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
- What Trump and Xi Want to Achieve at Their High-Stakes Summit — The president arrives in Beijing for a two-day meeting with the Chinese leader.
- Trump Faces an Emboldened China in Return to Beijing — A decade after Trump’s last visit, Beijing is digging in on core issues of disagreement with the U.S., despite weaknesses at home.
- China’s ‘Two Billion Feet’ Are Suddenly Running From Nike — Quick-moving domestic athletic brands are now able to match American quality and cachet in the hypercompetitive and increasingly nationalistic market.
- Alibaba’s Quarterly Profitability Still Under Pressure — Alibaba Group’s profitability remained under pressure as the Chinese tech giant continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence and fend off intense competition in the food-delivery space.
- Tencent’s Core Businesses Help Cushion Burden of Intensified AI Push — Tencent Holdings extended its streak of double-digit profit growth in the first quarter.
The Financial Times
- Wary China braces for Trump’s visit — Sceptics associate American president with turmoil and cast doubt over Sino-U.S. relationship reset.
- Euroclear plans to accept HK-traded Chinese bonds as collateral — Proposal would boost Beijing’s drive to internationalise the renminbi and counter dominance of U.S. dollar.
- Trump’s plan to discuss Taiwan arms sales with Xi rattles Asian allies — Negotiations with Beijing on weapons exports to Taipei would break long U.S. precedent.
- Will Chinese companies still move to Singapore after Manus crackdown? — Beijing’s move to block takeover of AI start-up with headquarters in city-state challenges sustainability of ‘Singapore washing’.
- China’s big tech groups miss out on AI stock market frenzy — Tencent and Alibaba left behind as investors focus on pure AI plays.
- Stellantis and Ford turn to partnerships to tackle Europe woes — Carmakers seek tie-ups with Chinese groups and traditional rivals to secure scale and technology.
- Opinion: Trump is up against China’s great wall of confidence — The US president will encounter a very different country to the one he visited in 2017. By David M Finkelstein.
The New York Times
- Trump’s Shrinking Ambitions on China — The president came into office planning harsher trade moves on China than on the rest of the world. Here’s why he’s had to scale them back.
- Distracted and Bogged Down, Trump and Xi Enter a Summit of Reduced Ambitions — The war in Iran has cast a shadow of uncertainty on both superpowers, dimming early hopes that they could begin to address the larger issues that have frayed their relationship.
- Trump’s Trade War With China: How We Got to a Stalemate In 3 Numbers — As President Trump prepares to meet with Xi Jinping, a trade war that once threatened to freeze commerce between the two countries has given way to an uneasy truce.
- How China Could Wield Its Control of Rare Earths Against Trump — A central question hanging over the summit this week is whether China will agree to extend a temporary postponement of even tougher rare-earth export controls.
- Nvidia C.E.O. Hitches Ride With Trump to China After Last-Minute Invite — Jensen Huang boarded Air Force One in Alaska, joining a delegation of more than a dozen business leaders accompanying President Trump on his trip to Beijing.
- Hegseth to Accompany Trump on Trip to China — Defense secretaries have previously traveled with presidents on overseas trips, to provide advice and represent the U.S. military.
- Opinion: China Is Much Weaker Than It Seems. That’s the Problem — History shows there is no more productive national asset than freedom. By Bret Stephens.
- Opinion: Xi Is Planning for China’s Final Victory Over the U.S. — While Trump chases quick wins and flashy optics, Xi plays a generational game for global dominance. By Julian Gewirtz.
Caixin
- China Overhauls Agriculture Law to Secure Food Supply and Boost Rural Incomes — The sweeping revision aims to codify financial compensation for grain-producing regions and integrate rural labor markets.
- Beijing Rolls Out Sweeping Crackdown on Pharmaceutical Kickbacks — A coalition of seven government bodies has issued sweeping measures to ban sales quotas for drug representatives and trace bribery liabilities directly to pharmaceutical companies.
