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
- U.S. Sees ‘Decisive Decade’ Ahead in Competition With China, Russia — White House releases National Security Strategy document; climate change, energy and food security also identified as issues.
- TSMC Trims Capital Spending Forecast Amid Chip Headwinds — The world’s largest contract chip maker is squeezed between slowing demand and rising costs.
- Samsung Gets One-Year Exemption From New U.S. Chip Restrictions on China — The company hasn’t said publicly if it received an exemption.
- What Do Chinese People Think of Xi Jinping? It’s Very Hard to Tell — Ahead of key political meeting, China’s social media has been scrubbed of viewpoints about the country’s leaders.
- Rare Beijing Protest Channels Covid Frustrations Before Communist Party Meeting — A banner unfurled from a highway overpass called for leader Xi Jinping to be deposed.
- China Evergrande’s Debt-Crisis Fallout: Losses, Layoffs and More Defaults — The property titan’s financial troubles have spilled over to construction companies, interior decorators, and many others it owes money to.
- China Property Woes Cause Another Default — Real-estate developer CIFI Holdings (Group) Co., once a regular issuer of dollar bonds, missed an interest payment on a convertible bond this week. That adds to dozens of Chinese developer bond defaults in the past year.
- Opinion: Security, Not Growth, Is Xi’s Focus — He is likely to rebalance Beijing’s strategic priorities at next week’s 20th Party Congress. By Kevin Rudd
The Financial Times
- China’s Xi Jinping problem — A relentless centralisation of power allows the Chinese leader to take decisive action. But it makes it harder to reverse his mistakes.
- VW unveils €2.4bn venture with Chinese AI chip specialist — Carmaker’s tie-up with Horizon Robotics comes after US announces much tougher export controls.
- World’s top chip equipment suppliers halt business with China — New US export controls force toolmakers to suspend sales and services to Chinese semiconductor companies.
- Shanghai reimposes strict Covid measures as cases rise — Authorities are tightening restrictions across China ahead of Communist party congress.
- Beijing’s failure to import mRNA Covid jabs ‘mind-boggling’, says BeiGene executive — Chinese biotech’s research chief calls decision ‘unfortunate’ as zero-Covid policy strangles economy.
- Biden warns US faces ‘decisive decade’ in rivalry with China — Washington’s new national security strategy singles out Beijing for capability to reshape international order.
- As Hong Kong scrapped its Covid curbs, I boarded the bus to lock-up — A spectacularly ill-timed trip led to my sentence of 10 days in isolation — just as the city was revelling in new freedoms.
The New York Times
- We Are Suddenly Taking On China and Russia at the Same Time — A battle over computer chips could have more long-term global impact than the Ukraine war.
- Biden’s National Security Strategy Focuses on China, Russia and Democracy at Home — The document, which every new administration is required to issue, was delayed last winter as it became clear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was imminent.
Caixin
- Caixin Explains: What to Look Out For at the 20th Party National Congress — The Communist Party of China’s 20th National Congress will convene this Sunday to kick off the weeklong political meeting that will set the course for the country’s development trajectories for the next five years.
- Digital Yuan Transactions Top $13.9 Billion as Trials Expand — Use of e-CNY gains momentum across 15 provinces as 5.6 merchants accept the currency for 360 million transactions.
- Chinese Local Governments Sell More Bonds for Infrastructure Stimulus — At least 19 cities and provincial-level regions have either issued or announced plans to issue more special-purpose bonds.
South China Morning Post
- China’s youngest top general poised to fill key PLA strategy job — Liu Zhenli has been tipped to head China’s Joint Staff Department, according to a source close to the military and video clues from state broadcaster CCTV.
- China’s chip industry group asks US to undo trade restrictions for the sake of ‘millions of jobs’ — The China Semiconductor Industry Association urges Washington to adjust its course of action and return to trade negotiations for the ‘well-being’ of millions of semiconductor workers.
