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
- Nvidia Chip Flow to China Should be Throttled Post-DeepSeek, U.S. Lawmakers Say — Export controls need to be tightened after revelations the Chinese company used Nvidia technology, the leaders of a congressional committee said.
- Italy’s Watchdog Blocks AI App DeepSeek Over Data-Privacy Concerns, Launches Probe — The Chinese AI application DeepSeek was blocked with immediate effect.
- Crackdown on Tariff Exemption Snares U.S. E-Commerce Retailers — Smaller importers say their supply chains are getting rolled up in restrictions targeting Temu and Shein.
- China’s Property Sector Retreats Into State Hands — As China’s housing crisis claims more private developers, state-owned ones now dominate.
The Financial Times
- China builds huge new wartime military command centre in Beijing — Complex will be bigger than Pentagon and include bombproof bunkers for leaders, say U.S. intelligence officials.
- A young couple paid for a luxury maternity home. Then it suddenly closed — In China, consumers often have little recourse when things go wrong. This time they investigated.
- Origin unknown: why the Covid China lab leak theory still matters — CIA judgment reignites search for an answer on the origins of the virus that caused pandemic.
- Hong Kong to open door to first single-stock leveraged ETFs in Asia — Managers will be allowed to launch leveraged and inverse ETFs tracking single stocks overseas.
The New York Times
- High Stakes for Global Companies in Trump’s Latest Tariff Threats — Manufacturers from Asia, Europe and elsewhere have poured billions into North American supply chains that could be hit by new taxes on Mexico, Canada and China.
- Tesla and Chinese Carmakers Could Reap Billions From EU Emissions Rules — European carmakers are urging Brussels to ease regulations to help them avoid buying carbon credits from rivals in increasingly large amounts.
- Opinion: Trump Wants a Trade Deal, Not a Trade War. He May Get One. — The president prides himself on doing what others deem impossible or inadvisable. By Wendy S. Cutler.

South China Morning Post
- DeepSeek outage adds to growing pains amid political scrutiny, but some see opportunity — A cyberattack against the Chinese AI start-up has led to days of intermittent outages, as third parties including Nvidia tout self-hosted solutions.
- China’s fruit lovers relish the taste of ‘cherry freedom’ as prices plunge — Cherries were once considered a luxury item in China, but a flood of cheap Chilean imports has tanked prices ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Nikkei Asia
- Auto imports face U.S. scrutiny for ties to Uyghur forced labor — Customs agency steps up enforcement and expands entity list.
Bloomberg
- Why The China Bubble Still Hasn’t Popped —Tom Orlik revisits his thesis that a downward spiral is in the cards.
- Apple Forecast Cheers Investors After Mixed Holiday Results — China and the iPhone were weak spots in the December quarter.
- Japan’s Economy Faces Fallout From Trump’s China Tariff Threats — Companies may be better prepared for disruption this term.
Reuters
- China passes on U.S. soybeans despite Brazilian delays — A delayed Brazilian harvest can sometimes widen the export window for U.S. soybeans, but both overall shipments and participation from China have recently been lackluster.
- Exclusive: Chinese workers in BYD Brazil factory signed contracts with abusive clauses, investigators say — The contracts includes clauses that violate labor laws in both Brazil and China.
- Taiwan says government departments should not use DeepSeek, citing security concerns — Democratically-governed Taiwan has long been wary of Chinese tech.
Other Publications
- The Economist: China needs its frightened officials to save the economy — After years of being hounded by anti-graft authorities, many are too afraid to act.
- The Economist: The bad side-effects of China’s campaign to cut drug costs — Poor quality is one. An angry public is another.
- Rest of World: Non-Western founders say DeepSeek is proof that innovation need not cost billions of dollars — The Chinese app has just “blown the roof off” and “shifted the power dynamics.”
- New Statesman: Bill Gates vs Ren Zhengfei — The Microsoft and Huawei founders have competing visions of technological dominance. Which will endure?
- CSIS: China and Vietnam Are Driving Reef Destruction in the South China Sea — Claimants in the region have caused irreparable damage to the marine habitat.