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. Is Turning Away From Its Biggest Scientific Partner at a Precarious Time — Severing collaborations with China amid security concerns could undermine American progress in critical areas, some scientists are warning.
- China Turns to Well-Honed Playbook: Cut Rates, Hide Data — Chinese authorities seek to respond to gloomy economic news by halting the release of youth unemployment data and announcing a flurry of interest-rate cuts.
- Boeing Taps Local-Born Ford Veteran to Chart China Recovery — American plane maker is struggling to build momentum in one of its most important markets.
- Estée Lauder’s Big Bet on China Is Looking Not So Pretty — CEO Fabrizio Freda aims to overhaul Asia supply chain and revitalize the beauty brand’s image.
- China Torpedoes Intel’s Bid to Buy Israeli Chip Maker Tower Semiconductor — It is the latest acquisition scuppered by Beijing amid a tech battle with the U.S.
- Race to Control Electric-Vehicle Supply Chains Leads to Africa — To bypass China, Western companies are investing in facilities to process battery metals in countries such as Tanzania, Mauritius and South Africa.
The Financial Times
- Tencent sales squeezed by slowdown in domestic gaming — Chinese tech group’s profit rises by a third as it seeks better margins from areas such as advertising.
- Tesla slashes model prices in China as EV price war accelerates — Country’s auto industry hit by slow growth and weak demand as officials struggle to lift confidence following pandemic.
- Retail investors complain to Chinese regulator about Zhongzhi — Missed payments by financial conglomerate spur anxiety over liquidity crisis.
- China’s housing market is . . . not good — How long until it bans property data releases as well?
- Chinese drugmakers develop copycat versions of ‘miracle’ weight-loss drug — Low-cost domestic rivals hope to challenge Novo Nordisk in one of world’s biggest markets for anti-obesity medication.
The New York Times
- China and Hong Kong Stocks Slump as Economic Gloom Spreads — A string of worrying data has taken the fizz out of markets.
- Intel Acquisition of Tower Semiconductor Is Scuttled by China — Intel calls off its planned acquisition of Tower Semiconductor, an Israeli chip maker, after waiting in vain for 18 months for a review by Chinese regulators.
- Country Garden: Why Its Financial Crisis Poses a Risk to China — Country Garden was China’s biggest real estate developer. Now it is staring down default, facing billions of dollars in losses and $200 billion in unpaid bills.
- Wall St. Weighs the Effect of Weaker China and Stronger U.S. — Investors are worried about the Chinese economy teetering as well as signs that the U.S. economy may be growing too fast for inflation to moderate.
Caixin
- Exclusive: Former President of World’s Top Port Operator Under Graft Probe — Yan Jun, former president of Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), was placed under investigation, Shanghai’s anti-corruption watchdog disclosed Monday.
- Xiaomi Joins AI Model Fray With Upgrade to Smartphone Voice Assistant — Xiaomi Corp. has been developing and testing its new artificial intelligence (AI) model on its mobile devices as the smartphone maker seeks to get ahead in the race to develop the technology used to power tools like ChatGPT.
- Charts of the Day: The Missing Data in China’s Rising Unemployment — China’s national surveyed urban unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 5.3% in July, according to the latest official data. But the rate for 16- to 24-year-olds, which hit a record high of 21.3% in June, was absent from the recent data dump.
South China Morning Post
- Chinese cryptocurrency mining firm charged with running pyramid scheme, as Beijing maintains tight grip on virtual assets — Four executives at Filecoin mining firm Shenzhen Shikongyun Technology were slapped with criminal charges in the southern autonomous region of Guangxi for a scheme that raked in more than US$83 million.
- Taiwanese investing more in South Asia, Asean than mainland China amid global supply chains reshuffle — Taiwanese investments in mainland China came to US$1.9 billion in the first six months of the year, compared to inflows into South Asia and the Asean bloc, plus Australia and New Zealand, reaching a combined US$2.126 billion.
- Tencent boss Pony Ma vows to develop AI technologies to aid human well-being, warning of the potential for ‘huge pain’ — Tencent boss Pony Ma wants AI tech to promote human good and company has already deployed AI technologies to applications that aim to solve social issues.
- China chip output growth slows in July as self-sufficiency drive continues — The slower IC output trend in July comes as the domestic chip market struggles with weak consumer demand and high inventories.
