Chinese manufacturing contracts, tough climate rules due and space-aged whiskey

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

Manufacturing activity in China is at its weakest in three years, according to new data released this morning. Caixin/Markit’s final purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.8 in July – below market expectations and preliminary readings released days ago.

A reading of below 50 indicates the manufacturing sector is contracting and this is the fifth straight month the index has been below that mark. (fastFT)

In the news:

Biden time

Long considered the Democrats’ best “Plan B” if Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign stumbles, some senior party members are now eyeing vice-president Joe Biden as a viable first choice for the 2016 campaign. (FT)

Brace position

The stock exchange in Athens is expected to fall sharply when it re-opens this morning after a five-week shutdown. “Banks may fall by more than 20 per cent because of uncertainty over the timing and the amounts needed for their recapitalisation,” according to one Athens-based analyst. (FT)

Guns, graft and governance

The Chinese military’s official newspaper dedicated a front-page editorial to a stark warning: a corrupt army does not win wars. “The guns will rust, the pillars will collapse,” said the article, which comes amid a high-profile graft crackdown on senior officers. (Reuters)

Tough climate rules due

President Barack Obama on Monday will announce the country’s most far-reaching action on climate change by imposing rules that would sharply cutgreenhouse gas emissions from US power plants. If they survive expected legal challenges – and the ferocious opposition of political rivals and business – the rules could cripple the coal industry and boost the renewable energy sector. (FT)

Police probe bitcoin collapse

Police in Tokyo hope the interrogation of Mark Karpeles, the founder and former head of bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, will shed some light on the collapse of the company last year. Mr Karpeles was arrested on Saturday amid allegations he manipulated the company’s computer system to inflate his own account. He denies any wrongdoing. (FT)

It’s a big day for

Puerto Rico, which will be formally pushed into default after close of business. The US commonwealth this weekend missed a $58m payment on Public Finance Corporation bonds after years of battling to stay current of its obligations. (FT)

US economic data A big week for macro figures starts with personal spending – which likely cooled in June after the biggest gain in almost six years – auto sales and the ISM manufacturing report.

Food for thought:

Elon Musk’s shining city on a hill

Tesla and SpaceX may get all the attention, but SolarCity, the solar company the billionaire founded with his cousins, could be the one that actuallychanges the world. (Slate)

Something in the liquor

Police in southern China seized more than 5,400 bottles of the popular spirit baijiu after officials found that distillers had added Viagra to the liquor. Customers were told the blend had “health-preserving qualities.” (BBC)

Iran’s answer to McDonald’s

It may have all the trappings of the ubiquitous US fast-food chain, but Mash Donald’s has been carefully named so as to avoid the ire of Iran’s hard-liners. The food is also a little different, with delicacies such as falafel sandwiches taking pride of place on the menu. (NYT)

Jon Stewart, patriot

David Remnick on The Daily Show host as he begins his final week after 16 years in the hot seat: “Blasted into orbit by a trumped up (if you will) impeachment and a stolen Presidential election, and then rocketing through the war in Iraq and right up to the current electoral circus, with its commodious clown car teeming with would-be Commanders-in-Chief, Stewart has lasered away the layers of hypocrisy in politics and in the media.” (New Yorker)

Space-aged whiskey

A Japanese distillery is taking whiskey-making to a new frontier: it is sending samples of the spirit to the International Space Station to study the effect that zero gravity has on the ageing process. (WSJ)

Video of the day:

Board quotas

Nancy McKinstry, chief executive of the global information services company Wolters Kluwer, talks to FT business editor Sarah Gordon about women on boards quotas and where growth opportunities lie. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: A man looks at the Pudong financial district of Shanghai. REUTERS/Carlos Barria.