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 Surges to the Top of Global Auto Exports — Demand for gas-powered vehicles from Russia push sales of made-in-China cars to a record high.
- China’s Youth Are Quitting the Rat Race to ‘Let It Rot’ — Young people in China are becoming more rebellious, questioning their nation’s traditional expectations of career and family.
- China Launches Satellite, Setting Off Alerts Across Taiwan — Taiwan, bracing for a closely watched election, erroneously alerted its residents that a Chinese missile was flying over the island.
- Opinion: Why Taiwan’s Election Matters — Voters on the island are united in support of democracy, no matter who wins. By The Editorial Board.
The Financial Times
- Taiwan presidential candidate accuses China of election interference — Lai Ching-te warns Beijing is seeking to secure election of friendly government in upcoming poll.
The New York Times
- A.I. Giant Tied to China Under Scrutiny — A congressional committee made the demand of the Commerce Department after The Times reported on concerns among U.S. intelligence officials over the Emirati company, G42.
- U.S. Naval Officer Who Helped China Is Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison — Wenheng Zhao pleaded guilty to charges that he sent photos of American military installations and details of U.S. military exercises to an intelligence officer working for China.
- A Missile, a Rocket or a Satellite? Chinese Flyover Sows Confusion in Taiwan. — A warning from Taiwan about a satellite, erroneously called a missile in English, raised concerns about Chinese harassment days before an election.
Caixin
- Rentals in Biggest Chinese Cities Drop Further as Supply Increases — Cooldown of rental market continues as more young job seekers leave expensive big cities for smaller, cheaper conurbations.
- Competition Heats up in New Energy Storage as Capacity Surges — Green energy storage is expanding dramatically but intensifying competition and falling prices threaten the survival of those companies that cannot keep up.
South China Morning Post
- JD.com’s on-demand delivery unit, Dada Nexus, loses 46 per cent of US stock value overnight amid internal inquiry into potential fraud — A routine internal audit at Dada found US$140 million worth of questionable revenue and costs in the firm’s books for the first three quarters of 2023.
- China forensic firm cracks Apple’s AirDrop to help Beijing police track senders — Suspects accused of sending ‘inappropriate speech’ to subway passenger via the anonymous filesharing service ‘identified’.
- ByteDance confirms talks with Tencent, other potential buyers over sale of video game operations — TikTok owner ByteDance has confirmed that it is in talks with multiple potential buyers for its video game operations, including Tencent Holdings, the world’s biggest gaming company by revenue.
- Alibaba’s AliExpress, PDD-owned Temu face supply chain challenges in South Korea amid rapid business expansion — Despite their growing popularity, AliExpress and Temu are generally lagging behind the competition in South Korea in terms of fast delivery service and product quality assurance.
Nikkei Asia
- Taiwan’s choice: Focal points of the presidential election — The election is drawing global attention, as some analysts in the U.S. see China nearing the completion of preparations for an invasion.
- China and India race to expand aircraft carrier fleets — The latest footage of China’s new Fujian aircraft carrier, aired by state broadcaster CCTV on Jan. 2, showed what appeared to be three catapult tracks on its deck.
- Opinion: Job stability and security are what Chinese youth want now — Renewed fervor for civil service exam underscores plight of private sector. By Yingyi Ma.
Bloomberg
- Boom in China’s EV Market Slows as Economy Weighs on Sentiment — The rapid growth of China’s electrified-car market is starting to slow as the nation’s patchy economic recovery from the pandemic weighs on consumer sentiment.
- Xi Vows ‘No Mercy’ as He Deepens Graft Fight in Key Sectors — President Xi Jinping vowed to deepen an anti-corruption campaign spanning several critical sectors, a move that risks freezing spooked decision makers and hampering China’s fragile economic recovery.
- Xi, Biden and the $10 Trillion Cost of War Over Taiwan — Taiwan’s election highlights the potential for a conflict that would decimate the global economy.
Reuters
- Weak economy, COVID rampage likely shrank China’s population again in 2023 — Demographers estimate population data on Jan. 17 to show the number of new births in 2023 falling below the 9.56 million in 2022 as long-standing issues such as gender inequality and high childcare costs remained largely unaddressed.
- Bridge dilemma captures divide over China in Taiwan elections — The proposed bridge between Kinmen and Xiamen has become a flashpoint ahead of Taiwan’s elections, drawing leaders from all major parties to the island to speak about its construction or national security.
- Maldives president courts investors in China as Indian ties sag — In Fuzhou, the Chinese city designated as the start of China’s maritime “Silk Road”, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu said China remained one of his country’s “closest allies and developmental partners”.
Other Publications
- CNAS: Secure, Governable Chips — Using On-Chip Mechanisms to Manage National Security Risks from AI & Advanced Computing.
- The Guardian: In the race for AI supremacy, China and the US are travelling on entirely different tracks — Beijing set the goal of being the global AI leader by 2030, but that was before the emergence of ChatGPT.
- Foreign Affairs: China’s Game in Gaza — How Beijing Is Exploiting Israel’s War to Win Over the Global South.
