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’s Foreign Minister Says Ties With U.S. Risk Going Off the Rails — Qin Gang warns Washington against indulging in what he calls new McCarthyism.
- China’s Xi Jinping Takes Rare Direct Aim at U.S. in Speech — Leader blames Washington-led ‘containment, encirclement and suppression’ for challenges at home.
- China’s Cities Struggle Under Trillions of Dollars of Debt — Financial obligations built up during pandemic weigh on growth as China’s legislature meets to address economic needs.
- TikTok Rolls Out ‘Project Clover’ to Assure Europeans on Data — Video sharing app launches effort in U.K. amid wave of other governments restricting its use.
- The U.S. Is Not Yet Ready for the Era of ‘Great Power’ Conflict — Since 2018, the military has shifted to focus on China and Russia after decades fighting insurgencies, but it still faces challenges to produce weapons and come up with new ways of waging war.
- Chinese Exports Pull Back Again, Hampering Post-Covid Recovery — Outbound shipments have suffered string of declines since reversing in October.
- China’s Top Online Travel Agent, Trip.com, Is Ready for Liftoff — China’s outbound passenger volumes will still take a while to recover—but on nearly every other metric, the company’s recovery is well under way.
- Foxconn Signals India’s Arrival as Electronics Manufacturer — The iPhone assembler is considering big expansion in India, a potential tipping point for the country.
The Financial Times
- China overhauls ministries to take on the west in tech — Measures will also tighten financial oversight as Xi Jinping seeks to strengthen control over government.
- Chinese stocks slip as weak trade data raises slowdown fears — Traders look ahead to testimony in Washington from Fed chair Jay Powell.
- Sri Lanka says China has agreed to support debt restructuring — Approval from Eximbank seen as crucial to unlocking $2.9bn IMF rescue package to ease economic crisis.
- China warns of potential conflict with US over containment strategy — Foreign minister Qin Gang calls on Washington to commit to ‘guardrails’ around Taiwan.
- China’s lowest growth target in decades signals era of caution — Beijing emerges from shadow of Covid with unambitious goal as it fears disappointing expectations.
- Chinese companies choose Switzerland over US and UK to raise money overseas — Political tensions with Washington and tougher accountancy standards in London discourage listings in larger markets.
- Kevin McCarthy to meet Taiwan’s president in US to avoid China’s ire — Two sides agree on California venue after Taipei raises concerns.
- Commodities sell off on lacklustre China growth target — Coal and iron ore lead markets lower as analysts predict ‘uncertain environment’.
The New York Times
- The Daring Ruse That Exposed China’s Campaign to Steal American Secrets — How the downfall of one intelligence agent revealed the astonishing depth of Chinese industrial espionage.
- White House Said to Consider Pushing Congress on Dealing With TikTok — In a strategy shift, the Biden administration is increasingly pointing to Congress to give it more legal power to deal with TikTok and other technology that could expose Americans’ sensitive data to China.
- Why Xi Jinping Blames U.S. Containment for China’s Troubles — Xi Jinping criticized what he called a U.S.-led campaign of “encirclement and suppression.” His new foreign minister said it was impossible for China not to fight back.
Caixin
- China Plans to Create Vast New Financial Regulator — The new body will absorb the CBIRC and oversee all parts of the financial industry other than securities, State Council proposal says.
- Tech Investor Sequoia Capital Plans China Expansion — An affiliate of the Silicon Valley VC firm has applied to access the mainland via Beijing’s Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program.
- China Pushes Back on Mark Mobius Money-Transfer Complaint — Billionaire investor says on TV to be ‘very careful’ after he couldn’t move funds to Hong Kong from Shanghai, but authorities maintain the rules are the rules and haven’t changed.
South China Morning Post
- China’s chip imports slump 27 per cent in the first 2 months of 2023 as US sanctions bite — Chip imports fell to 67.6 billion units in January and February, while the value of imports tanked 31 per cent to US$47.8 billion.
