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
- Ford and Geely Agree to Spanish Manufacturing Tie-Up — The deal is the latest move by a Western automaker to open its factory gates to Chinese competitors as they look to fill capacity and secure the future of their production sites.
- China’s XPeng Charts Course From EVs to Robots — Chinese carmakers spent the past decade replacing gasoline engines with batteries. The next will be about integrating cars with robotics, XPeng’s chief executive says.
- Chinese Carmakers Log Surge in European Monthly Sales — Chinese carmakers recorded another jump in European monthly sales in June, solidifying their position as mighty competitors for local auto companies that are seeking to reinvigorate growth.
The Financial Times
- Ford hopes Spain tie-up with China’s Geely will revive European business — Two carmakers say they will form a manufacturing joint venture at U.S. group’s Valencia plant.
- EU urged to use more ‘clout’ against Beijing — Former trade commissioner Karel De Gucht says bloc should form alliance of open trading nations.
- China’s assault on Europe’s car market has barely begun — The first in a series on Chinese carmakers in Europe examines the overseas ambitions of Xiaomi, Xpeng, Li Auto and Aito.
- Mercedes risks U.S. sales ban under Senate China bill — Commerce panel to vote on legislation barring companies with significant Chinese ownership from U.S. market.
- Opinion: How long can China defy history and logic with its imbalances? — The country is demanding far too much of a world fixated on cheap consumer goods. By Stephen Roach.
- Opinion: Why the U.S. is losing Chinese AI stars — More entrepreneurs from China believe there are now greater opportunities at home than in Silicon Valley. By Zijing Wu.
The New York Times
- Rubio and Chinese Diplomat Make Plans for Trump and Xi’s Washington Summit — Marco Rubio spent much of a meeting with China’s foreign minister discussing the summit, but did not bring up Trump’s claims of election interference by China.
- Iran, China, Canada? A Defense of Trump’s Grand Strategy — A Pentagon official argues that “people can no longer take the United States for granted.”
- Opinion: China’s A.I. Has a Winning Formula. America, Don’t Panic. — Open-weight models have been the underlying strength of Chinese artificial intelligence strategy. America should take cues. By Jason Hsu.
Caixin
- Volkswagen Strengthens Self-Driving Partnership With Horizon Robotics — The move highlights the auto giant’s urgent need to accelerate its shift toward EVs and reverse its plunging sales in its largest market following years of software development struggles.
- China Offers Brand-Name Drugmakers a Lifeline in Bulk-Procurement Tender — The latest national drug tender seeks to curb destructive price competition while tightening quality requirements for generic medicines.
- Medical Degrees in China’s College Admissions — Falling scores for standard clinical-medicine programs underscore concerns over long training periods, uncertain hospital jobs and weaker income prospects.
South China Morning Post
- What is Beijing thinking? Why Washington is struggling to understand its rival — Language is important in U.S.-China diplomacy, but funding cuts and dwindling student exchanges have left a ‘major gap’ in capabilities.
- U.S. Congress explores new tariffs, sanctions to counter China’s shipbuilding dominance — U.S. lawmakers search for ways to tackle Beijing’s rapid rise in commercial shipbuilding and restore America’s diminished commercial fleet.
- U.S.-China trade war reaches India’s streets as Modi weighs risks of Washington bet — Indian leader faces ‘perfect storm’ at home as proposed U.S. trade deal sparks backlash and Trump ramps up pressure over Russian oil and China.
- Why Trump’s claim that Beijing meddled in U.S. election hasn’t put ties on ice — Leaders’ commitment to stability holds as China likely views his remarks as domestic political theatre, analysts say.
- Trump tech official accuses China’s Moonshot AI of stealing from Anthropic — Michael Kratsios alleges Beijing-based company targeted Anthropic’s most powerful model, Claude Fable 5, through large-scale ‘distillation’.
Nikkei Asia
- Xi Jinping moves to bury a scandal that reaches his inner circle — Politburo member purged ahead of APEC summit in Xi family stronghold of Shenzhen.
- How fentanyl-linked crypto fraud ties back to a Chinese drug kingpin — Japan outpost used to move funds, direct trafficking likely part of a larger operation.
- Opinion: Japan, China need an economic hotline as well as a defense one — The more Beijing puts pressure on rare-earth exports, the less effective the leverage. By David Tingxuan Zhang.
Bloomberg
- Chinese Brands Resort to Crude Insults to Hawk LED Signs and Charging Cables — To stand out from a glut of competitors, China’s small industrial enterprises are using epithets and provocations to grab the internet’s attention.
- Lawmakers Worry Trump’s Team Isn’t Closing China Chip Curbs Gap They Created — Lawmakers are pressing President Trump’s team to close a loophole they say the administration created in China tech restrictions, but which a key agency denies exists.
- Opinion: From Napoleon to Moonshot, China Is Doing It Again — The Five-Year Plan to create a technological powerhouse is off to a great start. By John Authers.
Reuters
- Chipmaker CXMT debut spotlights China’s state-funded path to tech power — CXMT is central to China’s push for AI self-sufficiency because advanced AI processors require massive amounts of high-speed memory.
- India’s solar push idles factories unable to shake reliance on China — Manufacturers lacking facilities face waiting periods of up to 8 months for domestic cells, which boost the cost of domestically made panels to almost double those that use Chinese cells.
- Intel, AMD sign long-term server CPU deals with Chinese clients as prices surge — Demand has spread beyond AI accelerators to memory, networking gear and server processors, giving suppliers greater leverage to seek long-term purchase deals.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: China’s Moment of Weakness — Economic Decay and America’s Strategic Opening.
- The New Yorker: How a Chinese Immigrant Driver Got Entangled in a Drug Bust — In early 2025, a man from Queens arranged to pick up a passenger in New York’s North County. He’s been in jail upstate ever since.
- The Economist: Can China dominate AI exports, too? — Robotaxis offer an early test case.
- The Guardian: Democratic lawmakers propose bank funded by China tariffs to boost U.S. manufacturing — Ro Khanna says ‘reindustrialization’ effort would provide grants, loans and investments to smaller businesses.
