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
- North Korea Cracks Open the Gate as Flights to China Resume — Pyongyang conducts its first passenger flight since suspending overseas air travel in January 2020 over pandemic fears.
- Thailand Picks a New Leader, Opening Door for U.S. to Revive Key Alliance — Real-estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin will succeed a former army chief who moved the country closer to China.
- Deal to Double China Flights Signals U.S. Airlines’ Stronger Hand — Both sides stay civil even as Biden administration’s go-slow policy frustrates Beijing’s hopes of faster aviation-market reopening.
- The New Race to Reach the Moon—and Find Water — Promise of water draws countries, companies; Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crash is second failed landing this year.
- Booming Trade With China Helps Boost Russia’s War Effort — Chinese exports to its neighbor have risen sharply, as Beijing sends everything from microchips to trench-digging excavators.
- Brics Nations at Odds Over Adding to Their Number — Debate about whether and how to expand is likely to feature prominently during group’s summit.
- Opinion: The Electric-Vehicle Bubble Starts to Deflate — Biden is imitating China just as its industrial policy starts to crack. By The Editorial Board.
- Opinion: GOP Presidential Candidates Need to Talk About China — The 2020s are now calling for a new foreign policy to deal with a cold war that’s been going on for a decade. By Mike Gallagher.
- Opinion: Power Matters More Than Diplomacy — It is time to inject some realism into the post-Cold War era of geopolitical rivalry. By Walter Russell Mead.
The Financial Times
- BHP profits fall 37% as miner flags China uncertainties — Australian group slashes dividend after a year of lower commodity prices and inflationary pressures.
- Investors sound alarm over Arm’s exposure to China — Chip designer admits to geopolitical risks in crucial market, as questions remain over Chinese joint venture.
- China’s rate caution shines light on $56tn banking system — Beijing seeks to balance boosting a stuttering economy with preserving financial sector stability.
- China’s blueprint for an alternative world order — Beijing is using its economic muscle to rally developing countries and reduce the west’s influence over the UN.
- China’s cathode billionaire targets US battery market via South Korea IPO — Ronbay Technology looks to split to avoid Washington’s tariffs and access subsidies.
- The perils of investing in a boutique winery in China — A passion for viniculture — and lots of money — is needed in a challenging climate and difficult market.
- China’s growth response falls short — Also in this newsletter: Ukraine near insurance deal on grain ships, Domino’s exits Russia, Lebanon’s discredited central banker.
The New York Times
- Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to Visit China Next Week — The trip by Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, comes at a tense moment for the U.S.-China relationship and the Chinese economy.
- China’s Property Crisis: Why It’s So Hard for Beijing to Fix — Beijing has often addressed economic troubles by boosting spending on infrastructure and real estate, but now heavy debt loads make that a hard playbook to follow.
- What to Know About China’s Real Estate Crisis and Economy — China’s economy was long dependent on a booming real estate sector, which has recently fallen on harder times.
- Could U.S. Toughness on Chinese Business Have Unintended Consequences? — Businesses fear that efforts to look tough on Beijing, which have the potential to be more expansive than moves by the federal government, could have unintended consequences.
Caixin
- Three Banks Fined $15.9 Million for Loan-Related Breaches — Regulators penalize Agricultural Bank of China, Minsheng Bank and Guangfa Bank in tightened scrutiny of irregular lending.
- Country Garden’s Plan to Extend Bond Repayment Meets With Resistance — Bondholders will vote later this week on whether to approve the developer’s proposed three-year extension on a $541 million bond, or demand payment in full by Sept. 2.
- China’s Pension Growth Dwindles as Population Ages, Workforce Shrinks — A pension shortfall is looming in China as the country is confronted by a rapidly aging population and slowing economic growth.
- U.S. Eases Export Restrictions on 27 Chinese Entities — The Commerce Department says end-use checks had been successfully conducted, ahead of Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to China later this month.
