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 Policy Meeting Next Week Can Tip Economic Recovery Scales, or Disappoint Again — Markets hope for a blockbuster fiscal package aimed at the economy’s weak spots. But optimists have been burned before and there’s a higher degree of skepticism this time around.
- Why the U.S. Military Has to Hitch a Ride on Commercial Ships — The Pentagon’s limited capacity to support a potential China conflict is forcing planners to tap private cargo companies.
- U.S. Drugmakers Are Breaking Up With Their Chinese Supply-Chain Partners — U.S. drugmakers and biotechs have come to rely on Chinese partners. Now, some of them are looking for alternatives as geopolitical tensions rise.
- China Manufacturing Activity Gauge Adds to Tentative Signs of Recovery — A private gauge of China’s manufacturing activity signaled that the sector returned to growth in October, in a potential sign that Beijing’s more aggressive efforts to boost the economy are having an effect.
- Hong Kong’s Esquel Group Added to U.S. Forced Labor Ban List — Esquel Group, an apparel maker and onetime supplier to Nike and Tommy Hilfiger, will be banned from importing into the U.S. over alleged ties to China-based forced labor, officials said.
- In Shanghai, Halloween Passes Quietly a Year After Boisterous Celebrations — Authorities tightened security in an apparent attempt at avoiding howls of defiance.
- AstraZeneca Probe in China Adds to Concerns for Foreign Businesses — An investigation involving the drugmaker’s China president is the latest crackdown to trigger uncertainty in the industry about Beijing’s intentions.
- Temu Faces EU Probe Over Failure to Stop Illegal Sales — The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it had opened formal proceedings against the Chinese e-commerce platform to assess whether it may have breached Europe’s digital services regulations.
- Opinion: Does Anyone Remember Peng Shuai? — The tennis star’s case affirms the dangers of engaging with China. By Nicholas Tomaino.
The Financial Times
- US Space Force warns of ‘mind-boggling’ build-up of Chinese capabilities — Agency chief Chance Saltzman says Washington must co-operate with allies to counter threats from China and Russia.
- Western consumer groups unconvinced by China’s economic stimulus efforts — Falling sales for luxury, beauty and beer companies fuel doubts about Beijing’s attempts to boost confidence.
- Smith & Nephew cuts outlook on China weakness — FTSE 100 medical manufacturer reports price pressures and worse-than-expected demand.
- Opinion: Has China already won the EV race? — If carmakers believe the auto transition must happen at some point, delaying simply puts them further behind. By Robin Harding.
- Opinion: Cyber security companies are thriving — even when they fail — This may be the ultimate industry for providing very lucrative but ineffective solutions. By John Thornhill.
- Opinion: Trump’s trade remedies reflect America’s troubled reality — Our partners shouldn’t blame us for a shift aimed at solving the problems they have caused. By Robert Lighthizer.
- Opinion: The perfect storm for European automakers — Volkswagen and its EU rivals have allowed China to steal a march in EVs. By The Editorial Board.
The New York Times
- U.S. Factory Towns Laid Low by the ‘China Shock’ Are Benefiting From New Investments — Communities that suffered the worst of plant closings in recent decades are now gaining an outsize share of fresh investment and new jobs.
- Trump Had an ‘America First’ Foreign Policy. But It Was a Breakdown in American Policymaking. — A second Donald J. Trump presidency would almost certainly mark a return to an era of foreign policy decrees, untethered to any policy process, at a moment of maximum international peril.
- U.S. Turns to China to Stop North Korean Troops From Fighting for Russia — American agencies have assessed that China dislikes the growing partnership between Russia and North Korea. The State Department has raised the troop issue with Chinese diplomats.
Caixin
- How the Wheels Could Fall Off China’s Road Connectivity Plan — Doubts emerge over the government’s capacity to finance ‘smart road’ projects without sufficient private sector buy-in as annual spending could reach over half-a-trillion yuan.
- AI Is Taking Internet Advertising by Storm, but at What Cost? — The technology is cutting the cost of ad generation, while raising the anxiety levels of professionals in the industry.
- Saudi Tourism Minister Pushes for Visa-Free Travel With China — The two countries should further relax visa requirements for each other’s citizens, Ahmed Al Khateeb tells Caixin.
