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
- How Beijing Recruited New York Chinatowns for Influence Campaign — A congresswoman’s links to a Communist Party initiative ran through a local ‘hometown association.’
- China’s Youth Jobless Rate Falls After Hitting a Peak — The job numbers stayed elevated, underscoring the strains in the job market.
- Opinion: Look Abroad, Presidential Candidates — Foreign policy shouldn’t be a side issue in the 2024 election. It will determine the legacy of whoever wins. By Dan Quayle.
The Financial Times
- Why Xi Jinping changed his mind on China’s fiscal stimulus — After resisting calls to intervene, Beijing has made a sudden U-turn. But will the package be enough to get the economy back on track?
- Europe falls behind China in playing host to clinical drug trials — Pharmaceutical companies turn to jurisdictions with simpler regulatory regimes.
- Chinese share buybacks hit record high as Beijing steps up support — Country’s central bank has kicked off scheme to lend money to listed groups for stock repurchases.
The New York Times
- India and China Reach Border Deal That Could Ease Hostilities — Four years ago, several soldiers from both sides were killed in a bloody melee. Any thaw between the countries could have global implications.
- Yellen Rebukes Chinese Lending Practices in Call for Debt Relief — In an interview, the Treasury secretary also highlighted progress at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund ahead of annual meetings this week.
- China Turns Up the Heat on Taiwan With Live-Fire Drills — The drills were the latest show of force by China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and has protested Western support for the island.
- In a Malaysian Pop-Up City, Echoes of China’s Housing Crash — Forest City was an audacious $100 billion project by a top Chinese developer. Today, the project is a fraction of what had been planned and the developer is broke.
Caixin
- How China’s New Export Controls Will Work — Regulations will establish a permit system to control exports of items that could threaten China’s security.
- The View From Indonesia’s China-Built High-Speed Railway, One Year on — While the government touts the project’s GDP-boosting effect, some fret over debt and high operational costs.
- China Writes a Stricter Rulebook for a Changing Auto Industry — Regulators aim to steer a safer course as new-energy vehicle sales surge and autonomous driving takes to the road.
- Analysis: Rise in Empty Nesters Complicates China’s Elderly Care Efforts — Nearly 60% of China’s population over 60 lived alone or exclusively with a spouse in 2021, leaving them without the traditional support of their children.
South China Morning Post
- China eyes ‘top-tier industrial workforce’ by 2035, vows hi-tech training, talent support — Guidelines jointly issued by party Central Committee and the State Council come amid record youth joblessness and the continuing US tech war.
- Envoy says US tech restrictions against China may ‘plunge the world into the abyss’ — As Fu Cong addressed the UN Security Council, the Biden administration is reportedly finalizing rules to ban particular U.S. investments in AI in China.
- Shanghai ports to break 50 million container barrier, set global shipping record in 2024 — The city is investing in infrastructure and technology to support growth, while also liberalizing its finance sector to attract international shipping businesses.
- Alibaba kicks off Singles’ Day direct sales, with Apple and Lululemon seeing strong demand — The encouraging start to Singles’ Day sales for the country’s largest online retail platforms augurs well for consumer spending on the mainland.
- Tim Cook makes low-key visit to China as Apple Intelligence roll-out remains uncertain — The Apple chief executive is keeping his ear to the ground in one of the US tech giant’s largest markets.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s promotion of camping, skiing creates tailwind for brands like Salomon — Spending on outdoor goods has been ‘resilient,’ Amer Sports says.
- Chinese video game makers look abroad to avoid regulations, fees at home — Makers of Genshin Impact, Strinova seek higher profit margins overseas.
Bloomberg
- Who Thinks China’s Not an Economic Powerhouse? China. — One of the hottest topics at the upcoming global climate conference is whether China should still be considered “developing.”
- Colombia Hikes Tariffs on Cheap Steel Imports From China — The tariff on Chinese steel was raised to the maximum 35%, following similar moves by Brazil, Mexico and Chile.
- Opinion: The Social Media App Defying China’s Tech Slump — Xiaohongshu has a devoted domestic following and a growing band of international users. An IPO in Hong Kong could be its next step. By Catherine Thorbecke.
Reuters
- US unveils new rules to block China, Russia and Iran from accessing bulk US data — The proposal aims to keep foreign adversaries from using accessible American financial and genomic data and health data for cyber attacks, espionage and blackmail.
- US to curb AI investment in China soon — U.S. rules that will ban certain U.S. investments in artificial intelligence in China are under final review, suggesting the restrictions are coming soon.
- China’s Horizon Robotics raises $696 mln in biggest Hong Kong IPO of 2024, term sheet shows — At the set price, the IPO is the largest in Hong Kong since 2021.
- Fidelity International cuts 500 jobs in China, sources say — The cuts mark the largest downsizing in recent years of a global financial firm in the world’s second-largest economy.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Taiwanese Missile Units Are Giving Away Their Positions to China — Taiwan’s military hasn’t adjusted to the age of open-source intelligence.
- Foreign Policy: China’s Relentless Legal Warfare to Strangle Taiwan — It’s high time to push back against Beijing’s increasingly successful efforts to delegitimize Taipei.
- Foreign Affairs: China’s Agents of Chaos — How the military logic of Beijing’s growing partnerships threatens Washington.
- Foreign Affairs: The Return of Total War — To deter an increasingly assertive China from taking steps that might lead to conflict, the United States needs to show that it is prepared for a different kind of war.
- CFR: Is the United States Losing Ground to China in Southeast Asia? — Josh Kurlantzick writes that the United States’ influence in Southeast Asia is waning as China strengthens its position.
- Brookings: Beijing’s sanctions dilemma: Chinese narratives on economic coercion — Beneath the narrative of economic coercion with Chinese characteristics is China’s tendency to emulate U.S. sanctions strategies.