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
- House Committee Lays Out Case for China Threat — Chinese policies on human rights, business and military power are focus of hearing.
- FBI Director Says Covid Pandemic Likely Caused by Chinese Lab Leak — Christopher Wray provides first public confirmation of bureau’s classified assessment of suspected laboratory incident.
- Fewer American Companies See China as an Investment Priority — Survey by American business group says top challenges for 2023 include U.S.-China tensions and regulatory hurdles.
- U.S. Treasury Official Travels to Beijing Despite China Tensions — Senior Asia policy official held meetings with his Chinese counterpart on macroeconomic and financial issues.
- TikTok Ban Debated by House Lawmakers — House panel considers bill to ban Chinese-owned app but postpones taking a vote.
- Chinese Weapons Could Sustain Russia’s War Effort in Ukraine — Any move by Beijing to help Russian forces with materiel would have impact on battlefield.
- China’s Economy Seen Emerging From Zero-Covid Shadow — Sharper-than-expected expansion of activity offers Chinese leaders opportunity to shift spotlight away from pandemic missteps.
- China’s Post-Covid Bounce Has Arrived — Economy strengthened in February and signs point to an impressive 2023—with some caveats.
- Biden Administration Urges Congress to Renew Spy Law — Officials say surveillance power once used chiefly to stymie terrorists is vital to combating hackers and rivals like China.
- India Moves Closer to Approving Purchase of Armed Drones From the U.S. — Deal would boost New Delhi’s surveillance of its contested Himalayan border with China.
- U.S. Aims to Chart New Course for Chip Industry — $53 billion plan, a mix of subsidies and conditions, will be a test of U.S. industrial policy.
- FDA Restricts Imports of ‘Tranq’ Drug Xylazine — Federal regulators said they would restrict imports of xylazine, an animal tranquilizer commonly manufactured in China that is being diverted into the illicit drug supply to deadly effect.
- Video: House Committee Warns of Beijing’s Threat to U.S. Interests and Values — A new House committee focused on China held its first hearing on Tuesday, calling for a concerted government response to the threat it says the Chinese Communist Party poses to the U.S.
The Financial Times
- US lawmakers increase scrutiny of China with new House committee — Panel pledges to investigate ‘ideological, technological and military threat’ of Chinese Communist party.
- Chinese factory activity expands at fastest pace in more than a decade — Highest manufacturing reading since 2012 offers early signal of recovery following zero-Covid reversal.
- Belgium’s cyber security agency links China to spear phishing attack on MP — European governments are increasingly challenging Beijing over suspected cyber offences.
- China telcos: the fear of dissident chatbots will retard AI — Becoming a world leader in tech may be much harder to achieve in a one-party state.
- Opinion: America and the China lab leak theory — The new cold war makes another pandemic more likely. By Edward Luce
The New York Times
- China’s Factories Report Surge in Activity After Lockdowns End — Manufacturing activity rose in February to its highest level in more than a decade, bolstering China’s recovery after restrictions paralyzed much of the country.
- Blinken Finds Receptive Leaders in Central Asia, Where Russia Seeks Aid — The U.S. secretary of state’s diplomatic mission is part of a broader Biden administration effort to strengthen support for Ukraine, or at least push neutral nations to refrain from aiding Russia.
- Foreign Efforts to Subvert Canada’s Last 2 Elections Failed, Report Says — An independent review found that China, Russia and Iran tried to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 votes, but that the elections’ integrity was not compromised.
Caixin
- In Depth: Why China’s Lithium Firms Have Their Sights Set on Bolivia — The South American country has the world’s largest reserves of the key EV battery raw material, but political and practical obstacles have prevented it from becoming a significant global supplier.
- China’s Richest Woman Takes Father’s Seat at Head of Country Garden’s Board — Yang Huiyan has been appointed chairperson of one of China’s largest property developers, succeeding the company’s retiring founder, Yeung Kwok Keung.
- Mercedes-Benz Shifts Into EV Battery Recycling in China — The German carmaker will team up with battery giant CATL and a recycling specialist to extract and reuse key elements from its power cells.
South China Morning Post
- How the EU-China relationship became a casualty of Russia’s war in Ukraine — Russia’s invasion, and Beijing’s perceived support for Moscow, have overshadowed everything else for the past 12 months.
- Chinese manufacturing hub Suzhou pushes expansion of local semiconductor sector in 2023 as US escalates chip tech restrictions — Suzhou, home to more than 300 companies that are part of China’s semiconductor supply chain, expects revenue from this sector to reach US$17.28 billion in 2023.
- Production resumes in China’s Yichun, ‘Asia’s lithium capital’, unlikely to affect supply chain, analysts say — Production has resumed in China’s Yichun, “Asia’s lithium capital”, after a government investigation into illegal mining activity last week temporarily halted production in the local lithium industry.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s Xi lays out government ‘reform’ plan at party plenum — Central Committee nails down cabinet picks ahead of National People’s Congress.
- Skiing is hot in China — even indoors — on Olympic boom — New resorts planned in Shanghai and Shenzhen as public embraces winter sports.
Bloomberg
- Xi Welcomes Russia Ally Lukashenko in Visit Shadowed by War — Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a close Russian ally, in talks watched closely for signs that Beijing is expanding coordination with Moscow and its supporters in their standoff with the West.
- China Says Land Sales Slump Has Only Limited Impact on Budget — China’s local governments tap less than a fifth of the income they make from selling land to help fulfill their daily spending needs, according to China’s finance minister, who insisted this week that the hit regional authorities have taken from declining land sales is limited.
- Canadians Fear China Swayed Elections That Put Trudeau in Power — Two thirds of Canadians suspect China attempted to interfere in recent elections that returned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals to power, according to a new poll.
- Majority of US Firms Don’t See China as Priority for Investment — For the first time in about 25 years, China is not a top three investment priority for a majority of US firms, with geopolitical tensions and domestic economic issues driving businesses to increasingly focus elsewhere, according to a new report.
Reuters
- Canadians say Trudeau needs tougher response in wake of China actions – poll — 53% of respondents said they felt Canada’s response following a string of recent events, including the detention of two Canadians by Beijing, was “not strong enough”.
- Biden admin grilled over $23 bln in licenses for blacklisted Chinese firms — The data comes amid growing pressure on the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to further expand a broad crackdown on shipments of sensitive U.S. technology to China from Republican lawmakers.
- US House panel on China cites ‘existential struggle’ at first hearing — The committee’s leaders saw the hearing, the first of what is expected to be many over the next two years as Republicans hold control of the House, as part of an effort to convince Americans why they should care about competing with China, and to “selectively decouple” the U.S. and Chinese economies.
Other Publications
- The Globe and Mail: Foreign interference did not affect outcome of 2021 Canadian election, report says — However, the report recommends that Ottawa consider adjusting the rules for when the public is alerted of foreign interference to account for incidents that might fall below that threshold.
- The Globe and Mail: Chinese donors who funded Trudeau Foundation wanted statue of Mao in Montreal — The politically connected Chinese donors who pledged $1-million to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and the University of Montreal did not only want to build a statue of the former prime minister. They also sought to erect a statue at the university’s law school of chairman Mao Zedong.
- The Economist: How America plans to break China’s grip on African minerals — A new contest between the US and China is under way.
- Politico: China bills sail through House committee — Lawmakers approved all 10 measures unanimously or near-unanimously.
