China’s securities regulator has called on the country’s 160 mutual fund houses to establish a performance-based salary mechanism, as part of efforts to uproot elitism from the industry. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has drawn up guidelines governing asset managers’ pay perks, suggesting that the performance of the funds they run should factor up to 80 per cent in determining their annual salaries, according to a report on Monday by the official Securities Times. The...

China’s commerce minister has urged the country to push forward with opening-up policies over the next five years to reshape China’s role in the global economy while bolstering domestic consumption, as Beijing gears up for one of its most important economic planning meetings of the year. Commerce Minister Wang Wentao highlighted China’s commitment to open markets and multilateral trade in an article published in the Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, People’s Daily, on Monday. His remarks...

Emmanuel Macron has warned Beijing that Europe would be forced to retaliate with “strong measures” against Chinese goods – including punitive tariffs modelled after US policy – if a trade imbalance between the two sides remains unaddressed well into 2026. Back in Paris, fresh from a diplomatic visit to China that ended on Friday, the French president told business newspaper Les Echos that China was “effectively killing their own customers” by running unsustainable surpluses while curbing...

Spain’s ambitious multi-billion-euro plan to become Europe’s leading player in the electric vehicle market presents a golden opportunity for Chinese car brands, which could be vital to the strategy’s success, according to analysts. The Spain Auto 2030 Plan, presented by Madrid on Wednesday, seeks to mobilise government funding to provide consumer subsidies, support the construction of charging stations and help the Spanish car industry – which drives about 10 per cent of the country’s economic...

China has pledged to better coordinate its domestic economic work to account for international trade turbulence next year, with a high-level decision-making body calling for the promotion of “effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth” in the country’s economy. After a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo on Monday, the 24-member body said China would “seek progress while maintaining stability” in next year’s economic work, and continue to exert a “more...

China has reached a new trade surplus milestone, surpassing last year’s record to hit an all-time high of US$1.076 trillion in the first 11 months of the year – driven by extensive efforts to diversify export markets and supply chains amid uncertainties from US President Donald Trump’s tariff war. The trade surplus from January to November was higher than the previous full-year record of US$992.2 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, the trade surplus for the first 10 months of this year totalled US$964.8...

State-owned Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) plans to build the world’s first nuclear-powered container vessel, a move that would cement China’s dominance in an industry increasingly shifting to renewable energy. Lin Qingshan, vice-president of the Shanghai-based shipbuilder, told the Post on Thursday that a 25,000-container vessel was being designed, adding that these next-generation ships would use nuclear power. Construction could start in 10 years’ time, he said. “We will also invest in building...