visa program to boost tourist arrivals seen as key to sustaining a nascent economic recovery.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s government will soon discuss with the Chinese Minister for Culture and Tourism details of a possible bilateral travel deal, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a government spokesman, said Monday in a statement. Thai officials are also preparing to hold talks with neighboring Malaysia later this month for a similar agreement, he said.

Quick hits /

Alibaba falls as stock filing seen as sign of SoftBank sale

U.K. approves Chinese-designed nuclear reactor amid controversy

Energy Insider /

China, Russia ink 30-year gas supply deal

Tech Insider /

Toshiba to split in two, not three; Chinese NEV-makers have a strong start to 2022

GALLERY

Skier Eileen Gu Soars to Victory

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