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
- Congress Looks to Punish China While Trump Pursues Trade Deal — Lawmakers aim to sustain pressure campaign with bills that spotlight human rights.
- China’s Manufacturing Activity Tumbles Into Contraction — The reading was in line with a competing official gauge, which showed deterioration in factory activity last month.
- Opinion: A Nixonian Trump Offer to China? — The President wants to break up the Moscow-Beijing axis. By The Editorial Board.
The Financial Times
- Tariffs on Taiwan stir fears over waning US support against China — Taipei faces 20% levy as it worries Donald Trump is prioritising trade talks with Beijing.
- Opinion: China and the rise of the new global city — Free-range globalisation is not part of the Sinosphere’s economic plan. By Adam Tooze.
The New York Times
- With New 40% Tariff, Trump Takes Aim at U.S. Dependence on China’s Factories — President Trump’s executive order carved out a special tariff on goods shipped indirectly to the United States by way of other countries.
- Tariffs Land on Taiwan Amid Tension With Washington — The Trump administration is weighing yet more tariffs on chips, Taiwan’s main exports.
- Nvidia Chips Are Front and Center in China at Crucial Moment in the A.I. Race — Chinese companies showcased A.I. gains in Shanghai this week. More chips will only help them improve faster, industry insiders say.
Caixin
- What’s Behind the Spike in U.S. Company Layoffs in China? — American firms are restructuring their local businesses amid uncertainties from U.S. tariffs, the rise of AI, and growing competition from Chinese rivals.
- Thailand Rewrites EV Subsidy Program to Cope With China-Led Glut — Thailand is encouraging automakers to export as domestic market is swamped with electric vehicles.
- China’s Tech Giants Spook a Generation of Workers With Job Cuts — Layoffs targeting older employees at companies like Alibaba and Tencent are pushing new graduates to shun the private sector in favor of the stability of a government job.
- Google Is Our Biggest Rival, Kuaishou’s AI Video Chief Says — Wan Pengfei singled out Veo 3’s ability to generate sound synced to video as a key advantage of Google’s offering.
- China’s Power Market Reforms Reshape Strategy for Renewable Developers, PCG Power Chairman Says — With guaranteed grid purchases now gone, generators must manage both supply and consumption, Li Wenxuan tells Caixin.
South China Morning Post
- Chinese shoppers in Shenzhen can now rent a customised robot alongside their groceries — Future Era, in the South China innovation hub’s Longgang district, bills itself as the world’s first ‘6S’ robotics store.
- Beijing denies it is a threat as FBI opens new office in New Zealand to ‘counter China’ — FBI director Kash Patel says Wellington office shows the agency is ‘prioritising a permanent presence across all Five Eyes countries’.
- Opinion: China’s call for global AI governance is loud and clear. Is the US listening? — Framing artificial intelligence as a matter of national security will only fragment global governance when the world needs it the most. By Jinghan (Michael) Zeng.
Nikkei Asia
- China pauses US-bound company investment amid trade war — Restrictions have been in place since April with no clear end.
- China subways hike fares, slash service as losses mount — Drop in real estate income hits metro operators hard.
- Exiled Hong Kong journalists to launch new global outlet — Two publications and two veterans band together to establish Pulse HK.
Bloomberg
- Russia’s China Ties Spur Boom in Learning Mandarin — Where once Western languages were prime targets for students, the trend toward Chinese learning shows Russia’s reorientation toward Asia runs deeper than just trade and diplomatic ties.
- Starbucks Shortlists Dozen Firms Including Tencent for China Investment — The shortlisted firms will be given access to the coffee chain’s China financials so they can evaluate and prepare bids in the coming months, the people said.
- Opinion: The Anti-US Axis Isn’t Dead, Just Resting — Russia, China and North Korea failed to help Iran when it was getting bombed by the US. And yet their four-way coalition lives on and will become more ominous. By Andreas Kluth.
Reuters
- China polysilicon firms plan $7 billion fund to shut a third of industry capacity — The top polysilicon producer told Reuters plans were being discussed to acquire and shut at least 1 million metric tons of lower-quality polysilicon capacity.
- China to crack down on ‘herd behaviour’ in emerging sector investment — “Currently, ‘involution’ and disorderly competition appeared in some industries,” Wang Renfei, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at a media briefing.
- China’s weak job market stirs boom-era nostalgia on social media — The hashtag phrase “beauty in the time of economic upswings,” often accompanied by early 2000s pictures of celebrities wearing bright clothes and make-up or music videos and TV ads from that period.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Tehran’s Wake‑Up Call for Beijing — The sudden U.S. attack on Iran could complicate China’s Taiwan calculus.
- Foreign Affairs: Taiwan’s Democracy Is in Trouble — How Polarization Undermines Security.
- The Washington Post: China wants you to buy Labubu dolls, not Lafufus — Dupes of the internet-viral Labubu dolls are being sold around the world. Chinese authorities are now seizing them by the thousands in a counterfeit crackdown.
- The Economist: Everyone loses in the rage of China’s delivery wars — Companies are caught in a race to the bottom.
- The Economist: Can pensioners rescue China’s economy? — The government is stingy and timid when it comes to retirement benefits.
- Rest of World: As China goes all in on AI, tech workers scramble to learn new skills — Chinese students and tech workers are turning to online tutorials that promise to turn them into experts who can land highly paid jobs, but these courses often fall short.
- ChinaFile: What Did the EU-China 50th Anniversary Summit Achieve? — What are the implications for trade and security, and for how Europe has to balance its risks and needs between China, Russia, and the U.S.?
- The Guardian: China-backed centres at UK universities under threat from new free speech laws — Confucius Institutes, partnerships between UK and Chinese universities, funded by the Chinese state, offer Mandarin classes and promote cultural events.