- TikTok owner ByteDance starts stock option buy-back, offering employees a higher price amid dim IPO prospects — The company has started a new round of buy-backs from current and former employees, offering a higher price than in an earlier round while the prospect of an initial public offering remains low.
- China’s top chip equipment maker removes US employees from product development after Washington imposes restrictions — Beijing-based Naura Technology has asked its US engineers to stop working on R&D projects with immediate effect, after Washington restricted the involvement of US citizens in certain areas of chip development in China.
Nikkei Asia
- China pre-Congress communique hails Xi’s ‘all-out war’ on COVID — Document applauds Hong Kong clampdown and opposition to Taiwan independence.
- China builds plants for mRNA vaccines still in development limbo — CanSino, Sinopharm seek Chinese equivalents of Pfizer and Moderna shots.
- Analysis: ‘Little Hu’ has chance to be premier but not Xi’s successor — Hu Chunhua likely to be surrounded by president’s allies if promoted.
Bloomberg
- VW to Invest $2.3 Billion in China Autonomous Driving Venture — Volkswagen AG will invest €2.4 billion euros ($2.3 billion) to set up an autonomous driving joint venture with China’s Horizon Robotics Inc. to strengthen the automaker’s tech presence in its biggest market.
- The End of the Great Chinese Love Affair With French Vineyards — China’s frenzied buying of Bordeaux vineyards has all but fizzled out as limits on capital outflows and the pandemic curbed investments.
- TSMC Cuts Capital Spending 10% in a Warning for Tech Sector — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. slashed its 2022 capital spending target by roughly 10%, a dramatic sign of trouble for the technology industry from the world’s most valuable chip company.
- Hong Kong’s Planned Property Tax Cut May Stabilize Ailing Market — Hong Kong leader John Lee’s potential plan to ease property taxes for non-residents is likely to stabilize the housing market without stimulating prices that are being stunted by rising interest rates.
Reuters
- Casino tycoon Wynn defeats U.S. lawsuit over Chinese agent claims — Casino magnate Steve Wynn cannot be ordered to register with the U.S. Department of Justice as a foreign agent of China, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., said on Wednesday.
- Analysis: China faces its “Sputnik” moment as US export curbs deal a blow to its chip ambitions — U.S. export restrictions on chip equipment to China are likely to lead to its “Sputnik” moment, prompting Chinese chipmakers to try creative engineering solutions and chart their own course even if it may not succeed commercially in the longer term, experts said.
- When Chinese protesters came up against Xi’s security machine — Thousands of people abruptly lost access to their savings in a banking fraud scandal that erupted in April, which centred on a string of rural lenders in Henan and Anhui provinces.
The Economist
- The Communist Party’s obsession with control will make China weaker but more dangerous — Its five-yearly congress will further tighten one man’s grip.
- After China’s party congress, is there hope of better policymaking? — Lessons from a previous generation of reformers.
- China and the West are in a race to foster innovation — Which will have more success?
- America curbs Chinese access to advanced computing — For real this time.
Other Publications
- The Atlantic: Behold, Emperor Xi — For next week’s party congress to grant the general secretary a third term breaks precedent with Communist practice—but in many ways returns China to its imperial tradition.
- Associated Press: Observer: No matter who climbs Beijing’s ranks, Xi rules — It’s a sharp contrast from an earlier era, when jostling factions leaked salacious details to the foreign media, and a reflection of a consolidation of power that has swept away competitors and stifled internal dissent.
- The Washington Post: Judge rejects DOJ bid to compel Steve Wynn to register as China agent — The ruling that casino mogul and GOP megadonor Wynn need not register after the fact is setback to the U.S. crackdown on foreign influence in American politics.
- Foreign Affairs: How to Avoid a War Over Taiwan — Threats, Assurances, and Effective Deterrence. By Thomas J. Christensen, M. Taylor Fravel, Bonnie S. Glaser, Andrew J. Nathan, and Jessica Chen Weiss
