haidi: a very good morning. we are coming down to asia's major market shery: welcome to daybreak asia. our top stories this hour. asian futures point higher with regional stocks heading for a fifth weekly gain. chinese short video app quite show is surging ahead of today's formal debut. the start up is a -- is up 180%.

we discussed the reddit field treading friends very with esther george in an exclusive interview this hour. also, the u.s. recovery and how the pandemic has hit minorities. we have breaking news out of south korea. you're getting the current account numbers for the month of december. the surplus widening to 11.51 billion dollars. the surplus from the previous month revised higher to $9 billion. a good surplus widening from the previous month coming in at 10 and a half billion dollars in december. the surplus widening from the previous month. we have seen korean trade being very resilient. exports are seeing a record start to 2021. posting its best january ever. we continue to see the services deficit coming in at around $500 million in december, but

narrowing in the freebie -- the previous month. let's see how are we are setting up further trading session. sophie: in sydney, stocks higher by 2/10 of 1%. after pay as well. the u.s. aussie dollar holding above 76. the 10 year yield pushed above 123. an extension said the program beyond april. rates will likely stay lower for a while in australia. we are going to get the rv i policy -- the rbi policy decision. nikkei futures are little changed. kiwi stocks around this as asian

shares are heading for a fifth weekly gain. the retail investors took the spotlight. an agent, retail put us up -- in asia, retail participation showing softening in korea, india and thailand. they are saying if daytrading becomes a more permanent feature, that will keep stocks at a more elevated valuation. the retail frenzy has helped push the ipo frenzy and kuaishou set to pop on its trading debut amid the enthusiasm. haidi: let's get more insight on markets. our next guest says what emerging markets need is a middle-of-the-road recovery. this is the goldilocks not too hot, not too cold recovery. is the risk of a temper tantrum still real? >> thank you for having me.

emerging markets are driven by global growth and liquidity. that is what has traded this constructive outlook for the space. they need this recovery because we see bifurcated risk emerging depending on the shape of the global outlook. if we see a faster than expected global recovery, you are right. something forcing the fed to taper support sooner than expected is possible. i would personally say that is more of a medium term risk over the next one to three years. the more possible scenario in the shorter term might be the recovery disappoints. haidi: what about the trajectory over the u.s. dollar? there is one thesis if you take a look at where bond yields are going, where u.s. equities continue to go, the rollout of the vaccine, decent economic data we have gotten on the u.s. economy, there could be another year of american exceptionalism

for the u.s. dollar. what does that portend? >> the u.s. dollar has the same key drivers as emerging-market equities. they both respond to global growth and liquidity. both of those factors suggest continued weakness in the dollar and suggest a supportive environment for em. we have seen very small rally in the dollar. it is premature to extrapolate that sense the growth and liquidity are asked -- are still so supportive. there is market skittishness about yields. we are looking at a supportive environment. shery: how much quality is there in emc? -- ems? >> from the desk of some u.s. focused investors, many seem to think there is not enough quality in em. i think there is plenty of quality in em. on the stock side, what we mean by that is companies with strong

balance sheets invest in a management teams. you see some of the most innovative companies in em because they tend to deal with a more volatile operating environment. we do see over the course of the recovery quality management companies are not just a way to harness the excitement. they are also a way to mitigate what we have discussed earlier. shery: we have seen a diverging path to economic recovery, to market recovery across emerging markets. will we see a broader rally in the ems anytime soon? >> i certainly hope so. what i find fascinating about the emerging-market space is the space as a whole has benefited from this improvement and sentiment. there are many sectors within the space that have not. of those that are still lagging, i would say my favorite is

financials. this is a factor that is shockingly flight your today and over the deck shockingly flight your today and has lagged the index by 25 percentage points. that is fascinating to me that one of the best ways to access the recovery and a factor instrumental in the recovery would be lacking up to this point terry -- would be lacking up to this point. haidi: one of those elements being able to turn to tourism. does that require quite a lot of elements to fall into place with the vaccine, with borders reopening, with travel passes and bubbles and such? >> it does. i think a trifecta is emerging for asean, but it is early days on the tourism component. the other two components are commodities, and we are seeing that thesis play out, along with global liquidity. asea suffered fromm -- asean

suffered from low liquidity. we see more support on the side of liquidity and with commodities. hopefully with a vaccine rollout and time, the tourism part of it can shape up as well. shery: always great having your insight. thank you. we will be speaking to the kansas city fed president later this hour. she joins us for an exclusive interview to discuss the fallout of the retail trading frenzy, the economic recovery in the u.s. and how the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on minorities. haidi: here are your first word headlines. u.s. financial regulators say the infrastructure of stock and quantity markets were resilient during the trading spread by retail investors. releasing a timely study of the

events. it follows a meeting convened by the treasury secretary janet yellen who said it is imperative to uphold the integrity of markets and protect investors. president trump is rejecting a demand by house democrats for him to testify about his conduct surrounding the storming of the capitol building in washington. the trial is set for tuesday and he is disputing allegations and reticle facts of issues. as says it would be a nightmare said the former president testify. -- should the former president testify. massachusetts is allowing restaurants and gyms to raising capacity to 40% while rhode island will let ratings -- will let weddings host up to 50 gates. angela merkel was warning against easing restrictions too soon. there are no plans for another nationwide lockdown. australia is risking further issues with china by calling for

a u.s. investigation into alleged human rights abuses. several former detainees say they have experienced or witnessed systematic rape or torture in white beijing says our reeducation camps. china says the reports have no factual basis. shery: coming up, the biggest internet ipo since uber. we will look ahead to today's hong kong debut from kuaishou. when you switch to xfinity mobile, you're choosing to get connected to the most reliable network nationwide, now with 5g included. discover how to save up to $300 a year with shared data starting at $15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited. come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. you can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store.

shery: we are listening and watching to the reserve bank of australia testifying before the house of representatives today, speaking to the standing committee on economics. he has been saying australian interest rates will stay low. citing 2024 as potentially the

year where we could see rate hikes. it could go on for longer. saying the downturn here is not as deep as we would have feared. the recovery started earlier and has been stronger. they're wanting to strike the balance between optimism on the economic outlook but not wanting to drive the dollar stronger. we are seeing the dollar holding some of the losses. saying he does not think asset prices are at unsustainable levels and he does not think debt levels and lending standards are in trouble at the moment. he does think that low rent could drive unsustainable asset prices, but he is not seeing that yet. we will continue to monitor the rba governors commentary. shery:shery: let's turn to one of the most anticipated market debuts in hong kong. that of kuaishou technology. there are clear signs it will get off to a fast start. shares being bid by as much as

