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
- Trump Says He Discussed Trade, Rare Earths in Call With China’s Xi — President calls conversation productive; Beijing’s account is less conciliatory.
- OpenAI Says Significant Number of Recent ChatGPT Misuses Likely Came From China — A report highlights the security challenges as AI technology becomes more powerful.
- Iran Orders Material From China for Hundreds of Ballistic Missiles — Tehran wants to bolster military capacity amid contentious nuclear talks with U.S.
- Chinese Tech Firm Carves Out LGBTQ Niche in Crowded Social Media Space — Newborn Town is working to expand internationally with its overseas brand.
- China Central Bank Pumps Liquidity Into Markets Amid Cash-Crunch Concerns — Markets are watching to see if Chinese authorities will roll out more monetary easing.
- RBA Upbeat on China’s Willingness to Do What It Takes on Growth — There’s plenty at stake in the Australian central bank’s optimism, given that China accounts for around one-third of Australia’s total exports.
The Financial Times
- Trump and Xi agree to launch new round of trade talks — Leaders hold phone call amid simmering trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The New York Times
- How ASML, a Key Supplier to the Chip Industry, Is Navigating Trump’s Trade War — ASML, the Dutch company that makes multimillion-dollar tools to manufacture advanced semiconductors, is grappling with the repercussions of a tech trade war.
- Trump and Xi Hold Call, China Says — The two leaders spoke by phone on Thursday, after weeks of worsening tensions between Washington and Beijing.
- Xi to Trump: Rein in the Hawks Trying to Derail the Tariff Truce — China sought to depict a call between Xi Jinping and President Trump as an appeal from one strongman leader to another to run a tight ship and stay on course.
- China Allows Limited Exports of Rare Earths as Shortages Continue — Beijing has approved more export licenses for the critical minerals and magnets in recent days, but supplies remain scarce and factories in the West are running out.
Caixin
- China Needs to Learn to Better Tell Its Green Leadership Story, Energy Body Chief Says — ‘The challenge for China isn’t what it’s doing — it’s how it’s trying to tell its story,’ says World Energy Council CEO Angela Wilkinson.
- Bristol Myers Bets Billions on Chinese-Discovered Antibody for Cancer — The up to $11.1 billion BioNTech deal for PD-1/VEGF bispecific BNT327 follows a trend of Western pharma giants tapping pipelines in China for next-generation immunotherapies as key patents expire.
South China Morning Post
- Local governments halt some subsidies on purchases ahead of China’s 618 shopping festival — Abrupt halt to shopping vouchers — meant to stimulate consumption and boost economy — comes as a surprise, with depleted funds and ‘programme upgrades’ cited.
- China scientists put direct quantum communications tech to test in space flight — Two modules were part of a rocket launch last week, in a ‘key step’ towards an integrated space-air-ground quantum network.
Nikkei Asia
- Japan to propose China countermeasure package at next U.S. tariff talks — Tokyo sees path to drawing concessions through rare earth, LNG supply chains.
- Rio Tinto and China’s Baowu open iron mine in Australia — Project in Pilbara officially kicks off as Trump tariffs add uncertainty to steel sector.
Bloomberg
- BYD’s Misfire With Price Cuts Sparks $20 Billion Stock Selloff — Concerns are growing over BYD’s ability to meet its sales target.
- Yacht Builder to the World’s Super-Rich Caught Up in Spy Claims — Italian prosecutors are looking into allegations Ferretti may have been the subject of Chinese espionage.
- Xi Bets Trump Detente Will Lead to Future Wins on Chips, Tariffs — Although Xi flexed his muscles with rare earths restrictions, he also has reasons to come to the table.
- Opinion: The Quiet Voices Questioning China’s AI Hype — They’re easy to drown out, but worth listening to. By Catherine Thorbecke.
Reuters
- The world’s auto supply chain is in the hands of a few Chinese bureaucrats — The global alarm over shortages underscores the enormous leverage China has acquired through its near-monopoly on rare earth production.
- China’s rare earth weapon changes contours of trade war battlefield — The scramble in recent weeks to secure export licences for rare earths shows China has devised a better, more precisely targeted weapon for trade war.
Other Publications
- POLITICO: ‘We Would Have Had Leverage’: How Trump Botched the Trade War With China — A former U.S. ambassador to China on Trump’s trade war and how to really think about Xi Jinping.
- The Information: Nvidia’s Biggest Chinese Rival Huawei Struggles to Win at Home — Huawei is having a hard time convincing some of the biggest tech companies in China to use its chips.
- The Washington Post: Chinese propaganda surges as the U.S. defunds Radio Free Asia — Beijing expanded its state propaganda, including to the persecuted Tibetan and Uyghur minorities, as RFA pulled back.
- MIT Technology Review: Manus has kick-started an AI agent boom in China — A stampede of contenders and copycats has followed the launch of the general AI agent, but China’s internet restrictions have so far made it easier to cater to overseas users.
- The Economist: Now China’s ultra-cheap EVs are scaring China — They highlight many of the economy’s current problems.
