China

Factory activity in China suffered an unexpected fall in May, as the country’s long-running property crisis continues to undermine business and consumer outlook. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed that the official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to 49.5 in May from 50.4 in April. The disappointing number, below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction, was well under analysts’ forecast of 50.4. It adds to a series of recent indicators showing the $18.6 trillion economy is struggling to get back on its feet, eroding optimism seen after better-than-expected output and trade data. ALSO SEE: After Chips, China to Pour Millions Into Solid-State Batteries “I think the data particularly reflects soft domestic demand, the housing...

In the face of China's escalating economic crisis, its citizens are innovating to survive. Businesses are adapting, and communal living spaces are emerging as a response to soaring rent costs. Despite the Chinese Communist Party's attempts to stimulate the economy, the impact has been negligible. The advent of the "new sharing economy" has seen the rise of shared storefronts, employees, and even beds, as a means to mitigate costs. The disparity between the official narrative and the lived reality is stark, revealing a nation grappling with economic turmoil, caught between its aspirations and the harsh economic realities. In the first quarter of 2024 China's official GDP data showed a growth of 5.3% but this figure starkly contrasts with the sentiments of the people. Despite the Chinese...

BEIJING/BRUSSELS, May 29 (Reuters) - The European Commission's expected move to hike tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles is set to kick off a round of talks that Chinese executives hope will soften the blow for the world's biggest EV industry. The provisional tariffs, expected to be announced by June 5, will be a sticker shock representing billions of dollars in new costs for Chinese electric car makers. But both Europe and China have reasons for wanting to strike a deal. China’s EV industry needs profitable exports to the world's third-largest economy to counter falling margins at home, while German automakers want access to China's auto market and EV partnerships to drive costs down. Every additional 10% in European Union tariffs on top of the existing 10% levy would cost C...

Financial security has become an indispensable part of China’s national security discourse since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Rising geopolitical tensions with the US since 2018 and the West’s financial sanctions against Russia have further incentivised Chinese policy-makers to fortify the economy by diluting the dollar’s centrality and developing an alternative system. To this end, the Chinese government has pursued three primary strategies. First, China has supported and promoted regional and multilateral currency and financial co-operation through regional or non-western partnerships. In 2000, it supported the launch of the Chiang Mai Initiative in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis and the Bank for International Settlements’ Renminbi Regional Liquidity Arrangement in 2...

BRUSSELS — What do vanilla, steel pipes and electric cars have in common? You guessed it: The European Union is investigating imports of these goods from China to find out whether they are being sold below cost or are being unfairly subsidized by Beijing. China, in return, suspects Europe of dumping premium cognacs on its market — and is dropping heavy hints that European luxury cars and pork meat could soon face restrictions. The tit-for-tat dynamics suggest that the EU — which last year ran a bilateral trade deficit in goods of nearly €300 billion and now wants to narrow that gap — may soon slide into a trade war with China. But are they in one already? We’ll find out soon enough. Here’s POLITICO’s take on how this could play out: Why is everyone talking about Chinese car...

Beijing has launched its most ambitious plan yet to rescue its property market, a development that investors have eagerly anticipated for months. But it’s far from certain that the measures will work. The package is centered around Beijing’s adoption of a policy that has already been tested in a major city — asking local governments to buy unsold homes from developers and convert them into social affordable housing. It also features a reduction in mortgage interest rates and downpayment ratios, and more importantly, 300 billion yuan ($41.5 billion) in cheap central bank cash to fund state purchases of unsold properties. The announcement last week swiftly followed an April meeting of the Politburo, China’s top ruling body, indicating that stabilizing the property sector has become a ...

The growing tensions between the West and China have taken a new turn this week, with Brussels officials being compelled to raid the offices of Nuctech, a Chinese security equipment maker company located in Europe. The reasons for the “unannounced investigation” are the prolonged concerns over China excessively and unduly subsidizing its firms to distort competition in the international market, dumping activities, and predating over the internal markets of Europe. Back in 2020, Nuctech was listed by the US amongst those needing stricter license requirements "for its involvement in activities that are contrary to the national security interests of the United States.” The raid comes under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which came into effect in July last year. FSR is the set of r...