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
- Taiwan’s Presidential Frontrunner Warns of Chinese Attempts to Subvert Its Political System — Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s current vice president, blames Beijing for heightened tension over the island democracy.
- Saudi Arabia Eyes Chinese Bid for Nuclear Plant — Beijing’s offer gives Riyadh leverage in talks with Washington on proliferation.
- Opinion: China Pays for Economic Mismanagement — The bill is coming due for Beijing’s rejection of free enterprise in favor of communist ideals. By Mickey D. Levy.
The Financial Times
- China imports record amount of chipmaking equipment — Data shows surge in June and July purchases ahead of export curbs by Japan and the Netherlands.
- China Construction Bank warns of pressure on profit margin — Concerns mount about health of country’s $56tn banking system after cuts to key lending rate.
- Chip gear: export bans on China mean more government money — The country is having to maximise production of the lower-tech semiconductors it is still able to make.
- Opinion: China hopes expanded Brics will turn world upside down — The size of proposed 11-country grouping would put G7 in the shade. By James Kynge.
The New York Times
- Seafood Is Safe After Fukushima Discharge, But Some Won’t Eat It — Sushi is among several shunned foods as Japan dumps treated radioactive water into the Pacific. Experts say the fear is irrational but understandable.
- BRICS Group Announces New Members, Including Iran and Saudi Arabia — Argentina, Ethiopia and the U.A.E. were also invited to join BRICS, strengthening the group’s role as an alternative to Western-led forums.
Caixin
- Citic Securities Cuts Fees for Investors — Top state-owned investment bank responds to CSRC push to prop up China’s sagging stock markets.
- China Pushes Pension Funds, Banks and Insurers Toward Stocks — Top securities regulator meets with financial executives on how to expand investment in one of the world’s worst-performing stock markets.
- Global Investors Rejig Chinese New Economy Holdings — Some bellwethers trimmed their stakes in the likes of Alibaba and NetEase before news broke that Beijing had wrapped up a years-long crackdown on misconduct in the tech sector.
- Shenzhen Existing-Home Prices Fall Back to Earth — Stratospheric values plunge by nearly half from 2020 peak and are now on a par with new-housing prices amid slumping demand and developers’ liquidity crunch.
South China Morning Post
- China’s hi-tech direction on show as Premier Li Qiang visits economic barometer as US curbs, de-risking damage mounts — Premier Li Qiang concluded a three-day visit to Guangdong province on Thursday, saying China was at a critical period of economic transformation and upgrading.
- China’s mining technology: smart drilling boosts oil and gas production in Tarim Basin, say scientists — Geology within Tarim Basin in northwestern China has limited traditional techniques but intelligent tech guides drill to hit best extraction points.
- Huawei renews 3G, 4G and 5G licensing deal with Swedish telecoms rival Ericsson in bid to monetise its tech patents — The Chinese telecommunications giant has inked a new deal with Ericsson that gives each party the right to use the other’s 3G, 4G and 5G technologies in network gear and consumer devices, in the latest effort by the Shenzhen-based firm to turn its patents into money.
- China’s cotton output set to fall 1 year after US’ Xinjiang ban as focus shifts to food security, quality — Cotton output from China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is expected to fall by 11 per cent from last year in 2023 as it places an emphasis on quality over quantity while also creating room for crops amid food security concerns.
Nikkei Asia
- Xi and Modi agree to maintain peace on border in BRICS chat — Chinese and Indian leaders had ‘candid’ exchange, Beijing spokesperson says.
- U.S. should not follow China’s subsidies playbook, experts say — Programs like CHIPS Act could lead to oversupply, more bifurcation: Aspen tech forum.
- U.S.-China joint research papers drop for first time in 28 years — Decoupling takes toll amid tech war even as global collaborations rise.
- Opinion: China can avoid ‘Japanification’ with prompt action — Focus should be on fallout from bursting of asset bubbles and falling population. By Masaaki Shirakawa.
Bloomberg
- Everything China Is Doing to Juice Its Flagging Economy — China has made a number of pledges recently to revive the economy’s recovery and improve the business environment as concerns about the growth outlook continue to mount.
- Washington’s Top Middle Eastern Allies Move Closer to China — Some of the US’s top Middle Eastern allies — including the world’s biggest oil exporter — are moving closer into the orbit of China and Russia, further complicating geopolitics upended by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- China’s Real-Estate Agents Are Livestreaming to Weather Downturn — When the pandemic erupted and China halted the movement of people, real-estate agent Wang Shujuan saw an opportunity — give property seekers livestreamed sales videos of her latest homes direct to their phones.
Reuters
- Nearly 2 million excess deaths followed China’s sudden end of COVID curbs — A study found an estimated 1.87 million excess deaths from all causes occurred among people over 30 years of age between December 2022 and January 2023.
- Exclusive: China plans to cut stamp duty on stocks by up to 50% to revive confidence — The proposal to reduce the current 0.1% stamp duty on securities trading suggested a cut of either 20% or 50%, which would be the first such reduction since 2008, sources said.
- China has no pain-free solutions for its slowing economy — Boosting households’ share of national income would mean a decline in the share of other sectors, either businesses – in particular China’s sprawling industries – or the government sector.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: China Wants to Run Your Internet — The world’s decentralized internet is coming under competition from dangerous Chinese competition.
- The Washington Post: As China’s economy slows, the buck stops with leader Xi Jinping — The good thing about being an authoritarian leader is that there are few people to dissent. The bad thing, however, is that the buck stops with Xi.
- The Washington Post: Opinion: Electric cars and solar cells rely on Chinese minerals. Here’s how to curb the risks. — For many of the materials, the United States’ long-term adversary China is a key producer, processor or both. By The Editorial Board.
- The Times: Power couple of Chinese art world sell pieces as market falls — Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei plan to sell off an estimated $150 million worth of art this fall.
