- Huawei filed a lawsuit in New York against the Federal Communications Commission, formally challenging the US regulator’s recently imposed ban on rural mobile providers using government funds to buy Huawei equipment. The Chinese telecom firm has already sued the US government in June for limiting its services and hacking its servers.
- Washington expects a phase-one trade deal with Beijing to be completed before American tariffs are scheduled to rise on December 15, Bloomberg reported, with outstanding issues in the talks including how to guarantee China’s purchases of American agricultural goods. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who reportedly helped to bring the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement to fruition, has joined the negotiations with China over the past two weeks.
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited South Korea and met President Moon Jae-in during his two-day trip to Seoul. It is the top diplomat’s first visit since relations soured over Seoul’s decision to install the US-built THAAD anti-missile system in 2017.
- Founder Group, 70%-owned by Peking University, has shocked bond investors by failing to repay a 270-day, Rmb2 billion ($285 million) onshore bond, Caixin Weekly reports. Founder’s the biggest state-owned enterprise backed by an elite college. It is now seeking strategic investors for a restructuring. There have been at least 15 defaults by Chinese firms since the start of November as the domestic bond market has been gripped by a year-end liquidity squeeze (see this week's "Banking and Finance" section).
- Peugeot maker PSA Group said it is preparing to sell its 50% stake in an eight year-old joint venture with Chinese partner Chang’an Automotive. Days before the French’s firm’s exit became public, state-backed Chang’an announced its own plan to sell its half of the JV, which ran up losses of Rmb5 billion ($709.5 million) in the past six years, CBN newspaper reported.
- Xiaomi has announced an “earlier-than-expected” plan to enter the Japanese market. In a Twitter post, the Chinese smartphone maker said it is looking forward to an entry into Japan on December 9, without disclosing further details. The Nikkei Asian Review reported earlier that Xiaomi would start selling several smartphone models and wearable devices in Japan in 2020.
- Zijin Mining continues its overseas expansion as the Chinese gold producer has agreed to buy Canadian miner Continental Gold for C$1.3 billion ($1 billion). The latter’s flagship Buritica gold project in Colombia has measured and indicated gold reserves of 165.5 tonnes, Zijin said. The deal will raise Zijin’s gold reserves to more than 2,000 tonnes.
- 10-20% iQiyi’s planned price hikes in the second half of 2020, Reuters reports. Its chief executive Gong Yu says the cash-burning in China’s video-streaming sector will end soon. The Baidu-backed company had 106 million subscribers as of November, commanding roughly 40% of the market. It wants to have half its subscribers from overseas markets within five years.
- 58 gigawatts Generating capacity of China’s solar exports in the first nine months, versus 41.6 GW for the full year in 2018, according to a trade group. It expects the total value of the country’s solar component exports to pass $20 billion this year as local subsidy cuts have forced manufacturers to turn overseas for sales.
- Rmb202 billion Estimated spend (equivalent to $28.66 billion) on pets in China this year, a figure that is on track to be 19% higher than 2018, according to Goumin.com, a social network for pet lovers. China is now home to 188 million pet dogs and cats. Such a population, already the world’s largest, is expected to grow to 248 million by 2024, however.
- $8 million The asking price for IM Pei’s four-storey New York town house. The Chinese-American architect died in May aged 102.
