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
- China’s Trade Slowdown Points to Global Woes — Exports and imports both fell in May, the latest sign that China’s post-Covid recovery is losing steam.
- China’s EV Juggernaut Is a Warning for the West — Competitive pressure and creativity have made Chinese-designed and -built electric cars formidable competitors.
- Pirelli’s Italian CEO Seeks to Curb China’s Grip on Tiremaker — Chief executive wants government to limit influence of the Chinese investor he brought on board.
- U.S.-China Venture Capital Ties Weaken Further — Sequoia Capital’s plan to separate from its China arm reflects a growing pullback of American firms from the country.
- China’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Dropped in May on Weak Yuan — The decline may have come from capital flows out of the country, thanks to a weakening yuan amid disappointing economic data.
- Chinese, Hong Kong, Iranian Firms Sanctioned for Allegedly Aiding Iran Missile Program — The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six entities and seven individuals who it says supported Iran’s ballistic missile development program.
- Sequoia Faces Up to the New U.S.-China Reality — The storied venture-capital firm’s split speaks volumes about how quickly bilateral trust has evaporated.
- Don’t Bet on Strong Medicine for Chinese Housing — Some additional policy support now looks likely. But a lackluster recovery is still the most probable outcome.
The Financial Times
- US venture capital giant Sequoia to split off China business — Group plans to break up into three entities following Beijing’s campaign to rein in country’s largest tech companies.
- Blinken to visit China this month in sign of easing tensions — US secretary of state had scrapped planned trip over suspected spy balloon incident.
- China exports recede in May as economy struggles to mount strong recovery — Imports decline less than expected in optimistic signal as manufacturing growth continues to lag behind.
- EU considers mandatory ban on using Huawei to build 5G — Brussels concerned lack of action by member states to bar high-risk companies threatens security of entire bloc.
- Ten Chinese snooker players banned over match-fixing — Sport’s governing body bars Liang Wenbo and Li Hang for life and suspends eight others for up to five years.
- UK to strip Chinese surveillance cameras from sensitive government sites — The UK Cabinet Office will tell central government departments to remove all surveillance equipment made by Chinese companies including Dahua and Hikvision from sensitive sites.
The New York Times
- Hong Kong Asks Court to Stop Protest Anthem From Circulating Online — Efforts to ban “Glory to Hong Kong,” a song popularized during pro-democracy protests in 2019, could set up a legal battle between tech giants and Hong Kong.
- Europeans Now See Russia as an Adversary, but Not China — An extensive poll of 11 European countries finds citizens less eager for competition and rivalry with China than Washington — or European elites — have become.
Caixin
- Wanda Unit Seeking Hong Kong IPO Asked to Explain Its Business — China’s securities regulator asks Zhuhai Wanda for information on its transactions with shareholders and its safeguards against financial misconduct.
- In Depth: The March of Chinese Robots Into Domestic Factories — After doubling their market share over five years, automated industrial machines are set to make further inroads in China thanks to demand from the electronics industry and for factory upgrades.
- Tobacco Graft Crackdown Nets Another Retired Executive — Wu Yi, former deputy general manager of China Tobacco Yunnan, comes under investigation four days after former colleague Zhu Shaoming.
- Fosun Pharma Secures $54 Million of IFC Loans for West Africa Plant — Côte d’Ivoire factory will produce anti-malaria and anti-bacterial drugs to improve public health across the region, World Bank unit says.
South China Morning Post
- Shenzhen’s central business district offers chip-making incentives, with millions in subsidies for new projects — Futian district is offering semiconductor companies up to 60 per cent off of rent and research and development subsidies in China’s pursuit of chip self-sufficiency.
- Most Europeans would want to stay neutral in a US-China war over Taiwan, study finds — Across 11 nations, just 23 per cent said they would prefer to side with the United States, according to European Council on Foreign Relations poll.
