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
- Temu Owner PDD Posts Slowest Revenue Growth Since Early 2022 — The Chinese owner of bargain app Temu reported slower quarterly profit and revenue growth, capping a turbulent year for the e-commerce giant as it faced stiff competition at home, geopolitical tensions abroad and U.S. tariff uncertainties.
- Four Canadians Executed in China, Canada Says — The Canadian government rebuked Chinese authorities, saying the country carried out the executions earlier this year.
- CK Hutchison Flags Rising Geopolitical Tensions Amid Panama Ports Deal Scrutiny — The Hong Kong-listed company highlighted volatility in currency and equity markets in the U.S. and several other major markets since the third quarter.
- Geely’s Profit Surges on Record Exports, Robust Sales — The Chinese automaker posted robust sales and record exports for 2024, helping cement its position as a leading player in the intensely competitive EV sector.
- Trump Officials Circulate Plan That Would Overhaul USAID — The proposal aims to restructure the agency to enhance national security and help counter competitors like China.
The Financial Times
- China raises state funding for strategic minerals amid US trade war — Authorities increase subsidies for exploration and mining to shore up high-tech supply chain.
The New York Times
- Canada Condemns China’s Execution of 4 Canadians on Drug Convictions — Canada’s foreign minister said the government would continue to ask for leniency from China for other Canadians in similar situations.
- Queens Businessman Sentenced to Prison for Acting as Agent of China — An Quanzhong, who will spend 13 months behind bars, harassed a resident whom China’s government wanted back home. His conviction was one of several that prosecutors have won against operatives in New York.
Caixin
- The Social Workers Helping Patients Navigate China’s Health Care System — Medical social workers in China are supporting patients like Xin Xin, an 11-year-old boy with congenital heart disease who underwent three surgeries at Beijing’s Fuwai Hospital.
- How Millions of Douyin Users Decide What Stays and What Disappears — A week ago, while scrolling through Douyin — China’s version of TikTok — I flagged a video I suspected of spreading false information.
South China Morning Post
- EU defence white paper says China’s military action risks ‘major disruption’ for Europe — Paper warns geopolitical shifts are something ‘we have been warned about many times but is now happening faster than many had anticipated’.
- How China is solving the nightmare that killed Elon Musk’s Hyperloop — Chinese engineers have overcome the hurdles that stopped the US billionaire’s idea for a vacuum tube transport system in its tracks.
- Hong Kong draws Chinese AI companies from CloudWalk to iFlyTek as city pivots to tech — Executives from several companies expressed confidence in Hong Kong’s growing role in supporting China’s AI development.
- China Unicom boosts computing power investment in 2025 amid AI rush — Amid a surge in AI adoption in China, the company is budgeting a 28 per cent increase in capital expenses for computing power this year.
- AMD CEO Lisa Su visits China, touting AI chip compatibility with DeepSeek, Alibaba models — The US semiconductor firm and main rival of Nvidia has been promoting its infrastructural support for DeepSeek’s AI models.
Nikkei Asia
- Chinese politics may be in a calm before the storm — Xi plays it safe by delaying key personnel decisions and an economic bill.
- Philippines nabs alleged Chinese spies amid South China Sea tensions — Authorities concerned that military, government information is reaching Beijing.
- Long-term foreign equity investors reassess their China bearishness — U.S.-China trade war, government sway over private sector fuel skeptics.
- China job worries deepen as Trump hikes tariffs and automation spreads — Policy response to rising unemployment could make or break deflation fight.
- Huawei says its AI phone has ’emotions’ trained by DeepSeek — Popular Chinese apps Xiaohongshu, JD.com, WeChat join HarmonyOS.
Bloomberg
- China to Welcome Trump-Aligned Senator as Trade Talks Stall — President Xi Jinping’s government is set to welcome a US senator close to Donald Trump, as the world’s largest economies try to move forward trade talks that have stalled at lower levels.
- A New ‘China Shock’ Is Destroying Jobs Around the World — From Indonesia to Mexico, job losses could mount as Trump’s tariffs divert even more Chinese exports from the US.
- Ping An Profit Misses Estimates Dented by China Slowdown — Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. missed analyst estimates as China’s economic slowdown and property market crisis weighed on value of assets. The shares dropped.
Reuters
- China’s ‘Hermes of gold’ shines despite lacklustre demand for high-end goods — Laopu Gold is a notable outlier in China’s luxury goods market, which has been hammered by an extended consumer malaise due to concerns over job and wage security and a prolonged property slump.
- Proposed US port fees on China-built ships begin choking coal, agriculture exports — Trump is drafting an executive order that would rely on funding from a U.S. Trade Representative proposal to levy fines of up to $1.5 million on China-made ships or vessels from fleets that include ships made in China.
- China tech giants dig pricey trench for AI war — Tencent executives stressed that AI can help boost margins at its existing businesses. Yet they also said that AI is still in its early days, so it’s “really hard to talk about what the eventual state would look like”.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: Would Americans Go to War Against China? — How a Divided Public Thinks About Conflict.
- The Washington Post: Trump ends program millions in China use for internet, worrying Congress — The demise of the Open Technology Fund could put millions at risk of being targeted by authoritarian governments for their internet activity.
- AP: China calls for protections for students in US after Congressional panel demands data from colleges — A letter sent to the universities, including Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, alleged that the Chinese government was embedding researchers in top American institutions to gain direct access to sensitive technologies.
- The Guardian: China has debuted its new landing barges – what does this mean for Taiwan? — Sighting of Shuqiao ships provides insight into China’s integration of its military, paramilitary and civilian operations – and its plans for a potential invasion.
- BBC: Ten years on, can China still meet grand football plans? — When China’s president, Xi Jinping, visited Manchester in October 2015, there followed a bizarre photo opportunity and a bold statement.
