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
- Chat Xi PT? China’s Chatbot Makes Sure It’s a Good Comrade — Chinese AI companies must overcome chip restrictions and strict regulations in creating chatbots on par with ChatGPT.
- Alibaba to Raise $4.5 Billion Through Convertible Bonds to Fund Buybacks — The accelerated pace of buybacks comes as the company faces growing competition and a sluggish Chinese economic recovery.
- Opinion: When Bill Clinton Lost China — In 1992, he vowed to link trade to human rights. On May 26, 1994, he betrayed that promise. By Rep. Chris Smith
The Financial Times
- Alibaba raises $5bn for share buybacks as it warns of AI challenges — Chair and chief vow to balance repurchases with investments to keep up with new developments in artificial intelligence.
- Nio chief says EU probe of Chinese electric cars does not ‘make sense’ — William Li says group will continue to push ahead with plans to expand in Europe.
- Prudential chair admits ‘frustrating and disappointing’ share performance — Shriti Vadera tells sparsely attended Hong Kong annual meeting the insurance group is still battling difficulties.
The New York Times
- China Has a Plan for Its Housing Crisis. Here’s Why It’s Not Enough. — A new approach by China’s top leaders is bold but pales against the problem: a vast number of empty apartments no one wants to buy.
Caixin
- White House’s Squeeze on Nvidia Chip Exports Is Turning Into a Win for Huawei — The lower-end artificial intelligence (AI) chips that Nvidia Corp. is exporting to China in order to skirt U.S. export controls are so underwhelming that local tech firms are turning to Huawei.
- Boeing Delays Delivery of Aircraft to China for Battery Reviews — The delivery of Boeing aircraft to China has been suspended while China’s civil aviation regulator carries out a review of batteries powering the cockpit voice recorder, sources familiar with the matter told Caixin.
- Two Chinese Battery Parts Firms to Build Factories in U.S. as Tariffs Soar — As the United States raises tariffs on Chinese-made batteries and parts, two Chinese lithium battery parts manufacturers have announced plans to build factories in America.
South China Morning Post
- Xi Jinping meeting underlines China’s economic growth priority, with message ‘clearer than ever’, analysts say — Chinese President Xi Jinping met with business leaders, overseas investors and economists on Thursday, with analysts pointing to the timing of the meeting ahead of the key third plenum.
- Alibaba’s US$4.5 billion convertible bond sale ‘oversubscribed’, as tech giant builds war chest to fund share buy-backs — The Chinese tech giant is selling up to US$5 billion worth of convertible bonds, while company leaders set e-commerce and cloud computing as its core businesses in a move ‘towards strategic clarity’.
- US, EU and other democracies slam mainland China for military drills around Taiwan, urge ‘restraint’ — Call for preserving status quo goes out after Beijing launches exercises surrounding self-governed island following William Lai’s inauguration speech.
Nikkei Asia
- China foreign investment inflow sinks to lowest since November — Enticements yet to pay off with year-to-date figure down 27.9% from 2023.
- Taiwan’s most senior lawmaker says opposition wants another ‘Hong Kong’ — Ker Chien-ming says contentious bills designed to help China ‘undermine’ democracy.
- Yellen cites China overproduction as G7 ministers meeting opens — Italy finance ministers gathering to grapple with fragmentation of global trade.
Bloomberg
- China’s $538 Billion Deposit Exodus Supercharges Rally in Bonds — China’s efforts to bolster economic growth by reducing the allure of bank deposits has driven a record exodus from cash, with a big proportion of that going into bonds and wealth management products.
- France Calls for Shared G-7 Assessment of China Overcapacity — French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the Group of Seven needs coalesce on an assessment of excess Chinese industrial exports as Europe tries to avoid getting caught in the cross-hairs of a trade-war.
- Early ByteDance Backer Plans One of China’s Biggest New VC Funds — Source Code Capital, among the earliest backers of TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd., is raising one of China’s largest venture funds as startups begin to draw renewed interest during the AI boom.
Reuters
- Exclusive: Nvidia cuts China prices in Huawei chip fight — Nvidia’s (NVDA.O) most advanced AI chip it developed for the China market has got off to a weak start, with abundant supply forcing it to be priced below a rival chip from Chinese tech giant Huawei, according to sources familiar with the matter.
- China stages mock missile strikes on Taiwan, jets with live missiles used in drills — China staged mock missile strikes and dispatched fighter jets carrying live missiles along with bombers on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV said, as part of exercises Beijing has said were launched to punish Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te.
- China urges UK to stop making ‘groundless accusations’, says Chinese embassy in UK — A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom called on London to stop making groundless accusations against China, and stop adding fuel to the fire on the Ukraine issue, according to a statement on Friday.
Other Publications
- WIRED: Most US TikTok Creators Don’t Think a Ban Will Happen — The Chinese-owned app is in serious trouble in Washington, but a survey of US creators suggests TikTok’s influencer economy is carrying on with business as usual.
- The Economist: The number of American students in China is going up again — The number of American students in China is going up again.
- Associated Press: Myanmar quietly announces plans to study controversial Chinese dam project suspended 13 years ago — Myanmar’s military government appears to be considering reviving a massive China-backed hydroelectric dam project, work on which was suspended more than a decade ago after protests over its possible impact on the environment.
- Quartz: Millennials are ready to go all in on Chinese cars, despite privacy concerns — A vast majority of young Americans would consider a Chinese brand, according to a new study.
- Brookings Institution: Restoring an open internet requires softer China policy — The recently passed law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban is an extension of the United States’ current confrontational policy toward China. By Mark MacCarthy
- The Guardian: China testing ability to ‘seize power’ in second day of military drills around Taiwan — PLA says exercises launched in response to president’s inauguration will test capacity to ‘launch joint attacks and occupy key areas.’
