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
- India and China Mend Ties Amid Trump Tariff Threats — New Delhi’s frayed ties with Washington provide further momentum to a thaw with Beijing that began last year.
- How Pop Mart Sold the ‘Happy Vibe’ of Owning a Labubu — Doll maker’s sales soar as young people grappling with global economic uncertainty find joy in affordable pleasures.
- Hong Kong Regains IPO Crown as Exchange Operator Posts Record Earnings — The rebound in IPO activity has been fueled by Chinese companies seeking secondary listings.
- Opinion: Send Harvard’s Chinese Students Home — It makes no sense for the U.S. to be educating the scientific and leadership class of a future adversary. By Mike Gallagher.
The Financial Times
- Labubu frenzy sends Pop Mart profits soaring — Chinese toy company’s better than expected results may allay analysts’ concerns over sustainability of its sales surge.
- Beijing military parade to show off Chinese weapon advances — Event marking 80th anniversary of second world war ending will highlight PLA’s advanced technology.
- The Iranian connection: how China is importing oil from Russia — Networks of brokers and shipowners from Panama to Switzerland are becoming expert at circumventing international sanctions.
- Is a 3-minute battery swap the future for EVs? — China’s CATL to build thousands of swapping stations to speed up adoption of alternative charging technology.
The New York Times
- Pop Mart Teases a Mini Labubu, Sending Stock Soaring — The grinning plush elves drove record revenue for the Chinese retailer in the first half of the year, and soon fans will have something new to lust after.
- Hong Kong Government Fixates on ‘Soft Resistance’ — With pro-democracy movements long squashed, the government is targeting any hint of subtler expressions of discontent. Even establishment figures say it may be too much.
- Why Does Xi Keep Purging Loyalists? Look to Stalin and Mao for the Answer. — China’s “bedside eavesdroppers,” the online posse parsing rumors for power shifts, have a lot to work with as Xi Jinping pushes aside his own political appointees.
Caixin
- Ex-IPO Regulator Found With Up to 300 Million Yuan in Cash — Yang Jiaohong has been accused of illegally acquiring shares in companies preparing to list.
- Apple Supplier Luxshare Seeks Hong Kong Listing to Boost Trade War Defenses — Planned listing reflects trend of Chinese tech firms seeking diversified funding channels.
- Hong Kong Joins LME’s Global Delivery System With 8 Certified Warehouses — Joining the LME warehouse network will bolster Hong Kong’s status as an international financial and shipping hub, the city’s financial secretary said.
South China Morning Post
- Argentina registration by China’s BYD hints at local car production — If the EV behemoth follows through with manufacturing, Argentina would host the company’s second vehicle factory in Latin America.
- Top engineer involved in Boeing 787 and A380 design leaves U.S. for China — The industrial software specialist is joining the newly established Eastern Institute of Technology as dean of its engineering college.
- ‘Not easy’: how a U.S. firm avoided Trump’s China tariffs by sourcing American — Excel Dryer succeeded in sourcing all components locally by 2023, but analyst questions whether other firms can follow suit.
Nikkei Asia
- Japan’s fragmented power chip industry struggles to meet China’s challenge — Workhorse chips control current flow in power grids and EVs, but rivals catching up.
- China’s growing ties with Serbia point to new ‘Silk Curtain’ in Europe — Beijing expands Balkan presence, with Washington focused on Ukraine.
- Baidu Q2 ad revenue drops 15% despite AI push, as rivals gain ground — Sales dip 4% as it commits to overhauling operations with artificial intelligence.
- Xi Jinping visits Tibet amid Dalai Lama succession tensions — Chinese president celebrates 60th anniversary of autonomous region: state media.
Bloomberg
- Chinese Carriers Divvy Up Airbus Jets as Order Completion Nears — Chinese airlines are keen to secure access to plane deliveries before the end of the decade considering the supply backlog at both Airbus and Boeing.
- Opinion: China’s High-Seas Game of Chicken Is Backfiring — The threat of a miscalculation spiraling into a larger conflict is growing. By Karishma Vaswani.
Reuters
- Exclusive: The US Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It’s not going well. — U.S. military leaders have repeatedly said they need autonomous swarms of aerial and maritime drones to hinder a potential advance by China across the Taiwan Strait.
- U.S. examines equity stake in chip makers for CHIPS Act cash grants, sources say — Lutnick wants to expand the Intel plan to other companies, according to a White House official and a person familiar with the situation.
Other Publications
- ProPublica: Microsoft Failed to Disclose Key Details About Use of China-Based Engineers in U.S. Defense Work, Record Shows — The tech giant is required to regularly provide U.S. officials with its plan for keeping government data safe from hacking. Yet a copy of Microsoft’s security plan obtained by ProPublica makes no reference to the company’s China-based operations.
- WIRED: Chinese ‘Virtual Human’ Salespeople Are Outperforming Their Real Human Counterparts — Built using AI technology from Baidu and DeepSeek, the virtual livestreamers sell everything from wet wipes to printers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Foreign Policy: China Is Worried About Dollar-Backed Stablecoins — Beijing is speeding up plans to create systems it can monitor.
- POLITICO: ‘I Don’t Think There’s a Government in Latin America That Has Given In More’ — Trump is demanding a Panama-China break-up and triggering political backlash in Panama.
- CFR: China’s Data Still Doesn’t Add Up — China’s strong Q1 customs surplus supported a strong Q1 current account surplus, but the current account surplus mysteriously slipped in Q2, even as the customs surplus increased.
