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
- EV Makers Get Two-Year Reprieve on Tax-Credit Restrictions — The Treasury Department has extended eligibility for cars containing Chinese graphite through 2026.
- China Launches Moon Mission in Base Race With U.S. — The Chinese mission has been hailed for its potential for a scientific breakthrough, but the U.S. is closely watching the expedition with trepidation.
- Apple Buys Itself Some Time for an AI Boost — Raised share buybacks help buttress weak iPhone sales, but Apple will need to make its own AI play clear soon.
- Geopolitics Takes a Central Role in Supply Chains — From tariffs and trade restrictions to attacks on a crucial shipping lane, concerns over sourcing and manufacturing have rarely been more acute.
- Starbucks Is Running Out of Americans to Drink Its Expensive Coffee — The chain is banking on foreigners, especially in China, to buy a lot more of its drinks.
- iPhone’s Steady Evolution Is Costing Apple in China — A fall in Apple’s sales in China shows that some consumers there no longer see Apple’s flagship product as the most advanced in technology.
- How China Sees U.S. Campus Protests — Intolerant of protests at home, Beijing has signaled sympathy for pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.
- Apple Sales Fall as iPhone, China Businesses Remain Sluggish — The iPhone maker authorized $110 billion in share buybacks and forecast a return to revenue growth in the current quarter.
- TikTok’s Push for Users to Lobby Congress Should Be Investigated, Lawmakers Say — Exhortations to users to contact their representatives amid a debate over banning the app might have broken the law, the leaders of a House committee say.
The Financial Times
- Taiwan’s everywhere war — As the threat of a Chinese invasion intensifies, one soldier is waging his own battle on defeatism.
- Four start-ups lead China’s race to match OpenAI’s ChatGPT — Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI, MiniMax and 01.ai are striving to rival the success of US counterparts.
- Opinion: TikTok ban will accelerate the ‘splinternet’ — Other apps could be in the line of fire if US lawmakers carry out their threat. By Lex.
The New York Times
- In Taiwan, an Ancient Deity Draws Young Soul-Searchers — On an island whose religious diversity is part of its democratic identity, many of the faithful participating in a pilgrimage for Mazu, Goddess of the Sea, were in their 20s and teens.
- Apple Reports Decline in Sales and Profit Amid iPhone Struggles in China — The company continues to lean on customers’ appetite for apps and services, as demand for its devices weakens.
Caixin
- China Tightens IPO Requirements for STAR Market Hopefuls — Regulators have imposed tougher qualifications for R&D investment and marketable patents with the aim of improving the quality of companies listed on the science and technology innovation board.
- How China Can Tackle Global Challenges to Expansion in Key Emerging Sectors — Solving industrial overcapacity by increasing exports is facing mounting resistance overseas. Boosting domestic demand may be the solution.
- Chinese Firms Are Working on AI-Powered Androids — Chinese startups are trying to tap the boom in large language model (LLM) tech led by breakout American firm OpenAI to improve the skills of humanoid robots.
- Tianqi Lithium Plunges Into the Red on Falling Prices, Troubled Chile Investment — The major Chinese producer of the material used in electric vehicle batteries blaming the result on falling prices of the metal and a beleaguered investment in a Chilean miner.
South China Morning Post
- Taiwan, US enter ‘harder’ phase of trade talks as mainland China bristles — Trade talks between Taiwan and the United States for a phase-two deal have begun, with progress likely to be ‘harder’, analysts say, as more contentious topics fall under the microscope.
- China’s investment in Africa’s lithium mines begins to pay off with new mineral supply chains created — New Zimbabwe processing plants help create lithium supply chains for Beijing as other markets tighten.
- TikTok argues how ByteDance protects children on Douyin is irrelevant to youth addiction lawsuits in the US — US lawyers representing young people and their families allege that the overseas version of TikTok protects children in China in ways that the US version does not.
- China wants ‘patient capital’ to fund its tech drive. Will slow and steady win the race? — In an official communique, China’s Politburo said ‘patient capital’ is expected to pitch in as the country moves towards a tech-driven growth model, showing a much-needed focus on the long term, analysts say.
- Opinion: How progress, not just profit, drives China’s approach to industry — Rather than being out to undermine economies around the world, China’s economic policy is based on foresight, efficiency and commitment to scale. Decoupling would not only disrupt supply chains but increase the cost of the global energy transition amid our ongoing climate struggle. By Jeffrey Wu.
Nikkei Asia
- China launches far-side moon mission as competition with U.S. heats up — The Chang’e 6 probe lifted off just before 5:30 p.m. local time on a Long March 5 rocket from a space center in southern China’s Hainan Province.
- Chinese media withdraw from regional journalism competition — Beijing-based Caixin Media, which won SOPA awards for five straight years from 2014 to 2018, has stopped submitting entries in recent years “for obvious reasons,” two senior staff members at the company told Nikkei Asia.
- Opinion: Russia has also become a lot more important to China — Western sanctions against Moscow have focused attention over the last two years on the critical support China has provided for Russia’s wartime economy. By Philipp Ivanov.
Bloomberg
- New Zealand ‘Seriously Concerned’ by China’s Pacific Ambitions — New Zealand is “seriously concerned” by China’s increased interest in the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.
- New US-Backed Defense ‘Squad’ to Counter China in Indo-Pacific — A US official who requested anonymity said the grouping aims to counter coercion and aggression across Asia, as well as to ensure that defense capabilities among their militaries are increasingly inter-operable.
- Opinion: Beijing’s Dangerous Game in the South China Sea — Billions of dollars of oil and gas reserves — along with Asian nations’ sovereign rights to the contested waterway — hang in the balance. By Karishma Vaswani.
- Opinion: Xi’s European Tour Is a Salvage Mission — The best the Chinese leader can hope for is to prevent ties from deteriorating further and look for new opportunities if Donald Trump wins in November. By Minxin Pei.
Reuters
- Taiwan says Chinese planes crossed median line, China carries out landing drills — Over the past four years, China’s military has significantly ramped up its activities around democratically-governed Taiwan.
- Missile defence successes in Gulf, Ukraine fuel global urgency to acquire systems — A 2023 Pentagon report said the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has about 500 DF-26 missiles, designed to accurately strike targets thousands of kilometres away.
Other Publications
- CFR: The Maldives Is Moving Toward China. Here’s What to Know. — Once a close Indian partner, the Maldives is now aligning more with China. Is the island nation becoming a flash point in the China-India relationship?
- Foreign Policy: Can Xi Win Back Europe? — The Chinese leader’s visit follows weeks of escalating tensions between China and the continent.
- Foreign Affairs: The Real Motives for China’s Nuclear Expansion — Beijing Seeks Geopolitical Leverage More Than Military Advantage.
- The Washington Post: U.S. officials wary of Chinese plans for floating nuclear plants — Officials fear reactors will be used to power military bases on artificial islands in the South China Sea.
- The Washington Post: Opinion: The dangerous new call for regime change in Beijing — Republicans criticize Biden for being too soft on China. Their preferred approach is much more dangerous. By Fareed Zakaria.
