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 Evergrande Drops Debt Restructuring Applications in U.S. — The developer had filed for the offshore debt restructuring with a U.S. court last August.
- What’s Next for Gold? Look to China for Clues — Gold buying in the country has helped fuel recent surge—and could protect against downturn.
- U.K. to Blame China for Hacking Details of Millions of Voters — The British government is the latest in the West to warn about China’s increasingly aggressive cyber campaign.
- Bad Haircut? A Hot Chinese App Is Giving Americans Blunt Advice — Xiaohongshu, a mix of Instagram and Reddit, is a destination for personal-style tips.
- Baidu Shares Rise After Reports That Apple Will Use Its AI Services in China Products — Chinese regulators have to approve generative AI models before they can be launched to the public.
- China Evergrande Drops Debt Restructuring Applications in U.S. — The developer had filed for the offshore debt restructuring with a U.S. court last August.
- PetroChina Posts Record Profit, but Revenue Misses Estimates on Weaker Oil Prices — The Chinese oil major attributed the revenue decline mainly to lower prices of oil and gas products.
- Xi Jinping’s Historians Can’t Stop Rewriting China’s Imperial Past — A vast effort to draft an official history of the Qing dynasty is in limbo as China’s leader demands it be bent to his vision.
- U.S.-China Decoupling Poses Supply-Chain Risks for Drug Companies — Proposed bill in Congress targets Chinese biotech businesses that play an important role in developing drugs.
- Are Chinese Tech Stocks Value Plays Now? — Investors are excited about U.S. artificial intelligence, less so about cash-generating Chinese tech. That might—eventually—create some opportunities.
The Financial Times
- China and Russia challenge US claim to mineral-rich stretches of seabed — Critics say Biden administration risks losing race to mine resources in international waters.
- China steps in to stem outflow from domestically focused ETFs — After a plunging stock market sent ETF pricing into turmoil, Beijing has attempted to shore up the sector.
- China’s answer to Instagram makes first profit — Shanghai-based unicorn known as ‘little red book’ brought in $500mn in net profit last year.
- UK MPs to be given warnings on threat of Chinese cyber attacks — Reprisals expected just as company from China eyes investment in Midlands battery gigafactory.
- IMF head says China at ‘fork in the road’ on reforms to boost demand — Kristalina Georgieva’s remarks at Beijing conference come as China export glut tensions rise.
- China blocks use of Intel and AMD chips in government computers — Microsoft’s Windows and foreign database programs also sidelined as Beijing favours Chinese hardware and software.
- China’s ecommerce groups make inroads in South Korea with lure of low prices — AliExpress and Temu are undercutting domestic competition and US rivals in world’s fourth-largest online shopping market.
- Rebooted Art Basel Hong Kong back to full strength — The return of former exhibitors to the fair boosts the city’s place in Asia’s art market even as political and economic challenges persist.
The New York Times
- Has China Lost Its Taste for the iPhone? — Apple has deep ties in the country, its second-largest market. But there are signs that Chinese consumers are becoming a harder sell.
- China’s Plan to Spur Growth: A New Slogan for Building Factories — As China’s leaders promote their strategy, other countries worry about manufacturing overcapacity and plans for more exports.
- Young Chinese Embrace ‘Gross Outfits’ at Work — The social media movement is the latest sign that some of China’s young people are resisting the compulsion to strive.
- China’s Dispute With Taiwan Is Playing Out Near This Tiny Island — A fatal episode off Kinmen, a Taiwanese-controlled island, has become the latest occasion for Beijing to warn and test Taiwan’s president-elect.
- ‘Cherry on the Cake’: How China Views the U.S. Crackdown on TikTok — Dan Wang, an expert on China’s technology sector, says Beijing would see a forced sale or ban of the social media platform as a propaganda coup.
Caixin
- Cover Story: The Countdown Begins: TikTok Navigates Uncertain Future Amid U.S. Ban Bill — Just six months ago, TikTok, the short-video app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., was charging headlong into the U.S. e-commerce market. This year, the app aims to generate as much as $20 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in the world’s biggest consumer market.
