China

[Spekulatius]

8 hours ago, UK said:

https://www.investing.com/news/world-news/trump-taps-us-senator-marco-rubio-for-secretary-of-state-3715336

 

Rubio is a top China hawk in the Senate, and was sanctioned by Beijing in 2020 over his stance on Hong Kong following democracy protests.

Lol, there go Chinese stocks - down another 2% or so. I wonder if Tepper is still in his generational trade. BABA is down pretty much where I sold it and that was before the stimulus package was announced.

 

There will be more opportunities to trade stonks. Trump is making volatility great again.

[Intelligent_Investor]

Its Joever for the China trade over the next few years if Rubio becomes Secretary of State. Dude hates China with a passion

[sleepydragon]

43 minutes ago, Intelligent_Investor said:

Its Joever for the China trade over the next few years if Rubio becomes Secretary of State. Dude hates China with a passion

it’s bad for china but good for xi

[Spekulatius]

Just give Taiwan some nukes. Makes the world a safer place.

[nsx5200]

Some more China news, for those that care...

https://www.wsj.com/world/china-xi-jinping-latin-america-acf6dbc1?mod=hp_lead_pos7

"[...] in a region [South America] where China has replaced the U.S. as the dominant trading partner for most big economies[...]Beijing has signed up most of Latin America and the Caribbean to an infrastructure program that excludes the U.S"

"China is a voracious buyer of Argentina’s lithium, crude oil from Venezuela and Brazilian iron ore and soybeans"

"The region’s nations are generally sincere in their desire for warm relations with the U.S., but they are often seen as a secondary priority in Washington. Beijing’s diplomats and executives, meanwhile, actively engage with local and national governments almost regardless of their political leanings."

"The U.S., Feeley [U.S. ambassador, early 2016] said, “looks at Latin America as a problem not an opportunity.”"

"China is crowding in with manufactured exports[...]Already some countries are raising tariffs on Chinese goods"

 

It looks like China's making inroad into accessing South America's natural resources while providing additional export outlet.  The in-article video also provided more details on the deep-water port that China's invested in via their BRI, as well as the ramp-down of BRI investments due to China's internal financial troubles.  With Trump in office, I suspect Latin America will continue to be seen as a problem.

[cubsfan]

^^^ Some of that is to be expected. The USA is awash in natural resources, China not so much.

[Spekulatius]

Just saw this in my substack feed from John Hempton. This is what China‘s largest bank wrote in their shareholders letter. You really can’t make this up.

:

 

https://substack.com/home/post/p-151735409?source=queue

 

 

 

For reasons I do not need to discuss I find myself reading the annual report of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China - the world’s biggest bank. 

Sure there are greater than 6 trillion of assets (in USD). I just thought you should see how it is managed.

This is a direct quote from the Chairman’s letter:

In the past year, we adhered to the guidance of the Party building theory and exercising rigorous corporate governance. We carried out thematic education and united the whole Bank under the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We remain committed to “Two Affirmations” and “Two Upholds” implemented them to the letter. We earnestly rectified problems discovered during central inspections, audits, and supervisions, resolutely fought corruption, and unceasingly conducted full and rigorous Party self-governance to forge a clean ICBC. We pushed forward the organic integration between the Party’s leadership and corporate governance. The newly revised Articles of Association has been approved by the regulatory authority and come into effect, and the governance system of a modern financial enterprises with Chinese characteristics continued to be improved.

No further comment is required.

 

John

Edited November 16 by Spekulatius

[crs223]

Wow.  At first I thought “this sounds similar to US corporate platitudes on DEI”.  But it’s worse.  From ChatGPT:

 

The Chinese principles of the “Two Affirmations” (两个确立, Liǎng gè Quèlì) and the “Two Upholds” (两个维护, Liǎng gè Wéihù) are central ideological directives introduced during Xi Jinping’s leadership in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These principles emphasize loyalty to the party's core leadership and reinforce its authority.

Two Affirmations (两个确立)

The "Two Affirmations" were solidified during the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CCPin 2021. They affirm:

1. The establishment of Xi Jinping’s core position within the Central Committee and the Party.
2. The establishment of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guiding ideology of the CCP.

These affirmations serve to elevate Xi Jinping’s leadership and ideological framework as central to the CCP's governance and China's policy direction.

Two Upholds (两个维护)

The "Two Upholds" require party members and institutions to:

1. Uphold the authority of the Central Committee of the CCP.
2. Uphold Xi Jinping’s core leadership within the CCP.

This principle emphasizes unity and loyalty to the centralized leadership structure of the CCP, with Xi Jinping at its helm.

