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
- EU Sets Out Plans to Crack Down on E-Commerce Platforms Amid Product Safety Concerns — Roughly 4.6 billion low-value consignments entered the bloc last year 91% of them coming from China.
- China’s Lunar New Year Travel, Spending Boom Offer Positive Signs — Tourism revenues in China during the eight-day holiday that ended Tuesday rose 7.0% in year-over-year terms, while the number of domestic trips rose 5.9%, state media reported.
- Postal Service Halts Shipments of China Parcels — The U.S. moves to halt the international parcel service popular with Chinese merchants.
- China PMI Gauge Signals Softer Services Sector Growth — Despite the slowdown, the measure remained above the 50 mark that separates activity contraction from expansion, and where it has been since January 2023.
- What Do Trump’s First Weeks Tell Us About His China Strategy? — The executive orders and actions taking aim at Beijing suggest a focus less framed around ideology than under the Biden administration.
- How U.S.-China Tariffs Will Work—and What’s in Store for Mexico and Canada — Uncertainty surrounds the trade war touched off by President Trump’s tariffs. But some of the basics are taking shape.
- Stocks Recover Despite China Tariff Fears — A call between Trump and Xi Jinping hasn’t happened Tuesday, but might come Wednesday.
- Trump Tariffs Loom Over Ad Industry, From Brands to Digital Sellers — Automotive and other sectors will likely cut spending if all threatened tariffs take effect, while the China tariffs now in place stand to undermine big-spending brands like Temu.
- The World Has Changed Since Trump’s First Trade War. Other Countries Are Ready to Fight Back. — China, Russia and even U.S. allies have developed retaliatory options that could deeply hurt America’s economy and standard of living.
- Opinion: Xi Who Must Not Be Named — Why is DeepSeek deep-sixing the Chinese president? By James Taranto.
The Financial Times
- US Postal Service suspends China packages as tariff war heats up — Donald Trump’s decision to put levies on lower-priced goods reverberates in world’s second-largest economy.
- China keeps renminbi steady in first fix since Trump’s tariffs — Traders had expected Beijing to weaken its currency following a week-long market holiday.
- Toyota raises profit forecast and aims to double down on China — Plans for new battery and electric vehicle plant in Shanghai unveiled for Lexus brand.
- Trump’s crackdown on trade loophole to hit Shein and Temu — and help Amazon — Scrapping of ‘de minimis’ rules could slow deliveries and raise costs for Chinese groups, say analysts.
- China targets Google, Nvidia and Intel as Trump’s tariffs bite — Beijing seeks leverage against US president by reviving investigations into tech giants.
The New York Times
- Trump Prepares to Take On the US Trade Deficit, a Familiar Nemesis — The trade deficit has long drawn the president’s ire. Now, he’s preparing to take it on again.
- U.S. Postal Service Halts Parcel Service From China as Trump’s Trade Curbs Begin — The U.S. has been importing about three million parcels a day with little customs inspection, raising concerns about the ease of sending fentanyl.
- With China’s Antitrust Investigation Into Google, What’s at Stake? — China said it had started an antitrust investigation of Google, which works with Chinese companies on smartphones and advertising outside the country.
- How a Sale of TikTok Would Work and Who Might Buy It — A new law says TikTok must be sold to a non-Chinese owner or face a ban in the United States. President Trump has thrown out a lot of options for a potential sale.
- Opinion: DeepSeek and the Dangerous A.I. Nonsense That Trump and Biden Fell For — This is not a Sputnik moment. It’s way past that. By Zeynep Tufekci.
- Opinion: Our Bar-Napkin Presidency — The president’s impulsive tariffs are a symptom of a deeper challenge to U.S. manufacturing. By Thomas L. Friedman.
Caixin
- China’s Rock Bottom Drug Prices Spark Quality Concerns — Medical industry insiders are concerned that the low prices the government negotiates may be leading manufacturers to cut corners.
