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
- America’s Two-Track Nuclear Race With China, Russia Is a First — After a decadeslong hiatus, nuclear weapons surge back to the forefront of global politics.
- New Rare-Earths Plant in Europe Shows How Tough Breaking China’s Grip Will Be — The Estonian factory marks a big boost to the continent’s production but is only a start to satisfying soaring demand.
- Tesla Wants Its American Cars to Be Built Without Any Chinese Parts — This year’s U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports pushed the EV maker to accelerate its strategy of cutting China-made components out of its U.S. production.
- China Tells Citizens to Avoid Japan as Taiwan Spat Deepens — Beijing is furious with the Japanese prime minister after she said Japan would defend itself if China moved to seize the island.
The Financial Times
- Tourism stocks plunge as Japan-China tensions soar — Tokyo dispatches envoy after Beijing warns its citizens against travel in deepening spat.
- China sends coastguard to disputed islands as row with Japan escalates — Ships sail near Senkaku or Diaoyu chain as officials warn there is no straightforward way to ease tensions.
- Foreign investors return to China’s stock market — DeepSeek AI breakthrough spurs biggest overseas inflows in four years.
- Gazprom forges ahead with long-delayed China pipeline — Russian energy giant draws up studies in sign it believes the project is back on track.
- Swiss chemicals group Clariant warns of more production leaving Europe — Chief executive highlights continent’s higher energy and labour costs as he expands capacity in China.
- China left with tomato paste mountain as sales to Italy collapse — Dramatic slump in imports this year hailed by champion of Italian ingredients as an ‘important victory’.
- White House memo claims Alibaba is helping Chinese military target US — National security document outlines intelligence on tech support given to PLA ‘operations’.
The New York Times
- Aiming to Shock Japan, China Pushes a Wave of Reprisals — Beijing is flexing its military and economic might to show its displeasure with the Japanese leader’s comments about defending Taiwan. But its aggressive approach risks backfiring.
- China Escalates Japan Feud With Island Patrols and Warnings to Citizens — China sent Coast Guard ships near disputed islands and warned travelers and students about safety risks in Japan. The escalation is over comments on Taiwan by Japan’s new prime minister.
Caixin
- China Judicial Advisers Suggest Testing System for Sealing Criminal Records — A report by retired judges suggests a nationwide pilot to help a growing number of people convicted of minor crimes reintegrate into society.
- IPO Extortion Case Unearths Market for Burying Bad Press — Earlier this year, a higher court in China overturned the defendant’s conviction and prison sentence, exposing gray areas that have allowed the ‘pay-for-silence’ business to flourish for years.
- China’s Sputtering Export Engine Exposes Structural Economic Strains, Nomura Economist Warns — Nomura’s Lu Ting warns that shrinking investment, weak consumption, and falling exports expose deeper structural cracks.
- China Zheshang Bank Manager Taken Away Amid Widening Graft Probe — Huang Qianwen has been taken away by authorities, as a series of corruption cases has hit the lender.
- Chinese Shippers Spend Billions on New Fleet for Guinea’s Giant Simandou Iron Ore Mine — Chinese firms have ordered dozens of giant ore carriers in a multibillion-dollar rush to transport material from the world’s largest new iron ore project, shifting control over the global supply chain.
South China Morning Post
- Why Chinese grass-roots culture may be finally taking its place in the global limelight — From web literature to video games, Chinese culture is winning fans abroad, where state-sponsored soft power initiatives have fallen flat.
- US ends arms embargo, but can it pry Cambodia away from China on defence? — Beijing has ramped up military ties with Phnom Penh, but now Washington is trying to ‘encroach’ on China’s sphere of influence, analysts say.
- Defying politics: how China’s business schools are innovating to keep talent pipeline open — Amid decoupling risks, Chinese educators are embracing globalisation by ‘moving ideas’ to resist geopolitical walls.
Nikkei Asia
- Beijing takes the reins of dollar-starved unicorns — Chinese startups struggle to secure the greenback as U.S.-China rift grows.
- China’s KFC, Pizza Hut operator sets 30,000 store goal for 2030, up 71% — Yum China sees ‘positive’ signs of consumer sentiment pickup, CEO says.
- Opinion: Southeast Asia bets on US, not China, in pursuit of economic development — Washington finds wedge to leverage its new economic security regime. By Jeff Mahon.
Bloomberg
- US Sanctions Propel China AI Prodigy to $23 Billion Fortune — In 2019, Chen Tianshi was a long way from becoming one of the wealthiest people on the planet.
- China’s AI Bets Pivot to Power, Metals as Tech Bubble Fears Grow — Chinese investors are looking beyond high-flying chipmakers to the utilities and metal producers that form the industry’s physical backbone.
- China Climate Advisers Warn Trade Barriers Hinder Emission Goals — Members of the team representing China at COP30 said trade rules and restrictions are undermining global efforts to limit warming and are weakening climate ambition.
Reuters
- A new rare earth crisis is brewing as yttrium shortages spread — China’s yttrium exports to the U.S. began slowing early this year before stopping altogether after the April controls, customs data through September showed.
- China’s C919, rival to Boeing and Airbus, makes debut display outside Asia — Its two existing plane models – the C909 and C919 – lack key certifications from Western regulators, and COMAC is looking for alternative markets to help boost its profile.
- China finds bigger role as US sidesteps Brazil climate summit — With the U.S. absent from the U.N. annual international climate summit for the first time in three decades, China is stepping into the limelight as a leader in the fight against global warming.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Has China’s Power Peaked in Asia? — Beijing finds itself in a precarious geopolitical position.
- The Washington Post: What to know about China’s modernized nuclear arsenal — China has expanded and modernized its nuclear arsenal at an astounding rate — and has refused to discuss arms control unless the U.S. agrees to parity.
- BBC: China’s investment spree in UK gave it access to military-grade technology — Some government-backed Chinese investments were purely commercial but others were in line with Beijing’s strategic objectives, according to Dr Brad Parks, AidData’s executive director.
