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
- Burgers, Botox and Birkins: Consumer Pullback in China and U.S. Hits Broadly — From McDonald’s to Mercedes-Benz, executives are saying that many consumers in China and the U.S. are pulling back on spending, but for different reasons.
- China Caixin PMI Signals Pickup in Services-Sector Activity — A private gauge of China’s services sector signaled that activity expanded at a faster pace in July compared with a month ago, in contrast with the trend seen in official data.
- Chinese Migrants Rush to Find Way to U.S. Border Before Doors Close — New measures to stem the flow of Chinese migrants into the U.S. have set off a scramble of would-be asylum seekers, with many spurred to take new risks by the possibility of a second Trump presidency.
- The U.S. Has Been Spending Billions to Revive Manufacturing. But China Is in Another League. — Chinese state support for industry eclipses other nations, with subsidies, loans and other perks fueling trade tensions with the West.
- How Disney’s Deadpool Danced Around China’s Censors—Cocaine, F-Bombs and All — The raunchy superhero comedy “Deadpool & Wolverine” represents a new twist in the relationship between Hollywood and Beijing’s propaganda officials.
The Financial Times
- EU capitals set to back tariffs on Chinese electric cars, trade chief says — Valdis Dombrovskis confident measure will enter into force in November.
- Chinese emigration to Malaysia doubles on student and investment surge — Middle-class families seek more affordable destination amid slowing economy at home.
- World’s biggest lithium producer urges state help to compete with China — US-based Albemarle cuts expansion plans amid struggles for processor of key mineral for electric cars.
- JD.com’s founder ‘still running’ ecommerce group from overseas — Despite stepping down as chief in 2022, Richard Liu has continued to quietly steer the business from London.
- China’s urban pets forecast to outnumber toddlers this year — Growing number of household animals amid declining human population forecast to build $12bn pet food market by 2030.
The New York Times
- At Least 4 Dead and Dozens Missing After Landslide and Flood in China — Hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes in a mountainous part of Sichuan Province. An expressway bridge collapsed amid heavy rains.
- Takeaways From Our Investigation Into Banned A.I. Chips in China — The Times found an active trade in Nvidia chips in China despite U.S. national security restrictions, as well as unreported incidents of how the technology had been used to further defense research.
- With Smugglers and Front Companies, China Is Skirting American A.I. Bans — The U.S. is trying to stop China from getting Nvidia microchips to advance its military. The private sector is fighting back.
- Chinese Swimming’s Olympic Haul: More Medals, More Questions — A meet overshadowed by questions about doping produced more medals, but fewer golds, than China’s swimmers won at the Tokyo Games.
Caixin
- China Moves to Raise Retirement Age to Bolster Workforce, Ease Pension Pressure — Nation needs more workers to offset falling birthrates and ballooning retiree population.
- Anbang Insurance Gets Green Light to Start Bankruptcy Proceedings — Decision marks a milestone in the years-long process of managing the insurer’s collapse, but offloading remaining assets is still a headache.
- Tesla Renews Bid to Break Into Insurance Business in China — U.S. electric-vehicle giant registers brokerage firm in Beijing and names senior vice president as the unit’s chairman.
- China Offers Up To $20,000 Subsidy to Businesses Replacing Old Diesel Trucks — Policy is aimed at getting old, polluting lorries off the road and at boosting consumption.
- China’s New Digital ID System Trialed Across Over 80 Apps — Internet users can now apply for their national digital ID by logging onto a mobile app called National Web Identification Pilot Version, developed by China’s Ministry of Public Security.
South China Morning Post
- Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou warns of ‘crippling’ cost of paying US ‘protection money’ under Trump — Island’s former leader also says the United States would not sacrifice its own troops in a conflict with the mainland.
- Chinese EV battery maker CATL invests in ‘flying car’ developer AutoFlight — The largest maker of electric car batteries is investing millions of dollars into the aerial vehicle firm as China’s low-altitude economy takes flight.
- China-US flights struggle to fill seats amid high prices, visa issues and cheaper stopovers — Geopolitics and less business travel underpin struggles to restore flights to pre-pandemic levels as the US falls to 13th place among China’s top international markets.
- Tencent closes WeChat Pay Malaysia wallet as it shifts focus to Chinese tourists — Tencent Holdings is shutting down WeChat Pay Malaysia, the Chinese technology giant’s six-year old local e-wallet service, as it seeks to shift its focus in the Southeast Asian country to catering to Chinese tourists.
- Opinion: Possibility of Trump 2.0 should push China to recalibrate foreign policy — Trump’s return, while expected to affect how China will carry out Xi’s reforms, could also work in Beijing’s favour geopolitically. By Wang Xiangwei.
Nikkei Asia
- As China’s property market slumps, foreign investors get pickier — Singapore capital ticks up while Western buyers shy away from commercial sites.
- Hong Kong startup founders flock north to tech hub Shenzhen — Mainland city’s incentives draw new businesses as Beijing pushes integration.
- Opinion: What the world gets wrong about China’s overcapacity — Many policymakers confuse productive capacity with production output. By Tristan Kenderdine.
Bloomberg
- China’s Sweltering Heat Pushes Shanghai Power Demand to Record — Punishing heat throughout southern China is stressing power networks and farmland as extreme weather continues to exact a deadly toll in the world’s second-biggest economy.
- Hong Kong Gold Medalist Retires After Pro-China Thesis Uproar — Hong Kong Olympic gold medalist Vivian Kong said she would quit her fencing career days after controversy erupted over her apparent support for Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement.
- China Rolls Out Action Plan on Boosting Domestic Consumption — China’s government on Saturday laid out its priorities to spur consumer spending as weak domestic demand continues to weigh on growth.
Reuters
- US expected to propose barring Chinese software in autonomous vehicles — The administration, in plans first reported by Reuters, will also propose barring vehicles with Chinese-developed advanced wireless communications abilities modules from U.S. roads, the sources added.
- China asks large state financial institutions to drop auditor PwC, say sources — The regulators, mainly the Ministry of Finance (MOF), have given so-called “window guidance”, or unofficial, verbal instructions to big state-owned financial institutions since at least April, said the sources.
- China’s Honor gets “unusually” strong state backing as it readies IPO — Honor is receiving research-and-development funding, tax breaks and support to expand overseas, three Shenzhen government documents showed.
Other Publications
- NPR: Is a Chinese celebrity dissident really a con man? — A young political dissident in Europe made his name in the news media as a defiant critic of the Chinese Communist Party.
- The Guardian: ‘Firing a loud shot’: Taiwan TV show Zero Day aims to spark debate over potential China invasion — Director Lo Ging-zim hopes drama series will reverse people’s desensitisation to possible war after years of Chinese pressure.
- MIT Technology Review: Hydrogen bikes are struggling to gain traction in China — Over a dozen Chinese cities are experimenting with hydrogen-powered shared bikes, partly because of safety concerns around lithium-ion batteries.
- Los Angeles Times: You can’t buy a Chinese EV in the United States. But they dominate in Southeast Asia — Of the 31 passenger car brands represented last month at the sprawling Indonesia International Auto Show outside Jakarta, about a third were from China.
- The Washington Post: Taiwan is readying citizens for a Chinese invasion. It’s not going well. — The government extended mandatory military service and revamped reservist training in an effort to make Beijing think twice.
- Foreign Affairs: America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future — And They’re Already Here.
