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
- Rare Look Inside TikTok Parent’s Finances Shows Slowing Revenue Growth — Chinese social-media company reported an operating profit of more than $20 billion as its valuation fell by about 26%.
The Financial Times
- Estimating Chinese corruption — Flies and tigers alike are being swatted.
- Apple/China: catch app session raises doubts over market access — Beijing’s decision to hold app store operators accountable for illegal content puts the US devices giant in a tricky position.
- Indian police raid news site alleged to be Chinese propaganda outlet — NewsClick journalists and contributors say police seized phones and laptops in early morning operation.
- US raises concern with Peru over Chinese control of infrastructure — Beijing stands to control power supply to Lima and megaport serving Pacific.
- A subsidy club to restrain rich-world handouts to China — High-income countries giving out cash that gets spent on imported Chinese cars and solar panels is politically tricky.
- IMF head backs reforms that could give China more voting power — Kristalina Georgieva steps up push for more resources to deal with economic problems across the globe.
The New York Times
- A Rural Michigan Town Is the Latest Battleground in the U.S.-China Fight — Firestorms over Chinese investments, like a battery factory in Green Charter Township, are erupting as officials weigh the risks of taking money from an adversary.
- China Is Suffering a Brain Drain. The U.S. Isn’t Exploiting It. — China’s brightest minds, including tech professionals, are emigrating, but many are not heading to America. We spoke to them to ask why.
- China Evergrande’s Founder: The Rise and Fall of Hui Ka Yan — Hui Ka Yan, who grew up poor in the countryside, was a symbol of China’s economic rise. With Evergrande teetering, his future is uncertain, too.
- Tesla’s Sales Slip as It Readies Factories for New Models — Analysts expected a decline in sales for the quarter. Still, the dip may raise concerns about flagging demand.
Caixin
- Caixin China New Economy Index Rises Again on Growing Investment — The contribution of high value-added industries such as new energy and biotechnology to China’s total economic inputs increased in September.
South China Morning Post
- China’s Chang’e 5 lunar mission wins International Academy of Astronautics award for team after ‘outstanding contributions’ — International astronautics academy honours ‘outstanding contributions to human lunar and deep space exploration’.
- For Chinese chip-making, lack of advanced lithography systems becomes a focal point in wake of Huawei’s breakthrough — Chinese chip makers are constrained by the limits of their existing imported lithography equipment, and domestic machines lag far behind the cutting edge.
- China flexes green thumb as it pursues agricultural self-reliance — Beijing is investing even more time and resources into ensuring agricultural stability for the years to come.
- In boost for semiconductor ambitions, Japan approves US$1.3 billion in subsidies for US chip firm Micron’s plant in Hiroshima — The subsidies will help US chip maker Micron install Dutch firm ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment to make advanced semiconductors in Japan.
Nikkei Asia
- Indonesia’s first high-speed rail opens: 5 things to know — China-backed WHOOSH train brings economic benefits, but some are skeptical.
- Singapore focuses on money laundering laws, denies China pressure — Case involving Chinese suspects with $2bn illicit gains spurs regulatory review.
- Taiwan cultivates homegrown drone industry with eye on China — Island boosts defense supply chains while fostering new growth driver.
- China keeps Sri Lanka in debt grip, stalling IMF relief — Failed bailout review raises stakes of Wickremesinghe’s upcoming trip to Beijing.
- Opinion: Data could let Xi loosen grip on China’s economy but keep control — Tools like digital yuan key to vision of using technology to raise alarms. By Diana Choyleva.
Bloomberg
- Taiwan Tech Companies Are Helping Huawei Build a Secret Network of Chip Plants — Several Taiwanese technology companies are helping Huawei Technologies Co. build infrastructure for an under-the-radar network of chip plants across southern China.
- China Evergrande Shares Soar as Trade Resumes Amid Police Probe — China Evergrande Group soared as it returned from a trading halt, driven by what appeared to be speculative bets on a penny stock even as the developer’s fate hangs in the balance.
- LVMH’s Duty-Free Unit Bets on China Luxury Hub With Mega Mall — DFS Group, the travel retail arm of luxury conglomerate LVMH, plans to build a major shopping and entertainment complex on China’s tax-free Hainan island.
- US Senators to Seek Xi Meeting, Discuss Micron on China Trip — Schumer, Crapo eyeing China trip the second week of October.
- Opinion: China’s Belt and Road Shows the High Price of Beijing’s Money — Xi Jinping’s geopolitical infrastructure project turns 10 this year. He should enjoy the party — the next decade won’t be so smooth. By Karishma Vaswani.
Reuters
- China offers to collaborate on lunar mission as deadlines loom — China welcomes countries and international organisations on its uncrewed Chang’e-8 mission and to jointly carry out “mission-level” projects.
- Apple enforces new check on apps in China as Beijing tightens oversight — The decision by Apple comes after China further tightened its oversight over mobile apps in August by releasing a new rule requiring all app stores and app developers to submit an “app filing”.
- Exclusive: US warned China to expect updated export curbs in October – US official — The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, is working on an update of export restrictions first released last year.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Who Killed the Chinese Economy? — Chronic diseases have afflicted China’s economy well before the COVID-19 pandemic: an exhausted growth model, stunted population growth thanks to the “one-child policy,” and, most notably, Xi’s failures of leadership.
- The Washington Post: As China arrives with a splash in Honduras, the U.S. wrings its hands — A string of countries in Central America have established diplomatic relations with Beijing, breaking ties with Taiwan.
- AP: Panda Diplomacy: The departure of DC’s beloved pandas may signal a wider Chinese pullback — The potential end of the National Zoo’s panda era comes amid what veteran China-watchers say is a larger trend.
- AP: China welcomes Taiwanese athletes at the Asian Games but they still can’t compete under their flag — Taiwan’s baseball team took the field Tuesday sporting caps and jerseys not with “T” for Taiwan, but “CT,” for Chinese Taipei.
- The Atlantic: Telling the Truth About Taiwan — On a recent visit, a series of conversations brought home to Eliot A. Cohen just how pernicious our falsehoods have been.
- The New Yorker: Should the West Threaten the Putin Regime Over Ukraine? — The historian Stephen Kotkin on the state of the war and the dangers of a Russian Tet Offensive.
- The Economist: Communist rappers are luring young disgruntled Chinese — The party’s youth wing is growing inside companies.
- CSIS: BRICS+ from Above: Why the Space Dimension of the Expanded Alliance Matters — Where most see an amorphous grouping of countries—some formal U.S. allies and others traditional anti-Western autocracies—all have space programs and ambitions.
- PIIE: Proposal to get rid of duty-free imports would punish American consumers and small businesses — In its quest to punish Russia and China, Congress should be vigilant not to punish its own constituents.
