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 Is Pressing Women to Have More Babies. Many Are Saying No. — The population, now around 1.4 billion, is likely to drop to around half a billion by 2100—and women are being blamed.
- Netherlands Blocks ASML Exports of Some Chip-Making Equipment to China — The company said the Dutch government recently partially revoked an export license of some lithography systems.
- Baidu Terminates $3.6B Deal to Buy JOYY’s China Live-Streaming Business — As of the end of December, the closing conditions for the share purchase agreement had yet to be fully satisfied, Baidu said.
- China’s Xi Is Resurrecting Mao’s ‘Continuous Revolution’ With a Twist — The Chinese leader has made his corruption purge—with millions punished—a pillar of his rule. It risks paralyzing his party.
- China’s Xi Jinping Warns of Economic ‘Winds and Rains’ as Recovery Disappoints — Leader’s remarks came as data showed factory and service sectors continuing to contract to close out 2023.
- China’s EV Champion BYD Will Take on the World in 2024 — Having weathered domestic competition, international expansion is the car maker’s next priority.
- Opinion: Beijing Is on a Wartime Footing — Biden needs to rebuild America’s ‘arsenal of democracy’ or risk being unprepared. By Seth G. Jones
The Financial Times
- China’s advanced machine tool exports to Russia soar after Ukraine invasion — Chinese suppliers now dominate trade in ‘computer numerical control’ devices vital to Moscow’s military industries.
- Latest ‘national team’ China ETF purchases hint at changing dynamics — New institutional buyers and more focused purchases suggest moves to calm volatility and boost domestic confidence.
- Inside the crisis at Alibaba: how China’s best-known tech group lost its way — Once Asia’s most valuable company, the group has fallen behind rivals amid a chaotic restructuring.
- China’s BYD moves closer to unseating Tesla as EV leader — Strong sales increase pressure on US pioneer to keep crown as top seller of purely electric vehicles.
- Xi Jinping uses new year message to sound warning to Taiwan — China’s leader says unification is ‘historical inevitability’ as island prepares for presidential election.
- China’s first homegrown cruise ship sails from Shanghai — Authorities hail launch as landmark for country’s shipbuilding sector.
The New York Times
- Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Media Scion, Pleads Not Guilty to Security Charges — The prosecution accused him of colluding with U.S. officials to undermine Hong Kong’s interests, citing private messages, meetings and social media posts.
- China Auto Giant BYD Sells More Electric Vehicles Than Ever — Sales by BYD, the country’s dominant automaker, topped 3 million last year, including 1.6 million fully battery-powered cars. It’s a sign of China’s rapid growth in EVs.
- Asian American Officials Cite Unfair Scrutiny and Lost Jobs in China Spy Tensions — National security employees with ties to Asia say U.S. counterintelligence officers wrongly regard them as potential spies and ban them from jobs.

Caixin
- Cover Story: Chinese Carmakers Enter 2024 Fighting Price War, Heightened EV Competition — China’s automakers — on track for record sales in 2023 – have little to celebrate in the New Year as a continuing price war squeezes profitability and increased competition in the market for new energy vehicles (NEV) overhangs a key segment for growth.
- Wanda Offloads More Shopping Malls to Tackle Debt Woes — The troubled property-to-entertainment conglomerate run by billionaire Wang Jianlin has offloaded more assets in an effort to raise money amid a mounting liquidity crisis.
- VW’s China Venture Launches Debut EV — Volkswagen (Anhui) Automotive Co. Ltd., a joint venture majority owned by Volkswagen AG, has kicked off production of its first electric-vehicle (EV).
South China Morning Post
- Chip industry giant ASML blocked by US, Netherlands from shipping equipment to China ahead of export deadline — Dutch chip-making equipment manufacturer ASML was forced to curb more of its exports to China after the Dutch government partially revoked some of its 2023 export licences ahead of the new year..
- Chinese nuclear weapons scientists build X-ray machine hailed as potential ‘holy grail’ for cancer treatment — Powerful ‘Flash’ irradiation system can deliver high-energy radiation and has the potential to revolutionise conventional radiotherapy.
- China’s move to scale back judicial transparency may be bigger political threat to Beijing than scrutiny of cases — Security concerns could be the real reason behind Supreme People’s Court announcement it will reduce cases uploaded to public archive.
Nikkei Asia
- German authority probes alleged Chinese emission certificate fraud — Listed project coordinates show only desert on Google Maps.
- China and Hong Kong shares suffer a dismal start to 2024 — Mainland developers still in distress while EV makers face uncertainty.
- Sri Lanka’s China ‘debt trap’ fears grow as Beijing keeps investing — New $4.5 bn Sinopec deal comes amid debt restructuring, BRI lending shift.
Bloomberg
- China New Year Holiday Travelers Reach Pre-Covid Levels — China recorded over 1.72 million inbound and outbound trips per day during the three-day new year’s holiday — similar to levels last seen before the pandemic in 2019 — spurring hopes a travel recovery could boost the sputtering economy.
- Election Frontrunner Says Taiwan Key to World Security — A peaceful Taiwan strait is key to the world’s prosperity and security, top presidential candidate Lai Ching-te said Sunday, days after US President Joe Biden signed a defense policy bill that includes authorization for training the island’s military.
- China Injects $50 Billion Into Policy Banks in Stimulus Push — The People’s Bank of China injected nearly $50 billion worth of low-cost funds into policy-oriented banks last month, suggesting the central bank may be ramping up financing for housing and infrastructure projects to support the economy.
Reuters
- Exclusive: China removes official after video games rules spark turmoil -sources — China removed an official at a government body overseeing its press and publications regulator, five sources who were briefed on the matter said, days after Chinese gaming stocks were hit by proposed rules to curb spending on video games.
- Thailand, China to waive visas for each other’s citizens from March — Thailand and China will permanently waive visa requirements for each other’s citizens from March, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Tuesday.
- Beijing criticises Netherlands’ move to block ASML exports to China — China on Tuesday urged the Netherlands to “respect market principles” a day after chip machine maker ASML said the Dutch government had revoked an export licence covering the shipment of some of its equipment to China.
Other Publications
- Forbes: Opinion: American Investors Say ‘No’ To China — Wall Street seems to have lost its former enthusiasm for China investing. By Milton Ezrati
- Foreign Affairs: The Problem With De-Risking — Transitioning to clean energy requires trade with China. By Henry Sanderson
- Rest of World: Fueling the future of space travel with robots that mine resources on the moon — Starpath’s Jason Zang wants to build robots to mine the ingredients for rocket fuel in space.
- The Guardian: Opinion: China’s many systemic problems dominate its outlook for 2024 — Japan’s example 30 years ago shows islands of excellence can combine with deep structural imbalances. By George Magnus