Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- China’s Meituan Amasses $10 Billion War Chest for Drones and Driverless Cars — Company also unveils new generation of self-driving delivery cars it says are smarter, safer than previous versions.
- Why the Chip Shortage Is So Hard to Overcome — Semiconductor producers are trying to increase output, but the small gains are unlikely to fix the shortfalls hampering production of everything from cars to home appliances to PCs.
- John Kerry’s Climate Kowtow — By The Editorial Board. How much will Biden trade away in exchange for empty promises?
The Financial Times
- China’s keyboard warriors like to fight . . . each other — ‘Nationalist bloggers resemble militias arguing with one another as much as they do with external enemies’.
- Japan under pressure from US to decouple supply chains — Washington seeks to recruit Tokyo in its efforts to limit China’s access to tech products.
- Xi warns against economic decoupling and calls for new world order — China’s president launches veiled attack on US at Boao business forum.
- Chinese censors take aim at former premier Wen Jiabao’s essay — Dissidents say tribute to Wen’s mother could be interpreted as criticism of Xi Jinping.
- Taiwan seizes chance to host foreign reporters kicked out of China — Beijing’s sensitivity to criticism hands Taipei an advantage in battle to control the narrative.
- Blinken says US must lead green energy revolution to combat China — Secretary of state warns America risks losing out on chance to shape climate future.
- Chinese carmakers step up challenge to Tesla with blitz of new models — Country’s auto groups aim to draw younger buyers with new cars and fresh technology.
The New York Times
- Xi Jinping of China Calls for Openness Amid Strained Ties With U.S. — The country’s top leader warned that the world should not allow “unilateralism pursued by certain countries to set the pace for the whole world.”
- A Global Tipping Point for Reining In Tech Has Arrived — Never before have so many countries, including China, moved with such vigor at the same time to limit the power of a single industry.
- ‘Follow the Party Forever’: China Plans a Communist Birthday Bash — Patriotic films. History lessons. Mass weddings. The Chinese Communist Party is going into overdrive to celebrate its 100th birthday.
Caixin
- Exclusive: Yet Another Corrupt Executive Exposed at China’s Biggest Policy Bank — Zhang Maolong was the chief operating officer at the China Development Bank for three years, before retiring in 2013.
- China Tightens Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Financial Institutions — Central bank looks to bring domestic practices more in line with international standards.
- Alibaba’s Regulatory Trouble Continues With Steel E-Commerce Probe — Market watchdog begins investigation into expired tie-up with state-owned Minmetals.
- Chinese Drug Firm Inks Deal to Produce Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine for Export — Hualan Biological expects orders for 100 million doses of the Russian shot, enough to protect 50 million people against Covid-19.
- Tencent Focuses on Gaming in First Quarter Investments — China’s Tencent participated in 103 investment deals worth more than 60 billion yuan ($9.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2021, with a preference for gaming companies, as Beijing tightens its crackdown on monopolistic behaviors by tech and internet giants.
South China Morning Post
- Life after Merkel: Germany’s ties with China head into the unknown — The day after his name appeared on a Chinese government sanctions list in March, the German politician Michael Gahler was reached by phone at his Brussels office, sounding philosophical and not at all bitter.
- China’s Belt and Road Initiative faces increased political risk in participating countries, report warns — China’s top economic planner has warned that the impact of Covid-19 and increased political risks in countries taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative are among the main challenges the multibillion-dollar project faces in the next five years.
- China pork imports hit all-time high over supply concerns as US soybean imports surge 320 per cent — China’s pork imports jumped to an all-time high in March on supply concerns following a resurgence of African swine fever in the world’s biggest consumer and producer.
Bloomberg
- Huawei’s Struggles Are Making China’s Smartphones Better — Smaller upstarts are fiercely competing to fill a Huawei-shaped hole in the market.
- Chinese Military Seen Behind Japan Cyberattacks, NHK Says — China’s military is thought to have instructed a hacker group to conduct cyberattacks on nearly 200 Japanese research institutions and firms, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing unidentified people in a police investigation.
- Iron Ore Giants Challenged in Race to Meet China Demand — The world’s top two iron ore miners struggled to keep up with strong Chinese demand in the first quarter of 2021, hit by operational challenges and weather disruptions, in a positive sign for prices that are already at decade highs.
- Huawei CFO Seeks Extradition Hearing Delay as Canada Objects — Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is poised to spend a few more months under house arrest in her fight to avoid extradition from Canada to New York in a criminal case that has strained U.S.-China relations.
Reuters
- China’s Sinopec to develop Mansuriya gas field –ministry — BAGHDAD (Reuters) -China’s Sinopec has won a deal to develop Iraq’s Mansuriya gas field near the Iranian border, the oil ministry said on Tuesday.
- China censors ex-premier’s article ahead of Communist Party anniversary — BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese internet firms blocked users from sharing a lengthy article written by former Premier Wen Jiabao in tribute to his late mother, censoring a senior member of the ruling Communist Party, possibly because he spoke out of line.
- China plans $3 billion supercomputing centre to analyse data from space — China’s southern space port of Wenchang will build a $3 billion supercomputing centre by year-end to analyse data obtained from space, according to state media on Tuesday.
- China’s crude oil imports from Saudi up 8.8% y/y in March, UAE shipments jump — China’s crude oil imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia rose 8.8% in March from a year earlier, driven by strong demand and as shipments delayed due to a port congestion finally arrived.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: How Not to Win Allies and Influence Geopolitics — China’s Self-Defeating Economic Statecraft.
- Axios: China leads the world with new state-backed digital currency — China’s new currency could set global standards for the use of national digital currencies — and give Beijing unprecedented visibility and control over domestic financial transactions.
- Axios: House votes to condemn China’s government for Hong Kong rights violations — The House passed a resolution on Monday to condemn China’s government and Hong Kong’s regional legislature for “the continued violation of rights and freedoms” in a near-unanimous vote.
- POLITICO: As China revs up battery production, Dem lawmakers see another Middle East nightmare — Washington is racing for money to build batteries for cars and the electric grid, but despite the bipartisan “Buy American” rhetoric, not enough may be done to counter China’s lead.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China offers Sri Lanka a lifeline as critics question cost — China appears to be tightening its strategic grip on Sri Lanka, wooing the debt-ridden South Asian nation with a fresh $500 million loan as Colombo wrestles with a deepening economic crisis.
- The New Yorker: Why Has China Targeted Minorities in Xinjiang? [Podcast] — The staff writer Raffi Khatchadourian tells David Remnick how Xi Jinping’s government used an obsession with what it calls stability, and a fear of separatism and terrorism, to justify a campaign of genocide.
- Washington Post: China to recognize Western shots for its vaccine passports, as it seeks to reopen — China has begun accepting U.S. coronavirus vaccination records in travel applications to the country, as it seeks to negotiate mutual recognition of vaccine passports with other nations.