200%. our chief north asia correspondent is taking a closer look in hong kong. what did the numbers tell us about demand? stephen: the numbers are looking pretty good for a fast start kuaishou means fast hand in chinese and it is looking like a fast start if you look at the gray market strong demand from retail and institutional investors. institutional investors have been bidding this one up on the gray market for the last two days. $5.4 billion raised in total. we are looking at the philip securities otc market. bids upwards of 181% up to 322 hong kong dollars a share. smaller platforms showing 200% up. if this translates into actual trade this morning when the market opens up, we are looking

at the second-best performing ipo in hong kong ever for a listing above $1 billion. this is much more. ant got all the headlines before it was scrapped, but ant saw a 50% pot. this is the seeing 300 times. -- this is seeing 300 times. if ant was a stampede, this is euphoria. retail investors also participating. retail investors 1200 times oversubscribed. 1.4 million retail applications. 1.4 million. that means one in four citizens of hong kong of 7.5 million people are applying for this. we have to add the caveat because we are hearing anecdotally that many mainland investors are applying for this

stock offering. that is interesting and critical because it might not be one in four hong kong citizens. probably a lot of mainland investors. mainland investors can invest in the hong kong stock market. it is a closed loop. they are not allowed to do ipo's. what is happening is there are chat groups going around in china giving tips on how to invest in the ipo so you get around the capital controls and you get into this ipo. we have to look at whether this hot money coming in from mainland china into an ipo continues at this kind of pace. you could see some regulatory action coming down the pike. haidi: you are always looking at that rolling ball of capital from the mainland looking for a place to go. talking about the investor exuberance. what are the nobles -- the numbers whether kuaishou can

sustain this level of interest? stephen: interestingly, kuaishou started by a 30 something-year-old mainland are who work -- mainlander who worked at beijing. lance himself squarely in two of the hottest segments. short videos, the biggest rival is tiktok and the equivalent in mainland china. number two is livestreaming and virtual giftgiving over live platforms. look at these numbers. these user numbers will tell you whether there is going to be long-term investor appetite for this. it has the eyeballs. 305 million average active daily users on the platforms. that has led to stickiness. 86 minute average daily use. my daughter on tiktok is for five times that appeared -- is four or five times that.

they are getting money out of parents' pockets. haidi: really interesting statistics about usage times. stephen engle previewing the kuaishou later today. gamestop mania coming to in end. the stock sees and other day of heavy losses. we have the latest next. this is bloomberg. ♪ (announcer) back pain hurts, and it's frustrating. you can spend thousands on drugs, doctors, devices, and mattresses, and still not get relief. now there's aerotrainer by golo, the ergonomically correct exercise breakthrough that cradles your body so you can stretch and strengthen your core, relieve back pain, and tone your entire body. since i've been using the aerotrainer, my back pain is gone. when you're stretching your lower back on there,

there is no better feeling. (announcer) do pelvic tilts for perfect abs and to strengthen your back. do planks for maximum core and total body conditioning. (woman) aerotrainer makes me want to work out. look at me, it works 100%. (announcer) think it'll break on you? think again! even a jeep can't burst it. give the aerotrainer a shot. pain and stress is the only thing you have to lose. get it and get it now. your body will thank you. (announcer) find out more at aerotrainer.com. that's aerotrainer.com.

haidi: let's get the latest on the retail trading mania that has pushed stocks like came stock into the stratosphere where it is a long way down. it has already taken a brutal tumble. more than 80% for the week. treasury secretary janet yellen held the meeting with regulators

to ensure greater oversight. su keenan joins us. let's start off with the plunge in the stock. investors after moving through precious metals and crypto, turning to new names in biontech -- in biotech. su: they are looking at small drug developers and ditching gamestop. look at the brutal decline in the stock. heavy losses down 80% during the way. volatility resulted in market value swing of 30 billion in the past week. check out other credit touted -- other reddit touted stocks. seeing brutal declines. those had all been flying high with gamestop charity shares with biotech were surging. the third stock notably was up some 30% and gave back all its gains and then some showing volatility remains in this reddit army but they continue

to have an impact on stocks. the restrictions that robinhood, the online trading rocher, put on amc, gamestop and other stocks touted on the website and other message boards had impacted the decline. a lot of reddit related traders are blaming robinhood, calling them the bad guy. to quote one trader, they stall the -- they saw the army coming and they stopped us. robinhood in the bullseye of a lot of the scrutiny. shery: u.s. regulators now giving us a little bit of insight into how they see what went ahead in terms of volatility in the market. su: in the meeting today, the sec and the fed new york -- bank of new york. janet yellen issued a statement after their meeting saying the

regulators believe the poor infrastructure was resilient during high volatility and heavy trading volume. she is referring to the huge run-up in gamestop. to continue the quote, the participants in the meeting agree on the importance of the sec releasing a timely study of the events. we already reported the sec was to be looking closely as to whether there was market manipulation. shery: it has been a painful year for shell. the words of the ceo. the oil giant reported income short of expectations and week in cash flow. the ceo said the numbers are still resilient and he expects oil supplies to tighten as the economy recovers. >> the year was a tough year and a painful year. >> how, earnings missed of the

expectation -- missed the expectations? did you have some last-minute accounting changes that surprised them? >> it is probably a combination of a number of factors. for billion versus .6, the absolute delta is very small. percentagewise, these numbers are magnified because we are talking about loan numbers. we had a lot of adjustments. we did have a number of adjustments to get it completely right. i thought the street did a good job to come as close as $150 million and average from where we were and a quarter. if you look at the entire year, it is more sensible to look at that. $34 billion of cash, that is after -- that is a better measure for us to be measured on , is i think a credible and resilient performance. on top of it, i would say the

countermeasures we took earlier in the year in 2020 when we said we were going to find eight to $9 billion of cash to help us in these difficult times, we delivered $11.5 billion. we did well in that respect. it did not help us from taking the painful decision to also reduce our dividend. i think if you look back over the year, i think our staff did remarkably well. i am very proud of them. >> that me ask you about how shareholders have received the messaging you have given. you took the historic decision to cut the dividend. that was last year. a couple quarters later, you raised it modestly. you also committed to further buybacks. have investors kept with you alone this journey? what has the feed been from investors? >> i imagine a range of

reactions. nobody and also not the company welcomes the need to reset a dividend impaired at the same time, it was also a necessary and inevitable thing to do to not only preserve the financial was lance of the company but also to preserve the long-term future of the company. >> capital expenditure is at historic low levels. do you think the sector is investing just enough to avoid a supply crunch? could we see a spike in prices as a result of this phenomenon in the near term? >> it is a very good question. it depends on the timeframe. at the moment, we see pretty good oil prices. it is approaching $59 today, brent. that is probably much more driven by short-term demand factors. we see a lot of discipline from opec-plus and the market is being balanced quite well.

if you look at the longer term, we are not the only ones who have cut back on our capital spending. we went from $25 billion to spend in our entire business, not just in it will production, to -- not just in oil production, to $18 billion. fast-forward a little bit and yes, i would imagine in the second half of this year, we are beginning to see not only recovery but tightness in the market appearing. i believe that next year when the recovery is probably complete and the years thereafter, it could be that we see a tightness in the market that will provide for more upside pressure on the oil price. shery: the shell -- haidi: the shell ceo speaking to bloomberg. coming up, our global and economic policy editor will be speaking to a great guest ahead.

