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 Producer Prices Turn Negative in Warning Sign for Global Economy — Consumer-price inflation also slowed to a five-month low, a reflection of the economic toll from Covid restrictions and a real-estate slide.
- U.S. Allies Seek to Stop Former Military Pilots From Helping China — Australia to review policies after investigation into training of Chinese aircrews raises concerns, following U.K.
- U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry Rekindles Contact With China at COP27 — An exchange between Kerry and his Chinese counterpart marks a thaw in relations with Beijing ahead of a possible Biden-Xi meeting.
- China Resists Climate Pressure From West, but Makes Gains on Its Own — Beijing won’t bow to pressure to cut emissions at COP27 summit, but may slow their growth significantly on its own.
- Lockdowns Spread as New Omicron Variants Evade China’s Zero-Covid Net — Guangzhou orders four million to stay home as the country fights record outbreaks across multiple fronts.
- Entrepreneur Caught in the Middle of U.S.-China Chip War — An American’s vision to build a global semiconductor player in China is clouded by moves to restrict supply chain.
- Under Xi Jinping, Women in China Have Given Up Gains — Women’s labor-force participation has fallen since Xi took power, and China has dropped 33 places in a global gender-gap report.
- Plodding Chinese EV Stocks Signal Speed Bumps Ahead — Selloff reflects worries that breakneck growth could soon slow just as competition is heating up.
- U.S., Taiwan Kick Off Talks to Deepen Trade, Economic Ties — China has condemned the initiative, which comes ahead of a possible Biden-Xi summit.
- Chinese Developer Sells L.A. Luxury Tower at Steep Discount — Price of $504 million is a record in the city but much less than Greenland wanted.
- Letters: Hong Kong Responds on Investment Summit — An editorial ‘smears Hong Kong and our Motherland at every turn.’ By Chan Kwok-ki
The Financial Times
- China factory gate prices contract for first time since 2020 — Inflation remains subdued as Covid lockdowns stifle demand in world’s second-biggest economy.
- Foreign investors shun China stock rally — Mainland traders are buying in wake of hopes of rapid relaxation of Covid rules.
- Taiwan rallies drone makers to prepare military for China threat — President Tsai Ing-wen turns to private sector to strengthen defence procurement supply chain.
- Taiwan’s bank problem for companies expanding abroad — Country lacks a global or even regional lender that could accompany its industry in an internationalisation push.
The New York Times
- China’s Great ‘Zero-Covid’ Guessing Game — Companies, investors and global policymakers are trying to divine when the Chinese government will drop its strict restrictions. It comes down to one man: the country’s top leader, Xi Jinping.
Caixin
- In Depth: Battle Begins for China’s Private Pension Funds — Institutions are rushing to bring investment products to market in wake of government plan to grow the underdeveloped sector.
- BYD Launches Luxury EV Line in Challenge to High-End Foreign Brands — The Chinese carmaker joins its peers in efforts to impress wealthy domestic buyers who have long preferred the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
- China’s Super Rich Are Poorer, and There Are Fewer of Them — Economic vicissitudes of war, pandemic and slumping stock and real estate markets shrink fortunes of billionaires on Hurun Rich List.
South China Morning Post
- Xi Jinping urges global tech cooperation as IBM, Intel, Cisco CEOs attend China’s internet conference — The Chinese leader issued a congratulatory letter to the World Internet Conference, which also saw the debut of the Communist Party’s new propaganda chief.
- Rich Chinese eye life abroad amid questions about policy direction under Xi Jinping — China’s sluggish economy, a slump in the real estate market and policy uncertainty following the 20th party congress have led to an uptick in foreign visa enquiries from wealthy Chinese, immigration consultants say.
- 38,600 Hongkongers under 18 have applied for Britain’s special BN(O) visa scheme, but most requests come from residents in prime working years — Nearly third of 142,000 Hongkongers who have applied to scheme that leads to UK citizenship are under 18, while those aged 25 to 54 make up majority.
Nikkei Asia
- Anti-China rhetoric on U.S. campaign trail alarms Asian Americans — Both Republican and Democratic candidates single out Beijing.
- China’s COMAC says it has secured orders for 300 homegrown jets — Single-aisle C919 passenger plane at center of bid to compete with Boeing, Airbus.
Bloomberg
- Germany Blocks Two Chip Facility Sales to Chinese Investor — Germany blocked the sale of two strategically important companies to Chinese investors as the government in Berlin toughens its stance on attempts to scoop up critical assets and ‘Made in Germany’ technology.
- TSMC Prepares for Another US Plant as China Tensions Simmer — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is laying the groundwork for a second US plant next to a $12 billion complex it’s building, a major expansion that will boost American efforts to bring advanced chipmaking home if it goes ahead.
- Renault-Geely Deal Deepens Chinese Billionaire’s Industry Reach — Renault SA’s deal to pool combustion-engine assets with China’s Geely brings another carmaker into the orbit of Li Shufu, the billionaire who’s turning into a key facilitator of the European industry’s restructuring for the electric vehicle era.
- Foreigners Pulled $8.8 Billion From China’s Markets Last Month — Foreign investors pulled $8.8 billion from Chinese financial markets last month as stocks slumped, according to estimates from the Institute of International Finance.
Reuters
- China announces plan to curb rising methane emissions but challenges await — China has drafted a new plan to control methane and will promote new technologies and financing mechanisms to slash rising emissions of the greenhouse gas that traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide, the country’s top climate official said.
- China willing to contribute to climate damage compensation — Xie said China had no obligation to participate, but stressed his solidarity with those calling for more action from wealthy nations on the issue, and outlined the damage China had suffered from climate-linked weather extremes.
- Geely and Renault engineer new model for old tech — As automakers hesitate to invest in legacy motors, China’s Geely and France’s Renault are teaming up to supply gas guzzlers and more to rivals. It’s a promising idea.
Other Publications
- Associated Press: Australian PM hopes for meeting with China’s Xi at summit — Albanese’s shift from neutral language about the prospects of his first meeting with the Chinese leader suggests the Australian leader expects that talks will take place.
- The Guardian: TikTok’s ties to China: why concerns over your data are here to stay — Harvesting data is the norm for social media apps, but the question that many have is where it goes and who has access to it.
- The Globe and Mail: Ottawa warns of China’s growing threat in new Indo-Pacific strategy — Ottawa’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy will call out China as an increasingly disruptive global power, in a reversal of the government’s previous policy of avoiding confrontation with the world’s second-largest economy.
- Foreign Affairs: The Return of Red China — Xi Jinping Brings Back Marxism. By Kevin Rudd
- Brookings: A course correction in America’s China policy — U.S. policy should be informed by an awareness of America’s long-term national interests and how China relates to them.
