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
- China’s Xi Lays Out Vision for a World Without a Single Dominant Power — Xi rejected ‘unilateralism pursued by certain countries’ and promoted the U.N. and WTO in a speech that didn’t name the U.S.
- China, U.S. Close to Naming New Ambassadors as Rivalry Grows — Beijing plans to appoint Qin Gang, who has accompanied Xi on overseas trips, and Washington is expected to name R. Nicholas Burns, a veteran diplomat.
- Tesla Apologizes for Its Handling of China Customer After Outcry — Car maker’s public apology follows criticism from Communist Party body that the company is arrogant and sells defective products
- Iron Ore Price Rally Blunts China’s Trade Pressure — Price has surged to decade high, helping Australia as it navigates trade tensions with Beijing.
- Goldman Sachs Appoints New Co-Head of China Investment Banking — Sean Fan will lead the division alongside Wei Cai.
- China Considers Boosting Covid-19 Vaccine Efficacy. Mixing Is One Way. [Video] — Chinese Covid-19 vaccines offer relatively low levels of protection compared with some of their foreign rivals. Here is why China is joining other countries in considering mixing and matching vaccines as a key to overcoming multiple vaccination challenges at once. Illustration: Ksenia Shaikhutdinova.
The Financial Times
- With US help, Japan’s stance towards China hardens — Suga’s willingness to discuss Taiwan during his White House visit was a departure from the norm.
- Xi to join Biden’s climate summit despite tensions — Chinese president’s attendance rare bright spot in relations between world’s biggest carbon emitters.
- Tesla apologises after Chinese state media attacks — Electric carmaker under fire over treatment of customers as local rivals accelerate competition.
- Huarong debacle tests Beijing’s resolve to bail out state groups — Former chair of asset manager that owes $22bn to foreign investors was executed in January.
- HSBC chief vows not to ‘flip-flop’ on China strategy — Noel Quinn refuses to redraw bank’s core business plan on basis of geopolitical tensions.
- China, Russia and the new space race — China and Russia have signed a deal to build a moon base together as they seek to rival the US.
- Rethinking Supply Chains — From the US-China trade war, to Brexit, to pandemic-led delays to manufacturing and shipping, the global supply chain is firmly in the spotlight. How is the business of trade adapting in a changing world?
- China tech groups hire ex-regulators to fend off Beijing’s crackdown — Alibaba among those hiring former officials as Xi Jinping tightens grip on private sector.
The New York Times
- 90-Year-Old Hong Kong Woman Robbed of $33 Million in Phone Scam — In one of the most staggering Hong Kong phone cons in recent memory, a 90-year-old woman was swindled over five months.
- China’s Solar Dominance Presents Biden With Human Rights Dilemma — President Biden’s vow to work with China on issues like climate change is clashing with his promise to defend human rights.
Caixin
- China to Pour More Foreign Exchange Reserves Into Green Finance — PBOC Governor Yi Gang outlines plans to devote more funding and set financial standards to support national climate change goals.
- China’s Cloud Firms Show How Big Tech Is Far From Green, Greenpeace Says — Country’ s data centers continue to rely on polluting energy sources to feed their voracious appetite for electricity, though many are gradually embracing renewables.
- Car Chip Shortage to Start Easing in Second Half, Bosch China Chief Says — Bottleneck should start to ease around July, but supplies will be tight through next year, executive says.
South China Morning Post
- China seen bailing out biggest bad-debt manager while teaching investors a ‘hard’ lesson as contagion effects linger — Chinese economic policymakers are caught between a rock and a hard place as they try to piece together a rescue plan for embattled bad-asset manager China Huarong Asset Management.
- China steel demand leaves iron ore miners Vale, Rio Tinto struggling to keep up — The world’s top two iron ore miners struggled to keep up with strong Chinese demand in the first quarter of 2021, hit by operational challenges and weather disruptions, in a positive sign for prices that are already at decade highs.
- Bitter gaming war between ByteDance and Tencent a windfall for independent Chinese studios — By the time Chinese video game maker Moonton Holdings was acquired by ByteDance in March, the Shanghai-based developer had seen its valuation septuple to US$4 billion, from US$551 four months prior, but it had less to do with the merits of the games it produces than being dragged into the ongoing rivalry between the TikTok owner and Tencent Holdings.
Bloomberg
- Treasury-Buying Spree of $17 Billion Has UAE Eclipsing China — The United Arab Emirates went on its biggest Treasury-buying spree on record in February, purchasing more of the safe-haven securities than China in one of the worst months for U.S. debt markets in years.
- Australia Cancels China’s Belt and Road Deal With State — Australia has canceled agreements between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Victoria state government, in a move that could further worsen ties between the two nations.
- Oil Bulls Buoyed by Chinese Traffic Jams and Busy Factories — Chinese traffic and factory activity is not only back to normal, it’s surpassing pre-virus levels, underpinning the global oil demand recovery.
- Chinese Military Seen Behind Japan Cyber-Attacks, NHK Says — China’s military is thought to have instructed a hacker group to conduct cyber-attacks on nearly 200 Japanese research institutions and firms, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing unidentified people in a police investigation.
Reuters
- Special Report: Hong Kong activists retreat as China-style justice comes to their city — On March 23, a Hong Kong High Court judge denied former Democratic Party lawmaker Andrew Wan’s bail appeal and sent him back to Lai Chi Kok prison.
- China’s Wanda raising $3 billion ahead of HK IPO for property management unit – sources — Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group aims to raise 20 billion yuan ($3.08 billion) for its commercial property management business, before listing the unit in Hong Kong by year-end, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
- Biden: U.S. must boost EV production to surpass China — President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the United States must ramp up production of electric vehicles to catch up with and then surpass China after he virtually toured an electric bus and battery manufacturing plant on Tuesday.
Other Publications
- Nikkei Asian Review: Threat of Chinese sanctions tests Japan’s resolve on Taiwan — Heavy price tag looms over Tokyo for its decision to stand with the US.
- Nikkei Asian Review: China regulator fines parent of BMW partner over false accounting — Huachen Automotive found to have cited inflated profits when selling bonds.
- Foreign Policy: China and Russia Turn Deeper Ties into a Military Challenge for Biden — “You face a two-front war where we don’t have a two front military,” said one former Trump official.
- Axios: China’s Xi accepts invitation to Biden’s climate summit — Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend President Biden’s virtual climate summit this week, according to China’s foreign ministry.
- The Diplomat: China’s Military Has a Hidden Weakness — High-tech new weapons are useful, but current military reform shortfalls hinder the PLA’s ability to employ such hardware.