kathleen: after the break, i will be joined by the kansas city fed resident to discuss the importance of bringing more diversity to the fed. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪ -- this is bloomberg. ♪

kathleen: welcome back to daybreak: asia. we want to welcome bloomberg television viewers and radio listeners all over the world. i am joined by esther george. she is president of the federal reserve bank for kansas city for an exclusive interview. a warm welcome to the show. esther: good to be with you. kathleen: i want to start with the economy. i know you are confident it is going to continue the recovery this year. he said that a couple of weeks ago. we see some signals that growth is picking up a bit. three weeks of jobless claims

falling. the private job gauge more strong than people were expecting. manufacturing and services gauges remaining strong. do you think with the stimulus that was passed at the end of last year and the fact that viruses are coming down, the cases are, the economy is picking up some steam. esther: i think it is encouraging, the progress we have seen in the economy, the support that has been provided to this point. around all of that, we cannot forget the driver of the outlook continues to be the virus. as we watch the promise of the vaccinations coming out, as we see how readily people will take those, how quickly they can be deployed, that is what is going to ultimately shape the recovery as we look ahead. kathleen: so basically, you and

others have said the recovery is ultimately about the vaccine. it was the virus, now it is the vaccines. how quickly they came out. what will a successful rollout look like to you? the kind that could actually give this recovery we see so far some momentum. esther: the way i think about it is, when the virus no longer factors into our day-to-day decision-making, then we might feel like we are out of the woods. what does that look like? it will depend on broad-based immunity, herd immunity as it is called. i think once people can resume more ability, can resume -- mobility, can resume activity, that will be the signal you are on track to complete the recovery. until that and as you hear about new strains, as you hear about some of the logistical problems with getting the vaccine out

there, that can extend the timeline. there is every reason to be positive. once those pieces are in place, we ought to be able to see the economy pick up and see jobs return again. kathleen: what kind of gdp growth is your team looking at based on what you see so far? esther: i think depending on when you think we could get to this broad-based immunity, thinking about the second half of this year, that maybe we could end the year with a 4% or 5% growth range could be possible. you caviar we are not out of the woods yet. we have to wait and see whether that materializes. the further we push into the third quarter, fourth quarter in terms of accomplishing that, you

could see that outlook to push into 2022. kathleen: as a part of your optimistic outlook,, it is based on so far even just the stimulus that we sell at the end of last year. if you could see 4% to 5% growth this year, does the economy need more stimulus at this point? esther: i think the way i think about the stimulus we have seen or i refer to it as relief because remember, we have come into an extraordinary shock to the economy. as i look at the progress the economy has made so far, it has been very important to see the support that has come to households, the support that has come to small businesses. i hear from a number of my contacts how important the paycheck protection program has been to sustaining them. that tells me the supports were

important in terms of achieving the outcomes we have. of course, those that are making decisions about whether for the support is needed -- whether further support is needed are having to factor in how much support is needed. that has been important so far. we see light at the end of the tunnel thinking about the vaccinations, the virus getting behind us, filling that gap. it will have to be a judgment our fiscal policy makers think about in terms of making sure we can extend the recovery. kathleen: i want to ask you some questions about financial stability, calling on your background, which is unlike a lot of other fed officials. you came up on the banking side. at the kansas city fed, you had to shut down banks that were in trouble. you know what this looks like perhaps. you know what some of the signs

are. when we look at gamestop, the retail trading frenzy, the short-sellers, you are not the sec. you not have to comment on that, but as a bank regulator, is there anything in this that could lead to financial instability if this kind of thing continues? esther: you're right. financial stability is any central -- is an essential condition for the federal reserve to achieve its goals of price stability. looking at what vulnerabilities are in the economy is critical. we know from past recessions, 2001, 2000 eight, came about because of vulnerability in the economy. it is an area i keep a close eye on. markets are going to experience vulnerability. looking broadly at a set of

vulnerability, making about the capitalization of the banking system are all important indicators and conditions for us to be successful in delivering our mandate. kathleen: treasury secretary yellen met with representatives from the board of governors, the new york fed, the sec. the statement they have put out is the treasury says the core market infrastructure has been resilient amid this retail trading frenzy. if you had been at the meeting, what would you have advised treasury secretary yellen to watch for on this and anything you might see as a particular potential threat in all of this? esther: i think the issues they are focused on make a lot of sense. we need a integrity. we rely on fair markets and their smooth functioning for our economy to work. it sounds like that is what they are focused on. kathleen: what about the

criticism that many have made of the fed's ultra easy monetary policy that key rated zero, forcing investors into more risky assets like stock and this is the kind of thing that could lead to something that feels frothy like a bubble, which could be financial stability? how do you answer that criticism? do you see any truth in it? esther: it is true when you have ultra easy financing conditions for a long time, it can create incentives. incentives to reach for yields. it can cause some to miss in markets. my own view of where we sit today, the real priority right now has been addressing this extraordinary shock and the federal reserve right now is far away from what i would say is

achieving its objectives. in that context, it means you have to very vigilant. but understanding certainly there are risks at a time like this that you keep. kathleen: what about the whole question about when the fed will taper? you have said it is premature to talk about it. but you also said once the pandemic is behind us, there is considerable scope for a snap back in activity. are you hoping that as the vaccine rollout gets into place, as growth picks up, that could put this tapering question on the table? esther: i think we are all hopeful that we will see this economy continue to heal whether it is a snap back in activity, that is the desired outcome. we begin to see substantial

further progress toward our goals before we have a conversation about when it is time to renew accommodation. i think it is too soon to speculate about that. until we see the path to getting past this virus, it will be difficult to make any prognosis about when that time might come. certainly looking for signs of this economy healing. beginning to see progress. we will put the federal reserve in a position to consider those issues. kathleen: inflation, you have said it could reach the average inflation objective more quickly than people expect. we are seeing supply constraints due to the covid virus, worker shortages, rising prices paid in the ism report on manufacturing. is it possible that we do get to 2% faster and help patient will you be?

