• Chinese taxes: Xi Jinping vowed to “adjust excessive incomes” as part of his “common prosperity” agenda. Exactly what that means is unclear. It could presage higher corporate tax for high-tech companies (currently 15%), direct gifts such as the one announced by Tencent, a more progressive personal income tax system or a higher inheritance tax rate.

• China & COVID-19: China reported zero new COVID-19 cases for the first time since July. Data reliability is in question, but it may signal that the outbreak is now increasingly under control directionally.

• Malaysia politics: Ismail Sabri Yaakob has become president of Malaysia. He is a Malay centric politician that has been controversial in the past. But other than for certain politically sensitive stocks, many believe there will be business as usual.

• Singapore's border reopening: Singapore removed quarantine for travellers from Hong Kong & Macau. All that’s needed is a negative PCR test; you don’t even have to be vaccinated. A vaccinated travel lane will open up with Germany soon.

Asian stock ideas

• I wrote a deep-dive on Chinese travel technology stock TravelSky (SEHK: 696 — US$4.8 billion)

• Searching 4 Value Blog on Hong Kong-listed L’Occitane (SEHK: 973 — US$4.9 billion)

• A few comments from Pembridgecap on Taiwanese online classifieds company AddCN (TPEX: 5287 — US$361 million)

Long-form writing

(estimated reading time) ($ = behind a paywall)

• I wrote an introductory report to the Asian tobacco industry (18 mins) ($)

• I interviewed Japanese tech experts nipponNuggets (8 mins)

• GMO’s James Montier on the prospects for higher inflation (15 mins)

• Open Insights: supply & demand suggests higher prices for oil (8 mins)

• A brief history of Asia’s stock markets (7 mins)

• Bloomberg: Contrarian investors should love emerging markets (9 mins) ($)

• A four-part series on China’s opening-up reform: Part 1, 2, 3 & 4 (35 mins)

• George Magnus: Why a China-centered future is still uncertain (6 mins)

• Katsuji Nakazawa: China sends signals that Xi is here to stay (6 mins) ($)

• Wall Street Journal: China’s economic recovery is losing steam (5 mins) ($)

• Jordan Nel on China’s semiconductor supply chain (26 mins)

• How will China seek to profit from the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan? (4 mins)

• Nikkei: How Indonesia is pushing forward with reforms (4 mins) ($)

Podcasts and videos

• Michael Pettis: China’s regulatory environment is confusing (8 mins)

• Louis Gave on China, Afghanistan and de-dollarization (35 mins)

• Jens Nordvig on the risk of adopting zero-tolerance COVID-19 policies (24 mins)

• Historian Jason Kelly discussing his book Market Maoists: The Communist Origins of China's Capitalist Ascent (32 mins)

• Asia Tech Strategy podcast: What worries me about Alibaba long-term (40 mins)

Chart of the week – Shorting China stocks is now perceived to be one of the most crowded trades

Thanks for reading, and I wish you a great week ahead!

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Best regards,
Michael