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 Gauge Shows Factory Activity Expansion in June — Compared with the official index, the Caixin PMI tracks smaller and private companies more closely.
- Cambodia Denies Hosting Chinese Naval Base, but Two Ships Raise Suspicions — Two Chinese navy corvettes have been docked at Ream Naval Base almost continuously since December.
The Financial Times
- China’s central bank moves to address bond frenzy — Officials are increasingly uncomfortable with a rally pushing borrowing costs to lowest level in decades.
- Bain’s new boss says consultancy pulling back from work in China — The new boss of consultancy Bain & Company has said the firm is pulling back from advising certain industries in China, as rising tension between Beijing and Washington heightens scrutiny of western businesses operating there.
- The foreign investors left stranded in Evergrande’s web of Chinese debt — Overseas bondholders have discovered to their cost that they have little recourse in the Chinese system when boom turns to bust.
- Investors shy away from China’s ‘Taiwan Town’ as tensions rise — Chinese province closest to Taiwan seeks greater ties, but business has grown wary amid geopolitical and economic concerns.
- Philippines courts investors for ‘China-free’ nickel supply chain — Manila pitches itself as alternative for western countries seeking to diversify sources of EV battery material.
- Hong Kong’s exclusive clubs rocked by economic slowdown and expat exodus — Prices on secondary market for lifetime memberships continue to slide post-pandemic as city’s troubles squeeze demand.
- Shein keeps option of Hong Kong IPO as back-up plan — Fast-fashion group’s ambition of listing in London is facing scrutiny in UK and China.
The New York Times
- Chinese Rocket Crashes After Accidentally Launching During Test — The commercial company Space Pioneer said the accident occurred because of a structural failure in the connection between the rocket and its testing platform.
- China Dangled Rebates to Lure People to Spend. It’s Not Enough. — China’s leaders vowed to kick-start spending by offering subsidies for households to buy cars and appliances. But many consumers aren’t biting.
Caixin
- Cover Story: School’s Out For China’s Rural Students as Classrooms Close — The empty schools in mining cities such as Hegang is the unintended result of a policy that started in 2016, when the central government set out to reduce and consolidate its coal production to tackle overcapacity after a decade of breakneck growth.
- BYD’s Uzbekistan Plant Begins Mass Production of Plug-In Hybrids — The first batch of plug-in hybrids has rolled off the assembly line at BYD Co. Ltd.’s new plant in Uzbekistan, the company said Thursday, marking the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant’s latest step to expand into Central Asia.
- China’s Manufacturing Growth Hits Three-Year Peak, Caixin PMI Shows — Activity in China’s manufacturing sector in June grew at the fastest pace since May 2021 on strong production and stabilizing employment, but manufacturers became less optimistic about the outlook, a Caixin-sponsored survey showed Monday.
South China Morning Post
- Tencent to close online education service as tech giant cuts back on noncore operations — Shuttering the 10-year-old online education platform with more than 400 million users shows Tencent’s focus on its cost-cutting strategy.
- Troubled Chinese developers face unprecedented wave of liquidation suits in Hong Kong — A worsening macroeconomic environment is prompting offshore creditors to hasten restructuring efforts, triggering a surge in lawsuits as declining property sales erode asset values, according to industry experts.
- Alibaba to close data centres in Australia, India amid expansion in Southeast Asia, Mexico — Alibaba Cloud’s updated infrastructure strategy prioritises expansion in Southeast Asia and Mexico.
Nikkei Asia
- China social networks condemn anti-Japanese hate speech after knife attack — Platforms criticize extremist comments for promoting ‘xenophobia.’
- China says rare earths belong to state in new regulation — Rule takes effect Oct. 1 with reach over entire supply chain.
- China begins smartphone inspections as part of espionage law — Some foreigners fear having electronic devices examined when entering country.
Bloomberg
- China AI Startups Head to Singapore in Bid for Global Growth — When Wu Cunsong and Chen Binghui founded their artificial intelligence startup two years ago in Hangzhou, China, they quickly ran into obstacles, including dearth of venture capital. This March, they did what scores of other Chinese AI firms have done and moved their company, Tabcut, 2,500 miles southwest to Singapore.
- Taiwan Warns China Could Step Up Detentions to Pressure Lai — Taiwanese officials said they are concerned China will detain more individuals from the island to pile pressure on President Lai Ching-te.
- China’s Slump in Home Sales Slows After Cities Ease Policy — The downturn in China’s residential real estate sector slowed further in June, following the government’s efforts to put a floor under the housing market in some of its biggest cities.
Reuters
- Space Pioneer says part of rocket crashed in central China — Beijing Tianbing Technology Co said on Sunday that the first stage of its Tianlong-3 rocket under development had detached from its launch pad during a test due to structural failure and landed in a hilly area of the city of Gongyi in central China.
- China sets up new state body to drill deep for oil and gas reserves — China is setting up a new entity that groups national oil producers and other state firms to search for ultra-deep oil and gas reserves and tackle harder-to-extract non-conventional resources, state energy group CNPC said on Monday.
- China offers foreign permanent residents of Hong Kong, Macau five-year visas — Foreigners who are permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau and are looking to visit mainland China can apply for multiple-entry travel visas with validity of five years, China’s National Immigration Administration said on Monday.
- Exclusive: US law firm Dechert considering shuttering offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, say sources — U.S.-founded law firm Dechert is considering closing its offices in Hong Kong and Beijing, becoming the latest foreign firm to scale back in Greater China, two people said, amid a prolonged capital market downturn and growing Sino-U.S. tensions.
Other Publications
- Associated Press: Surveys show Chinese economy growing but at modest pace — Surveys of Chinese factory managers showed a mixed outlook for the world’s second-largest economy in June, with growth steady but not picking up much steam.
- Washington Post: Opinion: As China backslides on women’s rights, the U.S. can step up — Xi Jinping has turned back the clock on women’s roles in society and the workplace. By Raja Krishnamoorthi and Kathy Castor
- CNN: How ready is China’s military? Dramatic downfall of two defense ministers raises questions — After months of intense speculation and official reticence, China has finally confirmed its two former defense ministers who vanished from public view last year had been under investigation for corruption.
- Forbes: China Is Afraid Of International Law—And Planning A Counter-Offensive — As weapons have been drawn in the South China Sea, a battle of legal narratives is brewing—and academics are on the front lines. By Jill Goldenziel
