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China’s economic landscape is facing mounting challenges as exports to the United States plummet and consumer prices decline, sparking fears of deflation. The latest trade data reveals that Chinese exports to the U.S. fell by 34.5% in May 2025, marking the sharpest drop in over five years. This decline comes despite a temporary trade truce …
China’s manufacturing activity took an unexpected hit in May 2025, marking its steepest decline since September 2022. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI fell to 48.3, signalling contraction for the first time in eight months. This downturn comes as U.S. tariffs begin to weigh heavily on Chinese exports, dampening global demand and disrupting supply chains. The …
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Despite the heavy tariffs imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, China’s industrial sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience. In April 2025, industrial profits rose by 3%, marking the second consecutive month of growth. This increase was largely driven by Beijing’s strategic policy measures, which cushioned the impact of the tariffs and supported private enterprises. In …
Continue reading “China’s industrial profit accelerates in April 2025 – despite Trump’s tariffs”
China’s economy showed signs of slowing in April 2025, with both retail sales and industrial output missing expectations. Retail sales grew 5.1% year-on-year, falling short of analysts’ forecasts of 5.5% growth. The slowdown reflects weak consumer sentiment, driven by deflationary pressures and uncertainty in the housing market. While categories like gold and jewellery (+25.3%) and …
The U.S. stock market surged as investors cheered a breakthrough in trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. The rollback of tariffs, announced as part of a new trade agreement, sent the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite soaring. The deal, which slashes ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on both sides, is seen as a major …
Continue reading “Trump tariff roll-back – a win for China? U.S. markets rejoice the ‘deal’”
In a surprising breakthrough, the United States and China have agreed to suspend most tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days, marking a significant step toward easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Following high-stakes negotiations in Geneva, representatives from both nations announced that reciprocal tariffs would be slashed from 125% to …
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Despite the weight of U.S. tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, China’s export sector has shown remarkable resilience, posting an 8.1% increase in April 2025 compared to the previous year. This surge comes as a surprise, surpassing economists’ expectations of a modest 1.9% rise. While China’s outbound shipments to the U.S. plunged by over 21%, …
Continue reading “China’s Exports Defy Tariff Pressures, Surge 8.1% in April”
China has reportedly announced a significant escalation in its trade dispute with the United States, declaring a 34% retaliatory tariff on all U.S. goods. This move, set to take effect on 10th April 2025 and comes in response to the sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this week. The Chinese Ministry of …
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China’s embrace of open-source artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the global AI landscape, challenging traditional notions of innovation and competitiveness in this rapidly evolving field. Traditionally, the AI sector has been dominated by proprietary models and closed-source systems, particularly in the U.S. However, China has made a strategic pivot towards open-source initiatives, driven by trailblazers …
Chinese tech giant Baidu has released two new free-to-use artificial intelligence models as it vies to regain its leading position in the country’s fiercely competitive AI space The Baidu models launched on Sunday 16th March 2025 included the company’s first reasoning-focused model and come ahead of plans to move towards an open-source strategy. However, analysts reportedly said that while the release …
Continue reading “Baidu, once China’s generative AI leader – is battling to regain its position”
China’s exports in the January 2025 to February 2025 period rose 2.3% in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, significantly undershooting expectations of a 5% increase That marked the slowest growth since April 2024 last year when exports increased by just 1.5% on the year, according to recently released data. Imports surprised markets by …
Continue reading “China’s exports miss forecasts as U.S. tariffs bite -imports record sharp decline”
China has unveiled plans for 2025, announcing a 7.2% increase in defence spending alongside a GDP growth target of around 5% These decisions, revealed during the annual National People’s Congress in Beijing, reflect the nation’s strategic priorities amid a challenging and fast changing global landscape. The 7.2% rise in defence spending mirrors last year’s increase, …
The escalating AI competition between the U.S. and China has taken a new turn with the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that has introduced a low-cost AI model capable of rivaling the performance of OpenAI’s models. This development has significant implications for data centres and the broader technology sector. The rise of DeepSeek …
