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
- Biden Administration Considers Cutting Off Huawei From U.S. Suppliers — U.S. cites national-security concerns as it weighs tightening export controls targeting the Chinese company.
- Covid Hits China’s Rural Poor: ‘The Impact on the Village Economy Is Huge’ — Economic anxiety trumps fear of the virus for many in the countryside, as urban-rural income gap continues to widen.
- China’s Consumers Drive Rebound in Economic Activity — Manufacturing returns to expansion territory but falls short of expectations.
- U.S. Pushes for Military Sites in Philippines to Counter China — Washington pursues deal with Manila as part of an expanded footprint across the Asia Pacific region.
- Eurozone’s Economy Outpaced China and U.S. in 2022 — The currency-area grew at a faster clip than its global peers, reversing traditional positions.
The Financial Times
- How arming Ukraine is stretching the US defence industry — Detailed supply chain mapping of two weapons that changed the war reveals a complex web of companies under significant strain as the industry returns to a wartime footing.
- Washington halts licences for US companies to export to Huawei — White House moves closer to imposing total ban on sale of American tech to Chinese group.
- Fall of Asia’s gambling kingpin augurs change for Macau industry — Alvin Chau’s jailing comes as Beijing cracks down on money laundering and capital flight.
- The Jack Ma test for China’s promised shift — Beijing’s treatment of fallen entrepreneurs will provide evidence of how far it has shifted on the private sector.
The New York Times
- China’s Covid Tsunami Recedes, Bringing Relief, Grief and Anxiety — Officials say an onslaught of infections has slowed, and many people seem eager to move on. But fresh flare-ups could bring more illness and deaths.
- Golf Course or Housing? A Patch of Green Divides Hong Kong — The dispute over one of the city’s golf clubs exposes rare political friction for the elite in the new Hong Kong, where the establishment is torn between defending wealth and following Beijing’s wishes.
Caixin
- IMF Raises China’s 2023 Growth Forecast to 5.2% as Economy Reopens — The fund revises up its projection from October’s 4.4% on the back of a faster-than-expected recovery.
- Local Chinese Governments Paid $148 Billion in Interest in 2022 — Debt-servicing costs double from 2018 as authorities borrow record amounts to bolster the battered economy through increased public spending.
- In Depth: Where Do Fake Covid Drugs Come From? — Although Pfizer has increased supplies and the Chinese government has been pushing to make the drug more widely available, only a small number of residents can get their hands on it.
South China Morning Post
- EU to stand with US in ‘depriving China of the most advanced chips’, trade official says — ‘You will always find Europe by your side when it comes to ensuring our common security in technology,’ Thierry Breton, EU internal-market commissioner, says.
- China’s top memory chip maker YMTC to test the limits of innovation under US restrictions — YMTC may even postpone construction of its second wafer fab in Wuhan due to disruptions to its procurement supply chain, according to a source.
- Cryptocurrency entrepreneur and Huobi adviser Justin Sun plans move to Hong Kong while talking up China market — The Tron founder would be the first high-profile Chinese crypto personality to relocate to Hong Kong since the city committed to becoming a virtual asset hub.
Bloomberg
- Biden Team May Cut Off Huawei From Intel, Other US Suppliers — The Biden administration is considering cutting off Huawei Technologies Co. from all of its American suppliers, including Intel Corp. and Qualcomm Inc., as the US government intensifies a crackdown on the Chinese technology sector.
- Foreigners Scoop Up China Shares With January Inflow at Record — Foreigners are returning to China’s stock market with a vengeance, snapping up more shares in January alone than they did for the whole of 2022.
- China Tells Dutch It Wants Open Supply Chains Amid US Chip Curbs — China told the Netherlands it wants to keep supply chains and trade open, a sign Beijing is trying to find room to maneuver amid a US push to cut it off from advanced chip technology.
- SoftBank Ex-COO to Spearhead Chinese Phenom Shein’s Latam Drive — Online retailer Shein plans to appoint former SoftBank Group Corp. executive Marcelo Claure to help run its Latin American business, a signature hire that could accelerate a global expansion by one of world’s most valuable startups.
Reuters
- China foreign minister seeks stronger economic ties with Saudi Arabia — China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang wants to build stronger ties with Saudi Arabia and set up a China-Gulf free trade zone “as soon as possible”, according to a ministry statement published late on Monday.
- TikTok CEO to testify before U.S. Congress over security concerns — Chew will testify before the committee on March 23, which will be his first appearance before a congressional committee, said Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Republican chair of the panel, in a statement on Monday.
Other Publications
- The Globe and Mail: Canadian universities conducting joint research with Chinese military scientists — The joint research projects are generating knowledge that could help drive China’s defence sector in cutting-edge, high-tech industries.
- Rest of World: Inside three turbulent months at Foxconn’s iPhone factory — Workers describe a peak production season marred by labor protests and Covid-19 chaos, right as Apple reconsiders its China supply chain.
- Grid News: How China built the world’s biggest EV charging network – and left the US far behind — China built 650,000 public EV chargers last year — 10 times the number in the US.
- Politico: McCaul dishes on TikTok ban, outbound investment, China’s ‘charm offensive’ — House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) last week revealed that the administration is considering a full U.S. investment blockade on entire sectors of the Chinese tech economy — a more aggressive approach than we previously thought was on the table.