is it something that pushes the tapering debate closer? esther: as you know, the fomc's new framework is one that calls for patients. -- for patience. it signals the committee is interested in achieving its 2% inflation objective over the long run in a way that will not be preemptive as we have been in the past. looking for signs of how the economy is unfolding, how inflation performs. you have pointed out a couple of things. it can be modeled for a while because we do see places where there are supply constraints. we see deflationary effects from places in the economy that have been it hardest by the virus. -- have been hit hardest by the virus. it will take time to understand

how the dynamics of inflation are going to unfold. even then, you will find the fomc has signaled it is going to be patient as it looks for the data to support it is on track to achieve the objectives. kathleen: we are going to continue. esther george is staying with us to discuss our views -- discuss her views on diversity next. plenty more ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

kathleen: this is bloomberg daybreak: asia. i'm kathleen hays in new york. welcome back to our tv viewers and radio listeners all of the world. we are speaking to kansas city fed president esther george. president george, i want to start with the jackson hole symposium. it has been more than 30 years now. there was a point in the last several years when you as president of the kansas city fed decided, there are some women here every year that we need more women. what motivated you at that point? esther: kathleen, the jackson hole program has been a their important program because it focuses on broad issues that affect central banking and monetary policy debates globally

as you know. when more than a decade ago, we began to look at the program and who was presenting, who would bring views to these important issues we were talking about, we began to identify the need to address some diversity. again, diversity of views and the people that are on that program, e central to understanding -- essential to understanding. we began to look at who are the people on the program who should not be. women for example in the economics profession that could bring insights to the topics we were discussing. it became a process both for women and people of color to begin to press through some of our usual networks and qualified and reliable networks to begin to ask others who also should be part of the program.

that is the impetus for beginning to think about how we could diversify and bring broader perspectives for that conversation. kathleen: what was the biggest challenge here? there are fewer women for example who get phd's in economics. that is changing quickly now. was it difficult to find the women you need or did you have to start thinking differently, thinking outside the box? esther: it takes a little bit of both. you have to be willing to say what is it i have expected historically that is not so important that i could adjust how i think about the requirements for who is on this program? importantly, what helped us make progress was really asking women that were in this profession to introduce us to other women, to let us know who else is out there that we should be talking to.

as we did that, that network begin to grow. today, you see on that program far more balance in terms of the diversity of people that participate in that program and i like to think it has also enhanced the quality of what is being discussed. shery: to your point, you have been doing this and championing diversity for years. what sort of benefits have you seen from bringing more diverse views whether it is gender or from minorities when it comes to bringing those voices to the table? esther: one of the things you find when you begin to expand is diversity can take place in many instances. people's experiences. the experience of women whether it is their field of study, whether it is the subject of what they are going to be talking about, people of color, they add context. they add richness to the

discussion that comes from a background of experiences you might not otherwise get. i think it has really added meaningfully to the depth and the breadth of that discussion. shery: when you look at adding these voices, how important is it for you not to only look at the numerical targets of getting these voices but also the substance these people bring to actually add more reviews to the very important issues that could actually move forward quality? esther: it is a very important issue. you have to be careful. it is not just a numbers game. you have to be intentional about what you are looking for. there are highly qualified people sometimes you just have not met because it takes being persistent. it takes reaching out to find people that can be part of this

network. once you do it, it really adds to your ability to see the numbers. those follow when you begin to identify the kinds of voices you are looking for. kathleen: what has it been for you -- what has it been like for you to arise to the federal reserve? getting to the president is pretty high. there are women who have been at the fed who say they have experienced bullying, sexism, all things like that. what was your experience? esther: my experience has been a positive one. in the federal reserve and in particular with the federal reserve bank of kansas city. this was an organization that has historically provided opportunities by encouraging people to do their best, to think about how to serve the public mission of the institution. that provided opportunity and

gave me the chance to demonstrate what i was able to do. i have had a good experience here. it does not mean in the fields we work in, for example, the baking industry that i did not encounter mostly men in that profession, but in terms of what i was able to accomplish in this organization, it has been a very positive experience. i have encouraged the federal reserve has processes in place, has avenues in place that if people do not have that experience, there are ways to get that resolved. that has attributed to the integrity and culture we went in this organization. kathleen: thank redlining. how do you see -- bank redlining. how do you see that progressing? this is not an esther george or kansas city fed issue exclusively. any people say it is still occurring.

basically not giving mortgages or giving them at higher rates to people of color, people of lower income. esther: it continues to be an important issue because it is one of the functions the federal reserve is responsible for. it is looking for issues around fair access to credit, fair lending. as we look at our mission, we are always called upon to say, what else is there? is there something more we should be looking at? we know today that technology has affected the financial system in ways that may cause you to look differently at things. it remains an important part of our mission. i think we are always looking at as the industry changes, as the markets change, how do we need to change to continue to fulfill that? kathleen: kansas city fed president esther george, we thank you very much. i think anybody who has been

watching this who has been at the jackson hole symposium hope that the next time we see you, it will be live from jackson hole. we'll be looking forward to that. esther: thank you, kathleen. shery: we do have breaking news at the moment. the house of representatives in the u.s. has ousted republican representative marjorie taylor greene over her embrace of conspiracies. remember, there had been some statements, very violent and incendiary statements from the congresswoman in the past including qanon and conspiracy theories and mass school shootings and the september 11 terrorist attack as well. the georgia republican on thursday walked back this statement but did not necessarily apologize or fully retract her past statements. now she has been ousted by some of her -- ousted from some of her committee assignments in the house of representatives. we will have play more to come

on daybreak: asia. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: a quick check of the latest headlines. chinese short video at kuaishou has surged. the tencent backed startup has risen by as much as 180%. it will be the third eye --

third ipo ever. a chinese chipmaker released a forecast for 2021 saying it expects annual revenue to grow in the mid to high digits. quarter results smashed estimates. revenue coming at just over a billion u.s. dollars. that is a 17% rise on last year. it expects the growth margin declined by a similar amount this quarter. kindest -- china's biggest offshore energy explorer is to boost by almost 20% this year. the investment comes as china's economy surges back of the coronavirus pandemic, which led to falling revenue and spending cuts last year. the company says capex is set for $14 billion in 2021 compared to 12 billion last year. shery: minutes away from the open in japan and south korea. it's turned to sophie. sophie: watching japanese banks.

posting a third-quarter profit. softbank corp. raising its report. flipping the board, keeping an eye on carmakers. this on the nikkei news, reporting apple is in talks with six companies in japan and south korea. there are losses from 2020 on cargo. watching reactions that bioscience has gained pulmonary approval for an ipo. that is one of the manufacturers for the astrazeneca vaccine. shipbuilders in south korea -- korea shipbuilding reporting a deeper loss than expected in the first quarter. the company does expect demand and prices for new ships to rise this year. haidi: coming up, kuaishou is the hot ticket in hong kong today.

a look at the prospects and what it means for china's digital economy. downside risks to china's growth are intensifying. that conversation just ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: welcome to "bloomberg daybreak: asia" from bloomberg world headquarters in new york. i'm shery ahn. haidi: i'm haidi stroud-watts. asia's major markets have just open for trade. agent futures higher with regional stocks headed for a fifth weekly gain in six and earnings and central-bank policy in focus. a short video app surging in the hong kong market ahead of today's formal debut.

