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
- Mercedes-Benz Sells out of China EV Maker as Luxury Spending Drops — Mercedes-Benz has sold its remaining 10% stake in premium EV and hybrid maker Denza to BYD in the wake of disappointing sales locally.
- U.S. Officials Jet to Beijing Amid Flood of Cheap Chinese Exports — In the talks, Washington intends to highlight concerns over China’s manufacturing overcapacity.
- Court Appears Skeptical of TikTok’s Challenge to U.S. Ban — Judges are considering the validity of legislation that could shut down the Chinese-backed app used by half of Americans.
The Financial Times
- PwC China stops work on $140mn campus as Evergrande crisis mounts — Lavish training institute on tropical island under review as firm reels from fallout from its audits of failed property developer.
- US and Japan near deal to curb chip technology exports to China — Potential agreement comes despite fears Beijing will choke critical minerals supplies in response.
- From steel to kimchi, South Korean exporters face flood of Chinese rivals — Overproduction, tariffs and weak demand increase competition with a glut of low-cost goods.
- Opinion: Emerging markets has become a redundant term — Innovations around EM indices are required with more thematic benchmarks. By Gene Frieda.
- Opinion: The great aircon paradox will keep this Hong Kong IPO simmering — Midea would have found the public markets less welcoming had it listed 5 years ago. By Lex.
The New York Times
- China’s ‘Silver Economy’ Is Thriving as Birthrate Plunges — The shrinking population poses threats to growth but has opened opportunities for businesses that serve seniors.
- A.I. Pioneers Call for Protections Against ‘Catastrophic Risks’ — Scientists from the United States, China and other nations called for an international authority to oversee artificial intelligence.
- How SMIC, China’s Semiconductor Champion, Landed in the Heart of a Tech War — Efforts by the Beijing-backed Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, or SMIC, to break through innovation barriers have landed it in a geopolitical tech battle.
Caixin
- Property Losses Expedite Merger of China’s Top Securities Firms — Authorities are pushing the deal in an effort to rescue Haitong Securities, after its offshore unit suffered eye-watering losses, sources say.
- Foreign Businesses Complain of Lack of Government Support, China Association Says — Problems include rising supply-chain costs, unfair treatment, and lack of transparency in market access, the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment’s survey shows.
- China’s Vision for Batteries on Wheels — Electric cars that can send power back to grids could help with both peak loads and China’s green goals, experts say, but winning over motorists will be tricky.
- China’s Move to Raise Retirement Age Elicits Calls for More Incentives to Work Longer — The plan, which will begin next year and be implemented gradually, should include benefits such as additional pension payments that encourage people to extend their working lives, experts say.
South China Morning Post
- China should return Britain’s willingness to mend ties: ex-UK trade secretary Mandelson — Beijing also described as better positioned than most countries to broker peace in Ukraine war, but its economic nationalism is a concern.
- Why China is sending southern officials north to its rusting economic front lines — More than a dozen senior cadres from the central government and powerhouse provinces have taken up new northern posts this year alone.
- Start-up funding in China remains weak, but may see a recovery this year — Funding for start-ups in China remains at a low point, although the amount raised in the first half is already more than 50 per cent of 2023’s total, suggesting a potential recovery.
- Where now for China after economy lost momentum ‘across the board’ in August? — China’s economic data in August largely disappointed, pointing to difficulties in meeting Beijing’s annual growth target.
- Opinion: How the yuan can help Hong Kong outcompete Shenzhen — Allowing Hong Kong banks to offer Chinese onshore renminbi services would enable the city to leverage its economic freedom on a whole new level. By Weijian Shan.
Nikkei Asia
- China-Pakistan defense ties threatened by new U.S. sanctions — Fresh U.S. sanctions on Chinese ballistic missile suppliers are threatening to disrupt Pakistan’s defense ties with Beijing, entangling Islamabad in the superpowers’ tense rivalry, analysts said.
- China, Russia coast guards to start joint North Pacific exercises — The China Coast Guard is dispatching two ships to engage in exercises and patrols with its Russian counterpart, as the two countries expand joint maritime operations beyond their navies amid heightening tensions with the U.S.
- Chinese deal activity shifts toward emerging markets and into greenfields — Outflows have rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years. There was $103 billion worth of announced investment last year, but investment levels remain much lower than previous highs.
Bloomberg
- Who Loses in Trump’s Endless Trade War? Not Just China — Politicians are overselling the effectiveness of tariffs while underselling the costs to American businesses and households.
- Lenovo Makes AI Servers in India as Local Tech Push Expands — Lenovo Group Ltd. started building AI servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse.
- US Allies Struggle to Break China’s Dominance of Rare Earths — A couple hours outside Houston, in a remote field near a Dow Chemical Co. plant, America’s bid to undercut China’s grip on the global supply of rare earth minerals critical to high technology has yet to break ground.
- Microsoft, G42 Deepen Ties With Two AI Centers in Abu Dhabi — Microsoft Corp. and G42 are establishing two artificial intelligence centers in Abu Dhabi, months after they inked a $1.5 billion deal and the United Arab Emirates firm agreed to divest from China.
- China Struggles to Drive EV Adoption in Poorer Towns, Cities — While wealthy cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen have led electric car adoption, uptake in other areas shows how hard gasoline cars can be to ditch.
Reuters
- US probes uranium imports from China to prevent circumventing Russian ban — U.S. House lawmakers passed the ban on Russian enriched uranium in December 2023 as part of a U.S. effort to disrupt President Vladimir Putin’s ability to fund Russia’s war on Ukraine.
- US strategy for anti-ship weapons to counter China: plentiful, mobile, deadly — The United States has ramped up testing of its QUICKSINK weapon, an inexpensive and potentially plentiful bomb equipped with a low-cost GPS guidance kit and a seeker that can track moving objects.
- Beijing’s pension plan grasps at a utopian reality — It replaces a model designed in the 1950s, when Chinese life expectancy averaged below 40. This has since increased to over 78 according to the World Bank, compared to about 76 in the United States.
Other Publications
- ByteDance Steps Up AI Chip Efforts — TikTok’s Parent Company, ByteDance, Is Accelerating Efforts To Make Its Own Artificial Intelligence Chips As It Looks For An Edge Over Its Rivals In China’s AI Chatbot Market.
