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
- China’s DeepSeek Looks to Tap External Investors Including Alibaba, Tencent — The Chinese artificial-intelligence startup is tapping external investors for the first time to raise funds for research and development, people familiar with the matter said.
- Secretive Shipments of Iranian Oil to China Are Under Threat by U.S. — Iran, China and an array of middlemen have evaded U.S. sanctions for years by shipping oil on aging tankers with opaque records.
The Financial Times
- PwC fined $166mn by Hong Kong regulators over Evergrande audit — Big Four firm also faces six-month ban related to its work on failed property developer’s books.
- Partitions and permit delays: the UK law firms sticking with China — Regulatory scrutiny over operations — down to office seating plans — is price to pay for firms wanting to do business in the country.
- Opinion: Not even Iran war’s oil shock will help China reflate — Rising prices risk deepening the country’s deflationary trap rather than providing any escape from it. By Alicia García-Herrero.
The New York Times
- As U.S. Brands Stumble, China Wins Over Young Indonesians — A new generation of Indonesian consumers view Chinese brands as high-tech and of good quality, a departure from the days when “made in China” was associated with cheap goods.
- Some Labubu Dolls Contain Cotton Banned By Forced Labor Law, Testing Shows — A test verified by The New York Times found that clothes for some of the viral dolls contained cotton from the Xinjiang region of China, which is banned in the United States.
- Opinion: Tim Cook Did Wonders for Apple. He Also Did a Lot for Xi Jinping. — Tim Cook made Apple a juggernaut, but he did so by risking America’s economic and political security. By Patrick McGee.
Caixin
- China’s Private Fund Disputes Spur Calls for National Registry — Calls are growing for a national registry as existing systems struggle to reflect complex rights embedded in fund structures.
- Sweeping Probe Exposes China’s ‘Ghost Takeout’ Scam — The stores use forged business licenses and hijack orders across the country’s major e-commerce platforms, outsourcing food production to the lowest bidders.
- China Fast-Tracks Pricing Approvals for New Medical Technologies — The National Healthcare Security Administration is pre-approving pricing for innovations like artificial hearts and surgical robots to speed up clinical adoption and boost domestic market competition.
South China Morning Post
- U.S. visa system ‘rolls out red carpet’ for Chinese spies, congressional hearing told — U.S. senators pointed to legal channels, including work visas and university research, as potential pathways for China-linked espionage.
- Why China is backing nuclear fuel rod production in Namibia — On week-long trip to China, Namibian minister Selma Ashipala-Musavyi pitches investment case to business leaders in Shenzhen.
- China calls on Cambodia for ‘shared security and risks’ during global turmoil — Defence and foreign ministers meet in Phnom Penh after Hun Manet describes China as a ‘most important and most trustworthy good friend’.
Nikkei Asia
- U.S. blockade of Hormuz casts shadow over Trump’s China visit — As pressures mount on Chinese economy’s choke point, Xi poised for counteroffensive.
- China carmaker Chery, delivery app Meituan dive into nuclear fusion research — Lenovo Group unit also invests in new energy source highlighted in 5-year plan.
- Iran war pushes China’s solar exports to record high in March — Single month’s shipments equivalent to Spain’s entire solar capacity, report says.
Bloomberg
- How China Is Tightening Rules to Defend Its Supply Chains — The latest measures have sparked concerns that doing business in or with the world’s second-largest economy could become riskier for multinational firms.
- Why China’s Support for Iran Has Limits — Beijing’s investment in Iran has fallen dramatically short of headline agreements, its military ties are limited and its broader Middle East strategy depends on balancing relations with Iran’s regional rivals.
- Tencent Unveils AI Model in High-Stakes Test for OpenAI Hire — The gaming and social media giant has restructured its research team to improve the quality of training data, vowing to double investments in AI initiatives to more than $5 billion this year.
Reuters
- China’s global EV push reflects its ambition – and harsh economics at home — A brutal, multi-year price war has left the country filled to the brim with vehicles, including electric vehicles pumped out by scores of companies that are unknown in the West.
- China’s $24 billion pet food market heats up as local brands challenge global players — The industry is a bright spot in the consumer sector of China’s economy, which has been weighed down by a property crisis, stagnant wage growth and job security concerns.
- China’s Xpeng expects to start delivering ‘flying’ cars in 2027 — Xpeng has received more than 7,000 orders for its flying cars, the majority of which are in China, where the company is working on obtaining approval from the country’s aviation authorities.
Other Publications
- CFR: Taiwan’s Political Polarization Is Playing Into China’s Hands — Divisions in Taiwan over how to approach China and how closely the island should align with the United States risk undermining important investments in defense and resilience.
- Foreign Policy: What if China Succeeds? — Why Beijing’s success spells doom for everyone else.
- Foreign Affairs: How China and Russia Can Exploit the Iran War — And How America Can Avoid Playing Into Their Hands.
- The New Yorker: How Beijing Views the War in Iran — Trump’s attack on a Chinese ally may still benefit China.
- The Guardian: One ship, three deaths: the shocking truth behind working conditions on a Chinese fishing vessel — Damning testimony from the crew of one longline tuna-fishing boat has lifted the lid on the treatment of workers in the fleets supplying fish to the UK and EU.