China Launches Probes into Google and Apple Over Antitrust Concerns China has recently initiated investigations into both Google and Apple, raising concerns over potential antitrust violations. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) is considering whether to formally investigate Apple’s App Store practices, particularly focusing on the fees Apple charges and its policies that block …
U.S. technology stocks plunged as Chinese startup DeepSeek sparked concerns over competitiveness in AI and America’s lead in the sector, triggering a global sell-off DeepSeek launched a free, open-source large-language model in late December 2024, claiming it was developed in just two months at a cost of under $6 million. The developments have stoked concerns about the …
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China’s economy expanded by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, surpassing market expectations, as a series of stimulus measures propelled the economy to meet Beijing’s growth target This final-quarter surge helped elevate China’s full-year GDP growth to 5.0% in 2024, with the official target of around 5%. In December 2024, retail sales increased by 3.7% from …
Hybrid-powered vehicles are becoming more popular than battery-only ones in China, according to latest full-year reports, even as consumers move away from fossil-fuel-only cars. Market leader BYD reported that well over half of the 4.3 million passenger cars it sold in 2024 were hybrid-powered, marking a significant reversal from 2023. Chinese electric car start-ups that …
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China has reportedly initiated a probe into Nvidia, the US computer chip manufacturer, over purported breaches of anti-monopoly regulations. The company’s shares fell by over 3% following the announcement, signalling the latest development in the ongoing tech conflict between the U.S. and China over the profitable semiconductor market. Over recent weeks, the U.S. imposed stricter …
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In October 2024, China’s industrial profits fell by 10% compared to the previous year, indicating that the stimulus measures have not yet countered the downturn in corporate earnings. This decline represents the third consecutive month of falling profits, succeeding a 27% year-on-year drop in September 2024, which was the most significant decrease since March 2020. …
China exports reportedly rose by 12.7% year on year to $309.06 billion in October 2024 – the highest jump since March 2023 when they rose 14.8% according to recent data reports. Imports, however, declined by a more-than-expected 2.3% in October, according to customs data. The world’s second-largest economy is facing challenges with weakening domestic consumption …
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China’s factory activity jumped back into expansion among smaller manufacturers in October 2024, according to a private survey report released on Friday 1st November 2024. In October 2024, the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index reached 50.3, surpassing the prediction of 49.7. The index stood at 49.3 in September 2024, 50.4 in August, and 49.8 in …
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Apple has returned to the top five smartphone vendors in China’s market during the third quarter, lifted by the release of the iPhone 16, according to data. Apple’s shipment growth remained steady year-on-year in the Q2, securing the company a second-place rank by market share in Q3. Following Apple, Huawei held the third position with …
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In September 2024, China’s industrial profits fell at the fastest rate since the pandemic of 2020 began, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics Following a 17.8% decrease in August 2024, profits in September 2024 plummeted by 27.1% from the previous year, reportedly the most significant drop since the 34.9% decline in March 2020, according …
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a warning about the potential decline of China’s property market while reducing its growth forecast for the world’s second-largest economy. In a report published Tuesday, The IMF has reduced its growth forecast for China this year to 4.8%, which is 0.2 percentage points below its July projection. For 2025, …
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China on Monday 21st October 2024 lowered its main benchmark lending rates by 0.25% The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has announced a reduction in the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) to 3.1% and the five-year LPR to 3.6%. The one-year LPR affects corporate and most household loans in China, whereas the five-year LPR is …
China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday that the GDP growth for the third quarter was 4.6% year-on-year, marginally above the 4.5% forecasted by economists. But slightly lower than the second quarter’s year-on-year growth of 4.7%. In terms of quarterly growth, the third quarter experienced a 0.9% increase, which is higher than the 0.7% …
Continue reading “China reports GDP growth of 4.6% – above expectations”