the tencent backed startup is up 180%. alibaba raises $5 billion in asia's biggest bond sale in eight months. the offer was more than nine times oversubscribed at its peak. let's take a look at how major markets are coming online in tokyo and seoul this morning. sophie: this friday, asian stocks would be headed for a fifth weekly gain in six. about 30% of the companies on the ms eia pic index have delivered a beat or have net estimates. in japan, looking for moves like softbank corp. on the back of their results. nikkei two to 51% of the cash trade. the yen on the softer side around october lows. we had a 30 year option, yesterday jgb climbing so much -- a bit. looking at kia, gaining more than 1% this morning as nikkei

news reports several carmakers are being considered by apple to build the apple card. the kospi gaining some ground as the korean won is around 1120. no more as well, they are saying they've got data showing that is slowing and south korea as well as in india and thailand. checking in on what's going on in sydney, the asx 200 going on it's best week since november. the aussie 10 year yield is about 123. this as we get more lines from the rba governor saying rates in australia will stay low for a while longer and saying he doesn't really fear risk of asset bubble risk in australia. treasuries trading fairly flat with a 10 year staying above 113. this is ahead of u.s. jobs data due out later this friday. some gains as the u.s. stocks rose to a record overnight. the dollar on watch, keeping

steady around a two month high. security saying the winning streak for the greenback is set to continue. shery: let's take a look at the dollar. we want to get more analysis on the markets. mark, you are watching this dollar rally. a six-week high. how much further could this go? >> in the near term, there is certainly some momentum building up and it could squeeze quite a bit more. a lot of people are pointing to the fact that in aggregate, dollar shorts across major servants -- currencies are about as big as two thousand 11. that's a pretty significant number. people are pointing to the fact that the u.s. is doing pretty well on getting the vaccines out , already a decent chunk of the population vaccinated and they are moving fast, quicker than several other countries. people are following dollar

fairly closely. that seems to be one of the key signifiers for the foreign exchange market. it is touching the 200 day moving average at the moment, for the first time really since june the last year. one of the interesting things with dollar yen is when it reaches the 200 day moving average, it tends to spike through fairly quickly and then extend its gain for a couple of big figures thereafter. people are getting pretty excited. it's a friday, it's a time when the dollar is already starting to get a bit of strength. if the dollar-yen does close of the 200 day moving average today, people will be looking at a bullish week for the dollar next week. certainly all of the factors are coming into play, plus the reflation trade is becoming popular which has been good for the dollar as well. in the short-term, there are a few people seeing enough no -- momentum to drive the dollar higher. shery: we saw that the initial

jobless benefits claims fell for a third straight week. how is the stock rally investors taking this? >> some people will say part of that is being priced in already. we saw a decent performance the last couple days and american stocks. that may well be anticipating that we get a good number today. the whisper number for the payrolls today is 99,000, which compares to the official survey number of 105,000. we probably need to see a number well above 100,000 to keep the stocks rally going. people would be pretty disappointed if we get a number below 100. that could take steam out of the market. they are also watching bond yields. generally, bond yields have been rising, not too quickly, which is probably the key things for equities.

it has been a gradual increase. as long as yields are only going up slowly, we get payroll numbers today, that could take stocks into the weekend on a very good, firm pushing. we certainly will watch those numbers closely. there is a mess on the downside and could be quite disappointing for the stocks. . haidi: mark cranfield there. we are taking a look at the hong kong market as well. clear signs that this market debut technology will get off to a fast start. shares of the short video start up our up by as much as 200%. it is said to be one of the biggest ipos in years. our chief north asia correspondent david engle is watching this. what do the numbers tell us about the demand we expect to see at the open? david: the demand is even bigger than the other story, the ant

ipo which was eventually scrapped. that was bid up 50%. we are getting gray market numbers up to hundred percent, a tripling of the list price of the gray market. if it translates to later this morning, through actual trades, we are talking about the second biggest ipo here in hong kong as far as demand for ipos of more than $1 billion u.s. it is quite significant. there is strong institutional demand as well as retail demand. let's talk about institutional investors. i just talked about the gray market, philip otc. we are seeing upwards of $322. this was $115 hong kong stocks increase of 181%. smaller platforms up to hundred percent. that is much more demand actually than the aunt ipo, which was scrapped. there was some liquidity that might have been targeted for ant now going into kuaishou.

one in four retail applications, that would equate to one and four of hong kong's seven and a half million population. . but that's popularly -- might misleading because we are getting word from brokerages that there are mainland retail investors piling into the stock. they are not allowed to buy capital control rules. they can buy stocks via the stock connect, but that is technically a closed loop. if you are a mainland or and you buy a loop -- stock, once you sell, that goes back into china so it does not cross-border or violate the strict capital controls and the per year limits that are fairly small for individuals to invest abroad in fx. anecdotal evidence are saying

mainlanders are getting around it. the mainland we chat chat groups are alive with tips on how to get around the capital controls and invest in this. this is a cautionary tale. if it is too hot from china, watch for some regulatory action perhaps. but no comments from regulators when bloomberg news reached out. shery: let's talk about the business performance of the company. it is only second to another when it comes to daily users. is that a good sign that the company can sustain interest? stephen: kuaishou, which is fairly new, started by a 30 something-year-old former google employee, he has hit two of the highest segments. the short video format, and also of course livestreaming, in particular giftgiving over live platforms. that is the biggest revenue generator.

look at these figures. they really got the hetrick of success in the internet space. they have the eyeballs. 305 million active average daily users on the platform. and they have stickiness. 86 minutes average daily use per user. an hour and a half. and they have monetized that. so they have the eyeball stickiness and monetization, so investors are interested. shery: our chief north asia correspondent stephen engle. he will be watching kuaishou making that trading debut in the next hour. we do have an alert on the bloomberg. we are hearing activist investor jeff oven is being considered for a board seat on exxon mobil after being put forth as a candidate by investing firm be a shot. this is according to people familiar with the matter. his investment firm is also discussing taking a meaningful stake in the oil company if he

were appointed to the board. this decision could be made in the coming weeks. exxon has been under sustained shareholder pressure in recent weeks and continues to bleed cash with low oil prices and facing questions over there climate strategy. let's take a look at first word headlines. u.s. financial regulators say the infrastructure of stock and commodity markers was resilience during the recent volatility and trading spurned by retail investors. the treasury statement says there is agreement on the importance of the sec releasing a timely study of the events. it follows a meeting convened by treasury secretary janet yellen who says it's imperative to uphold the integrity of markets and protect investors. former president trump is rejecting a demand by house democrats for him to testify about his conduct surrounding the january 6 storming of the capitol in washington.

the senate trial is set for tuesday and he is disputing "factual" allegations and critical facts at issue. australia risks further issues by china by calling for a u.n. investigation into alleged human rights abuses for the treatment of minority muslims, drawing international criticism. several former detainees say they experienced or witnessed systematic rape and torture in what beijing says our reeducation camps. china says the reports have no factual basis. the u.k. has shut down a chinese state broadcaster which has its european headquarters in london. the regulator revoked the license after ruling it is controlled by the communist party and has no control over editorial output. the ruling claim -- came as the telegraph reported three chinese journalists said to be fined have been expelled in the past year. it is not known if the issues

are linked. and those were your first read headlines. haidi: still ahead, more on the anticipation for kuaishou's market debut and analysis from nyu professor winston ma. coming up next, eugenia victorino, seeing growing downside risk to china's growth story. this is bloomberg. ♪ h■ñsrú ■nga■■

