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 Sentences Purged Police Officials as Xi Tightens Grip on Security Forces — Experts say the purge created openings for the Chinese leader to install trusted subordinates in key security posts.
- U.S.-China Tensions Fuel Outflow of Chinese Scientists From U.S. Universities — Harvard, MIT lose experienced scholars as fear of government surveillance prompts 4 in 10 to consider leaving.
- China’s Internet Lenders Feel Pain of Economic Slowdown — Rising bad loans, bigger guarantee demands are changing the business.
- Audits of Chinese Companies Start to Face U.S. Inspections — Accounting board to determine if Alibaba, Yum China and other firms can keep American listings.
- China Jails Gang Members Over Attack on Women — Main culprit handed 24 years in prison, but lawyers say authorities clouded issue of women’s safety, rights.
- China Will Benefit From Cheap Russian Gas—Eventually — But there is a problem: For now, China is a coal- and oil-powered economy.
- Video: U.S. vs. China: The Race to Launch the Next Generation of Space Telescopes — These telescopes may help to solve some of science’s greatest mysteries.
The Financial Times
- CALB/EVs: battery group has good connections needed to power ahead — Local investor interest remains strong in China’s fast-growing electric vehicle industry.
- Hong Kong scraps quarantine measures after economy takes a beating — Travel restrictions have isolated Asian financial hub from the world for more than 2 years.
- Why trade couldn’t buy peace — We thought globalisation was immune from geopolitical risk. We were wrong.
The New York Times
- Major Covid Holdouts in Asia Drop Border Restrictions — Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan have relaxed their pandemic rules, as they look to bolster their economies and play catch-up with much of the world.
Caixin
- In Depth: Why Kazakhstan’s President Is Bent on Weakening His Office — On Sept. 14, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Kazakhstan during a critical period for the country.
- Analysis: China’s Provinces All Posted First-Half Deficits. Does it Really Matter? — China’s provincial-level governments were all running fiscal deficits in the first half of this year, and for most the hole in their budget was expanding. But is it really a cause for concern?
- Few Chinese Developers Qualify for New Bond Guarantee Program, Industry Sources Say — China’s pilot program to guarantee the bonds of real estate developers via a state-owned enterprise (SOE) could help curb risk contagion, but it is unlikely to prop up the whole sector as firms that have already missed debt payments may not qualify, industry sources said.
South China Morning Post
- Hong Kong to end mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals from Monday — Long-awaited move signals lifting of one of the world’s toughest anti-pandemic regimes, in force for more than two years.
- Chinese ‘political clique’ leader Sun Lijun faces life in jail for corruption as law enforcement purge winds down — Former deputy security minister accused of disloyalty to Xi Jinping given suspended death sentence in the same week other members of his faction were sentenced.
- China’s foreign investment door ‘will only open wider and wider’, Premier Li Keqiang insists — Premier Li Keqiang said that China will deepen its reform and opening up to attract more foreign investment amid concerns over the mounting challenges of operating in the world’s second-largest economy.
- China’s shipbuilding progress threatens South Korea’s long-held tech dominance in the industry — While China holds a commanding lead in total container vessels produced, South Korea still has an edge in making more advanced and expensive carriers for liquefied natural gas – for now.
Nikkei Asia
- Wang Yi: U.S. bill on Taiwan ‘fundamentally challenges’ China ties — Beijing foreign minister says Washington should ‘stand on right side of history’.
- Foxconn forms Indonesian JV for EV and battery manufacturing — Taiwanese group partners with coal miner Indika Energy in diversification push.
- China real estate crisis spills into property mad Hong Kong — City investors join growing backlash over glut of unfinished housing projects.
Bloomberg
- Suspected Chinese Hackers Impersonated Tibet Media — Alleged Chinese state-sponsored hackers are behind a barrage of emails that aim to collect intelligence from a range of targets linked to Tibet, posting at times as pro-independence political party and a prominent media organization, according to findings provided exclusively to Bloomberg News.
- Yuan Weakens to Near Trading Band Limit as Pressure Mounts — The onshore yuan is inches away from the lower limit of its daily trading band, as an unstoppable dollar emboldened traders to keep testing Beijing’s tolerance for further currency weakness.
- Hong Kong Airfares Skyrocket With Hotel Quarantine Ending — Travelers looking to leave Hong Kong after two-and-a-half years of Covid isolation face the prospect of paying sky-high airfares after the government said it will scrap hotel quarantine on Sept. 26.
The Economist
- How Xi Jinping might change the Communist Party’s constitution — Two possible revisions could put him on a pedestal with Mao.
- Reforms to China’s hukou system will not help migrants much — Big cities are still reluctant to give them social benefits.
- Some progress in the border dispute between China and India — Yet a mutual snub suggests it is far from over.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: As crackdown eases, China’s Xinjiang faces long road to rehabilitation — A nine-day reporting trip by The Washington Post through the region in late July and early August revealed concerted efforts by Chinese officials to put the crackdown behind them. But even as the most visible security measures have been loosened, Xinjiang residents continue to live under heavier official pressure than in other parts of China.
- The Globe and Mail: Chinese police establish stations overseas in ‘worrying’ crackdown on citizens abroad — Such offices are ostensibly to assist Chinese nationals with matters such as filing local police reports or renewing driver’s licences. But reports in Chinese media and official government pronouncements suggest they often overstep that purview.
