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
- Opinion: New Minnesota Mining Is a Win for Beijing — The critical minerals mined in the Iron Range could well end up in China’s hands. By Tina Smith.
The Financial Times
- Chinese spy agency warns nation’s young people against dropping out — ‘Foreign forces’ blamed for rising number of disaffected youths who are quitting their careers to ‘lie flat.’
- Huawei’s AI chip sales surge as Nvidia stalls in China — Chinese tech companies place large orders for the Shenzhen-based group’s latest range of AI processors.
- Elevator companies hope subsidies in China will lift their prospects — Incentives to replace ageing equipment set to help compensate for still-sluggish property sector.
- Opinion: How the Trump-Xi threats of trade war softened into a quieter rivalry — The forthcoming U.S.-China leaders’ summit will be much less fraught than the last one. By Alan Beattie.
The New York Times
- How Trump’s Iran Blockade Is Complicating a High-Stakes Trip to China — If President Trump flies to China as planned in May, the primary topic will clearly be the rippling economic effects of a war that Beijing has made clear it viewed as unnecessary.
Caixin
- Chongqing Lawyer Taken Away as China’s Anti-Graft Probe Widens — Move follows a string of probes into senior officials in the southwestern megacity.
- China Expands Loan Support for Tech Innovations and Equipment Upgrades — In a bid to promote the development of its high-tech economy, the central bank has expanded the lending program’s coverage.
- China Southern Orders Airbus Jets Worth $21 Billion — The massive purchase of A320neo planes underscores the European giant’s tightening grip on the Chinese aviation market, as local carriers shun U.S. rival Boeing.
South China Morning Post
- From apps to autos: China’s data reach sparks U.S. espionage and sabotage concerns — Washington accused of not doing enough to counter Beijing’s harvesting of key American data and weaponizing it as a strategic asset.
- See you in Beijing: the big shift in Xi’s travel plans and what it means for China — Data analysis by the SCMP reveals a changing dynamic in Beijing towards high-level diplomatic meetings.
- How China is using AI — and state funding — to transform the micro drama industry — In China, micro drama companies are harnessing AI to create shows at jaw-dropping speed and cost — often with the help of lavish subsidies.
- Could Chinese mathematicians tip the balance in a U.S. conference boycott? — Petition signed by 2,300 scholars from 80 countries urges ‘World Cup’ to be moved due to American policies towards foreign academics.
Nikkei Asia
- Scandal-hit ‘baijiu’ maker sharply revises earnings with chairman missing — Wuliangye’s boss removed from China’s NPC; company warns sector in ‘deep water.’
- Opinion: China’s reflation story is seductive, but wrong — China’s export-led model cannot afford the much stronger currency that reflation would require. By Alicia García Herrero.
Bloomberg
- U.S. Critical Mineral Inventory Plan Includes Buying China Metals — The project aims to build an immediate buffer against critical mineral supply shocks while using future purchases to send a stronger demand signal to U.S. and friendly-nation producers.
- Chinese Investment in U.S. Seen Stagnant Even After Xi-Trump Talks — Washington and Beijing are both moving to tighten control over cross-border investment.
Reuters
- Panama president says port caught in U.S.-China dispute — He said his country maintains a positive relationship with China.
- U.S. telecom agency votes to expand tech crackdown on China — The agency says about 75 percent of all U.S. electronics are tested in China.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Cai Qi may be China’s second-most powerful man — Xi Jinping’s chief of staff handles his security, schedule and more.
- The Atlantic: All the Sad Young Chinese Professionals — China’s urbanites are learning the price of prosperity.
- Foreign Affairs: China and America Are Courting Nuclear Catastrophe — The Consequences of Beijing’s Weapons Buildup.
- CFR: China’s “Fake” De-Dollarization — China didn’t truly de-dollarize — it just shifted its dollar holdings from official reserves at SAFE to less transparent state entities like banks and investment funds.
- Brookings: Why China is winning in tech — and what the U.S. is overlooking — The core of the U.S.-China technology competition is not chips or subsidies, but the cultural and structural conditions that produce leading technical talent.
