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
- Battery Maker CATL’s Profit Climbs Despite Slowing China EV Sales — First-quarter net profit rose 48.5%.
- China’s Economy Starts Year on Strong Footing, but Iran Risks Loom — War clouds outlook after Beijing reports first-quarter GDP growth of 5%.
The Financial Times
- China’s battery champion pushes deeper into mining — CATL puts $4.4bn into new subsidiary to strengthen supply chain self-sufficiency.
- China shock 2.0: the countries feeling the ‘Chinese squeeze’ — The sheer scale of the manufacturing superpower threatens to shut out south-east Asian rivals before they can rise.
- Nissan held talks with China’s Chery on building cars in Sunderland — Legacy carmakers are battling to save jobs at European plants by partnering with newer rivals.
- Opinion: What’s really shocking about the second China shock? — While the Chinese export surge continues unabated, import volumes have been anaemic. By Soumaya Keynes.
The New York Times
- China’s G.D.P. Stronger Than Expected, Led by Infrastructure Spending — A steep slide in housing prices has left consumers less prosperous and less willing to spend, but the government is pouring money into new rail lines and other projects.
- Xi Courts Vietnam With His Authoritarian Vision of Security — China used a visit by the Vietnamese leader to show a deepening of security ties that analysts say far outpaces U.S. defense ties in the region.
Caixin
- China’s Machinery, Electronics Exports Hit Record in First Quarter — The stronger-than-expected performance underscores the resilience of the country’s manufacturing supply chains amid an increasingly complex global trade environment.
- China Unveils National ‘AI+Education’ Plan to Transform Classrooms by 2030 — The plan targets everything from personalized tutoring and teacher certification to predicting demographic shifts and reallocating educational resources.
- China Mandates Nationwide Mental Health Coverage by 2030 — China is launching a massive nationwide expansion of mental health services.
South China Morning Post
- US officials claim China is ‘hoarding’ oil. What does the data say? — While US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China is stockpiling crude amid the Iran war, the numbers suggest Beijing is facing a supply crunch.
- China’s Wang Yi calls on Iran to ensure freedom and safe passage through Strait of Hormuz — In phone call with Iran’s top envoy, China’s foreign minister says situation is at ‘critical stage of transition between conflict and peace’.
- China doubles ‘AI for science’ computing scale in 2 months using no US chips — The Zhengzhou core node becomes the country’s most powerful scientific intelligent computing infrastructure, CCTV.
Nikkei Asia
- Military purges prompted Xi Jinping to meet Taiwan KMT leader — Warm welcome for Cheng Li-wun demonstrates Beijing’s hope for ‘peaceful unification’.
- Opinion: Beijing has decided it has little to learn from the rest of the world — This year’s China Development Forum sends mixed messages to investors. By Henny Sender.
Bloomberg
- Nvidia’s Huang Says Mythos Shows Need for US-China AI Dialogue — Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said that Anthropic PBC’s Mythos breakthrough shows that the US should seek greater cooperation with China.
- China Poised to Become Top Tourism Economy as Foreigners Skip US — China is now on track to become the world’s top tourism economy in the next few years as a sharp drop in foreign visits sets the US back.
- China Home Price Drop Slows for Second Month as Pressure Eases — Home prices in China are still falling but the pace of the decline is now at its slowest in around a year.
Reuters
- China issues US safety alert for citizens citing ‘malicious questioning’ by US border officers — China’s foreign ministry on Thursday issued a notice warning citizens of security risks traveling to the U.S.
- China solar makers say war-induced renewables demand won’t fix overcapacity — The solar industry is widely seen as one of the sectors most affected by overcapacity – an endemic problem in the Chinese economy.
Other Publications
- Council on Foreign Relations: With Hormuz Closed, China Is Wiring the Globe’s Clean Energy Future — No matter the outcome of the conflict between the United States and Iran, China will be better off in the postwar world.
- The Economist: Why China’s government worries about AI — Its concerns include jobs, security and beating America.
- The Washington Post: Trump says China has agreed not to send weapons to Iran — The president made the claim, which Beijing has yet to confirm, amid anger in China that its vessels could be caught up in a U.S. blockade targeting Iranian ports.
- Human Rights Watch: China: Pressure on Catholics Escalates — Vatican Agreement with Beijing on Bishops Facilitates Crackdown.
- Foreign Policy: Xinjiang’s Repression of Uyghurs Has Evolved, Not Ended — A rare insider testimony reveals how China tries to hide state violence in Xinjiang.
- CSIS: Closing the Local Knowledge Gap in U.S. Competition with China — For the United States to roll back the web of Chinese influence, it must not only provide an alternative partnership; it must outcompete China in a fundamental skillset: local knowledge.
