01 Top Story China's shale play
Sinopec says it has built the first phase a new gas field in Sichuan, while PetroChina has vowed to double output from the same province; But China's shale formations are buried deeper and more fractured than in the US, and often located in difficult terrain
02 New China Covid concern
National Health Commission reports more than 179 new coronavirus cases for first time since July as second city in Hebei province goes into lockdown; 11 million citizens reportedly in lockdowns
03 ATF TV EMs to watch
Rajeev de Mello, managing director at Deep Learning Investments, casts an eye over the EM landscape and offers his forecasts for the coming year
04 Asia Markets
HSI climbs 0.1% to 27,908.22; CSI300 declines 1.1% to 3,531.03; Nikkei 225 surges 2.4% to 28,139.97
05 Comment
“With economic activity set to remain strong and underlying inflation likely to continue rising, we think the [People’s Bank of China] will tighten policy this year”
Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics
06 ATF Big Picture
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are delisting 500 structured products in Hong Kong as the impact of Trump’s ban on Chinese military-linked firms spreads; HKEX insists the Hong Kong structured product market will continue to thrive
07 Baidu-Geely Partner on EVs
China's search engine giant and Chinese automaker have confirmed that they will form a joint venture to produce 'smart' electric vehicles, with production to be done at plants owned by Geely Holding
08 2021 rare earth prospects
Last year a ‘control’ index was drawn up for rare earth mines as China became more aware of the strategic value of this sector; This was a counter lever to US sanctions in the trade war, and a bid to develop “superior mineral resources”; exports fell 28%, while prices rose nearly 23%