- Opinion: China’s Strategy to Win the AI Race — Giving Machines a ‘Heart’ — China’s Beijing Institute proposes CUV architecture for value-driven, autonomous AI agents emphasizing cognition, utility, and ethics. By Yu Dawei.
South China Morning Post
- Netherlands protests U.S. proposal to further bar chip giant ASML from China market — While the chipmaking-gear giant is already banned from selling advanced kit to China, new rule would make low-end products off-limits too.
- How U.S. missile shortages after Iran war could strengthen China’s hand during Trump visit — Washington’s depleted stocks and supply chain weaknesses could hand Beijing an important bargaining chip in this week’s talks.
- Taiwan stages live-fire drill on island facing mainland China as Trump heads to Beijing — Coming Xi-Trump summit has triggered renewed anxiety in Taiwan about becoming a bargaining chip in broader negotiations.
- U.S. and China in ‘unprecedented’ cooperation against scam centres in Dubai — Nine fraud centres dismantled and 276 suspects arrested in joint operation between FBI, Chinese Ministry of Public Security and Dubai Police.
- Opinion: Why the world needs China to save more, not less — The IMF assumes China should save less. China’s saving is key to financing the developing world’s need for green infrastructure. By Jeffrey D. Sachs.
Nikkei Asia
- Tencent and Alibaba sales disappoint as AI monetization efforts fall short — Sources say Alibaba out of DeepSeek deal; Tencent still aiming to invest.
- China widens oil purchases to extend influence from US to Iran — Beijing able to avoid tapping strategic reserves despite disruptions in Persian Gulf.
- China loves food deliveries. Restaurants are starving as a result — Consumers’ preference for cheap eats adds to pain of austerity law.
- The AI space race: US and China bet big on orbital data centers — Asia supply chain gears up as Google, Nvidia and startups shoot for the stars.
- China ice cream chain Mixue takes page from Labubu with Snow King merch — Huge store in Guangzhou part of effort to set itself apart from the competition.
Bloomberg
- China’s Secretive Missile Program Is Making Dozens of Companies Rich — China appeared to ramp up missile production last year by the most since Xi Jinping became president in 2013, according to an analysis that mapped out the sector’s finances for the first time.
- U.S. Soy Growers Want China Commitments as Season Slips Away — China met an initial pledge to buy soy, but fresh purchases have since gone quiet, and farmers are seeking bigger commitments ahead of the summit.
- China’s $3 Trillion of Hidden Bad Debt Prolongs Economic Pain — China’s official bad loan ratio is 1.5%, but most economists say the true ratio is significantly higher, with some estimates as high as 10% or 20%.
Reuters
- U.S. LNG vessels leave for China after year-long pause ahead of Trump-Xi summit — China could receive in June its first direct U.S. liquefied natural gas shipment in more than a year in a potential sign of thawing energy ties as U.S. President Donald Trump this week heads to Beijing.
- China and U.S. agree on opposing Hormuz tolls, State Department says — Senior U.S. and Chinese officials agree that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department told Reuters.
- Trump, Xi to weigh rare earth truce extension, but China’s curbs still bite — The shortages and higher prices around the world underscore how controls imposed in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs have become one of the policy’s major legacies, long after the scaling back of most of the duties.
Other Publications
- The Guardian: Experts believe breakthrough in U.S. fentanyl crisis may have started in China — U.S. overdose deaths have plunged, but experts warn the ‘supply shock’ from Chinese precursors may only be a temporary fix.
- Foreign Affairs: The Promise and Peril of U.S.-China Summitry — What Xi wants from Trump — and Trump might get from Xi.
- Foreign Affairs: America Has Lost Its Leverage Over China — How Trump and Xi could cement Beijing’s advantage for years to come.
- Foreign Policy: Chinese Hegemony Might Be Happening — There were always reasons to doubt it was a real possibility — until now.
- The Information: Former Alibaba Star Researcher Starts New AI Lab, Seeks $2 Billion Valuation — Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models, is seeking to raise several hundred million dollars for his new AI lab, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
