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.
Paid subscribers automatically have this list emailed directly to their inboxes every day by 10 a.m. EST. Subscribe here.
The Wall Street Journal
- Chinese Nuclear Submarine Test-Launches Long-Range Missile — Some countries in the region were quick to criticize the launch, which China sought to play down.
- China Releases Imprisoned Pastor Ezra Jin After U.S. Pressure — The leader of a prominent Chinese underground church arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, his family said.
- How Xi Jinping Steamrolls Dissent With Tactics From Stalin and Mao — China’s leader draws from autocrats’ playbook to expand power, oust potential rivals and lay groundwork to rule indefinitely.
- China Is Devastating the Last Stronghold of German Industry — Midsize companies that employ millions of workers are now shedding jobs and relocating overseas to cut costs.
- Tibet-Born Man Dies Outside U.N. After Appearing to Set Himself on Fire — The incident occurred a day after China put in force a law viewed as the culmination of a long-running campaign to assimilate the country’s ethnic minorities.
The Financial Times
- China fires ballistic missile into Pacific nuclear-free zone — Submarine-launched projectile carrying dummy warhead draws condemnation from Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
- China releases Christian pastor after appeal from Donald Trump — U.S. president raised case of Protestant church founder Ezra Jin during meeting with Xi Jinping in May.
- Lululemon’s latest struggle: slowing sales in key China market — Growth in second-largest economy has helped activewear maker offset series of other troubles but now faces new challenges.
- China cools on overseas publication of scientific research — Policymakers discuss reducing incentives for academics to submit papers to international journals over leak concerns.
- Wall Street banks recover in China amid trading boom — China securities units of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan posted record profits last year.
- Europe’s dilemma over Chinese car plants — Proposed EU law threatens investment in the bloc, warns carmaker Xpeng.
- Opinion: Data centres are a crucial test of U.S. industrial resolve — America must not repeat the mistakes that handed China rare-earth dominance. By Josh Zoffer.
The New York Times
- The Chinese Company That Could Start a Trade War With Europe — Nuctech’s rise from a Chinese state-backed start-up to a global border-security supplier has made it a lightning rod in trade and subsidy disputes.
- China Tests Long-Range Ballistic Missile in the Pacific, Angering Neighbors — China’s firing of a submarine-launched missile came as Australia secured more defense deals with Pacific Island nations. Countries expressed concern about the test.
- China Frees Pastor Detained in Crackdown on Religion After Trump’s Urging — Ezra Jin Mingri was released nearly two months after President Trump raised his case with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, during a visit to Beijing.
- China Raises Pressure on Taiwan With Expanded Coast Guard Patrols — Beijing sent two ships to patrol the waters east of Taiwan, a new campaign to challenge the island’s control of waters crucial to any future invasion.
- Inside ‘Chinese Dreamcore,’ Where Gen Z Relives a Brighter Past — Faced with a dire job market, falling wages and endless competition, many young Chinese are recreating scenes from the early 2000s on the internet, when the economy was growing rapidly.
- As Xi Looks to Extend His Rule, He Leans on a Longtime Ally — Xi Jinping is preparing to extend his rule as China’s leader and bring fresh blood into the Communist Party elite. Cai Qi is the man he’s tasking to help.
- Australia Tried to Push Back on China. China Pushed Harder — Relations between Beijing and Canberra have improved over the past four years, but China’s ambassador is now warning of a ‘Cold War mentality.”
Caixin
- The AI Token Takeover in China — Explosive demand for the foundational unit of AI processing has forced tech giants and startups into a battle over pricing, computing power and the lucrative business market.
- China Targets 8 Trillion Yuan Recycling Industry by 2030 — Beijing is pushing to secure critical materials, cut carbon emissions and manage rising volumes of waste from the country’s fast-growing clean-energy and electric-vehicle industries.
- China Sets Safety Requirements for Assisted Driving — The standard lays out safety requirements for three types of driver assistance systems: basic single-lane systems, basic multi-lane systems and navigation-assisted systems.
South China Morning Post
- Why China’s technical schools offer both hope and despair for jobless college grads — Young Chinese ‘return to the furnace’ for practical skills but Chinese media reports some students are disappointed by education on offer.
- Wu Xinbo on why Trump’s ‘America first’ foreign policy may be driving China’s rise — Foreign policy analyst outlines how Beijing should react to a country that sees it as neither a ‘partner nor friend’.
- China’s influence on African ports extends to software, automation and AI — The Africa Centre for Strategic Studies says Chinese firms are deeply embedded across the continent’s maritime networks.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s leading chatbots to ditch AI personas as Beijing tightens rules — Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, NetEase among those pulling such personalized features.
- Japan’s clothing imports from China hit 31-year low in Southeast Asia shift — Uniqlo suppliers, others diversify as Chinese labor costs, risks rise.
- The unstoppable rise of China-made cars in Europe — Chinese EVs and hybrids ubiquitous 2 years after EU sets tariffs on EV imports.
Bloomberg
- China Steps Up Financial Risk Cleanup Under New Top Regulator — China is stepping up efforts to eliminate risks in its financial sector, highlighted by moves to address troubles at two financial institutions.
- Europe’s Heat Wave Is Bright Spot for China’s Portable AC Makers — As heat records shattered and indoor temperatures rose to uncomfortable levels, many of the continent’s residents sought immediate relief in the form of portable air conditioner units.
- China Is Spending Big to Rival India’s Buddhist Influence in Asia — As the Dalai Lama succession approaches, China is leveraging Buddhism to expand its influence across Asia, testing whether money and power can rival India’s role as the faith’s birthplace.
Reuters
- A small plane hit Beijing’s tallest tower. Much remains unclear. — Chinese authorities have not explained how the aircraft entered airspace near one of the country’s most heavily controlled and politically sensitive areas.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: The U.S. Can’t ‘Yield Even an Inch’ to Xi, Top Democrat Says — Sen. Tammy Duckworth tells Foreign Policy why she is traveling to Taiwan.
- The Economist: Has China obtained the world’s most important machine? — Its Dutch manufacturer is fighting to rebut American claims.
- Rest of World: China’s web novel platforms embraced AI. Now they are fighting it — Sites from Tencent, ByteDance, and Baidu set curbs like daily word limits for authors and stricter standards to combat poor-quality automated fiction.
- The Guardian: China wants to solve the hardest problem in robotics – making hands — Race to develop ‘embodied AI’ focuses on creating dextrous hands to transform humanoid robots from gimmicks into useful products.
