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
- Beauty Stocks Tell an Ugly Story About China — Are Chinese consumers clawing their way back, or not? Shiseido’s plummeting China sales—and stock price—are a vote for the latter.
- U.S. Shift on Global Tech Rules Jeopardizes Effort to Counter China — Some Asian allies see rules facilitating digital trade as crucial to a trade deal among Pacific nations, but the U.S. is retreating.
- ICBC Hackers Used Methods Previously Flagged by U.S. Authorities — Attack stemmed from Lockbit 3.0 ransomware and two tactics targeting users of services managed by Citrix, Treasury says.
- Why Xi Can No Longer Brag About the Chinese Economy — Two years ago, Beijing was ascendant. Now, as Biden and Xi prepare to meet at the Asia Pacific summit, U.S. growth is humming while China struggles with a property slump and local government debts.
The Financial Times
- China and US to agree crackdown on fentanyl trade — Plan to curb supply of opioid’s precursor chemicals comes ahead of summit between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
- Taiwan says US using ‘all possible ways’ to support defence against China — Taipei’s top national security official hails Washington for urgently ‘taking action’ to deter Beijing.
- Xi enlists Flying Tigers as China’s propagandists seek friendlier tone on US — Beijing fetes wartime pilots ahead of Biden meeting but underlying narrative of America as rival unchanged.
- Don’t get too optimistic about Biden-Xi — The core economic agendas of the two nations simply don’t work well together.
- Opinion: Didi: strong result gives IPO hopeful a ticket to ride — Fallout from Beijing’s crackdown lingers but it is not too late for the company to win back lost users. By Lex.
The New York Times
- As Xi Heads to San Francisco, Chinese Propaganda Embraces America — After years of anti-American propaganda, the softer, warmer depiction of relations with the United States has left some Chinese social media users confused or amused.
- The Rise and Fall of the U.S.-China Economic Partnership — China and the U.S. both gained from their economic integration. As they pull apart, each is finding it will be hard to fully replace the other.
- U.S. Manages Expectations of a Breakthrough Before Biden and Xi Meet — President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China will try to defuse a year of bubbling tensions on Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Caixin
- In Depth: Chinese Consumers Deluged With Cheap Loans — Banks are undercutting each other amid the government’s calls to support consumption and economic growth.
- Top Securities Firms CICC, China Galaxy Deny Merger Rumor — Both say they haven’t received any information about a tie-up from the government or controlling shareholders.
- China Releases New Rules to Strengthen Penalties Against Telecom Scams — Chinese authorities have stepped up the fight against rampant telecom scam activity with new draft rules aimed at tightening penalties for not only scammers but also their facilitators.
- China Tells Government Units to Book Events at Fancy Hotels — China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism called on government units to hold meetings, training sessions and other activities at top hotels to help expand the capacity of China’s tourism industry.
South China Morning Post
- China’s new private-firms bureau reveals 6 service platforms to support its struggling ‘family’ — It remains to be seen how much power the two-month-old division will wield as policymakers have failed to counteract the nation’s sluggish economic recovery and ongoing property crisis this year.
- More Americans concerned China’s rise is threat to US national interest than any time since 1990: survey — Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll highlights concerns over American response to intellectual property theft, economic competition and global supply chains.
- China launches world’s fastest internet with 1.2 terabit per second link, years ahead of forecasts — Network can send the equivalent of 150 films per second, 3 times faster than nearest rival in the US and 2 years earlier than industry forecasts.
- Ant Group rolls out global expansion strategy from new Singapore office — Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, announced a new global expansion strategy on Tuesday, as it doubles down on the overseas market via a new office in Singapore.
Nikkei Asia
- Hungary’s Chinese EV ambitions thwarted by anti-immigration grief — Battery makers like CATL face staff shortage, local wariness in the country.
- U.S.-China: One summit, two different goals for Biden and Xi — APEC get-together may be last for leaders before 2024 U.S. presidential election.
- China’s chipmaking equipment imports surge 93% despite curbs — Purchases from Netherlands jump as Chinese buyers grab what they can.
- Apple supplier Foxconn gives conservative outlook for 2024 — Key iPhone assembler to invest in China, India, Mexico, Vietnam and U.S. next year.
Bloomberg
- Biden, Xi to Announce China’s Crackdown on Fentanyl Trade — Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are set to announce an agreement that would see Beijing crack down on the manufacture and export of fentanyl, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially delivering the US president a major victory.
- China Mulls $137 Billion of New Funds to Aid Housing Market — China plans to provide at least 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) of low-cost financing to the nation’s urban village renovation and affordable housing programs in its latest effort to shore up the struggling property market, according to people familiar with the matter.
- US Grants Chinese Journalists Hundreds of Visas For APEC — The US has given a large number of Chinese journalists permission to enter the country to cover the first meeting between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in a year, in a sign of improving ties.
- Musk, Citi’s Fraser Among the CEOs Wooing China’s Xi at APEC — Executives from Microsoft Corp., Citigroup Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and other large multinationals are converging on San Francisco this week for an audience with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Asian leaders as long-frosty US-China relations show only tentative signs of warming.
- Opinion: China Should Just Accept US Exceptionalism — As Biden and Xi prepare to meet, Beijing’s policymakers must learn from America’s resilience in order to draw their own economy out of its slump. By Shuli Ren.
Reuters
- Chinese graduates hold off career dreams, take temporary government jobs — This year, amid a deepening youth joblessness crisis in the world’s second-largest economy, even remote rural positions have seen intense competition from young Chinese with diplomas from top universities, graduates and economists say.
- How an executive’s arrest struck a blow to Japan-China business — China detained the executive, named in several media reports as Hiroshi Nishiyama, on suspicion of espionage in March, and he was formally arrested last month.
- Exclusive: China orders local governments to cut exposure to public-private projects as debt risks rise — The guidelines were mentioned in a cabinet document that was circulated among local governments, policy banks and state lenders last month, said the two sources with knowledge of the matter.
- Middle East asset manager Investcorp eyes up to $550 mln in first China yuan fund — “I hope over time, we will be more than just a Middle East investor in China. I want us to be perceived also as a local Chinese investor,” Ben-Gacem told Reuters.
Rest of World
- How China took over the world’s online shopping carts — Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop are going global with big ambitions.
- How Shein and TikTok Shop are trying to shake the ‘Made in China’ reputation — Chinese platforms came for global customers. Now they want global sellers.
- How Chinese e-commerce fuels counterfeit fashion in Nigeria — “Fake originals” make their way from sites like AliExpress and DHgate to a market in Lagos.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: What to Expect From the Xi-Biden Meeting — While deliverables are likely to be modest, Wednesday’s meeting could yield progress on shared priorities.
- Foreign Policy: Don’t Expect Much From Biden and Xi — Having nothing to write home about would be the preferred outcome for both sides.
- Brookings: Don’t expect Xi to restore the US-China military hotline this week — Even if the hotline is restored, China seems unlikely to use it much.
- The Guardian: The ghosts haunting China’s cities — In the official telling, fears of malevolent spirits are a vestige of old, unenlightened village ways. But today urban China is rife with superstition about death. Why?
