The six-week stalemate around the US and China trade negotiation is expected to end next week. Top trade representatives of both countries are resuming talks next week, according to a press briefing by Larry Kudlow, the White House economic adviser.
Meanwhile, the US government filed a motion on Wednesday asking for the dismissal of the lawsuit filed by China’s Huawei, in which the telecommunications company claimed the US’s act of blacklisting its products is illegal, Reuters reported.
At a Thursday press conference, Gao Feng, the spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce, told reporters that the unilateral imposing of tariffs by the US is the starting point of the trade war.
“For the two sides [to] reach an agreement, all punitive tariffs must be removed,” Gao said.
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Shanghai Trust has offered to sell a 2% stake in China International Fund Management (CIFM) to JP Morgan on July 1. This will reduce Shanghai Trust’s own stake in CIFM to 49% and increase JP Morgan’s share to 51%, local media reported. If that happens, CIFM will be the first fund management company to have a controlling foreign shareholder.
Separately, Huaxin Securities, the Chinese partner of Morgan Stanley’s securities JV, is looking to sell a 2% stake for no less than Rmb376m ($54.7m). Potential buyers will have until July 29 to submit a bid, local media reported on Wednesday.
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On July 1, the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China, week-long peaceful protests in Hong Kong took a slightly more violent turn. A small group of protesters broke into the Legislation Council complex and vandalised the place.
Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam, along with other government offices including the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, publicly condemned the action.
On July 3, following a statement by Jeremy Hunt, the UK secretary of state for foreign affairs, warning of “serious consequences” if Beijing breaches the “legally binding agreement” with Hong Kong, China accused the UK government of “gross interference” over Hong Kong.
Geng Shuang, the spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, issued a strongly worded statement on Wednesday. “[Hunt] seems to be still fantasising about the faded glory of British colonialism and still has the bad habit of casually commenting and interfering with other countries’ business.”
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Bloomberg rolled out new product enhancements to the Bond Connect trading channel on its terminals. Enhancements include block trade allocation for offshore investors and access to trading asset-backed securities, according to a Wednesday press release.
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Tradeweb, another trading platform with access to the Bond Connect scheme, introduced price streaming services and iDeal messaging tool for offshore investors trading Chinese bonds, the company announced during the Bond Connect Anniversary Summit in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
The iDeal instant messenger allows offshore buy-side firms to communicate and engage directly with onshore dealers before submitting a request for quote.
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Aberdeen Standard Asset Management (Shanghai), a wholly foreign-owned enterprise of Aberdeen Standard Investments, has received approval to provide onshore investment advisory services to onshore Chinese investors on products offered by domestic wealth management firms and securities houses, according to a Wednesday press release. The Asset Management Association of China gave the approval.
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Caixin services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined by 0.6 percentage point to 52 in June, the second lowest reading since October 2018, according to Maggie Wei, a China economist at Goldman Sachs.
Most sub-indices moderated, except for new business and outstanding business sub-indices.
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China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) hosted a press conference on Thursday.
Liang Tao, vice chairman of CBIRC, said that the government encourages insurance companies to invest in stocks that are to be listed on the Shanghai Star market, the new tech board.
Xiao Yuanqi, a spokesperson of CBIRC, said that the regulator welcomes offshore financial institutions to participate in the reform and restructuring of onshore banks, non-banking financial institutions and insurance companies.
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Total service exports and imports reached Rmb2.19tr by May this year, a 3.5% year-over-year increase, according to a statement by the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.
Exports reached Rmb77.1bn, a 10.3% increase year-on-year while imports reached Rmb1.41tr, a 0.1% increase.