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

• Audi Cuts Guidance on China Woes and Escalating Geopolitical Tensions — China deliveries fell 19%, while deliveries in North America, excluding Mexico, were 17% lower on year.
• Chip Maker Soars 466% on Debut to Become No. 1 in China Stock Market — Beijing-backed CXMT has $484 billion market cap after first trading day and gains share in global memory business.
• U.S. and China Are Jockeying for Drone Supremacy on Mount Everest — Washington is seeking an edge for American technology in the race to support climbers. But China had a head start.
• Trump Caught Between Apple and Micron in Fight Over Chinese Chips — Two of the president’s priorities—cutting prices for U.S. consumers and increasing domestic semiconductor output—come into conflict.
• Market-Friendly Chinese Securities Regulator Faces Communist Party Probe — Fang Xinghai is well-known ​t​o Western investors a​s an informed voice.

The Financial Times

• How China exploits EU divisions over trade — Individual member states and companies vulnerable to coercion from Beijing, say analysts.
• China’s industrial profits grow at slowest pace this year — Official data highlights uneven earnings rebound among manufacturers.
• Chinese chip champion CXMT soars 466% in market debut — Tech group briefly becomes China’s most valuable listed company in mainland’s biggest IPO since 2010.
• China pours funding into green energy deals as Iran war hits oil demand — Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative takes advantage of rise in appetite for renewables as Middle East conflict drags on.
• Opinion: What is the risk of using Chinese open AI models like Kimi K3? — The real problem is not overseas open-source but lack of co-ordination to protect infrastructure in the face of cyber attacks. By Samm Sacks.

The New York Times

• Chinese Chip Giant’s Stock Soars 470% in Start of Trading, Amid A.I. Race — The meteoric rise on its first day of trading catapulted CXMT, China’s leading memory chip maker, to being the most valuable company.
• Silicon Valley Splits Over Closing the Borders to Chinese A.I. — Anthropic and OpenAI are clashing with the rest of the tech industry over whether “open-source” models from China should be freely available.
• China Wields Its Rare-Earths Leverage Over Europe With Export Controls — Beijing banned shipments of important supplies to 14 companies on the cutting edge of chemicals processing, electric motors and defense.
• Opinion: A Historic Shift Is Underway in Asia — A historic shift has gathered pace across Asia this summer. By Jennifer Kavanagh.

Caixin

• Visa, LianLian Automate Cross-Border B2B Payment With AI Agent — The transaction, announced Friday, allowed a small enterprise to use LianLian’s AI agent, LoopXPay.
• Flash Flood at Campsite in Northwestern China Kills 10, Injures 23 — A sudden flash flood tore through a popular campsite in Gansu province in northwestern China on Sunday afternoon.
• Hong Kong Sentences Chinese Official’s Son to Prison in Money-Laundering Scheme — A Hong Kong court sentenced the son of a former senior Chinese official to nearly seven years in prison on Thursday.
• Li Auto Launches First Overseas Assembly Plant in Kazakhstan — Li Auto Inc. will begin manufacturing vehicles in Kazakhstan through a partnership with local automaker Allur.

South China Morning Post

• Chinese scientists turn to bamboo to strengthen the Great Green Wall — Researchers are working on ways to use the fast-growing plant in the fight against desertification in China’s arid north.
• China cracks down on offshore trusts with new tax rules for the wealthy — Beijing’s new tax rules aim to close loopholes and boost fiscal revenue amid slowing economic growth and rising fiscal burdens.
• China’s ‘K-shaped’ economy is divided not just by sector, but geography — The divide between China’s booming tech industry and struggling consumer sector has drawn attention. But regional disparities are also widening.
• Fake ICE raids and kidnapping drills: how Chinese teens prepare for US college — As Trump’s toughening rules spark anxiety, Chinese parents pay for camps teaching how to survive being seized by gunmen or ‘hidden dangers’.

Nikkei Asia

• Beijing-backed Taiwan unification film shelved before release — Historical epic may have been deemed too sensitive amid rising strait tensions.
• Toys R Us Japan taps China toymakers as ‘kidults’ reshape market — Retailer aims to triple segment’s share of sales as grown-ups drive growth.
• Shein IPO set to test investor demand as trade barriers rise — Draft prospectus notes Q1 loss, EU tariff hit ahead of high-profile Hong Kong debut.

Bloomberg

• CXMT Founder Pledges $5.6 Billion to Workers After China AI Chipmaker’s IPO — Zhu Yiming’s fortune soared nearly 300% to $13.9 billion after his CXMT Corp. debuted in Shanghai, and he plans to give 40% of that as a bonus to employees.
• First US LNG Shipment to China in a Year to Be Re-Exported — If the shipment were imported into the local market, the Chinese buyer would need to pay a 25% tariff on the fuel.
• China’s Moonshot to Release Breakthrough AI Model for Download — The release of Kimi K3 has triggered a reaction in the AI industry, with the model’s performance demonstrating that Chinese-made models are closing the gap on American leaders.
• Six Networks: Inside China’s Trillion-Dollar Bet to Wire Its Economy for an AI Era — Beijing is betting that success won’t solely depend on advanced chips and AI models, but also on the physical systems that support them.

Reuters

• Hong Kong IPO-bound Shein’s management and ownership structure — Shein’s draft prospectus for a Hong Kong market listing has for the first time shed light on the top management and ownership structure of the online fast-fashion retailer.
• Trump may need to allow Chinese minerals as US industry struggles to meet 2027 deadline — US minerals, magnet capacity not enough to match demand.
• China’s industrial profit growth moderates as exports cushion uneven recovery — Profits at China’s industrial firms grew at a ‌solid, though slower, pace as resilient exports helped cushion sluggish domestic demand.
• Stranded tourists evacuated from China’s famed Jiuzhaigou World Heritage site after mudslides, heavy rain — The closures come as China ​issued its highest alert for flash-floods across multiple provinces.

Other Publications

• The Washington Post: Opinion: Trump’s unpredictability and China’s bullying force a reaction in Asia — Governments across the region are assuming more responsibility for their countries’ security. By Craig Singleton.
• Rest of World: In China, people are renting out their faces to AI — New platforms are paying people to license their likeness for AI-generated dramas and ads, creating a new marketplace for biometric identity.
• Politico: Trump administration marshals allies for 6G race with China — More than 20 countries are joining a Trump administration initiative to coordinate next-generation wireless policy, standards and security before 6G reaches consumers.