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 Struggles to Kick Deflationary Concerns — Manufacturing-led recovery has sparked trade frictions abroad, but weak price growth shows consumption lags behind at home.
- Asia Economies to Keep Growing Despite China Slowdown, Other Headwinds, ADB Says — Growth in developing economies will be supported by resilient domestic demand.
- China Shock 2.0 Will Be Different — The latest flood of cheap goods is a lot more sophisticated and is important to Beijing’s long-term plans.
The Financial Times
- Industrial metal prices jump as investors bet on rising China demand — Zinc, copper and nickel outperform stocks as signs of resurgent demand add to fears about supply constraints.
- Drugmakers race to find alternative suppliers as US cracks down on Chinese biotech — WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics under threat from proposed national security legislation.
- Weak China inflation data fuels concern over consumer demand — Figures underline challenges for the world’s second-largest economy.
- Majority of south-east Asians favour China over US, survey finds — Beijing becomes Asean’s preferred choice over Washington for first time in Singapore think-tank poll.
- Taiwan’s chip industry heads overseas amid supply chain shift — Investments elsewhere begin to pay off as Chinese market matures.
- Trump megadonor John Paulson warns against ‘decoupling’ from China — Hedge fund billionaire is considered possible pick for Treasury secretary.
- VW cuts price of EV and combustion engine cars to boost deliveries to China — Success in Asia contrasts with decline in electric vehicle sales in Europe after end of consumer subsidy.
- Xi Jinping holds talks in China with former Taiwan president — Rare meeting set to be contentious given Beijing’s claims over island.
The New York Times
- In Warning to China, Biden Hosts Summit With Leaders of Japan and Philippines — President Biden has invited the leaders of Japan and the Philippines to the White House, where they will discuss security in the South China Sea.
- Hong Kong Detains and Expels Journalism Advocate, Group Says — A representative of Reporters Without Borders was attempting to monitor the national security trial of a media tycoon, Jimmy Lai.
- Biden Aims to Project United Front Against China at White House Summit — President Biden has invited the leaders of Japan and the Philippines to the White House, where they will discuss security in the South China Sea.
- Driven by China, Coal Plants Made a Comeback in 2023 — The country, along with India, is still building power stations that run on coal. Elsewhere, retirements of older plants have slowed.
- Blizzard and NetEase Settle Their Beef, Returning Warcraft to China — The deal between the gaming company Blizzard, now owned by Microsoft, and the Chinese giant NetEase renews a partnership that lapsed more than a year ago.
Caixin
- China’s Cash-Strapped Property Firms Turn to Offloading Hotels to Raise Funds — A notable amount of hotel and related properties changed hands on the Chinese mainland last year as China’s cash-strapped real estate industry sought to offload assets to raise money.
- Ping An Trust Misses Payment on Property-Backed Investment Plan — China Ping An Trust Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of financial conglomerate Ping An Group, has delayed payment of a trust product backed by a property development project, highlighting the broader impacts of the country’s persistent real estate troubles.
- President Xi Jinping Meets Ex-Taiwan Leader Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing — Chinese President Xi Jinping called for joint efforts to pursue peaceful reunification between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait during a landmark meeting with former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing.
South China Morning Post
- TikTok owner ByteDance denies report of profit surge in 2023, prepares to launch Instagram rival — ByteDance has refuted a news report saying the company’s profits rose 60 per cent to US$40 billion last year.
- iPhone maker Foxconn considers rotating CEOs in management reshuffle similar to Huawei, sources say — Senior Foxconn managers have discussed the rotating CEO plan for several months, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter say.
- Beijing sanctions 2 US defence firms in latest move over arms sales to Taiwan, violation of ‘one-China principle’ — Assets held in mainland China by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems will be frozen, Beijing says.
- Dalian Wanda to sell Sunseeker, the yacht maker in James Bond’s films, to Lionheart Capital — Wanda was once seen as one of the few high-quality Chinese issuers in the junk-bond market thanks to its focus on commercial real estate, as well as its asset-light property-management business.
Nikkei Asia
- Huawei building vast chip equipment R&D center in Shanghai — China tech company spending billions, snapping up talent in battle against U.S. crackdown.
- Studio Ghibli exhibit goes to Shanghai as latest hit opens in China — Alibaba-backed attraction woos fans, building on success of ‘The Boy and the Heron.’
- Thailand smiles at both Taiwan and China as it courts EV investment — Delta Electronics, BYD among companies betting on Southeast Asia’s top auto producer.
Bloomberg
- Goldman, Morgan Stanley Boost China’s 2024 Growth Outlook — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley raised their outlook for China’s economic growth this year as factory activity and exports accelerate more than expected.
- Top China Banker Steps Down After Brother Becomes Markets Chief — The president of China International Capital Corp. has relinquished his post two months after his brother was named as the head of the country’s top markets regulator.
- US Buys More Taiwan Exports Than China for First Time Since 2003 — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou just used a landmark meeting to underscore their view that the two sides of the strait are close as family. Trade data tell a different story.
Reuters
- Goldman Sachs lifts China 2024 growth forecast to 5.0% — Goldman Sachs, opens new tab has raised its forecasts for China’s year-on-year economic growth for the first quarter and the full year of 2024 due to the country’s manufacturing strength, the investment bank said in a note on Wednesday.
- What overcapacity? China says its industries are simply more competitive — The last day of U.S. Secretary Janet Yellen’s trip to China coincided with the strongest retort yet from Beijing officials over her claims that China is flooding global markets with cheap goods, particularly in the new green industries.
- Chinese firms helping military get AI chips added to US export blacklist — The United States is adding four Chinese companies to an export blacklist for seeking to acquire AI chips for China’s military, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: America’s flailing industrial policy can take lessons from China — Beijing’s experiences are a road map for both opportunities and traps. By Bob Davis
- The Times of London: Argentina caught between US and China in battle over Beijing space base — President Milei of Argentina has pledged to review the research base operated by the Chinese military in Patagonia after the American ambassador to Buenos Aires raised questions about what it is being used for.
- The Economist: Would America dare to bring down a Chinese bank? — Janet Yellen promises sanctions for those supporting Vladimir Putin’s war.
- Associated Press: China protests EU’s investigation of subsidies in green industries, calling the move protectionist — China has accused the European Union of protectionism and “reckless distortion” of the definition of subsidies in response to a new EU investigation into Chinese wind turbine makers.
- POLITICO: Israel and Ukraine dominate Biden’s life. China gets its moment this week. — The irony of Biden’s meetings this week is he gets to show how much Asia work his team has done while highlighting their relative lack of China focus.
- Rest of World: Chip dreams: Young tech workers are flocking to Taiwan — Southeast Asians are heading to Taiwan to train for semiconductor jobs, which is helping to fill a talent gap at the world’s top producer.
