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
- China’s Real-Estate Crisis Just Got Worse — A prolonged fall in home prices shows the huge task facing policymakers, who have so far proved unable to turn the market around.
- Standard Chartered Unveils $1 Billion Buyback, Guides for Growth — The bank plans to return at least $5 billion to shareholders cumulatively over 2024 to 2026 and remains confident in the long-term opportunities that China reopening will generate.
- As Trading Frenzies Grip Penny Stocks, Criticism of Nasdaq Grows — Bit Brother, a tiny Chinese crypto company, reached nearly 30% of the U.S. stock market’s volume.
- U.S. Warns Russia Not to Deploy Nuclear-Armed Space Weapon — The outreach to Moscow is part of a diplomatic campaign that the Biden administration is mounting to head off the threat that also involves approaches to China, India, G-7 nations and other close allies that have interests in space and channels to Moscow.
- Can the ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators Make Magic Again? — The showrunners are back with ‘3 Body Problem,’ a big-budget science fiction epic about an alien invasion, based on a series of science-fiction books by Chinese engineer–turned-author Liu Cixin.
The Financial Times
- A second dose of Trump on trade would differ from the first — Expect more emphasis on global trade deficits, more dramatic intervention and bigger problems for Europe.
- McKinsey-led think-tank advised China on policy that fed US tensions — Urban China Initiative counselled Beijing on cutting-edge technologies in preparation of Five-Year Plan.
- Leak shows China uses private company to hack citizens and foreign states — Cache of documents reveals role of business in providing authorities with cyber espionage tools and services.
The New York Times
- Émigrés Are Creating an Alternative China, One Bookstore at a Time — From Thailand to America, Chinese denied a safe public space for discussion in their home country have found hope in diaspora communities.
- 2 Years Into Russia-Ukraine War, U.S. Campaign to Isolate Putin Shows Limits — Many nations insist on not taking sides in the war in Ukraine, while China, India and Brazil are filling Russia’s coffers.
- China’s Hacker Network: What to Know About the I-Soon Document Leak — Documents leaked on a public website show that China is hiring private hackers to obtain sensitive information from foreign companies and governments.
- San Diego Zoo Could Be First in U.S. to Get Pandas From China Again — China said it reached agreements with zoos to again send giant pandas to the United States and Europe, continuing a tradition of animal-based diplomacy.
- As China Expands Its Hacking Operations, a Vulnerability Emerges — New revelations underscore the degree to which China has ignored, or evaded, U.S. efforts to curb its extensive computer infiltration efforts.
- Africa’s Donkeys Are Coveted by China. Can the Continent Protect Them? — Governments are seeking to curb donkey skin exports to China, where demand for traditional medicine and other products is threatening animals that rural households need.
Caixin
- In Depth: China Quant Funds in Firing Line Over Stock Market Volatility — Regulators flag concern that sophisticated computer modeling used by some investors is fueling volatility in equity markets.
- Huawei Returns to Foldable Smartphone Market With New Compact Handset — The Pocket 2 is the first foldable released by the company since 2022 and reportedly runs on its cutting-edge Kirin 9000S chip.
- China’s State-Owned Developers Win $1 Billion Worth Land Auctions in Beijing — State-owned companies with access to low-cost financing buy two parcels of land for residential development in Beijing.
South China Morning Post
- Head of leading Chinese defence university sanctioned by US promoted to vice-minister for industry — Shan Zhongde was previously head of the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which has close links to the Chinese military.
- China population: experts say birth-boosting policies should go deeper to build baby bump — As China’s population continues its steady decline, experts have offered several suggestions for how to arrest the slide – but nearly all agree a cautious and systematic approach carries the best chances for success.
- Geely-backed luxury EV maker Lotus Tech to launch autonomous driving cars in 60 Chinese cities this year — The company, a division of British sports car company Lotus Group in which Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding owns a majority stake, will focus on the premium segment despite cheap models dominating the mainland EV market.
- Opinion: Why China will focus on technology but muddle through on policy at NPC meeting — Next month’s NPC meeting is unlikely to produce any dramatic changes in China’s monetary and fiscal policy or a return of massive stimulus. By Andy Xie.
Nikkei Asia
- Australia’s major miners buoyed by China demand despite property crisis — BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, the three largest Australian-listed resource companies, released financial results this week, providing a snapshot of the iron ore market.
- Cambodia’s airport dreams stall as Chinese money dries up — For years, an airport has been slated for construction in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province, but all that exists today are concrete fence posts across the razed farmlands of an indigenous community.
- U.S. export curbs on China won’t extend to legacy chips: official — While the U.S. has ramped up restrictions on cutting-edge chip exports to China, it has “no interest in expanding them further to mature chips or legacy chips,” the U.S. assistant secretary of commerce for export administration told Nikkei.
- Russia procures tank parts from Japan and Taiwan via China — According to information obtained by Nikkei, a person connected to the government of Belarus, an ally of Russia, set up a company in China after February 2022, and a Russian arms maker has continued to import parts via the company.
Bloomberg
- Nippon Steel’s China Assets Raise Concerns Over US Deal — President Joe Biden’s administration is examining Nippon Steel Corp.’s connections to China, people familiar with the matter say, a potential stumbling block for the Japanese giant’s politically contentious deal to acquire American rival United States Steel Corp.
- China State Council Vows Measures to Lure Foreign Investment — China’s Premier Li Qiang led a cabinet meeting urging authorities to boost foreign investors’ confidence in the country and study measures to attract more global capital, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday.
- Luckin Surpasses Starbucks in China Annual Sales For First Time — Luckin Coffee Inc. became China’s dominant coffee chain last year, outpacing the nation’s previous leader Starbucks Corp. in annual sales for the first time.
Reuters
- Exclusive: In a first, Chinese developer’s creditors plan to sue state-owned shareholder for dues — China South City earlier this month missed a principal payment of $11.25 million on a dollar bond due on Feb. 9, and is deemed by creditors to be in default on offshore debts worth $1.3 billion, two bondholder sources said.
- Exclusive: Chinese police work in Kiribati, Hawaii’s Pacific neighbour — Kiribati has not publicly announced the policing deal with China, which comes as Beijing renews a push to expand security ties in the Pacific Islands in an intensifying rivalry with the United States.
Other Publications
- AP: China demands the US stop any official contact with Taiwan following a congressional visit — Beijing has long protested any official interaction the U.S. and Taiwan but is particularly dissatisfied with the House select committee, which was formed in 2023 and is known for its hawkish views of China’s ruling party.
- The Economist: Xi Jinping plays social engineer — Inside the Communist Party’s campaign to spread civilised habits.
- The Economist: The flaws that China’s chief ideologue found in America — As a young visitor decades ago, Wang Huning saw “an unstoppable undercurrent of crisis”.
- Brookings: American economic statecraft in the Asian century — Economic statecraft guides U.S. foreign policy priorities of competing strategically and responsibly with China, and harnessing cooperation with leading tech democracies.
- PIIE: Barring pharmaceutical imports from China would hurt the United States and the world — Expanding the trade war while barring medications and other medical products from China would hurt the US consumer and in fact hinder progress in America’s world-renowned medical research.
