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
- Foreign Firms Pull Billions in Earnings Out of China — The outflows show interest rates, U.S. tensions and a weak economy are sapping China’s investment appeal.
- China Tries to Lure Its Unemployed Youth to the Countryside — Communist Party seeks to deploy hundreds of thousands to rural communities, aiming to keep young people busy while city jobs are scarce.
- China Unleashes Crackdown on ‘Pig Butchering.’ (It Isn’t What You Think.) — Beijing is going after scam mills that operate out of secretive, dystopian compounds and swindle people worldwide.
- China Says Australia’s Exporters Can Come Back. Some Say No Thanks. — Trade leads agenda for Anthony Albanese on first visit by Australian leader to China since diplomatic rift in 2020.
- Big Western Brands Are Getting Squeezed by Chinese Belt-Tightening — Apple, Estée Lauder, Canada Goose feel the impact of Chinese consumers reducing their spending.
The Financial Times
- Yellen to meet China’s vice-premier ahead of Biden-Xi summit — US and Chinese presidents expected to hold talks in San Francisco amid renewed effort to improve relations.
- Flights tracking North Korean sanctions busters anger China — Beijing sees western surveillance of illicit oil shipments as pretext to expand military operations in Pacific.
- Japan’s scallop industry seeks safe harbour from China ban — Investors say Beijing’s sanctions could offer an unexpected boost by creating a national champion.
- US consultancy Gallup withdraws from China — Polling group attacked as ‘tool’ to discredit Beijing as foreign companies face rising state scrutiny.
The New York Times
- More Semiconductors, Less Housing: China’s New Economic Plan — Policymakers, wary of inciting reckless borrowing in real estate, are instead investing heavily in factories and trying to help indebted local governments.
- Treasury Secretary Yellen to Hold Economic Talks With Chinese Counterpart — The high-level meetings in San Francisco will lay the groundwork for talks between President Biden and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping.
- Opinion: The U.S. Can Counter China’s Control of Minerals for the Energy Transition — Unlike in the 20th century, when China was largely a bystander in petroleum politics, the country has achieved new geopolitical significance by scaling up investments in clean energy manufacturing and the critical minerals that work requires. By James Morton Turner
Caixin
- Cover Story: The Miracle and Mirage of Weight Loss Drugs — In China, expanding waistlines are the result of rapid urbanization and large-scale population migration, which have reshaped work and lifestyles.
- Saudi Arabia Looks to China to Help Build Up Its Renewables Industry — Saudi Arabia will be counting on partnerships with Chinese companies to help the Gulf country build up a renewable energy industry of its own, according to an executive at its sovereign wealth fund.
- Aramco Ups Investment in Refining and Petrochemical Facilities in China — Saudi Aramco will invest more in the refining and petrochemical businesses in China as the Saudi Arabian oil giant tries to wring more money from every barrel of oil the kingdom produces.
South China Morning Post
- Chinese scientists claim anti-ageing breakthrough with spinal cord discovery — Researchers find protein at ‘toxic’ levels surrounding motor neurons of older monkeys and test whether vitamin C really makes a difference.
- Chinese tech executive Chen Shaojie, CEO of DouYu, said to be held ‘incommunicado’ after authorities find porn on popular live-streaming platform — Chen, 39, has vanished from sight for weeks and could neither be contacted nor located by his colleagues, according to a report by Cover News.
- China’s fintech dilemma — beloved by small business, distrusted by regulators — China’s small business owners have welcomed the rise of financial platforms more suited to their needs, but those platforms’ attendant risk has made them something of a liability for a risk-averse government. Will they be able to survive an inevitable round of intense regulatory scrutiny?
- China’s Comac moves ahead with C929 widebody jet amid reports Russia joint venture has fallen apart — Chinese aviation giant says the passenger plane has entered ‘detailed design’ stage, but makes no mention of Russian firm’s involvement in the project, which has been marred by delays.
Nikkei Asia
- Mammoth Chinese chip project raises another $5bn — Factory to churn out key tech as nation’s self-sufficiency drive accelerates.
- Foreign investment in China turns negative for first time — Money flows out of country on concerns over U.S. tensions, anti-spy laws.
- Sinopec signs new 27-year LNG supply deal with QatarEnergy — Latest contract marks companies’ third long-term agreement since 2021.
- Opinion: Grief for Li Keqiang reflects wistfulness for China’s road not taken — Public is mourning for the freer, more dynamic era of ‘reform and opening’. By Steve Tsang
Bloomberg
- China Energy Storage Push Gets Boost From New Gravity Projects — A US company that stores energy by elevating heavy objects is expanding its pipeline in China with five new projects to help provide around-the-clock clean power.
- Apple’s Tim Cook Can’t Brush Off China iPhone Worries Forever — Political winds loom large over the iPhone maker’s business in the country whether its CEO wants to acknowledge it yet or not.
- China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng Confirmed As Economy Czar — Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng has been confirmed as the top official overseeing economic and financial policy as well as trade talks with the US and Europe, according to a series of announcements.
- Hungary Sees EV Investment Surge as BYD Poised to Set Up Factory — Hungary expects a doubling of foreign direct investment by the end of the decade on a surge in the electric-vehicle industry, with China’s BYD Co. reported to be the latest to build a new factory in the country.
Reuters
- China, Australia agree to turn the page as tensions ease — President Xi Jinping said on Monday stable ties between China and Australia served each other’s interests and both should expand their cooperation, sending a clear signal that Beijing was ready to move on from recent tensions.
- Ant Group wins approval to release AI products to Chinese public — Ant Group has received Chinese government approval to release products powered by its “Bailing” artificial intelligence (AI) large language model to the public, a spokesperson for the Chinese firm said on Monday.
- Multinationals plan moves to minimise China risk, ECB survey shows — More than 40% of multinational firms surveyed by the European Central Bank expect to move production to politically friendlier countries in the coming years, with risk related to China cited as the main concern, a paper showed on Monday.
- US law firms rethink China future amid economic woes, data crackdown — A hard-fought race by U.S. and global law firms to expand into China has turned into a retreat for many, thanks to growing pressures on foreign businesses and converging economic and geopolitical challenges, according to new data and interviews with lawyers and legal industry experts.
Other Publications
- BBC News: The US is quietly arming Taiwan to the teeth — When US President Joe Biden recently signed off on a $80m grant to Taiwan for the purchase of American military equipment, China said it “deplores and opposes” what Washington had done.
- Washington Post: Opinion: There’s a way for the U.S. to compete with China — and to work with China — President Biden and I have been clear-eyed about navigating the complexities of the U.S.-China relationship with a pragmatic economic strategy: one that protects our vital national security interests while seeking a stable and healthy economic relationship. By Janet L. Yellen
- Brookings Institution: Peak China: Why do China’s growth projections differ so much? — Are China’s problems merely a slump, or signs of lasting decline? By Peter A. Petri
- The Guardian: Pacific Islands Forum: four leaders fail to attend as China-US rivalry takes centre stage — The US has been racing to reopen embassies and deepen links with Pacific countries in wake of Solomon Islands security pact with China.