>> not only did china have a v-shaped recovery, they are actually back into significant growth mode. >> asia kind of leads in terms of experiencing what that market could look like. >> china already showed strong during the summer and has accelerated during the year. >> china has gone from being the world's cheap source of labor to

the world's cheap source of manufacturing, increasing to a place of innovation and growth. >> china continues to grow. i think many companies are benefiting from this today. >> is not about factories only. it's about portfolio that could be exported worldwide. i think we should be very sensitive to the dynamic of china. >> we are quite optimistic about what is we are seeing in china. . not just for our own business, but basically also how the chinese economy can be an engine going forward. shery: some ceos on bloomberg tv on china's role as an engine of global growth in the pandemic. our next guest is a little more skeptical about china, saying downside risks to the growth outlook are intensifying. as the head of asia strategy, eugenia victorino joins us. when it comes to these downside risks to china's growth, where

are you expecting to see them most in the market? >> thank you for having me. as you said, downside risks are really intensifying in china. however, it may be clouded by the fact that q1 growth would be benefiting the most from the favorable base effects. even so, it is the credit growth i'm quite worried on, considering the level of recovery we are in and the nature of the recovery, how imbalanced it has been. the supply credit has been quite tight in the market, so that will lead to some moderation in sequential growth moving forward. shery: what does that mean for companies on the ground when it comes to these firms trying to carry on with business, and where the pboc is headed and where the markets are expecting the pboc to do and why did they disappoint? >> what is interesting is that

the stronger the growth is, it is more confident giving more confidence to the policymakers to impose market discipline. so it's not monetary policy tightening that will keep financial conditions tight, but rather it is financial discipline. we have already seen a number of corporate bond people flowing on and my expectation is that will continue throughout the year. more importantly, the access of credit for the sme's would already be tight. we have seen the credit impulse go from its peak in may 2 a very low number as of december. that's not likely to be easy for the s&p. haidi: when you take a look at central-bank activity and the different strategies, how does that impact you in terms of which currencies you are favoring at the moment? >> at this point, even if a weak

dollar environment continues, or reemergence in the medium-term, central-bank activity is really crucial in the outlook for the fx. on a relative basis, my expectation is that the indian rupee would underperform the other favorite trade in the region, the indonesian rupiah. even fundamentals are supportive. the rba has basically made it clear to the market they would be willing to absorb any excess capital to keep the rupees competitiveness. haidi: there's no surprises you are expecting out of the rbis meeting today? >> no surprises at this point because really, what can they do, considering the inflation outlook has already started to go up?

haidi: seb head of asia strategy eugenia victorino joining us from singapore. plenty more to come on "bloomberg daybreak: asia." this is bloomber (announcer) do you want to reduce stress? shed pounds? do you want to flatten your stomach? do all that in just 10 minutes a day with aerotrainer, the total body fitness solution that uses its revolutionary ergonomic design to help you maintain comfortable, correct form. that means better results in less time.

and there are over 20 exercises to choose from. get gym results at home. no expensive machines, no expensive memberships. go to aerotrainer.com to get yours now.

shery: microsoft says it's meeting the challenges of remote work with a of products. ceo satya nadella spoke with "bloomberg technology" about the importance of work life islands and how to avoid -- balance and how to avoid burnout. >> one of the things that really got up ended up us in this was -- industries was how do you up and people? an engineer perhaps working from home, how do you connect? the team's growth was not just about knowledge workers collaborating, but it was in fact really helping front-line workers and knowledge workers coming together to keep business continuity in the society and

economy going. i shudder to think what the economic activity would have been or the state of services we all have today would have been, but for the state of today's technologies. and that cloud architecture. teams clearly has been a massive growth story for us, but it's mostly because the context of the constraints and how to overcome them. >> now you are onto what you believe will be your next massive line of business, employee experience. tell us about your newest product. >> the thing is that the pandemic has put or shone a light on how important the experience for the employees is. when you are remote in particular, you want to stay engaged with your business and your company and its sense of purpose and mission. . you want to collaborate between the folks on the front lines whether knowledge workers, you want to be able to actually

start learning as a new employee joining, how do i build the knowledge capital when i don't have the same social structure of the workplace? i need to find them online and work from them. as well as the learning content meets -- needs to be built. lastly, the thing we learned a lot about was well-being. we learned a lot about the commute transitions that help create clear demarcations between work and life and those have gone away. so we've had to introduce even things like virtual commutes and so on to help people transition. so putting these things altogether, the employee engagement, learning, collaboration and well-being, into one experience platform is what vevo - vivo is all about.

if you look at the journey we have been on with microsoft 365, we started with individual tools, it became a collaboration suite, and now we think it will get into a new space around employee experience, more holistically thinking about productivity, not just narrowly as output but all of learning in walgreen -- well-being and collaboration. >> if you spend your whole day in teams or word or outlook, are you putting all of those in one place? is that what that would mean for the user? >> in fact, it is the opposite, which is to say use the tool you are using, for example, any of your communication needs or work needs, and then in the context of that, let us bring in the other people you want to work with. the learning content that's going to make you more productive. the well-being nudges you need in order to make sure that you have the transition. so that's the main purpose of an employee experience, not introduce one more new

experience that you need to go to, but to bring an experience that you need and the tools that you are using every day as part of your work. >> so how big could this be? could it be the next $10 billion business? what is the total addressable market? >> the way i think about it is, 30 years ago, the world was introduced to erp or enterprise resource planning as a category. it's interesting to go back in history and see accounting software always was there, and then there was manufacturing software. what erp was to bring together for the first time the accounting and the line of business in that case manufacturing. so i believe, hr's offers there, or human capital management is there, but it's more about tying what happens in hr or people operations to the entirety of the business.

