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
- Next Task for Xi Jinping: Rebuild the Military Command He Wiped Out — Purges leave a leadership vacuum in China’s top ranks that was put on full display at legislative meetings in Beijing.
- China Consumer Inflation Beats Expectations on Holiday Boost — The consumer-price index rose 1.3% from a year earlier in February.
The Financial Times
- China signals it wants a Trump visit despite Iran war — Foreign minister Wang Yi says Beijing ‘positive and open’ on this month’s summit between the US and Chinese presidents.
- Taiwan baseball diplomacy throws curveball into China-Japan spat — Beijing accuses Taiwanese premier of ‘evil motives’ after he was spotted in the Tokyo Dome stands.
- China said it ended poverty. Did it? — The country has lifted more than 700mn people out of indigence, but some doubt Xi Jinping’s claim that the mission is complete.
- China consumer prices buoyed by oil surge and lunar new year — Deflationary pressures ease as AI-related spending rises and Beijing clamps down on overcapacity.
- Opinion: China’s growth target is a global problem — Beijing’s export offensive could be more destabilising than Trump’s tariffs. By Ruchir Sharma.
The New York Times
- For Xi, Trump’s Embrace of War Proves China Needs More Power — China is learning lessons from the war in Iran. Chief among them, the United States may pose an even greater threat than Beijing thought.
- For China, Billions of Dollars Are at Risk From a Widening War — The country found a home in the Middle East for its investments and growing markets for steel, electric vehicles and solar panels. Those are now at stake.
Caixin
- BYD Targets Range Anxiety With New EV Battery That Charges in 9 Minutes — After a six-year gap, BYD unveiled its second-generation Blade Battery and compatible flash-charging technology on Friday.
- CK Hutchison Unit Demands $2 Billion After Panama Seizes Ports — The dispute threatens to complicate CK Hutchison’s ongoing efforts to sell a massive global port portfolio to a BlackRock Inc.-led consortium.
South China Morning Post
- What’s wrong with a G2? Wang Yi lays out China’s case against great-power rivalry — Bloc confrontation is a path to disaster and the world must abide by the UN Charter, the foreign minister says.
- Iran war hits China’s sulphur imports as economic fallout from conflict grows — Supplies of sulphur – a key fertiliser ingredient – are tightening in China just as the spring planting season begins.
- China urged to build underground great wall of defence in crisis-hit world — Critical facilities should be embedded deep beneath the Earth’s surface at a safer, less detectable level, energy expert says.
- Why China’s critical mineral dominance is still disrupting US supply chains — Businesses hope US President Donald Trump’s visit to China in late March will ease bottlenecks.
- Why have China’s arms imports plummeted by 72% over the past 5 years? — Neighbours in Asia and Oceania increase their overseas weapons purchases amid ‘fears over China’s intentions’.
Nikkei Asia
- ‘Fears over China’s intentions’ fuel Asian arms buildup: SIPRI — India trails only Ukraine among importers, while Pakistan leans on Chinese weaponry.
- China unveils 5 principles on Iran war that ‘shouldn’t have happened’ — Top diplomat Wang Yi signals Trump visit preparations underway, criticizes ‘G2’ idea.
- US must not let Iran distract it from China — Beijing’s recent move to isolate Japan underscores its relentless global ambitions.
- China condemns ‘evil designs’ of Taiwan premier’s Japan baseball trip — Cho Jung-tai and Tokyo insist first such visit since formal ties were cut was ‘private’.
Bloomberg
- China Hails ‘Landmark’ Year in US Ties Despite Widening Iran War — The Sunday statement amounts to the clearest signal yet that Beijing intends to shield its relationship with Washington from the US-led attack.
- Taiwan Premier Makes First Japan Visit Since 1972, Defying China — Taiwan’s premier made a personal trip to Japan to watch the island’s baseball team in action, a rare visit that risks deteriorating Tokyo’s ties with China further.
- OpenClaw AI Mania Fires up Chinese Tech Leaders, Cloud Stocks — Chinese software shares surged after local government agencies and tech leaders promoted viral AI software OpenClaw, spurring hopes of sectoral development.
- Xi’s Central Asia Outreach Pays Off With a Fundraising Blitz — China’s foreign direct investment in Central Asia has surged over 10 years to nearly $36 billion, with Kazakhstan remaining the largest recipient of Chinese FDI.
Reuters
- China says US talks vital as Trump targets Beijing’s key partners — U.S.-China dialogue is vital to preventing globally damaging miscalculations, China’s top diplomat said on Sunday.
- Trump’s China visit likely won’t yield breakthrough, aims to maintain stability — American business leaders at this stage have not secured the CEO delegation some had sought. On the other side, there is no indication Beijing is on track for the investment protections it has sought.
Other Publications
- NPR: Five key takeaways from an annual briefing by China’s foreign minister — China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said on Sunday the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran “should not have happened” and “does no one any good.”
- The New Yorker: How China Learned to Love the Classics — The Chinese Communist Party has embraced the study of Greek and Latin—as, in some ways, an antidote to the modern West.
- Foreign Policy: China Is Learning the Lessons of Hard Power — The Iran strikes will convince Beijing to double down on military growth.
- Washington Post: Opinion: China may be preparing for nuclear war. The U.S. isn’t. — Rather than aiming for nuclear deterrence, China appears to be building a stockpile to wage war. By Robert Peters.
- Sixth Tone: Two Sessions: China Boosts Science and Tech Spending — The government simultaneously cut spending on business trips and meetings to free up funds for developing key sectors.
- Semafor: China inflation rate highest in three years — China reported its highest inflation rate in three years, a welcome sign for a country grappling with deflation and moribund consumption.