- China’s Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing, a one-time weapons executive, targets country’s manufacturing sector — During inspection of major manufacturers in Shanghai, Zhang urged speedy value-adding and faster breakthroughs in bottleneck technologies.
- China is building the most powerful warship radar on record: scientists — Peer-reviewed paper says Earth’s curve can affect the line of sight but boost in capability could give PLA major advantage.
- Chinese EV start-up Hozon ramps up exports as it cashes in on popularity of Neta SUV in Southeast Asia — Shanghai-based Hozon follows up exports of 3,600 cars in March with another batch of 4,000 units recently, according to a statement on its WeChat account.
- Closure of Russian airspace ‘single biggest factor’ stopping foreign airlines from boosting service to China, global industry body says — US and European airlines will not increase flights to and from China while being forced to make detours around Russia, says Willie Walsh, head of International Air Transport Association.
Nikkei Asia
- Laos’ tourism-driven economic recovery hinges on China — Laos’ economy is recovering from a pandemic slump as the opening of a passenger railway link with China helps bring back tourists.
- Opinion: Silence of China’s central bank adds to risks facing economy — PBOC should remember key lesson from Japan’s ‘lost decade’.
Bloomberg
- Pinduoduo Draws Short Sellers in China’s E-Commerce Price War — One of China’s most popular stock bets of the past year is unraveling fast, weighed down by an intensifying e-commerce price war and weaker economic growth.
- China Big Four State Banks Said to Cut Dollar Deposit Rates — China’s four big state lenders have effectively cut dollar deposit rates, according to people familiar with the matter, at a time when strong demand for the US currency in the banking system helped push the yuan to a six-month low.
- BlackRock’s China Head Resigns Just as Competition Heats Up — BlackRock Inc.’s head of China operations resigned, adding to the company’s challenges as competition intensifies in the 130 trillion yuan ($18 trillion) asset management market.
- Citi’s Fraser Visits China as Wall Street Seeks Closer Ties — Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser visited Beijing this week, joining other Wall Street executives to travel to China despite growing geopolitical tensions with the US.
- Hong Kong Bid to Ban ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ Sparks iTunes Download Rush — Hong Kongers rushed to download a song associated with the 2019 protests after the government sought to get the courts to outlaw the unofficial anthem.
Reuters
- Blinken looks to travel to China for talks in coming weeks -US official — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China for talks in the coming weeks, an official said on Tuesday, months after Washington’s top diplomat scrapped a planned trip over a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S..
- Indonesia’s delayed China-funded rail project beset by fresh problems — Indonesia’s transport ministry and three consultants have pushed back on a China-funded consortium’s plan to start full commercial operations of the country’s $7.3 billion first high-speed train service in August.
- China property liquidation risk heightened by delisting threat, says S&P — Some of China’s distressed property developers face the risk of being delisted, which would reduce their options for restructuring and make them more vulnerable to liquidation.
- Citi CEO commits to China expansion, Beijing says — Citigroup’s Jane Fraser said the U.S. bank will continue to expand its Chinese business, China’s new financial regulator said, during her first visit to the country since becoming CEO.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Chinese policemen are gaslighting Uyghurs in exile — One day after class, Nigara got a phone call from Korla, her hometown in China’s north-western region of Xinjiang. It was her mother. “Stop calling us,” she said.
- Associated Press: Fiji reconsiders security ties with China amid Pacific tensions — Fiji’s leader indicated Wednesday his nation is reconsidering its security ties with China at a time that geopolitical tensions in the Pacific are rising.
- European Council on Foreign Relations: Keeping America close, Russia down, and China far away: How Europeans navigate a competitive world — Europeans want to remain neutral in a potential US-China conflict and are reluctant to de-risk from China – even if they recognise the dangers of its economic presence in Europe.
- Washington Post: Opinion: China isn’t acting like it wants to improve relations with the U.S. — The Biden administration is trying to reduce tensions with China and “put a floor” under the relationship. Although China’s leaders profess to want the same end, their actions tell a different story. By Josh Rogin
