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 Foreign Minister Questions U.S. Confidence as World Power — Wang Yi painted the U.S. as a paranoid superpower and criticized Europe’s policy toward Beijing as increasingly muddled during a press conference.
- WuXi Companies’ Shares Fall Amid Renewed U.S. Sanction Concerns — Shares of the WuXi family of biotech and research companies fell sharply after a U.S. bill targeting certain Chinese biotechnology providers got the green light to go to the Senate floor, reigniting worries about potential U.S. sanctions.
- China’s Exports Rise, Cheering Beijing—and Foreshadowing a Backlash — A jump in outbound shipments during the opening months of the year comes amid rising calls in the West for tariffs on Chinese-made autos.
- Temu’s Push Into America Pays Off Big Time for Meta and Google — The e-commerce discounter founded in China was the top advertiser by revenue at Meta Platforms last year, and was among the five top-spending advertisers at Google.
- China Intensifies Push to ‘Delete America’ From Its Technology — A directive known as Document 79 ramps up Beijing’s effort to replace U.S. tech with homegrown alternatives.
- JD.com Shares Rise In Hong Kong After Earnings Beat — JD.com shares rose sharply in Hong Kong after the e-commerce giant’s fourth-quarter results beat expectations and raised hopes for its outlook.
- U.S. Charges Chinese National With Stealing AI Secrets From Google — Linwei Ding is alleged to have stolen over 500 confidential files related to Google’s artificial-intelligence efforts.
- Chinese Officials Say Exports Are Strong but Hint at More Stimulus — Disclosure of a 10% rise in exports in early 2024 comes ahead of official trade data.
The Financial Times
- Washington pushes allies to tighten China chipmaking restrictions — Biden administration wants greater curbs after technological advances by Huawei and SMIC.
- Chinese trade rebounds on electronics and exports to Russia — Foreign minister hails ‘new paradigm’ in relations with Moscow as trade picks up.
- Chinese fishing company accused of environmental and labour abuses — UK campaign group targets fleet owned by billionaire Lu Weiding’s conglomerate Wanxiang Group.
- The Lehman liquidators taking on China’s Evergrande — Alvarez & Marsal duo face more complex case with troubled property developer.
- Hong Kong’s dynamism means it will not only survive but thrive — Real drivers of territory’s success have always been its business environment and openness to those chasing prosperity.
- Google engineer charged with AI secrets theft while working for Chinese groups — Prosecutors say man had access to the ‘building blocks’ of company’s cutting-edge technology.
- China lacks a credible policy to meet its own growth target — Beijing appears to be animated more by ideology than by generating wealth.
The New York Times
- How China Came to Dominate the World in Solar Energy — Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
- Chinese National Accused of Stealing AI Secrets From Google — Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in California and accused of uploading hundreds of files to the cloud.
- Big American Tech Profits From Chinese Ad Spending Spree — Temu, Shein, and streaming and gaming apps looking to break into the U.S. market are spending huge sums to get their wares in front of American consumers.
- From China to New York, by Way of the Southern Border — Thousands of Chinese migrants have made their way to Queens, Brooklyn and Chinatown after first passing through Central and South America.
Caixin
- There Is Room for Easing Bank Reserve Ratio, PBOC Governor Says — A weakening dollar will allow China to loosen its monetary policy without causing more capital flight, says Pan Gongsheng.
- CSRC Chairman Vows to Strictly Hold IPO Threshold — Top securities regulator promises to make every effort to block fraudulent companies from the capital market.
- In Depth: China’s ‘Land Commissioner’ Proposes Reforms to the Land System to Aid Development — Economics professor suggests expanding urban access to rural collective land and removing restrictions on cross-provincial land quota transfers.
- In Depth: Hong Kong Embarks on Economic Makeover — City scraps property market restrictions as it seeks to move away from real estate to develop more sustainable and high-value sectors.
South China Morning Post
- China’s C919 jet gets new route as development for widebody sibling rolls on — The C919, China’s domestically produced passenger jet, will fly another commercial route domestically – an indication of Beijing’s widening ambitions for its aviation manufacturing.
- US has ‘serious concerns’ about Chinese-funded upgrade to Cambodian naval base, senior diplomat Daniel Kritenbrink says — Assistant US secretary of state Daniel Kritenbrink says he raised issues around Ream base during Phnom Penh visit.
- China’s Mars sample return mission ‘progressing smoothly’ while Nasa struggles behind schedule — NPC deputy and spacecraft designer Sun Zezhou says key technologies needed for Tianwen-3 mission are ‘in place’ while the US Mars Sample Return programme is battling soaring costs.
- Lenovo to increase its AI efforts in Hong Kong, citing city’s embrace of emerging technology — Lenovo to increase AI efforts in Hong Kong after survey of global CIOs finds strong embrace of the emerging tech in the city.
- Wealthy clients turn to HSBC, Manulife, Bank of China amid heightened interest in Hong Kong’s cash-for-residency scheme — Financial firms have been flooded with inquiries after the government started accepting applications under the revamped investment migration programme, under which clients need to invest at least US$3.8 million.
Nikkei Asia
- China AI champion iFlytek looks abroad despite U.S. crackdown — Among the AI-powered applications iFlytek is rolling out for global users are speech-to-text transcription, real-time translation, and voice-activated smart home systems.
- Chinese investment in Asia rose 37% in 2023, led by Indonesia — Chinese investment in the Asia-Pacific region rose sharply in 2023, a new report shows, bucking global trends even as the world’s No. 2 economy sputters.
- Analysis: Post-Tiananmen ‘openness’ fades from Chinese politics — Xi advocates for a ‘high-standard opening-up’ but his regime is backsliding.
Bloomberg
- Why China’s Property Downturn Has a Silver Lining for Consumption — Some economists argue falling home prices allow families to save less and spend more. But a lack of confidence in growth may be holding back spending.
- US Spends Big to Highlight Beijing’s Tactics in South China Sea — The US is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop maritime capabilities in Southeast Asia as nations face growing pressure from Beijing.
- How Microsoft’s Bing Helps Maintain Beijing’s Great Firewall — The company’s search engine does good business in China, a market Google and Facebook abandoned years ago.
- What Buzzwords From China’s Key Political Meeting Reveal, From ‘AI Plus’ to ‘New Three’ — Tracking slogans and phrases from government and party documents has become an important way to gain insight into Chinese policymaking, especially as the country has increasingly restricted access to information.
- China Splurges on Gold For a 16th Month as Price Hits Record — China’s central bank added gold to its reserves for a 16th straight month in February, extending a long buying spree that’s helped to support the precious metal’s surge to a record high.
- Opinion: China’s Growth Ambitions Will Erase the World’s Climate Gains — To become clean and sustainable, Beijing must match emissions goals to its GDP target. By David Fickling.
Reuters
- More Chinese women choosing singledom as economy stutters — President Xi Jinping last year stressed the need to “cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing” as China’s population fell for a second consecutive year and new births reached historic lows.
- China steps up grey-zone warfare to exhaust Taiwan, defence report says — Taiwan has complained in recent years that China has been using so-called grey-zone warfare, which wields irregular tactics to exhaust a foe without resorting to open combat.
- China’s exports top forecasts as global demand returns — Exports from the world’s second-biggest economy in the two months were 7.1% higher than a year before, customs data showed on Thursday, beating a Reuters a poll that expected an increase of 1.9%.
Other Publications
- CSIS: Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy — The U.S. and Chinese Defense Industrial Bases in an Era of Great Power Competition.
