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 New York State Aide’s Help Was Worth to China: More Than $15 Million — Unsealed allegations detail Linda Sun’s ‘pay-to-play scheme,’ with lobster earnings funneled through wine shop and family members.
- U.S. Likely to Ban Chinese App DeepSeek From Government Devices — Trump administration also considers broader measures against the AI model over national-security concerns.
- Trump Is Overturning the World Order That America Built — As the president embraces Putin, longtime allies are starting to view the U.S. not just as unreliable but as a possible threat to their own security.
- China Is Waging a ‘Gray Zone’ Campaign to Cement Power. Here’s How It Looks. — Years of ship-tracking data, flight paths and satellite images show a clear intensification of Beijing’s tactics across a swath of Asia.
- China Struggles to Shake Off Disinflationary Pressure as Trade Threats Loom — Consumer prices dropped in February, ending a year of tepid price growth.
- Foxconn Builds FoxBrain, Its Own AI Model — Nvidia provided support through its Taiwan-based supercomputer and technical consulting.
The Financial Times
- Trump and the end of American soft power — Joseph Nye coined the term for the influence countries exert through attraction. Here he sets out why exclusive nationalism is likely to prove a losing strategy.
- China hits Canada with retaliatory tariffs on agricultural products — Beijing accuses Ottawa of ‘discriminatory’ levies on electric vehicles.
- Trump ‘confident’ China will not invade Taiwan during his presidency, Bessent says — Treasury secretary’s remarks come as Taipei has become nervous about shifting US stance on Ukraine.
- China’s consumer prices fall for first time in over a year — Index declines 0.7% as deflationary pressures continue to weigh on world’s second-largest economy.
- Chinese investors privately take stakes in Musk’s companies — Asset managers have been promoting tech mogul’s ties to Donald Trump to lure capital to xAI, Neuralink and SpaceX.
- China hits U.S. farm goods with tariffs as trade war escalates — Beijing’s latest measures target $22bn of American agriculture products as well as timber.
- Russia imposes fees to stem flood of low-cost Chinese cars — Moscow hardens stance as vehicle imports targeted by western sanctions overwhelm local market.
The New York Times
- Trump’s Tariffs Could Help Tesla, by Hurting Its Rivals More — The electric car company led by Elon Musk builds all the cars it sells in the United States in California and Texas, shielding it from tariffs that could devastate competitors.
- China Hits Canada With Tariffs in Indirect Riposte to Trump — Beijing, which set steep duties on canola, peas and pork, wants Canada and Mexico to resist U.S. pressure to raise tariffs on Chinese goods.
- U.S. Judge Finds China Liable for Covid Missteps, Imposes $24 Billion Penalty — The judgment was issued in a case brought by the Missouri attorney general. The Chinese government did not respond to the claims in court.
- China’s Tariffs on U.S. Agricultural Products Take Effect — The action came in response to the higher levies on Chinese imports that President Trump announced last week.
Caixin
- China Plans Fiscal Overhaul to Fix Crisis in Local Government Finance — Sluggish economic recovery and property slump may force revision to revenue sharing.
- DeepSeek Integration Gives China’s Health Care Stocks Shot In the Arm — The open-source model provides medical AI developers from startups to tech giants with free access to code to help develop potentially cutting-edge technologies.
South China Morning Post
- ‘Two sessions’ 2025: who’s up and who’s down in China’s economy? — As China continues its economic transformation, some industries stand to gain tremendously – and others are being left in the dust.
- Roots and religion: a Fujian city’s mission to forge cultural bonds with Taiwan — City official at NPC reveals ongoing drive to promote cultural, ancestral connections and bridge ‘emotional gaps’ with Taiwanese.
- Xpeng chairman sees Hong Kong as launch pad for self-driving EVs — He Xiaopeng says the company will introduce two models in the city this year in a launch ‘not just for Hong Kong, but also for the world.’
- China to give gig workers and training a lift to keep lid on unemployment — Social security minister says some positions are going unfilled as demand for skills goes unmet.
- Princeton nuclear physicist Liu Chang leaves U.S. for China in fusion energy quest — Plasma specialist heads to Peking University to pursue magnetic confinement on mission to make nuclear fusion a reality.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s Geely eyes 1m units sold with revamped Zeekr, Lynk brands — Auto group aims to become EV era’s Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.
- Toyota’s Chinese Lexus EV plant to make up for lost time — While other automakers downsize in China, Japan automaker goes on the offensive.
- Huawei users tap workaround to install Google apps outside China — U.S. sanctions fail to stifle Chinese smartphone maker’s comeback.
- China, Russia, U.S. Arctic competition looms over Greenland elections — Trump purchase remark spurs call for change in Danish territory, analysts say.
- Opinion: Apple’s AI gamble in China is a desperate bid for relevance — Tech giant’s delayed integration struggles to match pace of Chinese rivals. By Vivian Toh.
Bloomberg
- Inside Xi’s Crackdown on Scams With China’s Huge Surveillance State — Police are intercepting calls and showing up at people’s homes, rattling some citizens and raising questions about privacy.
- Sanctions Are Tangling, Not Stopping, China’s Iran Oil Trade — The cost of working around Washington’s curbs is hefty and rising.
- Chemicals, Steel Firms in Europe Squeezed by China, Tariff Woes — The materials sector is dragged down by weak demand in China, where economic woes have led to a slowdown in construction activity.
Reuters
- Beijing buzzwords hint at slow-burn consumer fix — Consumption takes the top spot in Beijing’s to-do list this year.
- Hedge funds cut China stocks for fourth week as DeepSeek optimism fades — Funds added short bets, while cutting long positions in the week.
Other Publications
- Washington Post: Zuckerberg’s Meta considered sharing user data with China, whistleblower alleges — Meta went to extreme lengths, including developing a censorship system, in a failed attempt to bring Facebook to millions of internet users in China, according to a whistleblower complaint.
