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
- Pandemic Bolsters China’s Position as the World’s Manufacturer — The West relies on Chinese factories, despite national-security, supply-chain concerns.
- Chinese Banks Cut Rates to Spur Economic Growth — Reductions come as China’s economy struggles with property bust and Beijing’s zero-Covid strategy.
- BYD, Tesla’s Chinese Rival, Is Coming Into Its Own — China’s top electric-vehicle maker has emerged as a formidable force—one that could soon be felt globally.
- MGM China Pumps $594 Million Into Macau Casino Unit Ahead of License Bid — Move by U.S. casino operator’s Chinese unit follows change to rules on license renewals.
- China’s Videogame Makers Tap Overseas Markets as Home Prospects Dim — With fewer titles approved and domestic user growth slowing, Tencent and its competitors are looking to expansion abroad.
- Taiwan’s Parade of Visitors Continues with Indiana Governor — Visit is latest in a string by U.S. officials despite angry objections from China; Japanese delegation also arrives in Taipei.
- Droughts Hurt World’s Largest Economies — Unusually dry weather in the U.S., China and Europe further pressures global trade.
The Financial Times
- China intensifies measures to deal with heatwave and power shortages — Authorities scrap Shanghai Bund light show and drivers struggle to charge EVs as temperatures soar.
- China slashes 5-year mortgage rate as property crisis deepens — Central bank equals record rate cut in May but move unlikely to resolve crisis for developers, strategists say.
- Drones/Snap: US market grounded by regulation and Chinese high-flier — But social media group is growing its user base at a faster clip than rivals such as Meta.
- Taiwan welcomes more foreign delegations despite Chinese pressure — Japanese and US lawmakers will visit Taipei this week even as Beijing has sought to limit engagement.
- Chipmakers caught in crossfire of rising US-China geopolitical tensions — Companies try to navigate rising restrictions from increasingly hawkish Washington.
- Record lows for rivers across China, US and Europe sap economies — Global database shows probability of increased flows over the next four months remains low.
The New York Times
- Wang Yi, China’s Globetrotting Diplomat — While Xi Jinping hasn’t visited another country in the pandemic, his foreign minister, Wang Yi, has been to dozens, extolling Beijing’s vision for the world.
- TikTok Browser Can Track Users’ Keystrokes, According to New Research — In the web browser used within the TikTok app, supplementary code lets the company track every character typed by users. The company said the capability was for troubleshooting.
- U.S. Delegation Visits Taiwan for Trade Talks, Risking China’s Ire — Gov. Eric J. Holcomb of Indiana led a group that arrived on the island Sunday, even as visits this month by U.S. officials have angered Beijing.
- Drought Hurts China’s Economy as Central Bank Cuts Rates — Sichuan’s many dams cannot generate enough electricity even for its own needs, forcing factories there to close for up to a week at a time.
Caixin
- Cover Story: Sichuan Power Crunch Sparks Calls for Rethink of Coal in China’s Energy Mix — A drought is drying up reservoirs and crippling hydropower stations in southwestern Sichuan province, the largest producer of the renewable energy, causing a power crunch and sparking calls for a rethink of the black sheep in the nation’s energy mix: coal.
- China Extends Power Cuts on Factories in Southwest China — China has extended an industrial power suspension in the southwestern province of Sichuan that was initially slated to last till Saturday.
- Pfizer Signs China Partnership to Make Paxlovid Covid Pills Locally — Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has entered an agreement with Pfizer Inc. to manufacture the U.S. giant’s Covid-19 pill Paxlovid in China.
South China Morning Post
- Founder of Blued, China’s largest gay dating app, steps down after delisting in New York with no named successor — Ma Baoli announced on Monday that he is vacating his roles as CEO and chairman, and hinted at the difficulties of running an LGBTQ platform in China.
- China’s wealthiest regions invest more in fossil fuel despite carbon neutrality goal — While China’s economic hubs are heeding Beijing’s order to turn away from coal, experts found that these regions are shifting to fossil gas instead.
- 6 ex-Apple Daily staff to admit collusion, Jimmy Lai to stand trial without jury after pleading not guilty — Prosecutors allege they had sought international sanctions or hostile actions by foreign governments against Hong Kong or mainland China.
Nikkei Asia
- $2.6tn could evaporate from global economy in Taiwan emergency — Sanctions against China would be a double-edged sword.
- CATL aims for ‘battery as a service’ hegemony in China — Top maker of car batteries is building stations for fast swapping.
- Kenya’s new highway signals shift in China’s lending blitz in Africa — Instead of giving loan, Beijing-backed operator will collect tolls for 27 years.
Bloomberg
- China Plans $29 Billion in Special Loans to Troubled Developers — China will offer 200 billion yuan ($29.3 billion) in special loans to ensure stalled housing projects are delivered to buyers, people familiar with the matter said, ramping up financing support for its beleaguered property sector.
- Shanghai United Imaging Jumps 65% in Debut Post $1.6 Billion IPO — Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co., the latest in a slew of $1 billion-plus listings in mainland China this year, soared in its first day of trading.
- Even LGFVs Look Good With China Developers Defaulting Everywhere — China’s local government financing vehicles are back in vogue with credit markets, as investors look for safety in the state sector amid record defaults by private developers.
Reuters
- Analysis: China no closer to peak coal despite record renewable capacity additions — Though China is aiming to roll out record amounts of renewable capacity this year as decarbonisation elsewhere stalls, economic challenges mean Beijing is unlikely to tackle rising coal consumption ahead of schedule – and may hit a more painful peak.
- Veteran Hong Kong democrat granted bail in major national security case — Albert Ho, 70, led the city’s largest opposition group, the Democratic Party, and is a lawyer who runs his own law firm. Media has reported that he is in poor health and has lung cancer.
- China’s aviation regulator sets up goals for drone industry — China’s civil aviation regulator on Monday proposed a roadmap for development of its civilian drone industry, saying it wanted to boost their use in inner-city logistics and eventually for long-haul goods transport.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: Chinese leader asked Biden to prevent Pelosi from visiting Taiwan — The trip exposed tensions between the House Speaker and administration officials, who had warned of China’s potential response. Pelosi felt the trip was an important statement to make.
- The Atlantic: Xi Jinping’s Radical Secrecy — This is not just a challenge for biographers. It makes China harder to predict and the world more dangerous. By Richard McGregor
- The Times: 5G wars: the US plot to make Britain ditch Huawei — GCHQ was confident it could work safely with the Chinese tech firm. An American official thought otherwise — and, in a Cabinet Office meeting, shouted about it for five hours
- Foreign Affairs: China Hasn’t Reached the Peak of Its Power — Why Beijing Can Afford to Bide Its Time. By Oriana Skylar Mastro and Derek Scissors
- Foreign Affairs: The China Trap — U.S. Foreign Policy and the Perilous Logic of Zero-Sum Competition. By Jessica Chen Weiss
