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
- A Newly Confident China Is Jockeying for More Global Clout as Trump Pulls Back — Feeling empowered after a clash over trade, Beijing looks to exploit America’s inward turn.
- Opinion: No Fire Critics Allowed in Hong Kong — Authorities move to silence dissent after the blaze that killed 151. By The Editorial Board.
The Financial Times
- Starmer proposes trip to China in January — First visit by UK prime minister since 2018 expected to come after London approves Beijing’s ‘mega’ embassy plans.
- Russia strengthens financial ties to China with first renminbi bond — Country’s $3bn ‘dim sum’ bond will help finance war in Ukraine and could lead to many more.
- Trafigura says growth in China oil demand to hit multiyear low in 2026 — Commodity trader says growth in India will overtake that in China for first time.
- China spy case report criticises UK government and prosecutors as ‘shambolic’ — ‘Systemic failures’ contributed to collapse of case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, security committee finds.
The New York Times
- The Hong Kong Fire: A Crisis in the National Security Era — The authorities quickly arrested critics demanding accountability, signaling an expansive use of the security law to silence dissent over nonpolitical tragedies.
Caixin
- China Flags Stablecoin Risks in Renewed Push to Rein in Crypto Activity — PBOC convenes multi-agency meeting as regulators reaffirm the illegality of crypto activities.
- ICBC Executives Taken Away as Concerns Mount Over China’s Biggest Bank — Two executives in Guangdong and Gansu were recently taken in by authorities, weeks after Yunnan branch chief went missing, sources say.
- Fierce Local Competition Is Holding Back German Investment in China — Soft demand, price pressures and policies favoring domestic products weigh on German firms in China, chamber says.
- China Provinces Scrap Hukou Limits for Medical Insurance to Boost Mobility — While more than 10 provinces have opened insurance rolls to migrant workers, wealthy cities remain hesitant to subsidize care for non-locals.
- Low Interest Rates Squeeze China’s Retirement Dreams, Survey Shows — Chinese residents are struggling to close the gap between retirement awareness and actual financial preparation, a predicament worsened by a persisting low-interest environment.
South China Morning Post
- China’s move to seal records of minor offences like drug use sparks public backlash — New rule takes effect on January 1 and means the offences will no longer be attached to a person’s identity information.
- Chinese military issues new rules to ‘prioritise strict political discipline’ — Effective in January, latest revisions come amid Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign that has led to recent downfall of several top generals.
- Drones are on the rise over South China Sea with shift to data-driven strategies — Experts weigh the merits and limits of growing pivot in the region to uncrewed aircraft and the potential for 24/7 patrols.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s quantum leap will eclipse US aircraft carriers, analysts say — Next-generation computers could render traditional weapons obsolete.
- Beijing’s key uranium miner soars over 200% in $628m Shenzhen listing — China Uranium, part of ‘national team’ core, grows war chest for global expansion.
- How Japan can draw on South Korea’s experience in spat with China — Seoul’s 2016 missile-defense feud with Beijing offers Tokyo lessons on Taiwan issue.
Bloomberg
- Wanda Faces $700 Million of Bond Deadlines as China Woes Flare — China’s worsening property debt crisis is ratcheting up scrutiny of the country’s major real estate firms that have so far avoided default, as looming offshore bond maturities draw closer.
- Nobel Winner Warns China Is ‘Nanoseconds’ Behind in Quantum Race — One of this year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics warned that China is rapidly narrowing the gap with the US in quantum computing.
- Opinion: How Foreign Carmakers Can Stay the Course in China — Earnings season hasn’t been kind to Chinese carmakers. But spare a thought for their rivals, whose glory days in the largest vehicle market ended during the pandemic. By Juliana Liu.
Reuters
- Taiwan says China sometimes stages mock attacks on foreign navy ships in strait — China, which claims Taiwan as its own, says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, a major trade route for about half of global container ships.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: Foreign Aid With Chinese Characteristics — Where Beijing Is—and Isn’t—Seeking Influence.
