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.
Paid subscribers automatically have this list emailed directly to their inboxes every day by 10 a.m. EST. Subscribe here.
The Wall Street Journal
- Alleged Chinese Spy Was Tracking U.S. Arms Shipments to Israel — German officials arrested a Chinese national, the latest in a series of moves by European authorities targeting alleged Chinese spies that have come on top of a growing economic antagonism between Europe and China.
The Financial Times
- Vietnamese fishermen injured in clash with Chinese vessels — Confrontation near Paracel Islands highlights rising hostilities in disputed waters of South China Sea.
- China’s foreign investors hope stimulus will end ‘deep winter’ — International backers of Chinese equities want package to be accompanied by fiscal spending and reforms.
- China’s ‘World Bank’ gives backing to wave of renminbi bonds — Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will provide guarantees and support for developing nations’ ‘panda bonds’.
- European carmakers brace for a deeper and longer downturn — Profit warnings have come from a sector facing weak sales at home, intense competition in China and slowing EV demand.
- Chinese outbound investment surges to record on clean energy ‘tsunami’ — Beijing’s booming green tech sector is increasingly driving FDI flows into global markets.
- Opinion: Connected cars pose real risks — The rising use of specialised software in EVs raises important questions about privacy and safety for drivers around the world. By June Yoon.
The New York Times
- Song Binbin, Poster Woman for Mao’s Bloody Revolution, Dies at 77 — She was said to have been involved in the first killing of an educator during the Cultural Revolution, drawing official praise. She later apologized for her actions.
- Germany Accuses Woman of Spying for China on Arms Exports — The woman, who worked at an airport that is one of Europe’s largest cargo hubs, is accused of passing along “flights, freight and passengers” related to arms exports.
- Tim Walz Said He Was in Hong Kong in 1989 During Tiananmen. Not True. — Mr. Walz taught at a high school in China as part of a program sending American teachers abroad, but he did not actually travel to the country until August 1989.
Caixin
- Investment Guru’s Supernatural Powers Haven’t Made His Followers Whole — Sui Guangyi claimed he could predict markets by focusing on the interactions of heaven, earth and humanity. His investors are now waiting to get their money back.
- Stimulus Drives China’s Biggest Stock Surge Since 2008, but Analysts Fear It Might Fizzle — New monetary tools give markets a shot in the arm, but China needs to solve property slump if it is to last, say experts.
- CIC Checks the Books for Potential Purchase of Stakes in National Bad Banks — China’s sovereign wealth fund looks at equity transfer as part of financial system reform.
- The Region Embodying China’s Energy Transition — Inner Mongolia had the largest fleet of wind power turbines in the country last year. It also had the most coal mines under development.
- Major Chinese EV-Makers Have Record Month for Sales — Price cuts and government subsidies helped the likes of BYD, XPeng and Li Auto boost monthly deliveries to all-time highs in September.
South China Morning Post
- China evacuates citizens from Lebanon, urges security precautions for nationals in Iran — Beijing’s embassy in Beirut confirms dozens evacuated from the country while some embassy staff remain.
- Made in China 2035: will it topple US hi-tech, military manufacturing in 10 years? — ‘Irreversible’ US production declines amid an expanding Chinese economy will thrust world into ‘a new era’, says government adviser Lu Yongxiang.
- How Asean’s influence on China is growing — Southeast Asia is playing an ever-growing part in China’s investment and diplomatic decisions, particularly as Beijing’s rivalry with Washington heats up.
- The ‘Big Short’ on China became the ‘Big Squeeze’ that caught Wall Street on the back foot — Global investors, who have been shorting China, now must scramble to rebalance their portfolios to ‘a more rational level’, analyst says.
- How China’s ‘one-child generation’ got trapped in the population pyramid — China’s one-child policy has created a zero-sibling generation – and caring for parents and children in a tough economy is taking its toll.
Nikkei Asia
- What happens if China loses normal U.S. trade relations? — Economists say Washington revoking status could boost inflation, erode GDP.
- Shenzhen attack’s aftermath reveals cracks in China’s governing power — Anti-foreigner sentiment grows along with public frustration over economy.
- China tourism takes a great leap inward — Mass domestic tourism is replacing historic charm with consumerism.
- Opinion: Fleeing Xi’s ‘China Dream’: The great exodus of people and capital — Economic decline and squeezed politics are pushing many to vote with their feet. By Lynette Ong.
Bloomberg
- Xpeng Exploring Localization Options as Europe Tariff Vote Looms — Chinese automaker Xpeng Inc. is looking at several options in Europe that may help it to localize production and sidestep tariffs the bloc is levying on electric vehicles made in Asia’s biggest economy.
- China Sees Record Railway Trips, Buoying Outlook for Consumption — China’s railway network saw a record number of trips made on the first day of its week-long holiday, offering early signs of a consumer spending pickup in the world’s second-biggest economy.
- Chinese Homebuyers Scout Showrooms at Midnight After Easing — At 11:12 p.m. in Shenzhen on Sunday, China’s least affordable city eased rules for homebuyers. Less than an hour later, the first batch of prospective customers showed up at a sales center for a suburban project by local developer Excellence Group.
- Xi’s Stimulus Blitz Adds $130 Billion to Coffers of China’s Rich — China’s largest stimulus package in years has helped the country’s richest get a whole lot richer.
- Investment Bank’s Government Debt Business Squeezed by China, New Rivals — Along with the demands of China and debt investors, Lazard faces more vigorous competition, including from its own former bankers.
Reuters
- EU support is enough to impose Chinese EV tariffs, sources say — Under EU rules, the Commission can impose final or “definitive” tariffs for the next five years unless a qualified majority of 15 EU countries representing 65% of the EU’s population votes against the plan.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: China Is Ready for War — And Thanks to a Crumbling Defense Industrial Base, America Is Not.
- The New Yorker: Where the Bubble-Tea Industry Has Gone Into Hyperdrive — Han Zhang on China’s bubble-tea revolution and the country’s new generation of milk-tea chains that sell not only beverages but also imagined worlds.
- The Economist: The future of the Chinese consumer—in three glasses — What China’s biggest distiller, brewer and water-bottler say about its economy.
- PIIE: China’s stimulus measures to boost troubled economy may fall short — The steps announced so far do not address the deep-rooted problems in China’s economy that weigh on its growth, including Beijing’s increasing prioritization of national security over economic development.
