The Asia Eight

Daily must-reads from the world’s most dynamic region

February 08, 2021

1 TOP STORY: Monopoly rules put pressure on China tech

2 ATF TV: Sino-US trade relations 'in a bind' after Trump

3 NEWS: Biden warns China of 'extreme competition'

4 ASIA MARKETS: HSI, Nikkei 225 and CSI300 advance

5 NEWS: Analysts keep tabs on threatened China telcos

6 NEWS: Renesas in $6bn bid for Apple supplier Dialog

7 NEWS: Tesla opens Supercharger factory near Shanghai

8 ATF BIG PICTURE: Vietnam's green energy challenge

01 Top Story Monopoly pressure on China tech

State Administration for Market Regulation issues directives that affect tech giants; online discount retailer Vipshop Holdings hit with 3-million-yuan ($464,000) fine for violating law prohibiting unfair competition; Ant IPO remains at mercy of bureaucrats

02 ATF TV Sino-US relations

Nitin Dialdas, CIO of MDN Capital Ventures in Hong Kong, sees problems for the new White House administration

03 Biden's trade warning

President warns Beijing that his administration will focus on 'international rules of the road' but adds there is no need for conflict between the two countries

04 Asia Markets

HSI climbs 0.1% to 29,319.47, CSI300 adds 1% to 3,532.45 and the Nikkei 225 advances 2.1% to 29.388.5

Market Wrap

05 Eyes on telco delisting

While most observers believe new President Joe Biden is unlikely to change the plan to delist China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom in the short term, others think they may get a reprieve if a trade deal is struck at some point in the future

06 Renesas in Dialog bid

Dialog's client roster includes Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and Panasonic, making a takeover attractive for potential buyer eager to expand into data centres and consumer devices

07 Tesla China factory opens

Tesla’s Super Charging Pile Factory in Shanghai has been completed; the facility, near its car plant, will have capacity to make 10,000 Superchargers a year; Tesla already has over 730 Supercharger stations in 300 cities across China so many will be exported

08 ATF Big Picture

Vietnam is rapidly expanding use of gas and LNG, plus it could become a regional leader for solar and has a large untapped potential for offshore wind; yet it still plans to boost the number of coal-fired power plants from 32 to a troubling 51 by 2050