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
- Xi Jinping’s Purges Shrink Ranks of China’s Communist Elite — Nearly one in six officials who had Central Committee seats were absent from a major conclave, many of them now disgraced.
- China Vows to Double Down on Tech Self-Reliance as U.S. Rivalry Heats Up — China’s top leaders have vowed to double down on making the country technologically self-sufficient, a policy priority that has taken on more urgency as the rivalry with the U.S. intensifies.
- Unilever Underlying Sales Rise as China Returns to Growth — Underlying sales increased 3.9%, as the company readies to spin off its ice-cream division by the end of the year.
- BHP Paints China Iron-Ore Standoff as Business as Usual — The chair and chief executive of BHP Group brushed off market concerns about protracted contract negotiations with China, saying the company continues to sell the iron ore it mines.
- Opinion: Trump Strikes a Good Rare-Earth Deal — The cooperation with Australia shows the value of allies to unite to counter Chinese mercantilism. By The Editorial Board.
- Opinion: How to Escape China’s Rare-Earth Chokehold — Providing tariff relief to countries that join our moonshot effort can help pool investment and create an integrated market for end products. By Liza Tobin and Brady Helwig.
The Financial Times
- China to step up push for ‘self-reliance’ in tech — Party cadres met this week in Beijing to lay groundwork for next five-year plan.
- Singapore’s prime minister warns of ‘messy’ transition to post-American order — Singapore’s ability to maintain a close relationship with China, while also having a tight security and political alliance with the US is under unprecedented strain.
- Opinion: Tariffs are a weaker weapon than Trump thinks —Donald Trump’s tariffs are a poor substitute for the modern economic pressure tactics that the US pioneered and China increasingly embraces. By Edward Fishman.
The New York Times
- Chinese Impersonator’s Trump Act Has Won Him Millions of Fans — Ryan Chen has turned an uncanny impersonation of President Trump into a social media career, and a mirror of China’s fascination with America.
- China’s Consumers Are in a Years-Long Funk. Will Anything Get Them to Spend? — Countries worldwide are buying more than ever from China, but domestic consumption is lagging and government stimulus efforts aren’t working.
- Trump Administration Cuts Cyberdefense Even as Threats Grow — China has penetrated networks that control infrastructure systems and has hacked telecommunications companies.
- How China Raced Ahead of the U.S. on Nuclear Power — The United States was once the undisputed leader in atomic energy. Now it is trying to catch up.
- The U.S. Struggles to Break Out From China’s Grip on Rare Earths — The Trump administration is trying an array of unconventional measures to shore up U.S. rare earths supplies. It remains uncertain whether the strategy will work.
Caixin
- China Vows Deeper Economic Opening in Talks With Global Business Leaders — Vice Premier He Lifeng and former Vice President Wang Qishan meet Apple’s Tim Cook and others, reaffirming commitment to open markets.
- U.S. Port Fee Hike Loosens China’s Stranglehold on Shipbuilding — When Cosco Shipping Jasmine finally docked, it became one of the first vessels hit with a new and sharply punitive U.S. port fee — $4.25 million.
- China’s Green Energy Drive Hinges on Africa’s Minerals, but Barriers Mount — A new report says Africa’s cobalt, lithium and platinum are critical to China’s low-carbon future, yet policy risks and global rivalry threaten progress.
- China’s Ride-Hailing Industry Feels the Squeeze as Market Faces Overload — New data methods reveal a softer drop, but structural issues — from low pay to license freezes — threaten the sector’s balance.
- Chinese Mainland Student in Hong Kong Arrested in ‘Bogus Official’ Scam — The arrest of a 22-year-old in a HK$6.4 million fraud case reveals a sinister new tactic: crime syndicates are recruiting mainland students to act as front-line agents in their scams.
South China Morning Post
- Counterweight or containment? How China views defence ties between Asia-Pacific allies — Expanding military cooperation between India, South Korea and Australia could signal anxiety over potential security vacuum, analysts say.
- China’s global goal for yuan boosted by Ethiopian hopes for loan currency swap — The East African nation and fellow Brics member is the latest country to seek a switch, accelerating the yuan’s internationalisation.
