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
- Is China a ‘Developing’ Country? That’s the Trillion-Dollar Question at U.N. Climate Talks — Western powers want China, Saudi Arabia and other wealthy countries to join climate-finance pledge for poorer nations.
- China’s Plan B to Save the Economy: A Crusade Against Busywork — While growth stutters, a vast communist bureaucracy tries to liberate its workers from drudgery.
- Huawei’s Chip Advances Threaten Apple in China — Latest device is coming next week from Chinese company as it pushes ahead in technology despite U.S. sanctions.
- U.S. to Add Nearly 30 Chinese Companies to Forced-Labor Blacklist — The raft of additions is the single-largest expansion of a list created to combat alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
- French Cognac Workers Plan Strike Over Fears Bottling Business Could Move to China — The strike was called at distilleries Maisons Hennessey, Remy Martin, Courvoisier and Martell.
The Financial Times
- China ‘willing’ to engage in Trump dialogue as it backs exporters — Officials say Beijing will remain ‘steadfast’ in resisting protectionist measures
- Foreigners dump Chinese government bonds as popular trade unwinds — Investors who had borrowed renminbi to buy sovereign debt hit by market sell-off
- Microsoft urges Trump to ‘push harder’ against Russia and China hacks — Big Tech group’s president calls on new US administration to take tougher approach on state-sponsored cyber attacks.
- Temu owner PDD misses sales estimates amid China slowdown — Shares drop after tech group warns on ‘intensified competition.’
The New York Times
- China’s Hacking Reached Deep Into U.S. Telecoms — The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said hackers listened to phone calls and read texts by exploiting aging equipment and seams in the networks that connect systems.
Caixin
- Speculation Mounts Over Revival of Ant Group’s IPO — The company is keeping quiet, but the market has grown excited nonetheless, sending stocks with links to the finance giant surging.
- Oppo Isn’t Giving Up on Selling High-End Handsets in Developing Markets — Company sees seizing a share of the premium market from Samsung, Apple as its route to overseas profitability.
- Overcapacity Poses Only Distant Threat to China’s Shipbuilding Boom — Shipyards are benefiting from soaring demand that has sparked an expansion in production capacity for the first time in years.
South China Morning Post
- Citigroup CEO Fraser meets Chinese vice-premier, Shanghai mayor as Beijing touts reforms — Fraser said the Wall Street bank will ‘further its participation in the market to help promote US-China economic ties and trade.’
- Chinese EV makers face ‘do-or-die moment’ as competitive screws tighten — Only those that can sustain operations without external funding will stay in the race amid overcapacity and tariff woes, analysts say.
- Amazon invites Chinese sellers to new bargain marketplace Haul — The US e-commerce giant is aggressively promoting its new budget-shopping platform this holiday season to take on Temu and Shein.
Nikkei Asia
- China signals plans to expand business visa exemptions — Beijing also pledges to support companies hurt by foreign trade restrictions.
- China to restart visa-free travel for Japanese nationals — Long-awaited move follows Ishiba-Xi talks; several European countries also exempted.
- China stimulus yet to sway long-term investors, bankers say — Goldman Sachs, PAG and UBS execs see hesitancy despite ‘green shoots.’
- Trump trade stance pushes Asian nations toward regional alliances — President-elect’s tariff focus leaves nations looking to each other, away from U.S.
Bloomberg
- Diehard Gamers Are Fueling Demand for Esports Hotels in China — With bunkbeds, 24/7 tech support and state-of-the-art consoles, China’s 21,000 esports hotels cater to gamers who prefer to play together.
- Hong Kong’s Stock Benchmark Ripe for Expansion in Coming Review — Having more members boosts the diversification of the index, but may also turn off investors if the new stocks’ characteristics aren’t in line with what they’re seeking from the gauge.
- Opinion: Trump Trade War Took China by Surprise, But Xi Is Ready This Time — Ushering Biden out, Xi put down some red lines on Taiwan and tech. By Hal Brands.
Reuters
- Corporate China seeks dollars as trade tensions rise — Chinese firms are squirreling away even more dollars, pricing contracts in yuan and opening import lines to mitigate currency risks.
- There are few good ways out of China’s stock slump — With Donald Trump set to return to the White House backed by a Republican-controlled Congress, should investors brace for Chinese stocks to shrivel further — or is now the moment to take a contrarian view?
- Texas governor orders state agencies to sell China assets — The move is a sign of rising U.S.-China tensions starting to impact global capital flows.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping — China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?
- The Economist: Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs — As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America.
- Associated Press: Mexico acknowledges Canada’s concerns about a Chinese auto plant, but says none exists — Politicians in the United States and Canada have expressed concerns that under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, Chinese companies could assemble autos in Mexico and ship them north, avoiding tariffs.
- Los Angeles Times: With Trump as president, can TikTok in the U.S. survive? — The fate of TikTok in the U.S. has been up in the air since 2020.
- Brookings: The dollar and global markets after the US election — A fall in the yuan against the U.S. dollar could spark large depreciations across emerging markets and weigh on commodity prices.
- CSIS: Soviet Lessons for China Watching — The Soviet model is not China’s destiny, but understanding it is indispensable to making sense of China’s behavior and prospects for change.
- CSIS: Manila and Beijing Clarify Select South China Sea Claims — The growing divide between the Philippines and China carries important implications for the future of South China Sea disputes.
