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
- China’s Economy Faces Deepening Troubles in Years Ahead — The country’s growth is showing signs of emerging from a soft patch, but its long-term prospects are darkening.
- P&G Washes Away Consumer Blues Everywhere but China — Consumer giant’s sales volumes rising outside of one important market.
- Don’t Rule Out a Financial Crisis in China — Extensive fiscal and financial imbalances have taken China, its leadership and the world into uncharted territory.
- Chinese-Owned Pork Producer Smithfield Prepares for U.S. Listing — China’s WH Group is working with banks on potential 2024 listing of America’s largest pork producer.
- China Arrests Japanese Executive Despite Tokyo’s Appeals — Astellas Pharma veteran, a prominent member of Japan’s business community in Beijing, has been detained since March.
- TSMC Thinks the Turn in the Chip Cycle Is Nigh — Results from the world’s largest contract chipmaker hint that the long downturn in prices could finally be ending. Meanwhile, demand from AI is surging.
The Financial Times
- Chinese investors’ sales of US stocks and bonds hit four-year high — Sales surge coincides with People’s Bank of China’s efforts to defend renminbi.
- Chinese developer Country Garden misses payment on dollar bond, say creditors — Heavily indebted company becomes latest casualty of China’s property crisis.
- Appetite for soya hinders China’s self-sufficiency drive — Political will confronts geographical reality as Beijing tries to rely less on foreign farmers.
- China Renaissance retrenches after influential founder’s detention — Tech-focused investment bank forced to cut staff as start-ups and investors react negatively to uncertainty.
- US House panel probes Sequoia’s Chinese tech investments — Scrutiny of California VC firm comes amid mounting tension between Washington and Beijing.
- Beijing weighs delaying approval of $69bn Broadcom-VMware deal — Move would come in wake of tougher US controls on Chinese access to high-performance chips.
- Argentina taps Chinese credit line to keep economy afloat during elections — Economy minister says renminbi will be used to pay IMF, prop up the peso and aid importers.
The New York Times
- Country Garden Says Executives Have Not Fled China — The company, one of China’s biggest property developers, took the unusual step of stating that the company’s founder and its chairwoman were “working normally.”
- Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen Criticized for Comments on Reporter’s Chinese Nationality — Jim Pillen said in a radio interview that he refused to read an investigation into his hog farms by a reporter who he said is from “Communist China.”
Caixin
- China’s Changan Automobile to Build NEV Plant in Thailand — State-owned automaker agrees to invest $242 million in factory with plans to sell output domestically and in export markets.
- Putin Says Arctic Shipping Route Could Be Navigable Year-Round by 2024 — Year-round navigation along the entire Northern Sea Route (NSR), a 3,500-mile shipping route in Russia’s Arctic economic zone, will be possible “as soon as next year.”
South China Morning Post
- Did China’s top general just signal a restart in Beijing’s military diplomacy? — Zhang Youxia, China’s most senior military officer, met Serbia’s defence chief in a sign that the country’s military diplomacy could be normalising.
- China’s market-meddling cadres warned: no ‘inappropriate interference’ that affects economy — Struggling regional authorities are said to have turned aggressive in seizing assets and assessing fines to make up for lost revenue, and some local-level officials ‘abused their power and interfered’ in economic development.
- Sunwoda, China’s sixth-largest EV battery maker, a step closer to listing after hiring Citic Securities to prepare for IPO — Sunwoda, China’s sixth-largest EV battery maker and among the top 10 globally, has begun receiving pre-listing training from a brokerage, a moved that brings it a step closer to an initial public offering.
Nikkei Asia
- Lam Research sees no material impact from new U.S. chip curbs — China accounts for nearly 50% of quarterly revenue despite export controls.
- ASML stays optimistic on China as sales surge amid U.S. chip curbs — Company expects 10-15% current shipment to China hit by new export controls.
- Analysis: China’s property market woes prompt buying spree in Japan — Buyers snap up properties they can renovate and rent out to travelers.
- Xiaomi’s new OS to connect smartphones with appliances, EVs — Chinese handset maker hopes to counter faltering sales.
- Opinion: Xi could strike a real blow to military corruption if he wanted to — China defense minister’s disappearance may be as much about politics as malfeasance. By James Char.
Bloomberg
- Why China-Russia Ties Worry America — As Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin grow ever closer, their mutual distrust of the US may be their strongest bond.
- Stellantis Sells Assets in China to Local Partner Dongfeng — Stellantis NV will sell automotive assets to its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Group Co. Ltd. after the carmaker halted output of its Jeep brand in the country last year.
- China National Chem Wins Angola Deal to Build Lobito Refinery — Angola will sign a contract with China National Chemical Engineering Co. on Friday to build the long-delayed $6 billion plant in Lobito.
- China to Build Wind Turbines Almost as Tall as the Eiffel Tower — The offshore wind industry reached another size milestone with a top manufacturer announcing plans for a turbine with blades that stretch nearly the height of the Eiffel Tower.
- Xi Says Green Projects Will Anchor China’s Overseas Spending — Delegates from developing nations are leaving meetings in China this week with grand promises of aid for green energy projects, though there are few concrete projects so far.
Reuters
- Taliban says plans to formally join China’s Belt and Road Initiative — The Taliban administration wants to formally join Chinese President Xi Jinping’s huge ‘Belt and Road’ infrastructure initiative and will send a technical team to China for talks.
- Norwegian Navy shadows Chinese vessel probed over Baltic pipe damage — Finnish investigators on Tuesday said they were looking into the Chinese vessel present in the area when a Baltic Sea pipeline was damaged on Oct. 8.
- How German companies are tackling China risk — But, as tensions simmer between Berlin and Beijing, ebm-papst is one of many medium-sized German companies starting to address their reliance on China.
The Economist
- China’s economy may be growing faster, but big problems remain — None is more unnerving than the threat of deflation.
- China is educating engineers around the world — Its technical schools are less controversial than its Confucius Institutes.
- Xi Jinping wants to be loved by the global south — China presented the Belt and Road Forum as an oasis of peace in a dangerous world.
- Chinese feminists are rebuilding their movement abroad — Stand-up comedy is one means of resistance.
Other Publications
- The Information: China’s Government Takes Stake in a Tencent Domestic Unit — China’s government has taken a stake in a domestic subsidiary of Tencent, the operator of WeChat, China’s biggest messaging app, in the latest step by Beijing to tighten its control over the country’s big tech firms.
- The Information: Apple Fired App Store Staff After Finding Improper Dealings with Game Developers — Apple found infractions such as unsanctioned contact with mobile game developers or consultants working on their behalf, sources said.
- Foreign Policy: The U.S. and Europe Need to Get Their Act Together on China — The West has wasted precious time in developing a common strategy.
- Foreign Affairs: The New Economic Security State — In the past decade, economics and national security have collided, turning government inside out and upside down.
- AP: China’s Xi promises open markets and billions in new investments for ‘Belt and Road’ projects — Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised more than $100 billion in new financing for other developing economies.
