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
- Tesla’s China Sales Fell in April Despite Rebound in EV Demand — The U.S. EV maker sold 62,167 China-made cars in April, down 18% compared with a year earlier.
- Tesla Faces Strong Self-Driving Rivals in China — Elon Musk’s visit stoked excitement, but company has plenty of homegrown competition for FSD.
- Opinion: Xi Jinping Has Learned a Lot From the War in Ukraine — One lesson is that China needs to prepare for a long conflict because the West lacks staying power. By Alexander Gabuev
The Financial Times
- UK suspects China behind cyber attack on military personnel data — Defence secretary Grant Shapps set to accuse hostile state of hack but is not expected to name Beijing.
- Xi Jinping lashes out at Nato over 1999 Belgrade bombing ahead of Serbia visit — Chinese president cites ties ‘forged with blood’ as he looks for allies during first European trip in 5 years.
- Nissan locked in ‘survival game’ in China, warns chief executive — Makoto Uchida tells FT summit carmaker plans to overhaul strategy as sales fall in world’s largest car market.
The New York Times
- Xi to Head for Friendly Ports in an Eastern Europe Disenchanted With China — After leaving France later Tuesday, the Chinese leader will visit Serbia and Hungary, whose authoritarian leaders offer a haven for China as tensions grow over the war in Ukraine.
- Xi Bristles at Criticism of China Over the War in Ukraine — Talks in Paris with President Macron produced a call for an “Olympics truce” this summer but no concrete progress on Beijing putting pressure on Russia.
- What to Know About Xi Jinping’s Trip to Europe — His trip comes at a time of tensions with many European countries over trade and accusations of Chinese espionage.
Caixin
- In Depth: Why Chinese PE and VC Firms Are Chasing Middle East Money — Chinese venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms are targeting deep-pocketed Middle Eastern investors, as funding from their traditional backers dwindles amid growing geopolitical tensions and shrinking opportunities for investment partners to sell their stakes through IPOs.
- Shanghai Insurance Exchange Appoints New Chief as Ex-Chair Falls to Probe — An insurance regulatory veteran has been tapped to chair the Shanghai Insurance Exchange (SIE) just as the former chairman of the government-backed trading platform came under investigation, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.
- Citadel Securities Faces Rival Bid for Credit Suisse’s China Venture — American market maker Citadel Securities LLC’s plan to take over Credit Suisse’s China joint venture is facing challenges with the emergence of a rival bidder with state backing.
South China Morning Post
- China sends ‘message to Nato’ with Xi’s visit to Belgrade embassy bombing site — The Chinese leader’s attendance at 25th anniversary commemorations is a ‘subtle signal’ to the US and its Western allies, observers said.
- China property: Shenzhen, Wuhan are the latest cities to ease housing market restrictions to stir demand — Shenzhen and Wuhan have become the latest Chinese cities to ease home purchase restrictions to boost sales, as a growing number of major metropolises take steps to support the country’s slumping property sector.
- Alibaba flagship website Taobao begins largest revamp in years as e-commerce giant sharpens focus on user experience — The e-commerce giant is rolling out the major overhaul ahead of China’s second-largest annual shopping extravaganza, the 618 sales event.
Nikkei Asia
- China accuses Australian helicopter of aerial ‘provocations’ — PM Albanese calls Chinese jet flares ‘unprofessional and unacceptable.’
- Chinese EV makers bring price war to Thailand even as sales sag — Competition in crowded market could spur forays into hybrids.
- China’s next defense buildup: mandatory military training for students — Proposed legislation seeks to spread awareness of defending the homeland.
Bloomberg
- Xi Urges Macron to Help China to Avoid a ‘New Cold War’ — Chinese President Xi Jinping called on France to help fend off a “new Cold War” as the European Union increasingly aligns with US concerns over security risks and trade tensions.
- China Rally on Housing Plan Sparks Scramble to Decrypt Details — China’s cryptic hints at a plan to address its property market woes have buoyed investors. But economists want more details before buying into the recovery story.
- China Tightens Rules on Hedge Funds With Higher Threshold, Curbs — China tightened rules for hedge funds, raising the minimum-asset threshold of the 5.5 trillion yuan ($762 billion) industry while imposing restrictions on the use of derivatives and leverage.
Reuters
- China’s Nio turns to rival BYD to power new EV brand — China electric vehicle maker Nio has struck a deal with larger rival BYD to source batteries for an EV brand priced at a lower range that aims to compete with Tesla.
- Germany’s Scholz calls on China to play bigger role in poor nations’ debt — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday called on China to play a bigger role in helping poor countries with their debt burdens and said that he raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his recent trip to Beijing.
- Exclusive: China’s CICC may cut investment banking headcount by at least 10% this year, sources say — China International Capital Corp (CICC) may reduce its investment banking headcount by at least 10% this year, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as a capital market downturn and sluggish economy darken prospects.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Visiting Europe, Xi Jinping brings up an old grievance — In marking the bombing of China’s embassy in Belgrade, Mr Xi is sending a message to America.
- Associated Press: Call it Cognac diplomacy. France offered China’s Xi a special drink, in a wink at their trade spat — China recently opened an anti-dumping investigation into European brandy — which mainly means French Cognac. Those disputes were central to talks between Xi and Macron on Monday.
- Foreign Affairs: America’s China strategy has a credibility problem — A muddled approach to economic sanctions won’t deter Beijing. By Emily Kilcrease
- Quartz: A Tesla rival in China is eyeing a $5 billion IPO in the U.S. — The premium EV brand Zeekr first hinted at its initial public offering plans last year.
- Center for Strategic & International Studies: Expanding the tool kit to counter China’s economic coercion — This report identifies coercive sanctions the United States and allied policymakers can use to effectively compete with China in the economic domain and deter future economic aggression from Beijing.
- Rest of World: Despite international hires, TikTok is Chinese at its core — Rest of World spoke to more than a dozen employees who said that TikTok remains answerable to ByteDance rather than its international leadership.
- The Guardian: EU restates readiness to launch trade war with China over cheap imports — Bloc ‘will not waver’ from making tough decisions to protect economy and security, says Ursula von der Leyen.
