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
- Baidu Revenue Falls on Weak Advertising Demand, Posts Loss on Impairment — The Chinese search-engine giant reported lower revenue as advertising demand remained weak, and swung to a quarterly loss, hit by an impairment charge.
- Security Council Backs Trump’s Plan for Postwar Gaza — The resolution, which passed with 13 votes in favor and Russia and China abstaining, forms the central plank of the Trump administration’s next steps to implement a lasting peace in Gaza.
- Opinion: Why China Is Picking a Fight With Japan — Beijing sees a frank comment on Taiwan as a chance to weaken the prime minister. By Walter Russell Mead.
The Financial Times
- US government needs overhaul to compete with China, panel says — Congressional commission says ‘fragmented approach’ hampering Washington’s response to Beijing.
- UK MPs warned about China spy threat — House of Commons Speaker tells lawmakers that Beijing is using ‘recruitment agents and consultants’.
- The growing problem with China’s unreliable numbers — Beijing’s GDP figures have drawn scrutiny for years but the questions have become more acute.
- China deepens pressure on Japan with travel bans and cancelled events — Beijing furious at suggestion Tokyo might intervene militarily if it attacks Taiwan.
The New York Times
- Poor Countries Got $1 Trillion From China. So Did Rich Ones. — Beijing has used loans to developing nations to expand its influence, but a new study says no country has received more Chinese financing than the United States.
- Where Mao’s Peasants Tilled the Soil, Tourists Now Pay for the View — Decades ago, a Chinese village became an official symbol of revolutionary “self-reliance.” The slogan hasn’t changed, but nearly everything else has.
- U.N. Security Council Adopts Trump’s Peace Plan for Gaza — Russia and China abstained in the vote, which provides a legal mandate for the Trump administration’s vision of how to move past the cease-fire to rebuild the war-ravaged enclave after two years of war.
Caixin
- China Puts Industry, Consumers at Heart of Next Five-Year Plan — For the economy, a blueprint for the 2026-2030 FYP focuses on building a modern industrial system, accelerating the growth of household spending and getting serious about tackling local government debt.
- China Ramps Up Tax Collection While Pulling Back on Spending — Drop in fiscal expenditure and worsening decline in land sales revenue reflect persistent economic headwinds.
- JD.com Launches Food Delivery App and Reviews Service to Take On Meituan — New platform aims to address user friction, while AI-powered rankings promise unbiased reviews.
South China Morning Post
- Could battery fires be the Achilles’ heel of China’s electric vehicle industry? — A series of high-profile incidents has triggered a public debate about safety within the rapidly growing industry.
- From 88% to 9% – stark data shows US decline, China’s rise in remote sensing research — Nation’s sustained funding tsunami over decades has shifted dominance in Earth observation science away from America.
- Why ‘racist’ biologist James Watson is remembered in China with respect — Controversial Nobel Prize winner helped to lay the groundwork for China to become a genomics and biotech powerhouse.
Nikkei Asia
- BYD, Xpeng and rivals race to shore up growth as investors turn skeptical — Xiaomi EV segment turns first profit, but Chinese industry shares sink amid hazy outlook.
- Taiwan in tight spot as opposition KMT grandees echo China on Takaichi — Lai administration eager for greater economic, security cooperation with Tokyo.
- Taiwan has security incentive to invest in Alaska LNG, think tank says — FDD tabletop exercise shows China may target Taipei’s energy lifeline.
- MAGA politicians demand transparency on AI job losses — Protecting US workers collides with need to outpace China.
- Opinion: A new Quad is needed to capsize China’s hold on global shipping — Rebuilding maritime capabilities to rival China needs unprecedented cooperation and investment. By James David Spellman.
Bloomberg
- Cutting Ties With China Is Harder Than Companies Expected — As US toymaker Learning Resources tries to wean itself from mainland producers, it’s discovering that it’s easier to move your factory out of China than it is to move China out of your factory.
- China’s Grip on American Medicine Cabinets Grows More Entrenched — Roughly one-in-four generic drugs taken by Americans rely on key ingredients from China, and some ingredients are produced only in China.
- Why Close Trade Partners China and Japan Can’t Get Along — China and Japan are two of Asia’s most powerful nations and the region’s biggest trading partners. Yet years of intense rivalry mean their economic embrace can never be taken for granted.
- Opinion: China’s Trade Model Is Built on Keeping Others Poor — The US-China trade truce has been welcomed by exporters, but for workers and companies in the developing world, a return to the status quo may not be comforting. By Mihir Sharma.
- Opinion: China’s Return to Wolf Warrior Rhetoric Is a Mistake — Don’t listen to the China doves claiming Beijing’s wolf warrior diplomacy is over. All it took was a comment on Taiwan from Japan’s new Prime Minister to resurrect it. By Karishma Vaswani.
Reuters
- Alibaba unveils major consumer AI upgrade with new Qwen chatbot — The move represents a strategic shift for Alibaba, which has not yet ploughed significant resources into developing its ChatGPT-style consumer app.
- Japan warns citizens in China about safety as diplomatic crisis deepens — Takaichi was summoning Japan’s “militarist demons”, the official news agency Xinhua said in the latest such attack on Tuesday.
- Opinion: China could give the US a disinflationary hand — The U.S.’s main economic rival is struggling to slay the specter of deflation. It’s a domestic battle Beijing is nowhere near winning, despite glimmers of hope in recent official data. By Jamie McGeever.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: China and India Are Trapped in a Loop — Breaking out of their cycle of hope and distrust requires political imagination on both sides.
- Foreign Affairs: BRICS Is Missing Its Chance — United by Trump’s Hostility, but Too Divided to Seize the Moment.
- The Economist: Europe sees China as a rival. China sees Europe as a has-been — Yet China may be underestimating Europe’s willingness to push back.
- Rest of World: China starts a food fight over Western EV tariffs — Beijing is targeting agricultural sectors worth billions to pressure governments into dropping 100% electric vehicle duties.
- The Verge: Even the lawmakers behind the TikTok ban have no idea what’s going on — Lawmakers who passed the bill that should have banned TikTok by now are staying quiet about how it’s played out.
- BBC: A Chinese firm bought an insurer for CIA agents – part of Beijing’s trillion dollar spending spree — Chinese state money has been flowing into wealthy countries, buying up assets in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
