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
- Biden-Xi Talks Mark Shift in U.S.-China Ties Toward Managing Fierce Competition — The meeting, arranged through weeks of back-channel negotiations, helped establish new guardrails as differences between the countries widen.
- U.S. Panel Calls for Review of China Trade Relations — Group says Congress should suspend normal trade ties with China if assessment determines Beijing hasn’t complied with 1999 pact.
- The U.S.’s Struggle to Wean Itself From Chinese Solar Power — To compete in a business dominated by its geopolitical rival, the U.S. needs to build a supply chain nearly from scratch.
- Maryland Fund is Latest Pension to Consider Pulling Back on China — Maryland’s $60 billion pension fund could become the next major retirement system to trim its China holdings in response to geopolitical concerns and uncertainty about future returns.
- China Continues to Relax Covid Measures Even as Local Officials Battle Record Cases — Mixed messages on pandemic controls stoke confusion, uncertainty over direction of policy.
- Yellen Meets China’s Central Bank Governor as U.S. Seeks to Repair Ties With Beijing — The Treasury secretary says she is trying to prevent an economic conflict with the world’s second-largest economy from escalating further.
- Tencent Slims Down as Beijing Lightens Up — Chinese social-media and game giant is unwinding stakes in other companies, while investors cheer signs that Beijing may be loosening its grip.
- Buffett-Backed Electric-Car Giant BYD Halts Spinoff of Chip Unit — Chinese company says IPO shelved to focus on booming electric-vehicle demand as chip bottleneck persists.
The Financial Times
- Tencent to ‘distribute’ most of its $22bn Meituan stake in dividend — Chinese technology group reports second straight revenue drop after regulatory crackdown on sector.
- Mercedes-Benz follows Tesla and cuts EV prices in China — Moves are latest sign of slowing sales growth in world’s biggest electric car market.
- Frosty UK-China relations are here to stay — Sunak has softened his language on Beijing, but his ability to reset the Conservatives’ approach is limited.
- China intervention offers glimmer of hope to property sector — Government’s support package provides optimism that housing sales will rebound.
- China’s coronavirus test providers hit by payments crunch — Local governments’ failure to settle bills raises doubts on sustainability of zero-Covid policy.
- Sunak to hold surprise meeting with Chinese president at G20 — UK prime minister attempts to build ‘frank and constructive’ relationship with Beijing.
- Australia prime minister seeks end to China’s trade sanctions — Anthony Albanese says Bali meeting with Xi Jinping a step toward stabilising ties.
The New York Times
- Engineers From Taiwan Bolstered China’s Chip Industry. Now They’re Leaving. — The lure of money and new opportunities enticed talent to work in China’s semiconductor plants. The looming Cold War in tech changed the calculus.
- Lockdowns Set Off Rare Protest in Guangzhou in China — Weary migrants thronged a street in the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou to protest food shortages and lengthy stay-at-home orders under China’s strict “zero-Covid” policy.
- At G20 Summit, Xi and Biden Offer Rival Visions for Solving Global Issues — China and the United States showed how global summits are an arena for great powers to compete, with implications for the war in Ukraine and Asia’s future.
Caixin
- In Depth: Rival Ride-Hailing Apps Challenge Didi in World’s Biggest Market — Chinese companies like AutoNavi Holdings Ltd., Meituan, Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. have been eating into the market share of the dominant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. Ltd.
- Embattled Online Grocery Missfresh Faces Debt Claims in 1,400 Lawsuits — Former employers and suppliers demand $115 million, and the company has only 55 employees left, according to belated 2021 annual report.
- China’s SOEs Grew Almost Twice as Fast as Economy in 2021 — Government turns to state-owned enterprises as economic engine of last resort in the face of pandemic pressures.
South China Morning Post
- German economic official heads to Taiwan as Berlin looks beyond Beijing — During two-day visit, Franziska Brantner will focus on economic affairs and policies between Germany and Taiwan, building on two multiparty delegations from Bundestag last month.
- Chinese EV makers such as Great Wall Motor and BYD eye Southeast Asian markets as competition escalates at home — BYD, Great Wall Motor, Hozon and Aiways have all been delivering EVs in countries such as Thailand, with the aim of gaining a foothold in these markets where three million cars are sold on average each year.
- TikTok can be used as an ‘aggressive weapon’ by China against the US, FBI director says — FBI Director Christopher Wray reiterated the bureau’s concerns about TikTok, which he said can be compelled to ‘do whatever the Chinese government wants’.
Nikkei Asia
- U.S. congressional panel seeks China sanctions body with eye on Taiwan — In annual report, bipartisan group calls for better coordination with island’s military.
- Kamala Harris to visit Philippine island near China dispute — VP’s stop on Palawan has message: U.S. is engaged in Indo-Pacific.
- Fighting drones take center stage in China’s Zhuhai air show — Cloud and AI open up new possibilities under Xi’s military-civil fusion policy.
Bloomberg
- US Advises Academic Researchers on Stopping Chinese Spying — Beijing has long denied allegations about intellectual property theft.
- Xi Looks Away From Putin Toward West in Return to World Stage — Turns out Chinese President Xi Jinping’s partnership with Vladimir Putin has limits after all: He doesn’t want to follow the Russian leader into diplomatic isolation.
- Fear and Panic in Chinese City Rumored to Be Exiting Covid Zero — On Monday, a rumor took hold that Shijiazhuang, a city 160 miles from Beijing, was to become a test case for China’s reopening, dismantling key parts of the Covid Zero regime.
- Commodity Star Lithium Shows Signs of Cooling After 1,200% Rally — A two-year buying frenzy in the world’s biggest lithium market is showing tentative signs of cooling off into the end of 2022 as huge increases in demand from China’s electric-vehicle sector begin to moderate.
Reuters
- UK says Sunak, China’s Xi cancel G20 meeting due to scheduling issues — A planned G20 meeting between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Xi Jinping of China has been cancelled due to “scheduling issues”, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Wednesday.
- Trudeau expresses concerns to China’s Xi over ‘interference’ — The “interference” is likely a reference to a Nov. 7 Canadian media report that cited intelligence officials saying they suspected China of meddling in the 2019 election.
- U.S. watchdog gained “good access” to audits of Chinese firms – sources — The sources, however, cautioned that the broader review of work done by Hong Kong and China-based auditors was ongoing and that no decision had been taken on whether the dispute could be considered over.
Other Publications
- The Globe and Mail: Chinese President Xi berates Trudeau on sidelines of G20 for leaking conversation — “Everything we said has been leaked to the papers, that’s not appropriate,” Mr. Xi says, adding, “that’s not the way the conversation was conducted.”
- Associated Press: In ‘zero-COVID’ China, 1 case locks down Peking University — Peking University students and faculty were not allowed to leave the grounds unless necessary and classes on the main campus — where the case was found — were moved online through Friday, a university notice said.
- Quartz: An unproven herbal covid pill is a big winner in Beijing’s new pandemic rules — Shares of Yiling Pharmaceutical, developer of the traditional Chinese herbal tablets Lianhua Qingwen, have surged in recent days.
