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
- Chinese Rare-Earth Dealers Find Ways to Dodge Beijing’s Export Restrictions — Companies are tweaking magnet formulas and embedding them in motors to keep selling to the West.
- Hong Kong’s Response to Deadly Fire Is Squeezed by China’s Firm Hand — Official efforts to control the public response include a threat to arrest those who direct their anger at the government.
- Opinion: The Lesson of China’s Japan Bullying — Beijing returns to economic coercion to silence Japan’s new Prime Minister. By The Editorial Board.
The Financial Times
- Will the next blockbuster drug come from China? — The biopharma industry is booming following record investment and improved supply chains.
- China draws in Europe’s businesses despite alarm over competition — Investment in world’s second-largest economy helps companies keep pace with Chinese rivals.
- Starmer urges UK business to boost trade with China despite security threats — PM aims to give companies ‘the confidence, clarity and support’ to make deals with Beijing.
- Hong Kong investigators highlight role of netting in deadly fire — Authorities say construction materials at site of disaster that killed 151 did not comply with anti-flammability standards.
- Opinion: Trump, Xi, Putin and the strongman race — The Chinese leader is ending the year in a better position than his American and Russian counterparts. By Gideon Rachman.
The New York Times
- The New York Times Marks Centennial of Bureau in China — The death of Sun Yat-sen, the suppression of a labor protest, and a visit to China by a member of the Roosevelt family led to the bureau’s opening in 1925.
- China, Evoking World War II, Urges Europe to Take Its Side Against Japan — A diplomatic row with Japan over Taiwan has China turning to Britain and France for support, appealing to their shared history as wartime allies.
- Opinion: Japan’s New Clarity on Taiwan Is a Wake-Up Call — The Japanese leader’s candor over Taiwan brought the shared regional stakes out into the open, and the U.S. must stand behind its ally. By Craig Singleton.
Caixin
- China Spotlights ‘Revolving-Door’ Bribery Case in Financial Anti-Graft Campaign — Case outlines how a former China Construction Bank executive leveraged her position for payouts.
- Vanke’s Extension Plan Sparks Fresh Jitters in China’s Bond Market — The move underscores rising liquidity pressure and fading expectations of government support, even as systemic contagion remains limited.
- China’s Civil Service Exam Is the New ‘Gaokao’ — With 2.83 million ultimately sitting for the test, the acceptance ratio climbed to a staggering 74-to-1, up sharply from 65-to-1 a year earlier.
South China Morning Post
- Senior Chinese diplomat takes swipe at US over deep-sea mining strategy — ‘The oceans are not calm,’ vice-minister warns in comments aimed at Trump executive order pushing American exploitation of seabed minerals.
- ‘Real Steel’: PLA unveils motion-controlled fight robot to 13 foreign militaries — Chinese and foreign military cadets test bomb disposal robot using voice commands and discuss ethical boundaries of AI in war.
- What role did US play in run-up to 1962 war between China and India? — Study highlights Washington’s efforts to divide the two countries during the Cold War and its policies on Tibet.
Nikkei Asia
- Honda to restructure China business after over 2 years of talks — With engine venture partner set to sell stake, focus turns to 2028.
- Southeast Asian companies go premium to court Chinese consumers — Rich shoppers seen springing for imported coconut water, luxury hotels even in weak economy.
- Opinion: South Korea’s THAAD pain shows what Takaichi can expect from China — Beijing pressure campaign on Seoul provides an object lesson for Japan’s new PM. By Joel Atkinson.
Bloomberg
- Zhipu Grows Revenue and Users on Path to China’s First AI IPO — Chinese OpenAI challenger Zhipu has hit a key milestone and grown users of its AI development tools business, hoping the fast-growing service will propel an upcoming stock market debut.
- China’s 78-Cent Flu Shots Show Price Squeeze for Vaccine Makers — Chinese vaccine makers are caught in a steep downturn, as competition pushes prices lower and erodes profits, underscoring deflationary pressure across the world’s second-largest economy.
- China Adds Tax to Condoms as It Works to Boost Birth Rates — China will impose a value-added tax on contraceptive drugs and devices — including condoms — for the first time in three decades, its latest bid to reverse plunging birth rates that threaten to further slow its economy.
Reuters
- China floods the world with gasoline cars it can’t sell at home — While Western nations focus on the competitive threat of Chinese EVs, a different challenge is reshaping the auto industry.
- China issues first batch of streamlined rare earth export licences, source says — By forcing firms to apply for licences for each export, Beijing created shortages that brought parts of the auto supply chain to a halt and handed it enormous leverage in trade talks.
- Opinion: China’s chip champions miss their cue — Their conspicuous absence in the current crunch hints that they have a long way to go to catch up to market leaders. By Katrina Hamlin.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Why China Did Not Do a ‘Kissinger’ to Split Europe From America — Europe would have given almost anything for peace, but Beijing had a different calculus.
- Foreign Affairs: The West’s Last Chance — How to Build a New Global Order Before It’s Too Late.
- The Washington Post: Opinion: Who could shield Taiwan from China? A new answer is emerging. — The island is making leaps in military spending and acting with greater focus than ever before. By Ely Ratner and Randall Schriver.
- The Atlantic: Rising Prices Are Bad, but Plummeting Prices Are Worse — Americans may envy China’s deflation. They shouldn’t.
- The Economist: America is foolishly waving goodbye to thousands of Chinese boffins — Hostile policies and attacks on science are driving them back into China’s arms.
- Rest of World: Will DeepSeek’s new model spark another global AI shake-up in 2026? — DeepSeek’s R2 launch was likely delayed by limited access to compute, but a new model is on its way, intensifying the AI rivalry between the U.S. and China.
- The Guardian: ‘The Chinese will not pause’: Volvo and Polestar bosses urge EU to stick to 2035 petrol car ban — Swedish carmakers push to retain target as Germany lobbies to help its own industry by softening cutoff date.