- Former Deputy Chief of China Tobacco Regulator Pleads Guilty to Accepting Record in Bribes — A former deputy chief of China’s top tobacco regulator has pleaded guilty to accepting more than $130 million in bribes, setting a new record in terms of kickbacks pocketed by an official in the country’s cigarette industry.
- China’s Personal Pension Funds See Surge in Accounts, but Contributions Lag — The number of personal pension fund accounts surged last year, but the scheme designed to shore up China’s pension system remained hamstrung by low contributions and a lack of investment.
South China Morning Post
- Meet the Australian-designed, Chinese-made video conferencing robot challenging Zoom, Google Meet in the workplace — Created by entrepreneur Marita Cheng, Aubot’s Teleport is a mobile teleconferencing robot designed to offer a more natural social experience.
- Exclusive | ‘Structural’ problem: top China scholar says US tensions will be ‘with us for a long time’ — Political scientist Li Cheng talks geopolitics, Trump, Taiwan and Hong Kong in wide-ranging interview.
- 3 Body Problem piracy spikes in China, reflecting intense interest as Hollywood films struggle — BitTorrent downloads topped 90,500 on the first day of release, far surpassing those of other popular Netflix series like Squid Game and Stranger Things.
- China’s tech-sharing pivot in belt and road is in its best interests — After years of focusing on infrastructure investment in its Belt and Road Initiative projects, China now offers its partner countries funding and expertise in clean technologies. This will encourage regional nations, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, to keep engaging with China.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s distressed property developer losses start to pile up — Evergrande withdraws New York bankruptcy application.
- China rap contest’s urine test highlights risks of crossing red lines — Competitor’s video on screening process becomes the talk of Weibo.
- Opinion: Bill to bar TikTok reflects diminishing U.S. confidence — Social media platforms have been influence and intelligence tools for Washington. By Nina Xiang
Bloomberg
- China’s Water Cannons Test US-Philippines Pact in Sea Feud — China’s increasing use of water cannons in the South China Sea is testing the limits of a decades-old defense pact between the Philippines and the US.
- China’s Tech Sector May Rival Property as Growth Driver, BE Says — China’s high-tech sector is driving an increasing amount of demand for goods and services in the world’s second-biggest economy, and its contribution could rival real estate by 2026, according to Bloomberg Economics.
- Once High-Flying Bankers in Hong Kong Become a Lost Generation — Finance professionals with Chinese expertise were highly sought after five years ago. Now, job security is vanishing as deals dry up.
Reuters
- China vows to treat foreign firms equally amid industrial upgrade push — China pledged on Monday to treat foreign companies the same way as domestic peers in a bid to attract more foreign investment, cooperation and expertise, as Asia’s largest economy moves to upgrade and strengthen its industrial chains.
- China says relations with Philippines at ‘crossroads’ amid maritime incidents — China warned the Philippines on Monday to behave cautiously and seek dialogue, saying their relations were at a “crossroads” as new confrontations between their coastguards over maritime claims deepened tensions.
- Chinese ad for under-30s triggers outcry from older job-seekers — A job advert from a Chinese grocery store seeking cashiers aged 18 to 30 has triggered a flood of anguished social media posts from older people scrambling to find work in a sluggish economy.
Other Publications
- Forbes: China Hawk Rep. Mike Gallagher Is Taking A Job At Palantir — Congressman Mike Gallagher, the China hawk who this month led a headline-grabbing charge to pass a bill banning TikTok, is taking a job with major defense tech contractor Palantir, multiple people familiar with the matter told Forbes.
- The Atlantic: Beijing Is Ruining TikTok — Unfortunately for ByteDance, there’s nothing it can do about the rule of law in China.
- Foreign Policy: The Art of Propaganda — Are brilliant films and TV shows made in Xi’s China?
- Rest of World: China’s EV price war is killing brands and infuriating consumers — Fast depreciation in an already slow market has panicked car buyers, many of whom are venting their frustrations on social media.
- POLITICO: Another twist in the China lobbying backlash — A trio of law and lobbying firms is stepping in to represent DJI Technologies after two of its former outside lobbying firms ditched the Chinese dronemaker amid threats of boycotts on the Hill.
- The Guardian: Details of millions of UK voters accessed by Chinese state, ministers will say — Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden to update MPs on cyber-attacks by Beijing, some of whom may also have been targets.
