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
- Beijing Sticks to Strict Covid-19 Measures as China’s Cases Drop to Three-Week Low — Testing expanded to almost all of Beijing’s 21.5 million residents; movements restricted in some areas of the city.
- Chinese Stocks Face a Reality Check — After last month’s hopes of economic stimulus, investors are realizing that actual government easing policies may be limited and slow.
- Chinese Drone Giant DJI Suspends Business in Russia, Ukraine — The Chinese drone maker’s decision to halt activities, pending a compliance review, follows complaints from Ukrainian officials about its products.
- The Contrasting Fortunes of HSBC and UBS — Buyback plans offer a hint of what lenders expect from the year ahead, and the Swiss bank was characteristically more upbeat in first-quarter results.
The Financial Times
- Arm takes action to resolve impasse at its renegade China unit — UK chip designer will this week submit paperwork to Beijing in effort to replace chief executive Allen Wu.
- Chinese dronemaker DJI halts Russia and Ukraine operations — World’s largest dronemaker faces the threat of US sanctions.
- US to probe claims that top Chinese chipmaker violated ban on Huawei — YMTC said to have sold semiconductors that incorporated American technology to smartphone maker.
- Chinese stocks notch steepest monthly loss in 6 years as lockdowns hit growth — Beijing’s zero-Covid policy threatens country’s ability to hit GDP target.
- China policymakers clash over how to counter property slump — Xi’s economic tsar Liu He worries Beijing underestimating impact of real estate and Covid restrictions.
The New York Times
- New Covid Cases Slow in Shanghai, but Increase in Beijing — Beijing residents face mandatory P.C.R. tests but no mass lockdown yet, while large inland cities may be closed down in response to as few as two infections.
- China’s Covid Lockdown Outrage Tests Limits of Propaganda — Public anger and grief over the bungled lockdown in Shanghai is creating a credibility crisis for the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, and his zero Covid policies.
Caixin
- Five Things to Know About China’s Overarching Financial Stability Law — China’s central bank on April 6 unveiled a draft financial stability law that seeks to unify the country’s scattered rules on dealing with risks and build on the lessons learned from the last few years’ repeated financial train wrecks.
- China’s Cautious Banks and Bad-Debt Managers Urged to Come to Real Estate’s Rescue — The PBOC and banking regulator have instructed financial institutions to help distressed developers, including by purchasing their debts, sources say.
South China Morning Post
- China’s investments in EU on downward path, as share among state-owned firms hits 20-year low — Strained ties between China and the European Union, coupled with other factors such as Beijing’s strict capital controls, are threatening to keep Chinese investment in Europe on a downward trajectory this year.
- HKEX posts biggest quarterly profit drop in five years as IPOs and stock trading dry up amid Hong Kong’s Covid-19 slump — The earnings slump puts pressure on Aguzin and the blueprint he unveiled last month to reinvigorate the world’s fourth-largest financial marketplace since joining the bourse in May 2021.
Nikkei Asia
- Half of Taiwanese don’t believe U.S. would send troops if China invades — Negative views double from October as response to Ukraine war stirs doubts: poll.
- China’s EV battery materials industry set for $11bn capacity buildup — Out-muscled Japanese rivals look to mount comeback in Western markets.
Bloomberg
- SoftBank and Arm Move to Retake Control of China JV, Oust CEO — SoftBank Group Corp. and its subsidiary Arm Ltd. are closing in on an agreement to regain control of the chipmaker’s China operations and oust its rogue chief executive officer, according to people familiar with the process.
- Vanguard Tie-up With Jack Ma’s Ant Has Bigger-Than-Forecast Loss — When Vanguard Group Inc. made a surprise retreat from China last year, the U.S. investing giant pinned its remaining hopes on a robo-advisory joint venture with billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. The road to a profitable China business is proving to be bumpier than expected.
- DJI Becomes Most Prominent Chinese Firm to Halt Russia Business — Drone-maker SZ DJI Technology Co. has halted all business activities in Russia and Ukraine, becoming the highest-profile Chinese company to withdraw from the war-torn region.
Reuters
- Australia worried China will bring Hong Kong police techniques to Solomons — Deployed Australian police sit under the command of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force through a bilateral security treaty. Australia is concerned about the impact of Chinese police on unity of command in security operations.
- Blinken to detail U.S. national strategy for China in coming weeks — “I will have an opportunity I think, very soon in the coming weeks to speak publicly and in some detail about the strategy,” Blinken said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
- China nudges mutual funds to offer pension products, stabilise markets — The move also comes against the backdrop of China launching its first private pension scheme last week.
Other Publications
- The Economist 1843 Magazine: Locked down in Shanghai, I’ve caught a glimpse of our techno-dystopian future — Rotting cabbage, digital breadlines and bossy drones.
- The Atlantic: When Journalists Capitulated to Autocracy in Hong Kong — The city’s main press club has given up in the face of a new, repressive regime.
- Foreign Policy: Taiwan Doesn’t Need a Formal U.S. Security Guarantee — U.S. security cooperation is a more powerful demonstration of commitment than any declaration of intent.