- Trump, Xi and the ‘green paradox’: how China is building a climate-proof future — Ambitious transformation of country’s energy consumption and urban planning makes economic sense too, analysts say.
- Do not fall into West’s ‘discourse trap’ when defending China says ex-government adviser — Chinese scholars were urged to be ‘confident’ in defending the country’s system and the Communist Party at an event at Fudan University.
- Opinion: Can China make its rare earth controls bite? — If China backs down or fails to enforce its controls effectively, it will undermine this policy and cast doubt on other tools it wields. By Wenran Jiang.
Nikkei Asia
- Xi Jinping’s Fujian clique disappears from the PLA — Exit of pivotal military figures in charge of Taiwan strategy draws global attention.
- Japan cram schools open doors to Chinese students as population shrinks — China’s cutthroat entrance exams make youths well suited to Japanese system.
- South Korea rises to No. 3 market for Tesla, after US and China — Elon Musk says company will work with both TSMC and Samsung on AI5 chip.
Bloomberg
- DeepSeek’s Push Into Africa Reveals China’s AI Power Grab — By making AI cheaper and less power-hungry, DeepSeek has put the technology within reach of millions of people.
- The Dutch Minister Who Confronted China by Seizing Key Chipmaker — Vincent Karremans, the Dutch minister of economic affairs, assumed veto powers over Nexperia, a key supplier of chip parts, after the US restricted trade with the company.
- China Finds Costly New Way of Boosting Xi’s Global Yuan Push — China is leveraging its position as the world’s largest creditor to help broaden usage of the yuan, offering overseas borrowers the chance to benefit from economically-depressed interest rates.
- China Military Purge Targets Group Who Undermined Xi’s Authority — After Xi Jinping ousted a group of top generals whose careers overlapped for decades, state media accused them of “severely undermining” the Party’s highest echelons of authority.
- Opinion: How Crocs Became the Right Fit for China’s Gen Z — Crocs’ path to success in China may offer lessons for other foreign retailers, like the importance of localizing operations and adapting to the preferences of young Chinese buyers. By Juliana Liu.
Reuters
- Nexperia’s China unit resumes chip sales to domestic distributors, sources say — As part of the resumption, which is confined to domestic trade, all sales to distributors must now be in yuan, whereas transactions had previously only used foreign currencies.
- Hopes for Xi-Trump summit dampened by tough Beijing moves, rising tension — Even if the talks between Trump and Xi can be put back on track, experts say each side’s belief that it has the upper hand makes a narrow deal on a few issues the most likely outcome.
- China courts Taiwanese worshippers in religious charm offensive, study shows — About 10,496 Taiwanese last year joined more than 110 religious trips to China, supported or organised by government units across China, according to the study by IORG.
- US mulls curbs on exports to China made with US software, sources say — The fact that such controls are being considered shows the Trump administration is weighing a dramatic escalation of its showdown with China, even as some favor a gentler approach.
- Taiwan wary China’s new economic plan could include sensitive frontline islands — Officials briefed on the matter said Taiwan is paying attention to whether the new 5-year plan makes any mention of deepening economic integration with the Kinmen islands.
The Economist
- Why China is winning the trade war — It has rebuffed America and rewritten the norms of global commerce.
- China is using America’s own trade weapons to beat it — It has spent years pinpointing America’s weaknesses and mitigating its own.
- China is being fuelled by inspiration, not perspiration — So long as its leaders are not lying.
Other Publications
- CFR: U.S.-China Tensions Cast Long Shadow Over ASEAN Summit — The bloc still lacks a coherent approach to internal conflicts, international tensions, and its position in the U.S-China trade war.
- Foreign Policy: China Can’t Keep Its Hands Clean in Myanmar’s Scam Cities — Ties between organized crime syndicates and Chinese intelligence run deep.
- BBC: Myanmar’s army is taking back territory with relentless air strikes – and China’s help — When insurgents finally gained control of the town of Kyaukme – on the main trade route from the Chinese border to the rest of Myanmar – it was after several months of hard fighting last year.
