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
- The Disconcerting Signal Behind China’s Epic Bond Rally — Low yields suggest investors are souring on growth and taking on financial risks.
- China Industrial Profits Continue Run of Growth But Demand Worries Persist — Profits at China’s industrial firms rose 4.1% in July from a year earlier.
- Canada Is Adding Tariffs to Imports of Chinese EVs, Steel and Aluminum — A 100% surtax will be applied to all electric vehicles from China, while a 25% surtax will be placed on imports of steel and aluminum products.
The Financial Times
- Japan says China’s airspace incursion ‘totally unacceptable’ — Tokyo says two-minute incident was first involving Chinese military plane and a threat to national security.
- Temu’s global expansion now looks fraught with difficulty — Owner PDD warns revenue growth will trend downwards amid rising competition and economic slowdown.
- Chinese retailer PDD takes $55bn share hit after warning of ‘inevitable’ profit decline — Ecommerce giant behind Temu flags rising competition and need to invest more in domestic market.
- ‘Two bowls of poison’: China weighs a Trump vs a Harris presidency — Beijing wary of ‘mystery’ around vice-president who has had little exposure to foreign affairs.
- China’s export curbs on semiconductor materials stoke chip output fears — Western customers say restrictions on supply could hit production of advanced microprocessors and optical products.
- Trudeau says Canada will impose steep tariffs on Chinese EVs and steel — Move replicates US measures and follows visit to Ottawa by top US national security official.
The New York Times
- ‘Twilight Love’: Shanghai’s Lonely and Retired Are Looking for Love — China has the world’s largest population of people 65 or older, and more and more of them are unattached.
- What Kamala Harris Needs to Do to Take on China — Washington cannot win “the competition for the 21st century” against Beijing by itself.
- Canada Will Impose 100% Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles — The new tariffs announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will match levies imposed by President Biden and could further strain relations between Canada and China.
- China to Hold Live-Fire Drills Near War-Torn Myanmar’s — Beijing likely wants to signal to Myanmar’s junta leaders that they should return to peace talks and de-escalate the conflict, analysts said.
- Hong Kong Defends Sex Ed Advice That Includes Playing Badminton — Top officials in the Chinese territory have defended new sex education guidance that critics call regressive. Young people are amused.
Caixin
- China Pilots Government-Funded Housing Renovation System in 22 Cities — China is piloting a housing pension system in 22 cities including Shanghai, which aims to create a long-term mechanism to maintain aging residential buildings.
- China’s Fiscal Revenue Falls in July as Economic Slowdown and Property Slump Bite — China’s national fiscal revenue contracted 1.9% year-on-year in July while income from land sales for local governments fell by the largest in two years. This comes at a time when the country is grappling with weak industrial production, sluggish consumption and a prolonged slowdown in the property market.
- IBM Pulls R&D Units Out of China in Latest Withdrawal by U.S. Firm — IBM Corp. is shutting down two major research and development (R&D) units in China, amid declining business in the country and mirroring a broader trend of U.S. tech firms scaling back their presence in China.
South China Morning Post
- China’s ‘hidden debt’ drive controls borrowing for municipal infrastructure projects — Local governments in China urged to ‘follow approval procedures’, ‘ensure money sources’ and ‘strengthen budgetary controls’ of projects.
- IBM lay-offs at China R&D teams send shock waves across local tech community — Some employees were disappointed at the brevity of a conference call with US-based executives.
- Jake Sullivan lands in China, first US national security adviser to visit in 8 years — Thorny issues on the table in talks with Wang Yi include potential presidential summit, Taiwan, South China Sea and US ‘arbitrary measures’.
- Xpeng aims to assemble EVs in Europe to blunt impact of import tariffs, CEO says — Establishing a manufacturing footprint in Europe would see Xpeng join the growing ranks of Chinese EV makers looking to build out production in the region to minimise the impact of the European Union’s tariffs.
Nikkei Asia
- Australian senator upholds motion denying China’s UN claim to Taiwan — David Fawcett highlights economic risk of potential Chinese move to change status quo.
- Taiwan’s Lai marks 100 days in office as China and opposition test mettle — Administration withstands early parliament drama but budget debate looms.
- China’s kindergarten closures foreshadow economic hit from falling births — 20,000 schools shut in two years; Beijing seeks urgent solutions as workforce shrinks.
Bloomberg
- Chinese Airlines Elbow Foreign Rivals Out of Major International Routes — After five tumultuous years, the mainland’s largest airlines have brushed past their competitors to seize the lion’s share of air traffic to the world’s second-biggest economy.
- China’s Baosteel Sees Pressure After Steady First-Half Profit — Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the listed unit of the world’s biggest steel producer, warned of growing pressures on the industry after reporting profit that held up relatively well in the first half of 2024.
- Biden’s Adviser Meets Top Chinese Diplomat to Manage Tensions — US President Joe Biden’s top national security aide Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, as the world’s two largest economies seek to manage their rivalry through dialogue.
Reuters
- Exclusive: China spent $15.3 billion on Pacific exercises in 2023, internal Taiwan estimates show — China spent about $15 billion, or 7% of its defence budget, on exercises in the Western Pacific in 2023, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing’s investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbours.
- China calls US sanctions over Ukraine war ‘illegal and unilateral’ — China called U.S. sanctions on its entities over the Ukraine war “illegal and unilateral” and “not based on facts”, in comments on Tuesday ahead of White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s arrival in Beijing for days of high-level talks.
- China’s BYD to use Huawei’s advanced autonomous driving system in off-road EVs — Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD has signed an agreement with Huawei to use the Chinese tech conglomerate’s advanced autonomous driving system in its off-road Fangchengbao EVs, Huawei said on Tuesday.
Other Publications
- Quartz: Nvidia chips are banned in China — but AI engineers have found a way around that — Chinese AI engineers are reportedly accessing Nvidia’s AI chips despite U.S. export controls.
- The Guardian: Chinese military plane carries out first violation of Japanese airspace — Japan has condemned an unprecedented violation of its airspace by a Chinese military aircraft as “utterly unacceptable” and a threat to its security.
- BBC News: Top-level meeting shows China – and Xi – still a priority for Biden — Jake Sullivan has arrived on his first visit to China as US national security adviser. He will hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi as the two countries try to stabilise relations.
- Deutsche Welle: German firms ignore calls to shrink China investments — Germany’s investments in China are growing despite efforts to reduce reliance on the Asian power. China continues to be a critical trade partner for Europe’s largest economy, so how to get the balance right?
