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
- Mitch McConnell Wants Military-Spending Buildup After Big Win on Ukraine Aid — Senate minority leader is pushing to boost defense spending to confront China, Iran, Russia as he prepares to leave post.
- What Is TikTok Worth? Guesses Range From $20 Billion to Over $100 Billion — The answer depends partly on whether TikTok bundles the U.S. and international businesses, and if it includes its coveted algorithm.
- America’s Economy Is No. 1. That Means Trouble. — Solid growth, big deficits and a strong dollar stir memories of past crises.
- Travel by Bike, Bring Your Own Cup: China Imposes a Frugal Life on Public Servants — Local Chinese leaders have been adjusting thermostats and using cheaper paper to heed calls from Beijing to save money.
- Days Ahead of Xi’s Visit, EU Investigations Add to Pressure on Strained China Relations — The EU has launched two new probes into allegations of unfair Chinese business practices, days ahead of a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- Moncler Sales Beat Forecasts Amid Solid Demand in China — The Italian luxury-fashion company said revenue for the Moncler brand grew 26% in Asia.
The Financial Times
- Bristol Myers Squibb drafts contingency plans for US restrictions on Chinese pharma — Biosecure Act would prohibit American companies receiving federal grant money from working with some Chinese groups.
- How TikTok’s Chinese owner tightened its grip on the app — Insiders say ByteDance exerting increasing influence over platform despite US pressure over ownership.
- China warns Blinken US must choose between ‘co-operation or confrontation’ — Secretary of state expected to demand Beijing cease support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- Europe turns on China’s Nuctech after decade of awarding security contracts — Security equipment supplier’s machines are widely used at borders around the continent under public contracts.
- The ambitions of China’s BYD stretch well beyond electric vehicles — The company’s global plans range from solar modules and electric buses, trucks and trains to complex transport systems. But is it trying to do too much?
- Biden campaign will continue to use TikTok despite divest-or-ban law — US president’s campaign has posted on Chinese-owned video app in attempt to appeal to younger voters.
- Chinese woman charged in UK with criminal possession of crypto — Yadi Zhang made initial appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
- Opinion: A message to economists: geopolitics matters too — Western policymakers ignore changing global power relations at their peril. By Paul Tucker.
The New York Times
- Blinken’s Visit to China: What to Know — Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is in China this week as tensions have risen over trade, security, Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Middle East crisis.
- ‘To the Future’: Saudi Arabia Spends Big to Become an A.I. Superpower — The oil-rich kingdom is plowing money into glitzy events, computing power and artificial intelligence research, putting it in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China struggle for technological influence.
- Blinken Tours China to Promote Some Ties, While the U.S. Severs Others — Tensions over economic ties are running high, threatening to disrupt a fragile cooperation between the U.S. and China.
- There Is No TikTok in China, Only Douyin. Here’s What It Is. — ByteDance owns both TikTok and Douyin, and although TikTok has more users around the world, Douyin is the company’s cash cow and a China mainstay.
Caixin
- Ping An Trust Wins Court Ruling, Forcing Troubled Developers to Repay Funds — A Shenzhen court has ordered two subsidiaries of debt-laden builder Zhenro Properties to repay $106.6 million, which the trust firm needs to make missed payments to investors.
- In Depth: Regulatory Titan Laura Cha Takes Final Bow — The 74-year-old’s career included stints at Hong Kong and Chinese mainland securities regulators and was packed with changes and challenges.
- BYD-Backed Horizon Robotics Unveils Next Generation Auto Chips — The Journey 6 series processors will go into mass production later this year, and carmakers including BYD, VW and Li Auto have signed up to use them, the company said.
- PDD Loses Appeal in Unfair Competition Ruling Against Alibaba’s Logistics Arm — A Zhejiang court has ordered the e-commerce giant to compensate Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao Network 5 million yuan, bringing an end to a legal spat that began in 2022.
- In Depth: Geely Auto Comeback Gets Into Gear as EV Sales Soar — After two years chasing EV-maker BYD, the legacy car manufacturer took the lead in January, selling more than 210,000 vehicles including around 65,000 electric cars.
South China Morning Post
- PetroChina: rapid EV uptake means oil consumption for transport to peak by next year ‘at the latest’ in China — Oil consumption in China’s transport sector will peak next year ‘at the latest’ as rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) pulls the plug on petrol consumption, according to the nation’s largest oil and gas producer.
- China’s Xi Jinping urges troops to ‘focus on the battlefield’ during trip to military medical school — While visiting Chongqing’s Army Medical University, Xi says China needs ‘new generation of red military doctors’ and stresses importance of improved training, logistical support and specialised battlefield medicine as Beijing steps up war readiness.
- China’s food security push catches ‘grain-stealing mouse’ among 5 accused of US$3.45 million corn theft — Police in northern China have detained five people for allegedly colluding to steal about 10,000 tonnes of corn amid Beijing’s increasing focus on food security.
