Vice-Premier He Lifeng has emphasised the need to diversify China’s export markets and sustain trade growth, while urging local-level officials to empower enterprises and enhance policy support to strengthen manufacturing. His remarks came during a three-day inspection tour that concluded on Thursday in the central provinces of Hubei and Hunan, where he learned about the operations of local trade logistics firms, export-oriented manufacturers and consumer-sector companies, according to...

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao called for China and the United States to make joint efforts to manage uncertainties and expand cooperation on trade during a meeting with the US ambassador to China, David Perdue, in Beijing on Thursday. The two countries should maintain a “correct understanding” of the fact that China and the US must find ways to coexist and that win-win outcomes could be achieved, Wang said, according to a statement released by the commerce ministry after the...

China is preparing for an unprecedented wave of new university graduates next summer – a record 12.7 million outgoing students – intensifying pressure on an already strained job market and a slowing economy. The 2026 cohort will be about 4 per cent larger than the 12.22 million graduates in 2025 – an additional 480,000 young people competing for jobs, according to the Ministry of Education. It announced the figures on Thursday, as it launched new campaigns to ensure sufficient opportunities. The...

Tesla’s reported plan to stop using Chinese-made components in US-built cars aligns with a “significant strategy” in national industrial policy, with some American giants seeking to “completely de-risk” supply chains amid an increasingly tense geopolitical climate, an automotive executive said. Curt Hopkins, CEO of automotive investment platform MCQ Markets in Miami, said Tesla appeared to be “developing a completely dual strategy, where in the US they’re going to de-China, diversify and make...

China’s lending since the turn of the century has been “vastly” larger than previously understood, with loans and grants increasingly going to developed countries including the United States – the largest recipient – according to a new report by an American university research team. Of the US$2.2 trillion disbursed by China’s “official sector” between 2000 and 2023, nearly US$202 billion went to projects in the US, the AidData research lab at Virginia-based university William & Mary found. “Our...

For years, many foreign companies treated China as a vast consumer base or a low-cost manufacturing hub. Now that paradigm is shifting dramatically. China is not just where multinationals scale production or sell at volume; it is increasingly where they make strategic decisions, engage in serious research and development and innovate in ways that will have a global impact. For example, take Toyota’s R&D centre in Changshu, Jiangsu province. Led by local engineers, it has helped develop electric...

China’s intake of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) surged to an all-time high in October as Western sanctions forced a retreat by other buyers and redirected cargoes, while analysts said that key drivers included discounted prices and Beijing’s shift to non-US suppliers. Chinese customs data released on Thursday showed that imports from Russia jumped by 76.7 per cent, year on year, to 1.3 million tonnes – the first time monthly volumes from across the northern border topped 1 million tonnes,...