Significance

Together, the "Two Affirmations" and "Two Upholds" establish a framework of ideological and political loyalty to Xi Jinping and the CCP's centralized authority. These principles have been instrumental in consolidating Xi Jinping’s power and ensuring policy continuity under his leadership. They also reflect the CCP's emphasis on maintaining internal unity and control amid domestic and international challenges.

[Spekulatius]

The shareholder letter fails to even mention the shareholders or shareholder value. There is (imo) no other take than that shareholders don’t count and it’s clear that they are screwed or sacrificed for the greater good, just the Hero in that hero movie.

 

 

Edited November 16 by Spekulatius

[Paarslaars]

Or they keep up appearence for the CCP in official communication? Dnno maybe wishful thinking.

[UK]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-22/texas-raises-pressure-on-chinese-investments-with-exit-order

[Spekulatius]

Somebody check on Tepper if he is still OK.

 

Or maybe he sold into the surge he caused.

[zippy1]

This piece of news is kind of interesting. It is possible to read it with google translator.
Basically, the government of ChaoZhou in the Guangdong provience decided to do a safety inspection on the stores.  If a business fails the safety inspection, it can be fined quite severely.  
Apparently, quite a few stores decide to close to avoid being inspected. The unofficial story is tha the stores are closing "en masse."   These store owners are creative in why they close the stores for the day.  The reasons for not opening for business are like "Be afraid of Ghost", "having a fight with my spouse", "the owner is in a bad mood" in the news story.  
If the story is true, the  finance of the local government has to be in bad shape to do this. 
https://www.hk01.com/即時中國/1078816/潮州-汕頭傳大量店舖關門停業避檢查-官方-只是個別商戶

[Spekulatius]

48 minutes ago, zippy1 said:

This piece of news is kind of interesting. It is possible to read it with google translator.
Basically, the government of ChaoZhou in the Guangdong provience decided to do a safety inspection on the stores.  If a business fails the safety inspection, it can be fined quite severely.  
Apparently, quite a few stores decide to close to avoid being inspected. The unofficial story is tha the stores are closing "en masse."   These store owners are creative in why they close the stores for the day.  The reasons for not opening for business are like "Be afraid of Ghost", "having a fight with my spouse", "the owner is in a bad mood" in the news story.  
If the story is true, the  finance of the local government has to be in bad shape to do this. 
https://www.hk01.com/即時中國/1078816/潮州-汕頭傳大量店舖關門停業避檢查-官方-只是個別商戶

I guess they will escalate to unannounced inspection very quickly.

 

Sort of like “Afraid of the ghost” . It’s probably a subtle hint of being afraid of ghouls from the government.

 

Here is another story from China when we visited  our Chinese subsidy:

 

My boss wanted to make a little smalltalk and ask the other manager who spoke a little English:

 

”How is your wife?”

Answer:

“ She is ugly!” 

We quickly looked at each other than at the translator and changed the subject.

 

We later talked with the translator when the other manager wasn’t around. The translator translated everything word for word for us but neither he nor the Chinese manager understood the intend (he was around when above happened ), but as it turns out “saying my wife is ugly or not pretty “ is just being modest in China. 
 

It would be impolite and bragging to say “ My wife is pretty”. He also misunderstood the question thinking it pertains to his wife looks, not as polite small talk or genuine interest.

Edited Saturday at 03:23 PM by Spekulatius

[zippy1]

5 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

I guess they will escalate to unannounced inspection very quickly.

 

Sort of like “Afraid of the ghost” . It’s probably a subtle hint of being afraid of ghouls from the government.

 

Here is another story from China when we visited  our Chinese subsidy:

 

My boss wanted to make a little smalltalk and ask the other manager who spoke a little English:

 

”How is your wife?”

Answer:

“ She is ugly!” 

We quickly looked at each other than at the translator and changed the subject.

 

We later talked with the translator when the other manager wasn’t around. The translator translated everything word for word for us but neither he nor the Chinese manager understood the intend (he was around when above happened ), but as it turns out “saying my wife is ugly or not pretty “ is just being modest in China. 
 

It would be impolite and bragging to say “ My wife is pretty”. He also misunderstood the question thinking it pertains to his wife looks, not as polite small talk or genuine interest.

the kind of culture difference can really surprise me.  I asked my friend, who had been a factory manager in China for quite a few years and left recently about this story.  He said likely the low level governemnt guy who leaked the inspection date would be scolded.  Then he will go making arrangements with these store owners that they will take turn to open, be inspected (and be fined....)...  There is not much the store owners can do....