- US overtakes mainland China as Taiwan’s main export market, sign of ‘strategic shift’ amid tech decoupling — Taiwan’s exports to the US in the first quarter beat shipments sent to mainland China, with analysts pointing to a ‘strategic plan’ by Washington to construct and lead a world supply chain and market order.
- Opinion: China’s and India’s coal habits are slowing down the green transition — In the short run, China and India are showing no real intention of cutting coal dependence. Instead, both are building or proposing new coal-fired capacity, never mind their climate pledges. By Kavitha Yarlagadda.
Nikkei Asia
- The ulterior motive behind Xi Jinping’s latest military reforms — The three new forces emerging from China’s latest military reorganization will have to report everything to Xi Jinping. Failure to do so will not be tolerated.
- China weighs taking tourists on board Tiangong space station — “We are planning to quickly examine promoting stays on our space station by foreign astronauts and space tourists,” Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, said at a press conference.
- Toyota teams up with Tencent for drive into China’s EV market —Demand for EVs in China has been growing rapidly, but Toyota has been struggling in the market due to aggressive pricing and marketing from local competitors.
- Beijing auto show welcomes world as China’s carmakers aim to conquer it — Beijing’s premier automobile exhibition is back after a four-year hiatus, highlighting how Chinese automakers have pushed the electrification of the world’s largest car market.
- Nidec faces market pressure as founder rips ‘unfair’ China EV war — Cutthroat competition in China’s electric vehicle sector has cast a shadow over the earnings of suppliers like Japanese motor maker Nidec, which is grappling with narrowing margins in the key market.
Bloomberg
- US Says China Moving Too Slowly on Protecting Intellectual Property — The Biden administration called on China to improve its protections of intellectual property, saying that the pace of Beijing’s reforms remains too slow.
- Korea Solar Maker Qcells to Shut Down Production in China — A solar manufacturing unit of the South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Solutions Corp. will terminate operations in China as the company expands its US presence, according to filings.
- TikTok Ultimatum Paints Target on US Leaders Like Apple in China — Now that President Joe Biden has signed off on a law that could expel TikTok from the US market, Beijing must decide how best to retaliate over an attack on the world’s most-valuable start-up.
- Zuoyebang Said to File for US IPO as China Edtech Campaign Wanes — Chinese online tutoring platform Zuoyebang has filed confidentially for an initial public offering in the US, according to people familiar with the matter, who said the move may signal an easing of Beijing’s crackdown on private education firms.
- Biden Makes $11 Billion Push to Beat China at Chip Research — There’s a less-discussed side to the push: turning cutting-edge semiconductor research into a more enticing field for Americans.
Reuters
- Exclusive: China harbors ship tied to North Korea-Russia arms transfers, satellite images show — The ship’s presence at the Chinese port underscores the challenges facing the United States and its allies as they try to choke off military and economic support for Russia.
- New ASML boss Fouquet must navigate US/China chip war — Export restrictions imposed by the United States and the Netherlands mean the upper half of ASML’s product range cannot be sold in China, one of its biggest markets.
- Republican Senator Rubio calls for blocking of all US sales to Huawei — Republican China hardliner Marco Rubio is calling on the Biden administration to block all sales to Huawei after the sanctioned Chinese tech company released a new AI-enabled laptop powered by an Intel, opens new tab AI processor chip.
Other Publications
- CFR: China’s Battle Against Air Pollution: An Update — Although China seems to have continued improving air quality during the Covid era, it is premature to celebrate the end of its war against pollution.
- CFR: A Tricky Balance for Development Banks and the Developing World — The World Bank and IMF have concluded their spring meetings, but questions remain on China, lending capacity, and balancing the interests of rich and poor countries.
- POLITICO: US solar manufacturers target China-linked imports in new plea to Biden — Domestic manufacturers continue to struggle in the face of competition from cheaper imports from Asia, prompting these companies to fight back in a series of trade petitions.
- POLITICO: ‘Lost touch with reality’: How TikTok’s vaunted lobbying operation went wrong — The app always faced an uphill battle in Congress because of its owner’s ties to China. But observers say TikTok’s complacency, tone deafness and hubris caused its lobbyists to lose its most important fight in Washington.
- The Washington Post: Opinion: The U.S. should resist Chinese plans to increase manufacturing capacity — China’s plan to ramp up manufacturing for exports will destabilize global economic growth. By Brian Deese.
- The Atlantic: Welcome to the TikTok Meltdown — The ban is a disaster, even if you support it.
- The Economist: Chinese authorities are now addicted to traffic fines — What that tells you about the country’s economic woes.
- Los Angeles Times: Trump and Biden both say they’re tough on China. But who would Beijing prefer to deal with? — No matter who wins the U.S. election in November, for China it’s lose-lose.
- MIT Technology Review: Almost every Chinese keyboard app has a security flaw that reveals what users type — An encryption loophole in these apps leaves nearly a billion people vulnerable to eavesdropping.
