Fraying ties between Beijing and the West have become the biggest worry for U.S. and European businesses in China, reports from a pair of business groups said this week. “This Beijing-Washington dialogue—they need to work this out." @Trefor1@AmChamShon.wsj.com/3ijoIZ9
@Trefor1@AmChamSh Worsening bilateral ties now overshadow the rise of Chinese competitors (58%), China’s slowing economy (49%) and increasing labor costs (38%) as the main source of anxiety for U.S. companies operating in China. @Trefor1on.wsj.com/3ijoIZ9
@Trefor1@AmChamSh The European Chamber is also concerned. “There now seems to be a growing list of sectors that either restrict foreign investment, or in which support is provided to China’s national champions to the extent that it squeezes out any potential…competition." on.wsj.com/3ijoIZ9
@Trefor1@AmChamSh Despite the politics, decoupling remains unlikely for most American businesses, with 59% expressing optimism about their prospects in China and 70% saying they have no intention of shifting production. “The growth story here in China is still very strong." on.wsj.com/3ijoIZ9
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China’s Export Machine Keeps Pumping Ahead of Trump Visit—After record trade surplus in 2025, new figures suggest tensions will persist
@LandersWSJ @TByGraceZhu wsj.com/economy/trade/… wsj.com/economy/trade/…
China’s shipments of goods abroad surged at the beginning of the year and its trade surplus rose, showing the country’s export juggernaut is chugging along ahead of President Trump’s visit to Beijing later this month. wsj.com/economy/trade/…
After China’s record $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025, the latest numbers suggested friction is likely to continue with the U.S., Europe and other trading partners. wsj.com/economy/trade/…
China Has Spent Years Preparing for the Iran Oil Crisis—Massive oil stockpiles and a shift to electric vehicles help insulate the economy from supply disruptions in the Mideast
@BrianSpegele wsj.com/world/china-ha… wsj.com/world/china-ha…
@BrianSpegele BEIJING—The turmoil in the global energy market from war in the Middle East is exactly the sort of emergency scenario that China has long been preparing for. wsj.com/world/china-ha…
@BrianSpegele Worried that conflict in the region could wreak havoc on its economy by cutting off its oil supply, Beijing has been spending lavishly to limit how much it needs to import, while building up large stockpiles and diversifying where it gets its energy from. wsj.com/world/china-ha…
FT op-ed: “China’s growth target is a global problem…The target is not based in economics. It’s a political goal…Pursuing that aim, Beijing has been overinvesting for years, but lately it has been dumping the excess output it can’t sell at home.” ft.com/content/cb69fb…
FT op-ed: “In the past, China’s export volumes rose with prices; this decade, Beijing has dropped export prices by nearly 20 per cent, producing a 40 per cent surge in volume…As a share of global GDP, no nation has ever had a larger trade surplus.” ft.com/content/cb69fb…
FT op-ed: “China’s dumping offensive is deindustrialising rival exporters the world over, idling car factories in Thailand and textile plants in Indonesia. Across Asia, nations where Chinese imports are rising fastest also…have the weakest job growth.” ft.com/content/cb69fb…
China’s Xi Places His Top General Under Investigation as Military Purges Heat Up—Gen. Zhang Youxia is most senior member of military hierarchy to face dismissal since fallout of 1989 Tiananmen protests
@ByChunHan @Lingling_Wei wsj.com/world/china/ch… wsj.com/world/china/ch…
@ByChunHan @Lingling_Wei Chinese leader Xi Jinping has placed his most senior general under investigation, extending a relentless crackdown on military corruption and disloyalty that has swept through the top ranks of one of the world’s most powerful armed forces. wsj.com/world/china/ch…
@ByChunHan @Lingling_Wei Gen. Zhang Youxia, the senior of two vice chairmen on the Communist Party’s top military decision-making body and China’s No. 1 general, is being probed for allegedly committing severe violations of party discipline and state laws. wsj.com/world/china/ch…
NYT: “China quietly mobilized thousands of fishing boats twice in recent weeks to form massive floating barriers of at least 200 miles long, showing a new level of coordination…to impose control in contested seas.”
@ChuBailiang @amy_changchien nytimes.com/interactive/20…
@ChuBailiang @amy_changchien Last week, about 1,400 Chinese vessels abruptly dropped their usual fishing activities or sailed out of their home ports and congregated in the East China Sea. By Jan. 11, they had assembled into a rectangle stretching more than 200 miles. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
@ChuBailiang @amy_changchien The Jan. 11 maneuver followed a similar operation last month, when about 2,000 Chinese fishing boats assembled in two long, parallel formations on Christmas Day. Each stretched 290 miles long, about the distance from New York City to Buffalo. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
NYT: The Pentagon and A.I. Giants Have a Weakness. Both Need China’s Batteries, Badly.—As warfare is reinvented in Ukraine, and Silicon Valley races to maintain its A.I. lead, China’s battery dominance is raising alarms far beyond the auto industry. nytimes.com/2025/12/23/cli…
Chinese battery dominance has long been a problem for auto manufacturing, but now is increasingly being viewed as a national security threat. Currently, U.S. military forces rely on Chinese supply chains for some 6,000 individual battery components. nytimes.com/2025/12/23/cli…
Fatih Birol, the I.E.A.’s executive director, likened the world’s reliance on China to Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. “Reliance for a strategic commodity or a technology on one single country, one single trade route,” he said, “is always risky.” nytimes.com/2025/12/23/cli…