Nikkei Asia
- Foreign law firms scale back China operations as outlook dims — Two U.S. firms latest to downsize amid slowing economy and regulatory uncertainty.
- Tencent Q2 revenue grows 11% but misses forecasts — CEO Pony Ma says group achieved ‘rapid growth’ in key businesses such as ads.
- China’s grip on Southeast Asia tightens as U.S. influence wanes — From Vietnam to Indonesia, development aid and ‘Asian values’ drive Beijing’s dominance.
- China’s state-owned firms overtake private sector in economic slump — Smaller businesses hit by weak consumer spending, left out of infrastructure orders.
Bloomberg
- China Pledges Domestic Consumption Expansion to Boost Growth — China’s top government leaders vowed to expand domestic consumption and continue to support the private sector in the latest effort to revive the economy.
- China Asks Some Funds to Avoid Net Equity Sales as Markets Sink — Chinese authorities asked some investment funds this week to avoid being net sellers of equities, as a rout in the nation’s financial markets deepened, people familiar with the matter said.
- Country Garden Warns on ‘Major Uncertainties’ in Bond Payments — Distressed Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co. warned about “major uncertainties” in redemption of its bonds, as it said that trading in some of its local notes will remain suspended.
- China Shadow Bank Crisis Sparks Protest by Angry Investors — A group of investors protested at the Beijing office of Zhongrong International Trust Co. after the Chinese shadow banking giant missed payments on dozens of products.
- Tesla Cuts China Prices for the Second Time in Three Days — Tesla Inc. made its second round of price cuts in China this week, further fueling concerns the carmaker is reigniting a price war.
- China’s Sweeping Health Graft Campaign Goes Beyond Hospitals — China’s top health regulator said an anti-corruption campaign targeting the sector will weed out wrongdoing in everything from drug companies and manufacturing to hospitals and the state medical insurance fund, underscoring the sweeping nature of the crackdown already dubbed the toughest ever.
Reuters
- Bumpy road for China’s ride hailing drivers as economy slows — Shanghai driver Zhu Zhimin works 15 hours a day to earn the same money he was making only a few months ago working a regular shift, as he competes with an increasing number of Chinese rushing into the ride-hailing industry.
- Boeing China appoints new president amid Sino-US tensions — Boeing named Alvin Liu head of its China unit on Wednesday, picking a Chinese-born representative recently hired from the auto industry as the aircraft maker grapples with a drought in U.S. imports to the crucial aviation market.
- China’s fertility rate drops to record low 1.09 in 2022- state media — China’s fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country’s declining number of new births.
- Canada’s corporate watchdog probes Ralph Lauren on alleged use of forced labor in China — Canada’s corporate ethics watchdog said on Tuesday it was investigating Ralph Lauren’s Canada unit to probe allegations the apparel retailer’s supply chain and operations in China used or benefited from the use of Uyghur forced labor.
- China’s CATL launches fast charging LFP battery, mass production expected by year-end — Chinese battery giant CATL on Wednesday launched a fast charging lithium iron phosphate or LFP battery capable of running 400 km (248 miles) on a 10-minute charge.
Other Publications
- China Media Project: Code Pink, Code Red — The China-related agenda of the “Women for Peace” organization might be taken more seriously as a call for respectful dialogue and cooperation if its narratives were not so closely aligned with those of the Chinese party-state.
- The War Zone: China Is Building A Runway On Its Closest Island Outpost To Vietnam — Triton is the westernmost island in the South China Sea’s strategic Paracel archipelago and added militarization of it has big implications.
- Sixth Tone: Chinese Airport Lifts Tesla Ban After Sentry Mode Clarification — The car maker has since clarified that video footage cannot be viewed by owners or Tesla and all data is stored within China.
- China Matters: PRC’s approach to Indonesia: Competing for regional influence — In competition for regional influence with the US, the PRC pursues its interests with Indonesia by appealing to Jakarta’s domestic priorities and generally choosing to use incentives over coercion.
- The Economist: Keeping tabs on China’s murky maritime manoeuvres — America and its allies are using whizzy new tools to track China’s military activity and illegal fishing.
- Foreign Policy: Biden Isn’t Driving Investors Out of China — New restrictions on U.S. investments in high-tech sectors follow a trend of foreign firms fading out.
- MIT Technology Review: China’s car companies are turning into tech companies — China has already won the race to electrify its vehicles. Now it’s pushing ahead and adding more features and services to attract new customers.