- China hints at more ‘safe and credible’ currency cooperation with Russia — Foreign Minister Qin Gang hails relations with Moscow, blasts ‘invisible hand’ escalating Ukraine conflict.
- Beijing announces super regulatory body to tackle ‘long-standing’ financial risk — The new National Financial Regulatory Commission will oversee China’s 400 trillion yuan (US$57.7 trillion) worth of banking and insurance assets, as well as financial holding companies, Beijing says.
- China reveals plan for data enforcement super agency — The proposed National Data Bureau was unveiled at the NPC by the Secretary General of the State Council.
Nikkei Asia
- China warns U.S. about crossing ‘red line’ on Taiwan independence — Foreign Minister Qin Gang heaps blame on Washington for deteriorating ties.
- About 100 Chinese Congress delegates chosen from U.S.-targeted companies — Defense, chip sectors newly represented while tech giants notably absent.
- U.S. translation project opens window on China’s ambitions, fears — CSIS think tank’s archive aims to enhance understanding, avoid ‘escalation spiral’.
Bloomberg
- China Orders Biggest Regulatory Revamp in Decades With Eye on US — President Xi Jinping unveiled the biggest overhaul of China’s bureaucracy in decades, part of a sweeping push to make the economy more self-sufficient and resilient in the face of US efforts to prevent Beijing from obtaining advanced technology.
- China Shakes Up Technology, Data Regimes to Counter US Curbs — China granted a key ministry new powers and created a bureau to oversee increasingly valuable data, shaking up oversight of its vast technology arena as Xi Jinping’s administration battles the US in areas from AI to semiconductors.
- Xi Jinping Views Top EV-Battery Maker CATL With ‘Joy and Worry’ — Chinese President Xi Jinping praised and at the same time raised concern about battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. at a meeting with delegates during annual national meetings in Beijing.
- China State Firms Go From Unloved Trade to Favorite New Play — Shares of China’s state-owned firms charged higher Tuesday, as investors piled in on bets that supportive signals from authorities would boost the companies’ valuations.
Reuters
- ‘Xi Jinping’s guy’: Longtime acolyte Li set to be China’s next premier — Four years before Li Qiang gained notoriety as the force behind the two-month COVID lockdown of Shanghai, the man set to become China’s next premier worked quietly behind the scenes to drive a bold revamp of the megacity’s sclerotic stock market.
- Germany planning to ban Huawei, ZTE from parts of 5G networks – paper — Germany’s government is planning on forbidding telecoms operators from using certain components from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in their 5G networks, German paper Zeit Online reported on Monday.
- HSBC China says it’s unaware of remittance curbs after Mobius’ claims — HSBC’s China unit said on Tuesday it has not been told by regulators to restrict outbound remittances and was unaware of recent capital outflow curbs, after billionaire Mark Mobius, its client, said he could not take money out of the country.
- Exclusive: U.S. solar panel imports from China grow, alleviating gridlock, officials say — U.S. imports of solar panels are finally picking up after months of gridlock stemming from implementation of a new law banning goods made with forced labor, according to two Chinese solar companies.
Other Publications
- Associated Press: Canada to examine if China interfered in its 2021 elections — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he will appoint a special investigator to decide whether there should be a public inquiry into reports of Chinese interference in Canada’s elections.
- Toronto Star: Chinese interference in Canada? Chinese Canadians say they reported it for years — and were ignored — With PM Trudeau reportedly set to ask for a new investigation of foreign interference in Canada, advocates recall all the incidents and evidence that has gotten little apparent action over the years.
- MSNBC: Opinion: I am a target of the right’s new McCarthyism — My loyalty to the U.S. was recently questioned by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, and right-wing media personalities including Fox News host Tucker Carlson. By Rep. Judy Chu
- The Washington Post: Opinion: Democrats and Republicans agree on China. That’s a problem. — When the two parties agree on an issue, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are right. It could mean they are falling prey to a collective delusion. By Max Boot
- Rest of World: Xiaohongshu becomes an online oasis for trans people in China — As authorities tighten their grip on LGBTQ content, the social media platform is a rare exception.
