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: China Won’t See the Iran War as a Green Light for Aggression — Trump has shown he can be unpredictable, and action against Taiwan involves risk as well as opportunity. By Michael Poznansky and Michael O’Hanlon.
The Financial Times
- The European cars made in China — Western automakers are taking advantage of Chinese overcapacity to export lower-cost vehicles to their home markets.
- Global buyout funds to exit China’s data centres with final $1bn deal — Princeton Digital Group’s sale process caps foreign retreat from the country’s sensitive digital infrastructure.
- China’s elite students pore over Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping to nail top jobs — Communist ‘party building’ courses seen as part of efforts to strengthen political education and hold on society.
- Opinion: Beijing’s unlikely bet on Russia may yet pay off — Putin’s mis-steps have locked it into a relationship with China that is increasingly one-sided. By Alexander Gabuev.
The New York Times
- From Tesla to Visa, C.E.O.s on Trump’s China Trip Sought Relief — Elon Musk and other powerful executives who accompanied President Trump to China are hoping to clear roadblocks put up by Beijing.
Caixin
- China’s AI Boom Puts New Strains on the Grid, Experts Say — China is still in the early stages of coordinating artificial intelligence (AI) computing demand with electricity supply.
- In Depth: Trump’s China Trip Opens Doors for U.S. Business — The summit last week highlighted how deeply intertwined major American companies remain with the world’s second-largest economy despite years of geopolitical and trade tensions.
- AI Drives a Two-Way Shift in China’s Labor Market, Survey Shows — Artificial intelligence is reshaping the Chinese mainland’s labor market in two directions at once: creating demand for new technical and product roles while eroding hiring in jobs that can be partly automated.
South China Morning Post
- China’s vast new canal link to Southeast Asia set to open earlier than expected — The Pinglu Canal – a US$10 billion waterway connecting China’s heartlands to the Gulf of Tonkin – will begin trial operations as soon as September.
- China is replacing Middle East oil with Xinjiang coal. What does it mean for the world? — With the war in Iran choking global oil supplies, China is tapping its 390 billion tonnes of coal reserves to build its own energy source.
- China’s SMIC clears final hurdle for US$6 billion takeover of SMNC — SMNC is to become a wholly owned subsidiary of SMIC, boosting the semiconductor manufacturer’s prowess and market position.
- Opinion: Boeing went to China to sell planes. Beijing is buying something else — China’s demand for passenger jets is genuine – but so is its aim to build a commercially credible aviation industry. By Tang Meng Kit.
Nikkei Asia
- China deepens crackdown on cross-border brokerages — Securities watchdog penalizes Tiger Brokers, Futu and Longbridge.
- US-China trade talks back in focus at APEC meeting — Regional ministers gather in eastern China’s Suzhou a week after Trump-Xi summit.
Bloomberg
- China Scrutinizes Companies, Funds After AI-Fueled Stock Moves — China’s stock exchanges are scrutinizing recent stock rallies that have been fueled by artificial intelligence optimism.
- China Restricts Chemical Exports to US in Fentanyl Crackdown — China imposed new export controls on some key chemical ingredients shipped to the US, Mexico and Canada, in a further sign of cooperation with Washington.
- Chinese Missiles and Robots Find Warm Welcome in EU’s Backyard — If the European Union has a red line in Serbia’s relationship to China, President Aleksandar Vucic may be getting close.
Reuters
- Trump postpones AI executive order, cites need to compete with China — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had postponed signing an executive order on AI because he did not like certain aspects of it.
- Chinese container ship among few vessels crossing Hormuz amid deadlock to open waterway — A Chinese-operated container ship was among the few to cross the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, data showed on Thursday.
- China foreign minister to chair UN Security Council meeting in US, visit Canada — China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to New York and chair a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on May 26.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: Opinion: China put a chokehold on rare earths. The market is loosening Beijing’s grip. — The serious problem of reliance on an adversary will take time to solve, but early returns are encouraging. By The Editorial Board.
- NPR: The aftermath of Trump-Xi summit: comparing U.S. and China announcements — A week since President Trump visited China, details are beginning to emerge on the agreements reached in Beijing, though the two sides have largely stuck to their own interpretations of those deals.
- Cato Institute: The ‘No Headline’ China-US Summit Was Very Revealing — Scattershot US trade policy has, coupled with an ill-conceived war in Iran, weakened Washington’s hand on China.
- Sixth Tone: China’s Top Phone Companies Launch Packages Covering AI Use — The plans offer millions of AI tokens per person for a fixed monthly price. Insiders say the packages’ main customers are government entities and state-owned enterprises.
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders: Genuine Free Choice? Child Labor and Mandatory Student Internships in China — The Chinese government, schools, and companies are failing to protect some children under 18 from hazardous work conditions and children under 16 from illegal employment.
