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January 03 , 2018
  • Bloomberg：Russia-China Oil Friendship Makes Crude Costlier for Europe
    Bloomberg reports: "Europe's set to be stuck with a higher oil bill as Russia shifts more of its supply to the Chinese oil market. As the world's second-biggest economy buys more, crude shipments from the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk will be cut, according to industry consultant FGE. The reduction will push up the price of varieties available for sale to Europe. Russia is already the biggest supplier to the China, and will probably boost exports to the country by 200,000 barrels a day in 2018, FGE said. After a glut sparked the biggest price crash in a generation and starved Russia of oil revenues, the nation sought to boost market share in the world's top importer. It's now supplanted Saudi Arabia as the top exporter to China, even as the two producers lead efforts to shrink the global oversupply by curbing output. A pipeline that transports crude from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean system has helped its mission to increase volumes... This increase in China-bound deliveries is expected to cut exports from Primorsk in January and February, and reduce pipeline flows to Eastern Europe in March, according to FGE. Shipments of the Urals grade from the port in January will likely fall by 160,000 barrels a day, compared with a year ago, while supplies from Novorossiysk in the Black Sea could remain largely flat... Russia supplied 5.12 million tons of crude to China in November, official customs data show, the equivalent of about 1.3 million barrels per day."
  • Reuters：U.S. blocks MoneyGram sale to China's Ant Financial on national security concerns
    Reuters reports: "Ant Financial's plan to acquire U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc (MGI.O) collapsed on Tuesday after a U.S. government panel rejected it over national security concerns, the most high-profile Chinese deal to be torpedoed under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The $1.2 billion deal's failure represents a blow for Jack Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), who owns Ant Financial together with Alibaba executives. He was looking to expand Ant Financial's footprint amid fierce domestic competition from Chinese rival Tencent Holdings Ltd's (0700.HK) WeChat payment platform. Ma, a Chinese citizen who appears frequently with leaders from the highest echelons of the Communist Party, had promised Trump in a meeting a year ago that he would create 1 million U.S. jobs. The companies decided to terminate their deal after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) rejected their proposals to mitigate concerns over the safety of data that can be used to identify U.S. citizens, according to sources familiar with the confidential discussions. 'Despite our best efforts to work cooperatively with the U.S. government, it has now become clear that CFIUS will not approve this merger,' MoneyGram Chief Executive Alex Holmes said in a statement on Tuesday. The U.S. government has toughened its stance on the sale of companies to Chinese entities, at a time when Trump is trying to put pressure on China to help tackle North Korea's nuclear ambitions and be more accommodative on trade and foreign exchange issues."
  • Financial Times：Trump's looming bust-up with China is bad news for 2018
    Financial Times comments: "Flattery gets you everywhere with Donald Trump. But only while it lasts. Like any addiction, it needs regular boosts in higher doses. Amid fierce bidding, China's Xi Jinping won first prize as 2017's most effective Trump flatterer. All it took was a lavish banquet in the Great Hall of the People. In return, Mr Trump forgot to raise America's trade complaints or human rights. Mr Xi easily outflanked the US at the Asian summits following Mr Trump's China visit. If the key to seducing him is a dish of Kung Pao chicken, what's not to like? The problem is that Mr Xi must continually feed Mr Trump. At a certain point, the ratio of Trump flattery to loss of self-respect will be too high. Would another flurry of trademark approvals for Ivanka Trump break China's bank? Probably not. What about giving the go-ahead for a Trump Tower in Shanghai? Possibly. Another red carpet reception is unlikely to cut it. The law of diminishing returns applies to favours already bestowed. In 2018, it is likely to turn negative. China has always been in Mr Trump's sights. Massaging his ego buys only brief respite. The other ego is Mr Xi himself. China has acted with caution for more than a generation. For Washington's 'never Trumpers', Beijing's restraint gave it honorary membership of the axis of adults that would curb Mr Trump's instincts. If Mr Trump was a loose cannon, China could be counted on to behave responsibly. In the opening months of Mr Trump's presidency, Mr Xi did just that. China, not the US, is now the darling of the Davos economic elites. Mr Xi can lecture on Ricardian trade theory with the best of them."
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