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
- When Chatbots Run Up Against China’s Censorship — Like the internet itself, Chinese versions of ChatGPT will be different from the West’s.
- China’s Economy Rebounds, Spurred by Consumption — Revival of GDP growth appears broadly on track after country’s zero-Covid exit.
- China’s Economic Activity Rebounded Moderately in First Two Months of the Year — Retail sales, a major gauge of China’s consumption, increased 3.5%.
- China, Russia, Iran Hold Joint Military Drills in Gulf of Oman — Growing cooperation between the three countries presents a challenge to U.S. interests in the Middle East.
- China and Russia Denounce U.S., Allies Over Submarine Deal — Beijing and Moscow express concern over weapons proliferation from Aukus arrangement.
- Saudi Crown Prince Test Drives Nonaligned Foreign Policy — Deal to restore diplomatic ties with Iran shows shrewd pragmatism from the 37-year-old de facto ruler.
- Honduras Says It Will Establish Ties with China in Blow to Taiwan — The move would peel away one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic partners even as its unofficial ties with the U.S. and others grow.
- Apple Supplier Foxconn Plans to Rely Less on China for Revenue — Taiwan-based contract manufacturer makes 70% of sales from mainland operations.
- Foxconn’s Fourth-Quarter Net Profit Fell 9.9% as Covid Outbreaks Disrupted China Operations — Fourth-quarter revenue rose 3.9% thanks partly to strong server demand at its cloud and networking products business.
- Chinese Doctor Who Sounded the Alarm on SARS Dies — Jiang Yanyong was hailed a hero two decades ago. This week, his death was met with silence in China.
- Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken Head to Africa in a Bid to Counter China — U.S. officials want to show Washington could be ally in economic development, conflict resolution.
The Financial Times
- Taiwan loses diplomatic ally as Honduras moves to open ties with China — Central American nation was one of Taipei’s last partners in region.
- China’s consumer spending rebounds after end of Covid curbs — Officials warn uneven economic recovery threatened by falling export demand and property crisis.
- Hong Kong to make first ministerial visit to UK in 3 years — Post-Covid charm offensive comes as Rishi Sunak seeks thaw in trade relations with China.
- Nickel ‘alchemist’ Xiang Guangda aims to work his magic on batteries — Founder of Tsingshan, world’s largest producer of the metal, plans first IPO after 35 years.
- China pharma: sector that tested world takes test of its own — Despite US blacklistings hampering sales and supplies, the real problem is a dwindling market.
- Opinion: China plays peacemaker in the Gulf — Beijing emerges as a diplomatic powerbroker with Iran-Saudi Arabia deal.
The New York Times
- What to Know About the Covid Lab Leak Theory — Investigating the origins of the pandemic has underscored how difficult it might be to turn up conclusive evidence.
- Volkswagen Will Invest $193 Billion in Electric Cars and Software — The German automaker announced a plan to accelerate its transition to battery-powered vehicles and bolster operations in China and North America.
Caixin
- In Depth: The Remaking of China’s Science and Technology Ministry — China will restructure its top science and technology supervisory body as the country pushes for technology breakthroughs and self-reliance.
- China, Canada Mining Giants Book Bumper Profits on African Copper Project — Democratic Republic of Congo copper mine Kamoa-Kakula, operated by Zijin Mining Group and Ivanhoe Mines, generates over $1 billion profit in 2022.
- LONGi Green Energy to Build $600 Million Solar Panel Plant in U.S. — Chinese solar wafer giant joins manufacturers taking on geopolitical and policy risks to cash in on new American incentives for clean energy factories.
- China’s Excavator-Makers Unearth Growing Business Abroad — Exports of the construction equipment rose 14.9% in the first two months of the year, overtaking the domestic market.
South China Morning Post
- US-sanctioned Huawei denies breakthrough in chip packaging tech as speculation mounts on firm’s efforts to overcome trade restrictions — Speculation has been rife about Huawei’s development of a new semiconductor packaging technology that can achieve 7-nanometre performance for chips.
- US directors resign from board of Shanghai-listed chip equipment firm amid Washington restrictions on citizens — Three directors, including two US citizens, at Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment have left the board, months after Washington restricted ‘US persons’ from helping develop China’s chip industry.
- US sanctions boost China’s R&D investment and output in some hi-tech fields: Chinese study — But the cost of innovation also increased significantly in China because of tech bans imposed by the US government.
Nikkei Asia
- Joint patents with China pose pitfalls in U.S.-led decoupling — American, Japanese filings on EV tech exposed to Beijing’s leverage in trade battle.
- Chinese auto chips only: Inside Xi’s self-sufficiency campaign — Government takes lead in developing semiconductor industry to rival U.S.
- India’s path to overtake China hinges on tighter contract enforcement — With backlog of 50m disputes, modernizing rule of law key to attracting more investment.
Bloomberg
- China ChatGPT AI Rivals Will Catch Up to US Quick, VC Says — China can match the US in artificial intelligence thanks to the expertise of companies from Alibaba to Baidu, joining a global tech transformation that will dwarf the mobile revolution, according to industry pioneer Kai-Fu Lee.
- China to Let Power Prices Turn Negative in Solar-Rich Province — Power traders in China’s Shandong province can now ask to be paid for taking electricity as the province’s growing rooftop solar capacity threatens to overwhelm the grid.
- TikTok Considers Divesting From ByteDance if Deal With US Fails — TikTok’s leadership is discussing the possibility of separating from ByteDance Ltd., its Chinese parent company, to help address concerns about national security risks.
- US to Unveil Chips-Spending Guardrails for Countries of Concern — The Commerce Department will this month release rules to limit companies’ activity in China should they receive some of the $52 billion that the US is providing to boost its semiconductor industry.
Reuters
- Forty US senators join push for tougher stance over China’s treatment of Hong Kong — Forty of the 100 U.S. senators co-sponsored a resolution on Wednesday urging a strong U.S. government response to any Chinese efforts to clamp down on dissent in Hong Kong, including the use of sanctions and other tools.
- US releases a third of electronics detained under China forced labor law, data shows — U.S. customs officials have released more than a third of the electronic equipment, including solar panels, detained since last year under a new law meant to weed out products made with forced labor, according to data released on Tuesday.
- China’s property sector draws closer to exit from protracted slump — China’s embattled property sector made new progress in its climb out of a months-long slump as official data for January-February on Wednesday showed much narrower declines in home sales, developer investment and construction starts.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: How China Became a Peacemaker in the Middle East — Washington’s Missteps Paved the Way for Beijing’s Saudi-Iranian Deal. By Trita Parsi and Khalid Aljabri
- The Information: SVB’s Chinese Customers Face Logjams In Moving Money — They face far more obstacles than their American counterparts when it comes to setting up new U.S. bank accounts, making an immediate switch from SVB much harder.
- The Guardian: UK quietly shifts China policy as trust between countries erodes — British stance edges closer to the US, but many MPs want government to go further and designate China as a threat.
