We’re taking a little time this week to re-share one of our all-time favorite episodes: Why did Canada suddenly decide to open up its market to Chinese cars?

Earlier this month, Chinese carmaker Geely announced it would start selling in Canada in 2027. It's a huge shift for Canada, which once was aligned with the United States on keeping Chinese autos out. Now, the U.S. will be the only country on the continent with no Chinese vehicles. We're revisiting the discussion on the topic between writers Eliot Chen and Savannah Billman.

PLUS: The Wire China Podcast is moving to Tuesday! Make sure to subscribe via Substack to get episodes and transcripts right to your inbox: https://thewirechina.substack.com/

In 2022, memory chip manufacturer YMTC looked like it was on the way out. The Chinese chipmaker had just been hit with U.S. sanctions and lost a major contract with Apple. But four years later, YMTC is now the third largest memory chip maker in the world. How did it survive?

In this episode, reporters Rachel Cheung and Savannah Billman revisit her recent analysis of how YMTC survived not only U.S. sanctions, but the cutthroat competition and involution in the Chinese market.

Plus, Rachel and Savannah look at another dominant Chinese company, battery-maker CATL, and why it may yet survive its sudden drop in market value.

Read the pieces here:

https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/04/the-survivor/

https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/11/chinese-carmakers-try-to-break-free-from-the-catl-herd/

We also have a clip from our just-published interview with Gunnar Wiegand, a former EU diplomat, on the narrowly-avoided trade war between China and the EU.

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In 2021, a Chinese-American engineer founded a specialized semiconductor company in Belgium. A year later, a similar company opened in Fuzhou, China — partially owned by the same engineer. Was economic espionage involved?

Reporter Noah Berman is back this episode with news editor Andrew Peaple to discuss the evolving case of chipmakers BelGaN in Belgium and GaNkool in China. Belgian authorities are investigating whether the two companies share more than just a similar name. The investigation comes as European governments are grappling with their own trade and economic policies towards China, and as Beijing continues to seek self-reliance in key technologies like chips.

Read Noah's article: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/04/chips-china-and-trade-secrets-how-an-arrest-in-brussels-could-tie-them-together/

We also feature an excerpt from the upcoming Q&A with author Emily Feng on her new book "Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria's Civil War," which will be available later this month.

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