whether it's in finance, marketing, engineering. so we think that this could be, in the years to come and decades to come, we will talk about it like a crm or erp class category. haidi: microsoft ceo satya nadella speaking exclusively with emily chang. let's get your quick check of the latest business flash headlines. chinese chipmaker smic released an upbeat forecast for 2021 saying it expects annual revenue to grow in the mid to high single digits. fourth-quarter results smashed estimates with net income up 300% of the year and revenue coming in at just under $1 billion u.s. singapore airlines posted a fourth rate quarterly loss of the coronavirus continuing to wreak havoc on international air travel. the national carrier reported a net short fall of just over 100 million u.s. dollars compared to a profit of $230lion a year ago. china's biggest offshore energy explorer is to boost spending by

almost 20% this year amid an expected surgeon production. the company says capex is set for at least $14 billion in 2021. coming up next, the kansas city fed president saying the economy is showing encouraging signs of progress. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: we are getting breaking news when it comes to retail sales in australia. december retail sales a decline of 1.4% month on month. slightly better than the expected decline of 4.2%. fourth-quarter retail size -- rising, a beat on expectations. we are also seeing month on month sales -- i should say retail sales on corridor on the month on month decline which was a little surprising given that that would have been the

critical retail period before business and the holidays. let's look at market reaction with sophie kamaruddin in hong kong. sophie: we've seen the aussie dollar hold around the 76 level here. analysts debating whether or not we may see further gains. cba values more abound 82 if iron ore prices can recover. ozzie stocks gaining ground, banks on the rise tracking the uptake and aussie yields, 10-year above 123. we heard from the rba governor about the qe program being extended beyond april. over in japan, the nikkei 225 gaining nearly 1%. carmakers gaining ground amid reports that apple may be talking to at least six auto players to build the apple car and mazda rallying on the backs of its positive results. and the yen just trading at 105

levels here as it is testing its 200 day moving average for the first time since june. flipping the board, seeing the korean won back at these levels, back about 1120 with the 100 day moving line for the first day since june. the kospi on the up adding 8/10 of a percent with earnings and focus. ship welders on watch given some lines from that sector. the dollar in focus, trading near a two month high. the jury still out about whether it may advance. technical indicators signaling it could run higher. the winning streak will continue. s&p -- a little change as u.s. stocks rose overnight. haidi: we got started with an update on the virus were easy numbers in the u.s. are allowing states to relax curbs.

massachusetts is allowing restaurants and gyms to raise capacity to 40% and rhode island will let guests at weddings go up to 50. elsewhere, german chancellor angela merkel is warning against easing restrictions too soon, while france says the curbs will remain but there are no plans for another nationwide lockdown. jensen -- johnson & johnson has asked u.s. regulators to clear the experimental covid vaccine for emergency use, setting up what could be a quick review process and a third shot to be available in the u.s. they say they would be ready to ship millions of doses immediately if the fda grants approval. moderna and pfizer have already been given similar clearances. the military rulers of myanmar have shut down facebook and other platforms to block communications between people protesting this week's coup. the generals say the decision is being proved -- messenger, instagram, and whatsapp are blocked with a provider admitting it is bowing to official pressure. the united states is criticizing

india's decision to cut internet services at posttest -- protest sites around new delhi. the u.s. embassy says peaceful demonstrations are the hallmark of democracy, adding that the indian supreme court had said the same. india has attacked social media posts from popstar rhianna and others. the rba improving but warns interest rates will stay low for quite a while. governor phil lowe says the downturn was not as deep and the recovery started earlier and has been stronger than the bank expected. speaking to lawmakers, the governor says positive signs cannot disguise the fact that there is still some way to go. those are your first word headlines. shery: staying with central banks, kansas city fed president esther george says the u.s. economy is showing encouraging signs of progress, but alter easing monetary policies mean vigilance is needed against

market risks. george spoke with kathleen hays. >> it is encouraging, the progress we've seen in the economy, the supports that have been provided to this point. i think around all of that of course, we can't forget the real driver of the outlook continues to be the virus. as we watch the promise of the vaccinations coming out, as we see how readily people will take those, how quickly they can be deployed, that is what is going to ultimately shape the recovery as we look ahead. reporter: so basically, you and others have said this, the recovery is ultimately about the vaccines? it was the virus, now it is the vaccines and how quickly they come out. what will a successful rollout look like to you? the kind that could actually

give this recovery so far some momentum? >> the way i think about is when the virus no longer factors into our day today's decision-making, i think we might feel like we are out of the woods. what does that look like? it will depend on broad-based immunities, herd immunity as it's called, and i think once people can resume mobility, can resume activities, that will be the signal i think that we are on track to complete the recovery. reporter: you came up on the banking side, at the kansas city fed, you actually had to shut down banks that were in trouble. so you know what this looks like. you know what some of the signs are. when we look at gamestop, the retail trading frenzy, the short-sellers, you are not the sec, you don't have to comment about that, but as a bank regulator, which you are in part

at the fed, is there anything that could lead to financial instability if this continues? >> you are right, financial stability is an essential condition for the federal reserve being able to achieve its mandated goals for full employment and price stability. so looking carefully at what vulnerabilities are in the economy, it is critical. we know from past recessions, 2001 and 2008, came about because of vulnerabilities in the economy, so it is an area i keep close watch on. markets of course will experience volatility. but i think looking broadly at fed vulnerabilities thinking about the capitalization of the banking system are all important indicators and conditions for us to be successful in delivering on our mandate. reporter: treasury secretary

yellen met with the governors, the new york fed, the ftc and the statement put out is that the core market infrastructure has been resilient amid the retail trading frenzy. if you had been at the meeting today, what would you have advised treasury secretary yellen to think about to watch on this, and anything you might see as a particular potential threat in all this? >> i think the issues they are focused on make a lot of sense. we need integrity, we rely on fair markets and smooth functioning for our economy to work. it sounds like that's exactly where they were focused. reporter: so what about the criticism many have made of the fed's ultra easy monetary policy that key rated zero, cheap money, and kept bond yields are

forcing investors into more risky assets like stocks, and this is the kind of thing that could lead to something that feels a little frothy like a bubble, which could be financial stability? how do you answer that criticism? you see any truth in it? >> i think it is true of course when you have ultra easy financial conditions for a long period of time, it can create incentives, incentives to reach for yields. it can cause risks in markets. my own view of where we sit today, a rare priority right now has again been addressing this extraordinary shock. the federal reserve right now as far away from what i would say is achieving its objectives. in that context, it means you have to again be very vigilant, you have to be watching for those. shery: kansas city fed president

esther george speaking to kathleen hays earlier. alibaba has raised $5 billion in what is asia's biggest dollar bond sale in eight months. sources tell us they have received more than $38 billion for the four-part deal at the peak. our head of alibaba and ant group coverage lulu chen is on the line. another successful sale for alibaba. reporter: this is the longest proportion of the offering of 40 year security, yielding 130 basis points more than u.s. treasury already causing a rally among alibaba was dollar. and the story follows that was reported, and and is thinking of turning the entire company into a financial holding company and regulators could agree and announce their decisions before chinese new year. haidi: so does that tell us

investors do better now, now that there is a little more certainty as to what the new ants would look like? are they feeling better about jack ma and in general? >> i think even though there are antimonopoly investigations going on regarding alibaba, and a lot of overhaul and at ant, there's more clarity on what the government is looking at and what the worst case scenario is because there's a better framework for these investigations. also, the fact that jack himself has emerged in january at this livestreaming event and gives investors a boost of confidence. haidi:loomberg's head of alibaba and ant group coverage, lulu chen.

