This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get it sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning
Good morning. Today we start with Chinese authorities’ probe into Zhongzhi, one of the biggest conglomerates in the country’s sprawling shadow financing market.
Officials announced the investigation just days after the group declared that it was “severely insolvent”. Beijing police said that Zhongzhi was suspected of committing “illegal crimes”, and that “mandatory criminal measures” had been placed on a number of suspects, including one surnamed Xie, the same as its late founder.
The statement did not specify the suspects’ alleged crimes or details of the measures being taken. Last week, Zhongzhi had disclosed in a letter to investors — which was seen by the Financial Times — that it was facing a shortfall of about $36.4bn. The shortage of capital renewed concerns over China’s $2.9tn opaque shadow financing industry and its exposure to the troubled property sector and wider economic slowdown.
The company added that “internal management ran wild” following the departure of “multiple senior executives and key personnel”. Here’s what we know about the investigation so far.
Here’s what else I’m watching today:
New Zealand prime minister sworn in: The centre-right National Party’s Christopher Luxon will be sworn today.
UK global investment summit: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosts the second annual event, showcasing British expertise to attract foreign backers.
ECB: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will hold her quarterly monetary dialogue with the European parliament committee on economic and monetary affairs.
Five more top stories
1. Hamas freed 17 captives including 14 Israeli civilians yesterday as the precarious truce in Gaza stretched into a third day. The hostages, the third group to be released in as many days, included three Thai nationals, according to Hamas and the Israeli military, as well as an Israeli-Russian dual-national. Read the latest details on the hostages released, which included 84-year-old Alma Avraham and 4-year-old Abigail Idan.
Hostage negotiation: Efforts to extend a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas depend on the militant group locating dozens of women and children held hostage by civilians and gangs, Qatar’s prime minister has said.
2. An upcoming sale of shares in OpenAI will reveal how much the past week’s leadership chaos has cost the company and its backers. The employee stock sale, which had been planned before the sacking last week of chief executive Sam Altman and expected to value the company at $86bn, will be the first test of investor appetite in OpenAI following a battle between Altman and the board.
3. Russia has claimed it repelled a wave of Ukrainian drone and missile strikes yesterday, a day after it launched the biggest drone attack on Kyiv since the start of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion last year. The Russian defence ministry said anti-aircraft defences on Sunday morning shot down a total of 24 Ukrainian drones on the outskirts of Moscow, and to the capital’s south and west.
4. India is seeking to revive underground coal mining as it tries to meet the country’s fast-growing energy needs despite international pressure to phase down use of the polluting fossil fuel. A senior official at India’s coal ministry official has claimed this type of production is more “eco-friendly” than opencast mines.
5. Taiwan’s political opposition has put forward two candidates for January’s presidential elections that are likely to determine China’s stance on the country. Meet Hou Yu-ih and Ko Wen-je, a former criminal police chief running for the Kuomintang, and Ko Wen-je, a surgeon and former Taipei mayor who both registered on Friday, the same day billionaire Foxconn founder Terry Gou dropped out.
Big Read
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, with China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi
Canada once saw itself as nearly immune from the world’s problems. But recently it’s been sucked into a series of perilous foreign policy dilemmas, and now finds itself at loggerheads with both India and China — the two most populous nations and the rising powers of this century.
What we’re also reading . . .
Chart of the day
It’s a new era for South Korea’s defence industry. The country has recently emerged as one of the world’s top 10 defence exporters, with artillery producer Hanwha Aerospace, tank producer Hyundai Rotem and fighter jet producer Korea Aerospace Industries leading the charge. Find out what’s driving the change.
Take a break from the news
A table laid with desserts by Laura Jackson © Luara Jackson/Glassette
Ahead of the festive season, don’t miss the FT’s expert guide to dinner-party etiquette. Have questions about what to serve? How to sit? And when to start washing up? Top hosts share their entertaining dos and don’ts.
Additional contributions from Gordon Smith and Gary Jones
