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
- France’s Macron Warns Xi Against Boosting Support for Russia — West worries that Beijing could boost aid to ally Moscow in its war against Ukraine.
- China’s Warnings Loom Over Speaker McCarthy’s Meeting With Taiwan’s Leader — California encounter takes place amid concerns over how far Beijing will go to retaliate.
- Taiwan Warns of Subtle China Responses as U.S. Lawmakers Embrace Taipei — China’s response to a U.S. visit by Taiwan’s leader has been more measured than expected.
- Hopes for Hong Kong’s IPO Market Rest on Alibaba, JD.com Carve-Outs — Investors see tech giants’ plans to sell shares in subsidiaries as another sign that China’s regulatory crackdown has eased.
- Saudi, Iranian Foreign Ministers Agree to Resume Flights After Beijing Meeting — Reopening of embassies is also being hammered out after China brokered deal to restore relations between the rivals.
- Opinion: Our Bill Is the Best Way to Counter the TikTok Threat — The Chinese company is spreading false claims about the Restrict Act in an effort to continue operating with impunity. By John Thune and Mark Warner
The Financial Times
- Saudi Arabia and Iran hold meeting in Beijing as China expands its influence — Middle Eastern rivals vow to ‘expand co-operation’ months after Chinese president’s visit to kingdom.
- China clears path for foreign investors to $5tn swaps market — Access to ‘Connect’ hedging mechanism comes after $126bn debt sell-off.
- Tsai warns democracy is ‘under threat’ after talks with US Speaker — Leader tells Kevin McCarthy the ‘urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated’.
- China futures: Morgan Stanley hopes to enter land of opportunity — It makes sense for Beijing to expand the cohort of foreign futures dealers.
The New York Times
- Chinese Officials Flock to Twitter to Defend TikTok — The company has tried to distance itself, but the information push shows just how deeply invested Beijing is in its fate.
- Saudi and Iranian Foreign Ministers Meet in China After Thaw — The high-level meeting was a sign that the regional rivals are moving ahead with an agreement to re-establish relations, mediated last month by Beijing.
- Politics Complicates Chinese Reaction to U.S. Visit by Taiwan’s President — For Beijing, showing displeasure too openly carries risks, particularly of harming the chances for its preferred party in Taiwan’s coming presidential election.
- China Publishes Data Showing Raccoon Dog DNA at Wuhan Market — Scientists from the Chinese C.D.C. confirmed that DNA from raccoon dogs and other animals susceptible to the coronavirus was found at the market in early 2020.
- Macron, in China, Says He’ll Urge Xi to Work for Peace in Ukraine — President Emmanuel Macron of France spoke of the need for a “shared responsibility for peace and international stability.”
- U.S. Tensions With China on Display as McCarthy Hosts Taiwan’s Leader — Speaker Kevin McCarthy became the most senior elected official to meet with a Taiwanese president on American soil since the United States established diplomatic relations with Beijing.
- A Bird’s-Eye View of the Chinese Balloon — The New York Times’s Visual Investigations team tracked the balloon’s path across the United States.
Caixin
- China’s Economy May Struggle to Maintain Growth Momentum — Consumers haven’t delivered on the expected ‘revenge-spending’ splurge while private-sector investment is weak, analysts say.
- In Depth: Should Beijing Reinstate Subsidies for Auto Sales? — Complex market dynamics could make state intervention less effective as the industry’s increasingly vicious price war fails to spur demand.
- In Depth: How China’s Shrinking Population Is Driving Education Reform — China is conducting a multi-year reform of its higher education system to address the country’s changing economy and demographic challenges, with an onus on boosting its vocational education.
South China Morning Post
- Shanghai offers cash sweeteners worth millions of dollars to attract hi-tech manufacturing projects, restore confidence in China’s economic ‘dragon head’ — The commercial hub is offering cash awards of up to 100 million yuan to attract manufacturing projects in key sectors such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology, in a bid to reignite economic growth after China’s reopening.
- Dividend payments by China’s biggest companies hit record US$174 billion in 2022, S&P report says — The total payout by constituents of the CSI 300, which tracks the biggest 300 stocks in Shenzhen and Shanghai, was up 14 per cent last year, as Beijing encouraged companies to reward their shareholders.
- China offers joined-up rail ticketing to belt and road countries — Laos is first to sign up to the universal platform, which uses Swiss francs, not the US dollar for international payments.
Nikkei Asia
- China weighs export ban for rare-earth magnet tech — Beijing looks to strike back after Washington’s chip restrictions.
- China’s oil giants to invest over $14bn in renewables by 2025 — Sinopec, CNOOC and PetroChina diversify operations amid decarbonization push.
Bloomberg
- Billionaire Saade Forges Ahead With China, Media Deals — CMA CGM SA Chief Executive Officer Rodolphe Saade said the world’s third-largest container line has reached new supply deals in China and an investment in a French online media company.
- Airbus to Build New China Jet Factory as Apple Pulls Back — Airbus SE will double production capacity in China of its top-selling jet in a bold bet on future demand in one of the world’s biggest aviation markets.
- US Criticizes China’s Pattern of Moves Against Foreign Firms — The Biden administration criticized Beijing for measures it took against American and other foreign companies in China, with a US official saying the actions are worrisome and inconsistent with pledges from Chinese officials to maintain an open business environment.
Reuters
- Exclusive: EU Chips Act likely to get green light on April 18 – sources — The European Commission announced the Chips Act last year in a bid to cut EU reliance on U.S. and Asian semiconductors following global supply chain problems that hurt European businesses from carmakers to manufacturers.
- Exclusive: China plans $500 mln subsea internet cable to rival U.S.-backed project — Chinese state-owned telecom firms are developing a $500 million undersea fiber-optic internet cable network that would link Asia, the Middle East and Europe to rival a similar U.S.-backed project.
- China says no illegal fentanyl trafficking between it and Mexico — China has not been notified by Mexico about any seizure of fentanyl from China, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular briefing.
- WTA must stand firm on Peng and China, says human rights advocate — The WTA was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, posting eight-figure losses in 2020 and 2021, and last week said it would soon announce whether or not it would return to a country in which it is heavily invested.
The Economist
- China’s huge Asian investments fail to buy it soft power — They still provoke as much suspicion and resentment as gratitude.
- The view from the front line between Taiwan and China — As Tsai Ing-wen visits America, we visit Kinmen island, 3km from the mainland.
- Ethnic terminology bedevils Taiwan-China relations — A former Taiwanese president’s use of it raises hackles on the island.
- It is getting even harder for Western scholars to do research in China — Access to databases of vital materials is dwindling.
- Why Xi Jinping is not another Chairman Mao — He is a strongman who wants to harness, not blow up, China’s deep state.
Other Publications
- The Los Angeles Times: They became friends protesting China in the U.S. They still don’t know one another’s names — Even in Boston, 12 time zones away from Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party might be watching. Might be listening. Or so they thought.
- WIRED: A Tiny Blog Took on Big Surveillance in China—and Won — Digging through manuals for security cameras, a group of gearheads found sinister details and ignited a new battle in the US-China tech war.