as we count down to the opening of chinese short video tech company kuaishou. winston ma joins us next. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: the world's second-largest ipo in the last 12 months and hong kong's largest in years, kuaishou begins trading in less than an hour. our senior editor and anchor of

bloomberg markets china open is here. it will be an exciting day on your show today. david: it is going to explode. this thing is probably based on what stephen engle was pointing out earlier. this will be the sort of, it's time to go home if any of these early indications are correct. we are looking at quotes north of $300. here's what's interesting. you already have three by recommendations. interestingly, it is in the gray market and it is being transacted way north of the one specific target you have. what's interesting is it is coming at a time when it's really hot for ipos. the market is doing well. look at the next graphic. the ipo is north of half $1 billion over the last 12 months. each and everyone up to varying degrees.

in terms of continuity, that perhaps us something. here's another thing, we have a bloomberg chart that shows the hong kong exchanges. that's a proxy of how people feel about the ipo market, southbound flows coming here. and analysts are scrambling to catch up. they are revising the price targets, as you can see we are not trading above $500 for hong kong exchange. haidi: our bloomberg markets coanchor david ingles. it's always an exciting time on your show, but this will be a goodone with the debut of kuaishou. we will continue to follow chinese tech with our next guest, winston ma is the new book "the digital war" and professor at nyu law. let's start with the overwhelming demand we have seen from u.s. investors as well trying to apply, trying to get a part of this ipo. what does that tell you about the competitive landscape between rising chinese tech and

bigger, established players in the u.s.? >> i think the kuaishou story is a very good story about china creating its own unicorns and it is part of this digital war. we think about the first generation, baidu being chinese version of google. but in the case of kuaishou together with its competitor tictoc, they are doing a much better job than the silicon valley startups in terms of integrating social features,, e-commerce with short videos. this is a very good example of chinese creating a new generation of startups that are different from silicon valley and it makes investors excited by the stock. haidi: is this also a situation

where these chinese companies, these unicorns, don't need the u.s. market? they don't need the u.s. expansion? maybe not kuaishou, but we talked about the issues bytedance had under the trump administration.we know the chip names and other tech names that like pension funds for example in the u.s. would not want to invest in. will this become an issue or does chinese tech names like kuaishou exist on its own demographic in china and around the rest of asia? >> great point. the fact that kuaishou has this ipo in hong kong reflects a few aspects of the digital war. first of all, comparing to the video streaming peers, like what was lifted in the u.s. a few years ago, kuaishou listed in hong kong, despite the fact that 2020 was a big year for chinese

companies getting listed. there's a new u.s. law in december that can kick chinese companies off the u.s. exchange if they cannot fully comply with auditing rules. the overseas presence, this moment, kuaishou has no meaningful presence in the u.s. and possibly for a good reason. competitor tiktok is now in a legal battle with the u.s. government about whether or not it needs to to depressed its u.s. operations. -- it needs to divest its u.s. operations. in the back of the investors' minds, they must've thought about the risk that maybe someday, this kuaishou stock might be added to the u.s. governments stock bans like me technologies. i think these things influence the appetite for investors

relating to kuaishou stock and similar stocks going forward. shery: what about the fact that you could field for more regulation at home? you talk about these new chinese companies being much more agile and better on predecessors in china, but at the same time, you have now the chinese government sort of trying to make things more clear and rein in the tech entrepreneurs or tech giants. >> that's right. we just saw the alibaba news. if you think about the ant ipo, that was the tipping point that urged chinese regulators to tighten up the respective regulations. kuaishou for example is dealing with pressures from various directions from regulators. first, it is content intensive. what we see is last week, the

cybersecurity administration of china has a national meeting calling for more content regulation, and from a copyright perspective, china's audiovideo association two days ago made this announcement that they found more than 150 million videos on the platform that violated music copyrights. that is the content side. on the data side, this year the personal data law is expected to become effective. that means for a platform like kuaishou the ability to collect and use personal data will be much more. quite -- right now, kuaishou's

competitor, hick talk and -- tiktok and bytedance. shery: despite the uncertainty in the regulatory landscape, we have seen more really interest in investing in china and a you and trade agency showing how china has overtaken the u.s. as the largest recipient of foreign direct investments of 2020 including a huge increase when it comes to the tech sector. so where is all of the interest? is it in these areas of technology that are seeing the benefits from the pandemic and remote working, or can there be more entrepreneurial segments that perhaps still has not been untapped in the markets? >> i think the interest comes from the fact that people globally realize we are going into the digital economy mostly because of covid, and for that,

china is the most interesting markets to look into. the fact is china has the largest internet population. nearly one billion internet users. but what to make it more interesting is that there are -- they are united by the same culture, same language and the same mobile payment system. we have such a unified system, unified internet population. essentially you have the best lab to test and try new mobile applications and new business models. so we are going to see a lot more startups coming up in the coming years. i think because of the digital war, china has become more self-reliant and it drives more urine test unicorns to come. in the next four years of joe biden's term, we might see more

unicorns than the number of unicorns in the u.s. shery: winston ma, thank you for joining us with your insights. he is nyu school of law jumped professor and author of "the digital war." be sure to tune into bloomberg radio. we will be hearing more from the big newsmakers and also you can get in-depth analysis from the team broadcasting live from our studio in hong kong. plenty more ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery:shery: hong kong and china opened at the bottom of the hour. let's go to sophie for a preview. sophie: into the hong kong open, there is chatter about the china and hong kong well-connected program. already on course for another record year after a strong january. . you can already see by the chart here, bnp paribas with relative -- keeping the ipo going. morgan stanley noting the momentum might pull somewhat for the rest of the year with an additional $19 billion. pulling up the board for some of the stocks this friday, keeping an eye on the chinese chipmaker smic. 2020 did fall short of estimates and chip equipment might enter a

down cycle. on the other hand, the broker its rates, and alibaba on watch altering the dollar bond sale as well as earnings this week aired a big weekend alibaba. haidi: and a big week for amazon as well. news of the week was -- with jeff bezos intending about the third quarter to step down. he is exceeding the head of the cloud business. this is a well trodden path for a lot of the legendary tech founders in silicon valley as well. it will be really interesting to see where he goes next, where the business goes next as well as what he does individually. he has all these other things to pay attention to like blue origin and washington post. what next customer they say he's not leaving, just getting a new job. shery:shery: so he's transitioning to the role of executive chair. if you watch this on the bloomberg terminal, this

coronavirus pandemic, the performance of amazon just making him the second richest person in the world. . this other gtv chart showing with elon musk, he could actually by one of -- purchase one of the big companies, j.p. morgan. plenty more to come, this is bloomberg. ♪

>> it is not :00 a.m. in beijing and shanghai. will come to bloomberg markets china open. david: good morning. running down to the open. let's get to your top stories today. of course, we are watching kuaishou this hour in what should be hong kong's biggest tech listing in years. the tencent