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
- America’s Pacific Allies Train to Face Down China Together — Seven nations, 17,000 personnel participate in Philippines exercise that has angered Beijing.
- Taiwan Outfoxes China in Test of Wills Over Tiny African Country — Leader scores a point in battle for recognition, surfacing in Eswatini despite Beijing’s objections.
- The U.S. Wants to Break China’s Drone Dominance. Here’s Where It Will Struggle. — A part-by-part breakdown of a typical first-person-view drone shows the strength of China’s stranglehold.
The Financial Times
- Inside China’s massive $3tn overseas acquisition spree — Investments were concentrated in knowledge-intensive sectors.
- Chinese dissident Li Ying: ‘Our work is about being ready for the tipping point’ — The activist known as Teacher Li on the dangerous work of cataloguing everyday life in China — and why he wants to change the CCP, not destroy it.
- Opinion: Trump’s strategy of accommodation with China is a historic mistake — The upcoming summit in Beijing could lock in an American posture of strategic deference. By Ely Ratner.
- Opinion: Is China decoupling on food? — If this is pursued with the same energy as industrial policy, it will upend the agricultural economy. By Adam Tooze.
The New York Times
- China Seeks an Advantage With Both Trump and Iran as War Evolves — With President Trump’s visit to Beijing looming, China is pushing Iran to negotiate even as its companies export material that could be used by Iran’s military.
- Defying the Censors Was Easy. Being a Good Comedian Is Harder. — Having gotten into trouble for making jokes critical of the Chinese government, the standup comic Chizi now lives in self-imposed exile. He’s finding that freedom imposes its own constraints.
- How A.I. Is Transforming China’s Entertainment Industry — Actors say their work opportunities have dried up.
- Opinion: Trump Is Coming to a China That Has Moved On — When I first moved to Shanghai from Virginia in 2008, China still looked up to America. By Jacob Dreyer.
Caixin
- China Counters U.S. Sanctions on Refineries With Blocking Order — China’s Ministry of Commerce has issued an injunction barring domestic companies from recognizing or complying with U.S. measures.
- U.S. Moves to Block Chinese Labs From Certifying Electronics — The U.S. has proposed new rules that would bar testing laboratories in countries lacking mutual recognition agreements (MRAs), including China, from certifying electronic equipment for the U.S. market.
- Chinese Robotaxi Firms Race to Cut Costs as Profitability Remains Out of Reach — Chinese robotaxi-makers such as Pony AI Inc. are driving down manufacturing costs in a bid to reach profitability at scale.
South China Morning Post
- Fuelling a continent: how China’s engineering prowess built Africa’s biggest oil refinery — Nigeria has turned into a net exporter of refined petroleum products amid the energy shock unleashed by the US-Israel war on Iran.
- Why a 5-year defence pact between North Korea and Russia could make China uneasy — Rare cooperation plan with Moscow could accelerate Pyongyang’s military modernisation on multiple fronts, analysts say.
- Mainland Chinese students turn to Hong Kong universities amid gaokao, US visa worries — The city has overtaken the US to become the second most popular study-abroad destination for mainland students in 2026, a report finds.
- China’s ‘common prosperity’ push faces reality check as inequality rises: study — A leading economist warns widening income and wealth gaps are constraining Beijing’s agenda.
- Two worlds collide: the regulatory battlefield hanging over the EU’s ties with China — One side crafts regulation out of fear that the other side’s rules may expose its vulnerabilities.
Nikkei Asia
- Turkish agri-drone maker hopes China fears will boost its sales in West — Backed by Osaka’s Exedy, Baibars aims for $1bn valuation and US IPO by 2029.
- Yuan payments soar as currency of last resort for Iran, Russia — China’s answer to SWIFT network sees rapid growth in transactions.
Bloomberg
- Chinese Court Rules Firms Can’t Lay Off Workers on AI Grounds — A Chinese court ruled that companies cannot terminate employees just to replace them with artificial intelligence systems.
- Taiwan’s Lai Arrives in Eswatini, Defying China-Backed Blockade — Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te arrived in Eswatini on Saturday after an earlier trip was derailed.
- China Fighter Jet Giant’s Sales Surge After India-Pakistan Clash — AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Co. posted record profit in 2025 and saw first-quarter sales nearly double, with revenue rising 15.8% to 75.4 billion yuan and profit up 6.5% to 3.4 billion yuan.
- China’s Rare Defiance of US Sanctions Sparks Showdown Over Banks — China has ordered its companies to ignore US sanctions, an unprecedented act of defiance.
Reuters
- FIFA faces World Cup broadcast crisis as India’s Reliance offers $20 mln, China deal unannounced — Millions of soccer fans in the world’s two most populous nations may not be able to watch the World Cup that starts next month, due to a deadlock over broadcast rights in India and no official decision in China.
- China robot-hand-building unicorn Linkerbot targets $6 billion valuation — Chinese robotics startup Linkerbot, the global market leader in highly dexterous robotic hands for humanoids, will seek a $6 billion valuation in its next financing round.
Other Publications
- CNN: Flight data bolsters claim China Eastern plane was deliberately crashed in 2022 — Newly released data appears to indicate that someone in the cockpit may have intentionally switched off the fuel supply to the engines.
- Foreign Affairs: Xi’s Forever Purge — The Real Goal Behind China’s “Self-Revolution”.