South China Morning Post
- Thailand set to be first country to join Chinese and US-led space initiatives — The Thai government has announced it will join the US-led Artemis Accords, despite also working with China on the ILRS.
- Xi Jinping wants ‘high-quality jobs’ for China’s struggling youth — The Chinese president issued a call to action to address youth unemployment in a widely publicised article on Friday.
- Beijing official tells media from both sides of Taiwan Strait to advance reunification — More than 110 media representatives and academics from both sides attend Cross-Strait Media Summit in Beijing to discuss ‘new landscape’.
- China’s tech factories will be a target, for Harris or Trump. Is it too late to matter? — Both White House candidates would attempt to contain China’s advanced manufacturing, but the country’s industrial ascent appears undeniable.
- Opinion: Can the dignity of tomatoes be protected against Chinese exports? — Tomatoes are only China’s 708th biggest export. But the world is realising China can swamp markets with even small output shifts. By David Dodwell.
Nikkei Asia
- Germany’s reliance on China, Russia was like being ‘doped’: vice chancellor — Berlin to push ahead with derisking, doesn’t face structural recession: Robert Habeck.
- IMF sees ‘resilient growth but higher risks’ in Asia-Pacific — Intensified China-U.S. trade tensions threaten regional growth.
- Toyota group parts makers cut profit forecasts on China troubles — Denso expects difficulty to continue for ‘a long time’.
Bloomberg
- Emirates Adds Capacity, Bigger Jets to China Amid Higher Demand — Emirates is planning a 40% increase in flights to China on “healthy” demand, one of the airline’s top executives said, a contrast with other foreign carriers that are pulling back from the world’s second-biggest economy.
- The US Is Squandering Its Hidden Advantage Over Xi Jinping — America’s soft power influence over China’s 1.4 billion people is being quickly eroded by the vitriol and suspicion seeded by Donald Trump eight years ago.
- The Epicenter of China’s Gold Craze Is a Former Fishing Village — Demand for the precious metal has shoppers flocking to a jewelry hub in Shenzhen.
- China Home Sales See First Monthly Rise in 2024 on Stimulus — China’s residential property sales rose in October, the first year-on-year increase of 2024, as the government’s latest stimulus blitz brought back buyers.
- Opinion: China Could Regret Not Buying More Trump Insurance — Beijing thinks it can handle a return of the former US president without easing tensions with Europe and Japan. That’s a mistake. By Minxin Pei.
Reuters
- Chinese researchers develop AI model for military use on back of Meta’s Llama — Pentagon spokesman John Supple said the Department of Defense recognised that open-source models had both benefits and drawbacks, and that “we will continue to closely monitor and assess competitors’ capabilities”.
- US envoy sees some ‘concerning signals’ in Russia-China military cooperation in Arctic — Russia and the United States are among eight countries with territory in the resource-rich Arctic. China calls itself a “near-Arctic” state and wants to create a “Polar Silk Road” in the Arctic.
- China’s sanction-hit tech industry puzzles over impact of Trump, Harris presidencies — Observers expect fresh restrictions to curb advances at a time when Beijing is more assertive in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, increasing navy and air force activity around Chinese-claimed Taiwan and strengthening ties with an at-war Moscow.
- China pivot from US farm imports bolsters it against trade war risks — Since Trump was in the White House, China has slashed its dependence on U.S. farm goods in a concerted effort to beef up national security, including food self-sufficiency.
- How Asian pharma suppliers cash in on Ozempic copies — These players take advantage of global patent exemptions allowed for less developed countries and instances of loose patent enforcement in countries including in China, the Reuters review shows.
Other Publications
- Foreign Policy: Markets Are Underpricing the Possibility of a U.S.-China Economic War — A Trump victory could cause relations to rapidly spiral downward.
- Foreign Affairs: Xi Jinping’s Axis of Losers — The Right Way to Thwart the New Autocratic Convergence.
- The Economist: China is tightening its grip on the world’s minerals — That is making Western policymakers anxious.
- The Guardian: The other November 5 election: China and the US look on as Palau votes — Brothers-in-law face off in a presidential battle over the economy, cost of living and relations with global powers.
