Weak demand leads to China-US freight rate cuts despite Red Sea crisis

Weak demand leads to China-US freight rate cuts despite Red Sea crisis

Cargo ships dock at the Longtan Container Terminal of Nanjing Port to load and unload containers in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, Sept 6, 2023. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images A slowdown in demand for products manufactured in Asia has ocean carriers reducing freight rates on shipping routes from China to the West Coast and … Read more

Blinken Calls On Top China Official To Maintain “Stability” As Taiwan Votes

Blinken Calls On Top China Official To Maintain “Stability” As Taiwan Votes

Washington: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Beijing to maintain cross-strait stability on Friday during a meeting with a senior Chinese official, hours before voters in Taiwan headed to polls to choose a new president.Blinken, briefly back in Washington in between his latest Middle East crisis tour and a trip to the World Economic … Read more

China vows to ‘smash independence plots’ as Taiwan election nears – National

China vows to ‘smash independence plots’ as Taiwan election nears – National

Tens of thousands of people will attend final pre-election rallies in Taiwan on Friday ahead of critical presidential and parliamentary polls, as China’s defence ministry warned it would “smash any Taiwan independence plots.” Taiwan, a neighbouring island China claims as its own, has been a democratic success story since holding its first direct presidential election in … Read more

White House prepares for Taiwan presidential elections and ‘period of higher tension’

White House prepares for Taiwan presidential elections and ‘period of higher tension’

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ week in Woodside, California, Nov. 15, 2023. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images The Biden administration doubled down on its support for Taiwan’s democratic process ahead of a presidential election on the island that will serve … Read more

Sanctioned Western tech is still entering Russia and powering its war

Sanctioned Western tech is still entering Russia and powering its war

Sefa Ozel | E+ | Getty Images Russia is still obtaining large volumes of Western technology critical to its war in Ukraine, even as sanctions show some sign of taking hold, new analysis shows. China, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have been increasingly important in funneling critical components to Russia, according to … Read more

Trump won’t pledge to divest from businesses if he wins second term

Trump won’t pledge to divest from businesses if he wins second term

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media at a Washington hotel, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, after attending a hearing before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals at the federal courthouse in Washington. Susan Walsh | AP Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday signaled that he plans to retain his stake in his business empire … Read more

Why the U.S. may extend its run as the world’s leading economy

Why the U.S. may extend its run as the world’s leading economy

The U.S., China and India may take turns leading the global economy this century, according to an analysis from the Centre for Economics and Business Research. The CEBR forecast suggests China could potentially take the top spot as the world’s largest economy by gross domestic product as early as 2037. The forecast also sees potentially strong … Read more

China and India can’t wean themselves off coal anytime soon

China and India can’t wean themselves off coal anytime soon

Man tending to sacks of coals. Dhiraj Singh | Bloomberg | Getty Images China and India’s growing economies will continue to fuel demand for coal even as they set ambitious renewable energy targets, according to experts. While China is the world’s largest energy consumer, India is ranked third globally, and both countries are the top … Read more

Xi Jinping elevates China’s ties with record number of nations to counter US

Xi Jinping elevates China’s ties with record number of nations to counter US

Chinese President Xi Jinping upgraded diplomatic ties with a record number of countries last year as he seeks to rally the Global South to help reshape the US-led world order. Beijing elevated the way it described ties with 17 countries and territories, most of them from the developing world, according to a Bloomberg analysis of … Read more

Is China’s consumption story over? Here’s what experts are saying

Is China’s consumption story over? Here’s what experts are saying

A woman waits on her bicycle to cross an intersection outside a new shopping mall in Beijing, China, on Sept. 13, 2023. Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images After a year of uneven and disappointing post-pandemic recovery in 2023, China’s consumer sentiment may finally start to improve this year. Last year, the … Read more