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
- What’s Wrong With China’s Economy, in Eight Charts — Challenges multiply after the country’s years of rapid growth.
- China’s Factory Activity Slows Again, Highlighting Limits of Government Measures — Fifth straight month of contraction in manufacturing sector comes as top officials gather in Beijing to outline policy priorities for the year ahead.
- China’s Coming ‘Two Sessions’ Put Plans to Jumpstart Economy in the Spotlight — Key announcements on the investors’ radar include the outlook for China’s economy in 2024.
- How One Woman Duped China’s Censorship Machine — A thinly veiled account of police interrogation spread for weeks. The reality behind it shows the challenges activists face.
- LVMH Doesn’t Have the Luxury of Pulling Back From China — The country’s economy is sputtering and geopolitical tensions are rising, but Chinese shoppers are the growth engine for the maker of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hennessy.
- Chinese Automakers Pose U.S. National-Security Threat, Biden Says — President warned connected vehicles could collect sensitive data for foreign governments.
- Tesla Rolls Out More China Discounts as Price War With BYD Heats Up — Tesla Rolls Out More China Discounts as Price War With BYD Heats Up.
- China’s Wobbly Start to the New Year — The first big data release of the Year of Dragon contained a few encouraging signs—and some flashing warning lights, too.
The Financial Times
- Lab monkey prices plunge in China as drug research slows — Pharmaceutical companies scale back development in aftermath of pandemic.
- China’s economy suffers blow as factory activity slows — Manufacturing PMI falls for fifth month as Beijing prepares to unveil growth target at annual parliament session.
- Boeing to pay $51mn US penalty over arms export violations — Technical data downloaded in China and Russia created national security risks, state department says.
- Joe Biden says Chinese smart cars could pose US security threat — White House concerned about sensitive data ending up in Beijing’s hands as more vehicles hit market.
The New York Times
- Murder and Magic Realism: A Rising Literary Star Mines China’s Rust Belt — In gritty tales from China’s northeast, Shuang Xuetao chronicles a traumatic chapter of Chinese history with fresh resonance today: the mass layoffs that afflicted the region in the 1990s.
- Scientists in Canada Passed Secrets to China, Investigations Find — After a prolonged Parliamentary debate, details about two microbiology researchers who were found to have shared secrets with China have been released.

Caixin
- Guizhou Probes Arrest of Contractor Owed Millions by Local Government — Guizhou provincial authorities have launched an investigation into an alleged dispute over debt in which a businesswoman reportedly sought to recover over 200 million yuan ($27.8 million) in unpaid fees from a local government, which subsequently detained her for “provoking trouble.”
- Chinese Developer Gemdale Keeps Its Streak of Not Defaulting Alive — Chinese real estate developer Gemdale Corp. has managed to avoid defaulting on a major onshore bond, Caixin learned, but remains deep in debt as it ramps up efforts to offload assets and secure new sources of credit.
- China’s Manufacturing Sector Expands on Uptick in Overseas Demand, Caixin PMI Shows — Activity in China’s manufacturing sector expanded in February for the fourth straight month, with growth in overseas demand reaching a 12-month high, a Caixin-sponsored survey showed Friday.
South China Morning Post
- Xi Jinping touts China’s new-energy prowess as Joe Biden bashes its auto policies — Ahead of the biggest political event of the year, China’s energy security gets more play against the backdrop of international criticism and fresh warnings from the United States.
- China’s rural workers face bleak choice: stay in emptying villages, or move to job-scarce cities? — Chinese researchers have found the country’s rural population is struggling to keep up with their urban peers in terms of lifestyle, hampered by relative underdevelopment in social resources and a lack of job prospects in cities.
- AI takes priority at TikTok owner ByteDance, as Sora disrupts the future of video creation — ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming and other key voices at the company view AI as a battle that it cannot afford to lose, one source says.
Nikkei Asia
- IM Motors raises $1.1bn in one of China EV brands’ biggest deals — Alibaba- and SAIC- backed automaker draws investment from Chinese banking groups.
- China and Russia buyers flock to luxury homes in Southeast Asian resorts — Big projects underway in Thailand’s Phuket, Vietnam’s Danang.
- China’s minidrama producers set their sights on challenging Netflix — Ultra-short episodes and wacky plots help series flourish on social media.
Bloomberg
- Xi’s One-Man Rule Over China’s Economy Is Spurring Unrest — Chinese leader’s consolidation of power makes him bigger target as economic slowdown that’s hit household wealth sees protests rise.
- China’s Factory Activity Slows as Weak Demand Hampers Growth — China’s factory activity shrank for the fifth straight month in February, suggesting weak demand remains an obstacle for the economy.
- US Sees China’s Space Threat Growing at ‘Breathtaking Pace’ — China is growing its military capabilities in space at a “breathtaking pace” to counter the American satellites in orbit and improve its ability to monitor and target forces on Earth, according to the head of the US Space Command.
Reuters
- China approves plan aimed at spurring investment and spending — China’s cabinet on Friday approved a plan aimed at promoting large-scale equipment upgrades and sales of consumer goods, state media reported.
- Exclusive: Deutsche Bank to file liquidation suit against Chinese developer Shimao, sources say — Deutsche Bank is preparing a liquidation lawsuit in Hong Kong against Chinese developer Shimao Group, two sources said, in a rare move by a foreign firm that comes amid rising credit defaults and China’s deepening property sector crisis.
- Boeing agrees to $51 mln settlement for US export violations, including in China — Boeing said on Thursday it had reached a $51 million settlement with the U.S. State Department for numerous export violations including Chinese employees in China improperly downloading documents related to U.S. Defense Department programs.
Other Publications
- The Economist: China tells bankers to be more patriotic — Financiers from 200 years ago are wheeled out as role models.
- POLITICO: Raimondo would ‘consider’ banning Chinese companies if Congress OK’d authorities — The Commerce secretary said any Chinese company that accesses data from Americans could be barred from operating in the U.S..
- Foreign Policy: China Wants to Weaken, Not Replace, the U.S. in the Middle East — Beijing doesn’t want the costs of being a regional hegemon.
- CNBC: Yum China CEO says consumers are growing more ‘rational’ as rising costs cut dining budgets — Housing costs in top-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing have grown even more expensive in recent years, putting pressure on consumers’ disposable income, according to Wat.
- Axios: Patent applications from Chinese inventors pass U.S. for first time — For the first time, the number of international patents filed from inventors in China has surpassed applications from the U.S., according to a new report.