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
- Sequoia Capital Leader Roelof Botha Predicts Success for Elon Musk at Twitter — Mr. Botha said that escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China also posed challenges for Sequoia’s relationship with its China arm.
- Opinion: How China Abuses U.S. Diplomats — Emails and diplomatic cables show how Beijing uses Covid protocols to harass and monitor Americans.
The Financial Times
- Germany allows Chinese shipping group a stake in its biggest seaport — Green light for Cosco in Hamburg divides lawmakers and draws criticism from Brussels.
- BASF to downsize ‘permanently’ in Europe — The statement from the world’s largest chemicals group by revenue came after it opened the first part of its new €10bn plastics engineering facility in China a month ago.
- Hit film Return to Dust has vanished from China’s cinemas. Why? — Li Ruijun’s unexpectedly popular rural drama has fallen from favour as the Communist party’s grip on culture tightens.
- Uyghur activists sue UK government over Xinjiang cotton imports — High Court hearing increases pressure on British companies sourcing products from Chinese region.
- China’s growth stutters as exports fail to rescue economy — Analysts pin hopes on post-Covid reopening and retail sales recovery.
- Renminbi hits 2007 low after Xi unveils harder line leadership — China’s central bank sets midpoint of trading band at lowest level since global financial crisis.
- China bulls hammered by stock rout as Xi consolidates power — Tiger Global and Baillie Gifford among investors of companies hit by Monday’s market tumble.
- ‘We never lost interest’: Asian family offices buy into crypto — Digital asset investments fuelled by weak returns from equity and property.
The New York Times
- Opinion: An Era Just Ended in China — Xi Jinping chooses smothering security over the economic success that made China strong. By Yuen Yuen Ang
Caixin
- Beijing Calls for Local Governments to Facilitate Entry for Foreign Business Executives — China has instructed local governments to facilitate access for international businesspeople to enter the country in a bid to stabilize foreign investment, especially in the manufacturing sector.
- China to Support Domestic Share Trading of Foreign-Invested Companies — China will promote foreign investment with a focus on manufacturing to further expand capital inflows, stabilize the scale of foreign investment and improve the quality of foreign capital utilization, the government said.
South China Morning Post
- After Xi Jinping solidifies power, China’s new leadership line-up must restore confidence in managing the economy, experts say — Steadying sentiment among investors in China will be no easy feat, with unease about the retirement of several senior pro-reform policymakers and Beijing’s refusal to drop harsh Covid containment rules.
- If China can’t get American tech, maybe US allies will be more open to supplying chips — Industrial powerhouses such as Germany or the Netherlands could be less inclined to ‘blindly follow the United States’ in cutting off China from technology supply chains.
- SK Hynix cuts capital expenditure in half amid weak PC, smartphone demand and Washington’s export restrictions on China — The memory chip maker’s operating profit fell to US$1.2 billion in the third quarter amid an ‘unprecedented deterioration in market conditions’.
Nikkei Asia
- SK Hynix weighs future of China chip plant after U.S. tech curbs — South Korean chipmaker’s situation ‘very uncertain’ due to export controls.
- Xi’s clean sweep: China marks new era with loyalist lineup — New standing committee shows party and the world Xi will brook no dissent in third term.
- Under-$5,000 Chinese EV seeks route into Japan’s minicar kingdom — Hong Guang MiniEV market study finds potential demand among caregivers, small businesses.
Bloomberg
- Hamburg Port to Sell Stake to China’s Cosco After Scholz’s Push — The German government has agreed on a compromise which will allow Chinese state-owned shipping conglomerate Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. to buy a 24.9% stake in one of Hamburg’s port terminals.
- ASM International Plunges After US Curbs on China Hit Orders — ASM International NV’s shares slumped after new US export restrictions on China shrank its orders for the third quarter and are expected to have a negative impact on its business.
- China’s Lithium Appetite to Fuel European Production, Miner Says — An Australian company on track to become Europe’s first lithium producer said China’s appetite for the material, which is key to the renewable-energy transition, has created a clear runway for further expansion in the continent.
Reuters
- Germany, in compromise, allows China’s Cosco to take 24.9% stake in largest port — The approved investment is less than the initially planned 35% stake that the Chinese shipping giant and HHLA had aimed for and does not give Cosco any say in management or strategic decisions.
- In ‘unprecedented’ global chip slump, SK Hynix to halve investment as recession looms — South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc warned on Wednesday of an “unprecedented deterioration” in memory chip demand, deepening fears of global recession, and said it would slash investment after quarterly profit tumbled 60%.
- Uyghur group challenges Britain over ‘slave labour’ cotton — A Uyghur rights group told a London court on Tuesday that the British government has unlawfully failed to investigate the importation of cotton produced with “slave labour” in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Other Publications
- The Economist: Can Huawei thrive despite American sanctions? — Ren Zhengfei, its boss, has big plans.
- The Washington Post: Hu Jintao mystery tests the limits of China-watching — The incident, which saw Hu escorted away from the stage as the party congress wound down on Saturday, has led to fervent speculation among both seasoned China watchers and moonlighters.
- The Globe and Mail: Parliament votes to help Uyghurs and condemn genocide in China — Canadian MPs voted 258 to 0 to endorse a report calling on Ottawa to extend special immigration measures that would grant refuge to Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities fleeing repression from China.
- Hong Kong Free Press: Team of journalists resigned after SCMP axed 3-part series on Xinjiang abuses, ex-editor says — “[I]t was clear that there was just no way they were going to publish this story on Xinjiang, and the criticism it implied of China’s Communist Party,” an ex-senior editor said. But an SCMP spokesperson says the Xinjiang feature – which relied on government data – failed to meet standards.
