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 Is Mixed on Elon Musk—but They Sure Love His Mom — At 76, Maye Musk is a surprising celebrity in the country, and the tycoon’s secret weapon.
- ‘Only Pirates Do This’: China Wields Axes and Knives in South China Sea Fight — The Chinese coast guard used dangerous new tactics in latest confrontation, the Philippine military says.
- Opinion: Inside China’s Troubled Real Estate Market — Xi Jinping’s government tried to bring housing prices down. Now it wants to force them up again. By Joseph C. Sternberg
The Financial Times
- German exports to China drop as trade tensions rise — Decline comes as economy minister sets off for Beijing seeking to defuse brewing spat over electric vehicles.
- China threatens death penalty for Taiwan ‘separatists’ — While Beijing lacks jurisdiction over Taiwan, new rules criminalising independence could deter travel.
- China hopes for green shoots of panda revival in wild — Beijing plans first census in decade as it extends efforts to protect vulnerable species.
- China’s 618 online shopping event marks first-ever sales drop — Ecommerce festival loses lustre as platforms offer year-round discounts.
- Invesco bucks trend with launch of first European ChiNext 50 ETF — Listing comes as closures of China-focused ETFs have risen to record level.
- Shein sought to reassure US over China supply chain ahead of IPO — Fashion group’s kept talks on Xinjiang cotton private to avoid being seen as unpatriotic by Beijing.
- Xi’s climate goals boost China’s nuclear industry — Export push of homegrown technology to follow after rapid domestic build-out of power plants over last decade.
- China’s shopping slump will force ecommerce laggards overseas — A sales drop has exposed the gap between rivals with a global presence and those relying on domestic customers.
- Philippines secretly reinforces ship at centre of South China Sea dispute — The Sierra Madre has become the most dangerous flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific.
The New York Times
- TikTok Lays Out Past Efforts to Address U.S. Concerns — The company said the disclosures support its argument that a law signed by President Biden in May is unconstitutional.
Caixin
- In Depth: Rough Market Doomed Syngenta Listing Plans — Chinese-owned pesticides and seeds giant Syngenta Group Co. Ltd. had spent three years talking a big game about an imminent IPO. Then on March 29, news broke that it had quietly shelved plans to list. Confirmation from the group came shortly after.
- Exclusive: Jiangsu Securities Regulator Chief Ling Feng Detained — Ling Feng, the Party secretary and director of the Jiangsu Securities Regulatory Bureau, was recently detained by the provincial anti-graft body, Caixin learned from sources.
- Exclusive: Ant Group Likely to Sell Stake in China’s First Personal Credit Reporting Firm to Tencent — Fintech giant Ant Group Co. Ltd. is likely to sell its stake in China’s first personal credit reporting company to Tencent Holdings Ltd., sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.
South China Morning Post
- China’s excess solar capacity a product of tech transition, market forces, energy official says — A top energy official in China has dismissed concerns over the country’s high capacity in solar power, saying the imbalance will be corrected as the industry transitions and market forces do their work.
- China aims to solve property puzzle with affordable housing push, but debt cloud remains — Local authorities in China have been encouraged to buy unsold homes to create affordable housing amid efforts to address a property crisis, but many are already struggling with debt.
- Chinese EV makers allege EU ‘snooping’, urge Beijing to take ‘most stringent’ measures — Chinese and European firms at a meeting this week ‘all opposed’ European Union tariffs on China’s electric vehicles, according to a social media account linked to state broadcaster CCTV.
Nikkei Asia
- Partners Group opens Hong Kong office as Swiss swoop in for Chinese cash — Senior exec acknowledges city poised to overtake Switzerland in wealth management.
- Nissan shuts down China auto plant in eastern city of Changzhou — Japanese carmaker aims to trim output capacity amid sales slump.
- Opinion: Attack on Americans highlights China’s coverup culture — Instinct to suppress information only contributes to mistrust. By Benjamin Qiu
Bloomberg
- Germany’s Habeck Heads to Beijing For Talks as EV Tariffs Loom — German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is set to arrive in Beijing for talks with top leaders in the world’s No. 2 economy, with looming European tariffs on Chinese electric cars high on his agenda.
- PBOC Manages Yuan’s Decline With Strong Support Via Fixing — China’s support for the yuan Friday signaled its desire to manage its decline, as broad strength in the dollar kept the currency close to a policy no-go area.
- Canada Prepares Potential Tariffs on Chinese EVs After US and EU Moves — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is preparing potential new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles to align Canada with actions taken by the US and European Union, according to people familiar with the matter.
- China’s EV Makers Got $231 Billion Aid Over 15 Years, Study Says — China’s electric vehicle industry received at least $231 billion in government subsidies and aid from 2009 through to the end of last year, even as the amount of support per vehicle has declined, according to a new research.
Reuters
- Exclusive: U.S. and China hold first informal nuclear talks in 5 years, eyeing Taiwan — The United States and China resumed semi-official nuclear arms talks in March for the first time in five years, with Beijing’s representatives telling U.S. counterparts that they would not resort to atomic threats over Taiwan, according to two American delegates who attended.
- China threatens death penalty for ‘diehard’ Taiwan separatists — China on Friday threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for “diehard” Taiwan independence separatists, a ratcheting up of pressure even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the democratically governed island.
- In China, AI transformed Ukrainian YouTuber into a Russian — Shortly after launching a YouTube channel in November last year, Loiek, a 21-year-old from Ukraine, found her image had been taken and spun through artificial intelligence to create alter egos on Chinese social media platforms.
Other Publications
- The Economist: China doesn’t want people flaunting their wealth — Especially not on the internet
- Associated Press: Russia-North Korea pact could dent China’s influence, but Beijing still holds sway over both — With no obvious options, China appears to be keeping its distance as Russia and North Korea move closer to each other with a new defense pact that could tilt the balance of power among the three authoritarian states.
- Washington Post: Despite fentanyl crackdown, Chinese sellers are open for business — A booming online marketplace in shipping small but potent packages of the chemicals used in the production of fentanyl from China to Mexico remains largely unhindered.
- Foreign Policy: China Tests U.S. Red Lines With Attacks on Philippine Vessels — The viability of the rules-based order is at stake in the South China Sea.
- Quartz: Apple is looking for an OpenAI alternative in China — where there is no ChatGPT — iPhone sales in Apple’s second-largest market have fallen behind local rivals that have integrated AI capabilities into their smartphones.
- Center for Strategic & International Studies: The Chinese EV Dilemma: Subsidized Yet Striking — The global war over electric vehicles (EV) has heated up in the past few weeks and threatens to get even hotter in the coming months. By Scott Kennedy
- MIT Technology Review: How underwater drones could shape a potential Taiwan-China conflict — A new war-gaming experiment set out how cutting-edge technologies could prove critical.