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 Country Garden Succumbs to Debt Crisis After Sales Plunge — Property giant fails to repay a loan and warns that it is unlikely to pay off all its international debt obligations.
- Evergrande Investors Warn of ‘Uncontrollable Collapse’ — The developer canceled a debt restructuring deal last month, leaving investors in limbo.
- China’s Golden Week Doesn’t Glitter — Chinese tourism is coming back but with a notable emphasis on thrift.
The Financial Times
- China property: Country Garden default would blight market outlook — Impact threatens to be much larger than Evergrande fallout, with shockwaves rippling across Asia.
- China’s largest private developer Country Garden warns of default — Company has about $200bn in liabilities and close to $10bn in dollar-denominated debt.
- China’s economy misses Golden Week glow as property gloom persists — Policymakers urged to keep up support as tourists shun spending spree in favour of experiences.
- EU plans anti-subsidy probe into Chinese steelmakers — Washington had requested the move in return for avoiding reimposition of Trump-era tariffs.
- Saudi-China collaboration raises concerns about access to AI chips — Fears grow at Gulf kingdom’s top university that ties to Chinese researchers risk upsetting US government.
- US senators seek Xi’s help to pressure Iran on Middle East conflict — Lawmakers request Beijing’s influence to contain hostilities after surprise Hamas attack on Israel.
- Opinion: Seeing China’s side of the EM debt debate — Stricken countries are suffering as China and the Western-dominated IMF engage in a titanic wrestling match over debt crisis-resolution architecture. By Gabriel Sterne
The New York Times
- Xi-Schumer Meeting Raises Hopes of Smoother U.S.-China Relations — Mr. Xi said there were “1,000 reasons” to make the relationship work. Earlier, the Senate majority leader had criticized Beijing for its response to the attack by Hamas in Israel.
- Country Garden Caves to Debts as China’s Real Estate Crisis Worsens — The property giant was unable to repay a loan and signaled it would default on its debt, becoming one of the biggest casualties of China’s deepening property crisis.
- South Korean Chip Makers Get U.S. Waivers From China Export Rules — A government official in Seoul said the decision settled a trade issue that threatened to impede the China operations of Samsung and SK Hynix.
- Police Fatally Shoot Driver Who Crashed Into Chinese Consulate in San Francisco — The investigation into the episode is continuing, and the authorities have not released the name of the suspect.
Caixin
- Samsung and SK Hynix China Factories Win U.S. Waivers — The U.S. cleared Samsung and SK Hynix to supply U.S. chip equipment to their China factories without a separate approval process, South Korea’s presidential office said Monday.
- Ant Group Consumer Lending Arm Plans $625 Million Capital Injection — Ant Group Co. Ltd.’s consumer lending subsidiary plans to boost its registered capital to 23 billion yuan ($3.2 billion), in a bid to speed up completion of the fintech giant’s years-long, government-driven overhaul.
- New Huawei Tech-Powered Electric Car Launches With a Bang — A new electric car powered by Huawei’s autonomous driving technology has hit the market with a bang, attracting tens of thousands of orders in less than a month.
South China Morning Post
- China will help citizens leave Israel-Hamas war zone ‘if their safety is guaranteed’ — Beijing has yet to release details of Chinese casualties and says it’s trying to verify information about two workers reported to have been killed.
- China premier balks at US blacklist with visit to sanctioned surveillance giant, calls for digital economy revolution — Li Qiang’s inspection tour in China’s economic powerhouse features some of the strongest high-level calls for a digital transformation, with huge hardware and software upgrades in the works.
- China’s commerce chief presses US Senate leader Chuck Schumer over trade restrictions — During ‘rational and pragmatic’ talks on Monday, Wang Wentao told Chuck Schumer that China wants the US to define its security boundaries.
- China struggling to wean itself off US dollar assets despite financial de-risking calls — China is still the second-largest foreign investor in US Treasuries despite seeing its holdings fall to a 14-year-low of US$821.8 billion in July.
Nikkei Asia
- Huawei aims to double smartphone shipments to 70m next year — New export controls expected from U.S. could thwart ambitious comeback plans.
- China hedges on Israel-Hamas war as U.S. urges stronger stance — Conflict poses new obstacle to Beijing’s ambitions in Middle East.
- China vows Belt and Road ramp up despite debt-trap criticism — Pledge comes as Xi Jinping’s globe-spanning infrastructure blitz turns decade old.
- China growth forecasts downgraded by IMF as world economies diverge — India and other emerging Asia markets lead in growth while Japan’s outlook improves.
Bloomberg
- ‘Modest’ China Stimulus May Bolster Growth Goal, Analysts Say — New stimulus under consideration in China would raise this year’s budget deficit and ensure the economy achieves the government’s official growth target of about 5%, though more support is likely needed to boost weak demand.
- China Says Exim Bank, Sri Lanka Reached Preliminary Debt Deal — China said one of its financial institutions has reached a preliminary agreement with Sri Lanka on resolving China-related debt, a potentially major step toward resolving the South Asian nation’s fiscal woes.
- China Says It Drove Away Philippine Navy Ship in Disputed Sea — China’s coast guard on Tuesday said it drove away a Philippine Navy vessel when it entered an area near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a claim that Manila denied.
Reuters
- Middle East crisis tests limits of China’s diplomatic push — When China announced a surprise deal restoring ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran this year, it signalled Beijing’s desire to be a diplomatic heavyweight in the Middle East.
- China funds look to Mideast cash as US investments wane — Chinese funds are seeking new capital sources in the Middle East and other markets, managers say, in a shift that could reshape investment flows as diplomatic tensions and other risks drive many U.S. investors out of the country.
- Schumer notes ‘serious engagement’ with China’s Xi during Beijing visit — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday there had been “serious engagement” during a meeting between a visiting U.S. bipartisan congressional delegation and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Other Publications
- Rest of World: For queer couples wanting a child in China, surrogacy brings hope and danger — Surrogates are one of the only options for LGBTQIA people wanting to start a family, but it’s a legal gray area where scams are common.
- The Guardian: Chinese programmer ordered to pay 1m yuan for using virtual private network — Police confiscate ‘illegal income’ of developer deemed to have used ‘unauthorised channels’ to connect to international networks.
- Al Jazeera: How prepared is Taiwan for a war with China? — Dwarfed by China’s population and military strength, the self-ruled island has been improving training and stockpiling military equipment.
- Fortune: China’s disappointing Golden Week holiday—the first after the end of COVID-zero—shows the country’s consumers are still holding back — The roughly week-long period, associated with China’s national day on Oct. 1, is an important signal for Chinese consumer confidence, as millions of people travel domestically and overseas.