South China Morning Post
- ByteDance’s new AI model goes viral for its deepfake capabilities that animate photos — Clips from the TikTok owner’s new OmniHuman-1 multimodal model have gone viral for their lifelike appearance and audio synchronisation.
- PLA patrols in South China Sea for second day as tensions mount with Philippines — Chinese military says it carried out ‘routine patrol’ following US-Philippine joint exercise.
- Tech war: China’s chip firms embrace DeepSeek in AI self-sufficiency drive — From Moore Threads to Iluvatar Corex, China’s leading chip designers are rushing to adopt DeepSeek’s latest models.
- Battle of the bots: China, US scrap for top of the humanoid heap — China, fuelled by recent successes from DeepSeek and Unitree, is making a play for pole position in humanoid robots. Can the US hold its ground?
- Opinion: Any US bid to retake Panama Canal would be prohibitively costly — It would go against international law, offend Latin nations’ sense of self-determination, hurt relations with China and cause a global uproar. By Nong Hong.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s state-backed labs provide a lifeline for U.S.-blacklisted chip suppliers — Beijing fosters pilot production lines at research centers and boosts nation’s R&D spending.
- Google CEO says DeepSeek’s ‘very good’ work is a plus for AI demand — U.S. search giant joins chorus praising low-cost model despite questions over spending.
- China markets dip after tariffs as PBOC’s yuan fix sends stability signal — Trump uncertainty reigns as country emerges from weeklong holiday.
Bloomberg
- Chinese Splurge During Holidays But Angst Over Spending Persists — Chinese consumers shattered records for travel and movie attendance during the Lunar New Year holiday, a splurge that has yet to translate into a turnaround for the consumer economy.
- China Weighs Probe Into Apple’s App Store Fees, Practices — China’s antitrust watchdog is laying the groundwork for a potential probe into Apple Inc.’s policies and the fees it charges app developers, part of a broader push by Beijing that risks becoming another flashpoint in the country’s trade war with the US.
- Opinion: Trump, Xi Play to Win at Sun Tzu’s Art of Trade War — China may find that it’s beyond the point where conflict can be avoided — even if a short-term peace deal is on the horizon. By John Authers.
Reuters
- Trade war or not, global investors turn even more cautious on China — Global investors were already wary about China’s growth prospects due to concerns over its protracted property crisis, deflationary pressures and the lack of follow-through on Beijing’s promises of stimulus.
- By the numbers: US, Mexico, Canada, China trade — All four countries occupy significant spots on each other’s trade ledgers, though the highly diverse array of products and industries involved can complicate efforts to assess the impact of a trade dispute.
- China calls for cooperation with EU amid ‘global challenges’ — “The world is facing the risk of division, fragmentation and disorder,” said Lin Jian, spokesperson at the Chinese ministry. “China-EU relations have all the more strategic importance and global influence.”
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Mass Killings in China Are Testing the Limits of Control — A dual economic and mental health crisis may be driving a wave of attacks.
- POLITICO: Trump Is Turning Out To Be a Very Pro-China President — From tariffs on allies to gutting aid programs to mocking the rule of law, the president’s moves could be a dream come true for the Chinese.
- The Economist: Xi Jinping shows how he will return American fire — China’s trade retaliation carries a warning of worse to come.
- The Economist: Why India isn’t winning the contest with China — A series of setbacks suggest that new policies are needed.
- Rest of World: DeepSeek’s rise shows why China’s top AI talent is skipping Silicon Valley — Young Chinese engineers focus on homegrown innovation, drawn by fewer visa hurdles and the chance to build a future on their own terms.
- Los Angeles Times: China, gaining ground in Latin America, spies opportunity in Trump’s chaotic foreign policy — In at least six countries — Panama, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil and Bolivia — China has surged ahead of the United States as the biggest trading partners.
- MIT Technology Review: Four Chinese AI startups to watch beyond DeepSeek — These companies are all in a position to compete both within China and beyond.
