China has launched its first direct break-bulk shipping service to Peru’s Chancay port, as it steps up its trade, investment and influence in Latin America. A vessel operated by Cosco Shipping Specialised Carriers departed last week from Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province on its maiden voyage to the strategic gateway, with the journey expected to take about 32 days in total, according to local media outlet Suzhou Daily. The ship, named Greensuape, is carrying more than 30,000 tonnes of cargo,...

Despite its vague wording, the new China-US framework deal on popular video-sharing app TikTok represents an important step in advancing bilateral talks and keeping ties warm ahead of any future meetings between the world’s two largest economies, according to analysts. And they added that Beijing could potentially try to leverage the TikTok deal by seeking tariff cuts or relief from hi-tech export controls. Officials from both powers confirmed after negotiations in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday and...

President Xi Jinping has called for more efforts to develop a unified domestic market, arguing that it will be crucial to helping China secure an edge in international competition and meet its development goals. In an article published on Monday in Qiushi, the ruling Communist Party’s leading theoretical journal, the Chinese leader listed six key tasks, with measures to deal with excessive cutthroat competition at the forefront. Vicious price wars have broken out in several industries in recent...

The Australian government has unveiled a plan to improve domestic exporters’ access to the Chinese market after Beijing’s removal of trade barriers that previously affected A$20 billion (US$13.3 billion) worth of the country’s goods. The two-year Accessing New Markets Initiative will provide A$50 million of funding in an attempt to “build on” China’s recent scrapping of several trade restrictions affecting Australian products, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement on...

China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into analogue integrated circuit (IC) chips imported from the United States, saying they have “lowered and suppressed” the prices of domestic alternatives. The probe, requested by a provincial semiconductor association, was announced on Saturday, a day after Washington introduced its latest tech curbs on Chinese companies – and a day before the two economic powers began their fourth round of trade talks in Spain on Sunday. In this explainer, the...

Xpeng, part owned by Volkswagen Group, has begun production in Europe in partnership with a contract manufacturer in Austria, as mainland Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers make inroads into the continent and circumvent punitive tariffs. The Guangzhou-based carmaker said on Monday that it had started assembling the G6 and G9 SUVs at Magna Steyr’s plant in Graz. Xpeng did not elaborate on its planned output, but added that cooperation with its partner would deepen over time. “[The roll-out]...

China’s economy showed signs of strain in August, as sluggish domestic demand, headwinds from the US trade war and a prolonged property downturn continued to weigh on several major indicators. Retail sales, a major gauge of consumption, rose by 3.4 per cent in August from a year earlier, missing the 3.82 per cent forecast in a poll by financial data provider Wind and down from July’s 3.7 per cent growth, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. Fu Linghui, spokesperson...