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 Plays Tense Game of ‘Russian Roulette’ With U.S. Ally — Chinese coast guard ships have slammed Philippine boats with water cannons, shattering a windshield and injuring Filipino crew.
- Beijing Pushes Back on Overproduction Concerns After Yellen Visit — Over the past few days, Janet Yellen had pressed senior Chinese officials on scaling back industrial production.
- China Vehicle Sales Rebound — Retail sales of passenger cars in China rose 6.0% from a year earlier.
The Financial Times
- China investigates senior executive at top defence group — Probe into manager at military equipment supplier CETC follows shake-up in armed forces and ousting of minister.
- TikTok staff face big US tax bills on shares they cannot sell — Current and former employees of video app’s Chinese parent ByteDance in outcry over stock award liabilities.
- European ports turned into ‘car parks’ as vehicle imports pile up — Chinese EV makers without sales networks or onward transportation among leading causes of congestion, say executives.
- Taiwanese groups consider overseas headquarters to hedge against Chinese attack — Global efforts to secure supply chains put pressure on contractors to establish ‘alternative command system abroad.’
The New York Times
- Yellen Sees ‘More Work to Do’ as China Talks End With No Breakthrough — Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen was warmly received in China, but it was evident that the level of trust between the two sides does not run deep.
- Xi Meets With Russia’s Foreign Minister, Reaffirming Ties — The visit came days after the U.S. threatened new sanctions against Chinese companies if they aided Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- How Japan Is Trying to Rebuild Its Chip Industry — Taiwan’s semiconductor giant, TSMC, is quickly remaking a farm town in Japan into Asia’s next hub of chip manufacturing with enormous government support.
Caixin
- Commerce Minister Calls Claims About China’s EV Overcapacity ‘Groundless’ — China’s Minister of Commerce defended the country’s electric vehicle industry against accusations of unfair subsidies, stressing that technological innovation, a sound supply chain and full competition are the true drivers of growth.
- SAIC Sells 51% of India Business to Local Investors — SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., China’s largest automaker, said its India business unit will receive a $624 million injection from local investors led by Indian steelmaker JSW Group in a deal to drive the Chinese company further into the world’s third largest car market.
- Hong Kong’s IPO Market Hits a 15-Year Low, but Deloitte Sees Silver Lining Ahead — Hong Kong’s stock exchange has experienced its quietest first quarter since 2009, with only 12 new listings raising a mere HK$4.7’billion ($600 million), marking a significant downturn in the city’s IPO activity.
South China Morning Post
- Alibaba’s AliExpress pushes ‘10 billion yuan of subsidies’ campaign to entice more Chinese brands and merchants to sell in overseas markets — Subsidies will be given to an initial batch of 1,000 Chinese brands and merchants who sign up for the AliExpress programme.
- ‘Fitness centre China’: world champion in development can do more, solve overcapacity, top business leader Joerg Wuttke says — Joerg Wuttke, the seasoned China hand, explains the magic of China but warns hubris could rear its head if lessons are not learned from other economies.
- China EV price war: Tesla rival Li Auto says cheapest model yet to ‘bring you happiness’, will launch next week — Li Auto, Tesla’s nearest rival in mainland China, plans to start selling a new, more economical model aimed at families amid a price war in the country’s electric vehicle market.
- New-energy vehicles to make up 50% of China’s new cars sales by 2030, Moody’s forecasts — New-energy vehicles will make up about half of new car sales in China by 2030, as state incentives and expanding charging stations win over more customers, Moody’s Investors Service says.
Nikkei Asia
- HSBC to sell Argentina business as Asia pivot accelerates — London-based bank says it will book $1bn pretax loss on deal.
- China’s property crisis hits small regional banks harder than big players — Northeastern institutions suffer sharp increases in bad loans to developers.
- China and Russia hail ‘profound’ ties, vow to fight terrorism — Top diplomats Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov meet in Beijing, eye Eurasian security talks.
Bloomberg
- China Has Too Much at Stake in Industry Push to Listen to Yellen — Janet Yellen got a respectful hearing in China in recent days for her main message — that Beijing’s manufacturing drive is a threat to other economies. But the warmth of her reception likely won’t translate into the policy shifts she wants.
- China’s EV Makers Bet They Can Dethrone Japan Brands in Thailand — Standing in front of a large crowd at last month’s Bangkok International Motor Show, an executive from Hozon New Energy Automobile Co. promised to double sales in Thailand to 30,000 electric vehicles this year.
- Yellen Threatens Sanctions for China Banks That Aid Russia War — US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrapped up four days of talks in China with a warning against any moves to bolster Russia’s military capacity.
Reuters
- Canada spies found China interfered in last two elections, probe hears — Canada’s domestic spy agency concluded that China interfered in the last two elections, an official probe heard on Monday, the firmest evidence so far of suspected Chinese meddling in Canadian politics.
- China trying to gain space through force, US admiral says — China’s actions in the South China Sea were an example of it trying to gain territorial space through force, and were destabilising the region, a senior U.S. admiral said on Tuesday.
- Sweden expels Chinese journalist over national security fears — Swedish authorities have ordered the expulsion of a Chinese journalist, saying she could pose a serious threat to national security, a lawyer representing the woman said on Monday.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: Putin and Xi’s unholy alliance — Why the West won’t be able to drive a wedge between Russia and China. By Alexander Gabuev
- China Media Project: Golden Opportunities — One of Southeast Asia’s largest media groups announced this month that it would collaborate on content with a Chinese magazine. Is it turning a blind eye to the powerful political motives and interests that lay behind?
- The Guardian: Three boys to face trial over child’s murder in case that shocks China — Suspects, all under 14 at time, are accused of bullying classmate over long period before killing him in Hebei last month.
- The Economist: Is China or America the big boss of the global south? — In a dog-eat-dog world, competition is fierce.
- Foreign Policy: Janet Yellen has a Three-Body Problem with China — The U.S. treasury secretary blasted Beijing’s industrial overcapacity, but it’s a tough message to carry off convincingly.
- MIT Technology Review: Why the Chinese government is sparing AI from harsh regulations—for now — The Chinese government may have been tough on consumer tech platforms, but its AI regulations are intentionally lax to keep the domestic industry growing.
- Semafor: Tanzania is wooing Chinese tourists with a new doc — Tanzania is once again turning to film to attract tourists but this time focused on visitors from China.