- Cigarette Industry Crackdown Nets Another Top Executive — Xu Shanshui, controlling shareholder and chairman of Anhui Genuine New Materials, is detained for investigation on suspicion of bribery.
South China Morning Post
- China’s military academies enrol ‘record 17,000 high school graduates’ as youth joblessness soars — Total intake is the highest since 2017, with specialisations introduced to satisfy ‘urgent need for new types of military talent’, official military newspaper PLA Daily reports.
- GAC Aion, China’s third-largest EV maker, begins selling cars to Thailand, plans local factory to serve Asean market — Chinese state-owned carmaker Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) has joined its domestic rivals in tapping Southeast Asian demand with a shipment of 100 electric cars to Thailand, marking its first overseas consignment into a market historically dominated by Japanese carmakers.
- Why China is targeting the corruption tumour at the heart of its ailing health system — Beijing has launched a crackdown on bribery and other forms of graft that have long plagued hospitals and driven up medical costs.
- Opinion: Entrepreneurs are the hope of China’s economic future, so stop making ‘capital’ a dirty word — Despite its role in supporting China’s economic boom, private capital still carries a whiff of notoriety in the country. By Zhou Xin.
Nikkei Asia
- China ties become a fundraising hurdle for startups in the U.S. — Washington’s scrutiny of investments into China creates chilling effect at home.
- Missed payments by China’s Zhongzhi hit listed companies — Trust company’s troubles could be ‘the canary in the coal mine’.
- Indonesia to buy 24 F-15EX fighter jets from Boeing — Move follows similar deals for French-made Rafale, Mirage aircraft.
Bloomberg
- Arm Needed 3,500 Words to Explain Its China Risks Before IPO — Power struggle with fired China unit CEO still casts shadow.
- The Deep Problems Underlying China’s Economy — Demand, debt, demographics and decoupling.
- Opinion: China Finds How to Lose Friends and Influence in Asia — The Philippines is standing up to Beijing at a time of increased external and internal pressures. It won’t be the only one. By Karishma Vaswani.
Reuters
- German Foreign Minister says China a challenge to ‘how we live together’ — While China was a partner on climate change, trade and investment, it was “a rival when it comes to the very fundamentals of how we live together in this world,” Baerbock said.
- Beijing Hyundai puts Chongqing plant up for sale — The South Korean automaker is rejigging its strategy in China amid fierce price competition and slowing demand.
- Exclusive: Rare earths magnet firms turn to Vietnam in China hedge — Korean and Chinese magnet firms are set to open factories in Vietnam amid a push to diversify supply chains away from China and defend against Sino-U.S. tension.
- Central America parliament expels Taiwan, makes China permanent observer — The six-nation parliament proposed adding China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Opinion: Almost Nothing Is Worth a War Between the U.S. and China — Americans and Chinese have to rehumanize each other in terms of the way we conceive of our problems and engage. By Howard W. French.
- Foreign Policy: Has the U.S. Campaign Against Uyghur Forced Labor Been Successful? — A recent report on the solar industry’s connections to Xinjiang shows mixed results.
- Foreign Affairs: Xi’s Age of Stagnation — The Great Walling-Off of China
- Axios: In Tanzania, Beijing is running a training school for authoritarianism — Cultivating an authoritarian-friendly political bloc could help China reshape global institutions and guarantee markets as Western sanctions seek to isolate certain Chinese industries.
- The Washington Post: China hoped Fiji would be a template for the Pacific. Its plan backfired. — Fijians are increasingly souring on China, an example of how Beijing can overreach as it attempts to build its global influence.
- The Washington Post: Opinion: A deep crisis in China would pose a choice for two leading powers — All those who would celebrate China’s daunting challenges should consider the emerging risks that come with them — and be careful what they wish for. By Henry M. Paulson Jr.
- MIT Technology Review: How ubiquitous keyboard software puts hundreds of millions of Chinese users at risk — Third-party keyboard apps make typing in Chinese more efficient, but they can also be a privacy nightmare.
