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 Stock-Sale Ban Eases Path to Propping Up Reeling Markets — China’s reported ban on the net sales of equities during market opens and closes theoretically makes it easier to prop up reeling stocks, in part by hamstringing quantitative traders at critical parts of the trading day.
- Nvidia Sales Reach New Heights as Company Forecasts Bigger AI Boom — The chip maker at the heart of the artificial-intelligence craze has had a record run, nearing $2 trillion valuation.
- The Biggest Ever Sanctions Have Failed to Halt Russia’s War Machine — Western officials say restrictions are damaging Russia’s economy and military output but acknowledge the impact is slower than hoped.
- China Slowdown Deals $3 Billion Blow to HSBC — The bank fell into a quarterly loss after it wrote down the value of its stake in Chinese lender Bank of Communications.
- Opinion: Ditching Ukraine Would Help China and Iran — Beijing, Tehran, Moscow and Pyongyang all work closely together. Appease one, and you help the rest. By Seth Jones.
The Financial Times
- EU agrees first sanctions on Chinese and Indian companies for Russia war links — Curbs on almost 200 entities aim to ‘degrade’ Moscow’s capability to attack Ukraine.
- How China tries to indoctrinate Taiwan’s youth — United Front Work Department aims to spread influence and marginalise government in Taipei.
- Opinion: A window of opportunity for Western companies to quit Xinjiang — With investor confidence in China weak as its economy slows, VW and BASF are more willing to brave a political backlash. By Peggy Hollinger.
The New York Times
- Leaked Files Show the Secret World of China’s Hackers for Hire — China has increasingly turned to private companies in campaigns to hack foreign governments and control its domestic population.
- Ship Crashes Into Bridge in China, Killing 5 — Several vehicles plummeted from the crossing, part of which collapsed, in the southern city of Guangzhou, the authorities said.
- Delegation Led by Mike Gallagher Says U.S. Support for Taiwan Is Firm — A bipartisan House delegation said the United States would stand by the island in the face of pressure from China, drawing connections between Taiwan’s cause and Ukraine’s.
- Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Are Breaking Up With China — Under intensifying scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, top firms have pulled back from investing in Chinese start-ups.
- China’s Rush to Dominate A.I. Comes With a Twist: It Depends on U.S. Technology — China’s tech firms were caught off guard by breakthroughs in generative artificial intelligence. Beijing’s regulations and a sagging economy aren’t helping.
Caixin
- In Depth: Caught Between Beijing and Washington, PE Majors Split China-U.S. Teams — Congressional investigation into links with sensitive industries in China prompts investment companies to divide their funds into separate businesses.
- Analysis: China’s Tech Giants Could Turn Around Stock Market Rout — Last year saw the MSCI China Index and the Chinese mainland’s benchmark stock index fall for the third straight year, while Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index declined for its fourth.
South China Morning Post
- Could China’s economy-boosting infrastructure plans throw a contradictory monkey wrench in the works? — Striving to reduce local government debt while boosting China’s local-level economies through investment is seen as a conflicting approach, while a decline in construction machinery operations does not bode well.
- China’s ‘envoys of friendship’ to return to US zoo as Beijing restarts panda diplomacy — Cooperation deal with San Diego Zoo marks China’s latest effort to improve relations with the West.
- Climate change: China at risk of missing its goals unless it takes drastic action to rein in coal expansion, new research finds — China is at risk of missing its climate targets and suffering major economic losses unless it takes decisive actions to put a halt to runaway coal power plant expansion and reform outdated power grid management, says Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Nikkei Asia
- Volkswagen slammed by investors group over forced Uyghur labor — An ethical investment association in Germany is calling on sustainable investment funds to sell out of Volkswagen Group positions over allegations that forced Uyghur labor was used in the company’s Xinjiang operations.
- Analysis: Xi and Putin share a trait — they cannot show weakness — The slightest sign of frailty could trigger massive, nation-shaking political movements. Recent news out of Russia serves as a vivid reminder of this idiosyncrasy.
- Taiwan and China spar over capsizing, inspections near Kinmen islands — Fears of a maritime incident that could trigger a serious escalation of tensions are growing after two Chinese people died when their speedboat capsized last week in Taiwanese waters.
Bloomberg
- China’s Drive to Boost Oilseed Crop Faces Frigid Weather Threat — Cold weather in China this week could seriously damage the rapeseed crop, just as Beijing struggles to grow more of the oilseed to boost security of food supplies.
- Purported Leaks Show Global Reach of China-Sponsored Hacking — A huge trove of documents on GitHub appeared to outline in extraordinary detail the scope of China’s state-sponsored cyberattacks on foreign governments, transfixing the global security community.
- Opinion: Russia Might Win in Ukraine. China Can’t — The price Beijing has paid for Vladimir Putin’s invasion is steep and will only mount with further Russian gains on the battlefield. By Minxin Pei.
Reuters
- Pressure grows on China for big policy moves to fix economy — The start of the year saw Chinese stocks tumbling to five-year lows, and deflation deepening to levels unseen since the global financial crisis, prompting comparisons with the 2015 turmoil that forced policymakers into action.
- Taiwan chip firms flock to Japan as China decoupling accelerates — The influx comes amid shifting alliances and priorities in the global chip industry as the United States pushes to limit China’s progress in cutting-edge semiconductors and strengthen partnerships between its allies.
Other Publications
- Quartz: China wants more control of its mass surveillance system — The country is cracking down on local governments’ use of “unnecessary monitoring equipment” to collect excessive fines.
- Foreign Policy: What the Western Media Gets Wrong About Taiwan — Journalists flocking to cover life inside a geopolitical flash point often distort the reality on the ground.
- AP: An online dump of Chinese hacking documents offers a rare window into pervasive state surveillance — Chinese police are investigating an unauthorized and highly unusual online dump of documents from a private security contractor linked to China’s top policing agency and other parts of its government.
- The Economist: Russia outsmarts Western sanctions—and China is paying attention — How the rise of middle powers helps America’s enemies.
- CSIS: Balancing the Ledger: Export Controls on U.S. Chip Technology to China — The U.S. chip supply chain vulnerabilities that the Covid-19 emergency exposed are too alarming to allow a reversion to a business-as-usual supply chain anchored in China.
