Mexican lawmakers are slated to begin debate this week on a bill to raise tariffs on goods from China and other Asian countries, three ruling party lawmakers told Reuters, amid fierce opposition from China and Mexican business groups. The proposal would raise tariffs by up to 50% on imports of automobiles, textiles, clothing, plastics, steel and other products from China and other Asian countries that do not currently have a trade pact with Mexico, including India, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Japan’s economy shrank in the three months through September, the government confirmed in a revised report, giving some justification for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s stimulus package announced last month, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product fell at an annualized pace of 2.3% in the third quarter, as revised figures showed business spending and housing investment came in weaker than preliminary figures. The contraction was deeper than the initial reading of a 1.8% fall, and was the first in six quarters.

Nations are currently competing to harness the power of artificial intelligence and digitalisation. China and the United States are at the forefront of the race, while the European Union is more heavily focused on ethical regulation and digital rights, EuroNews.com reported. For emerging economies, entering the race signals an attempt to shift the global power dynamics in their favour, seeking to narrow the development gap. For the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, it’s also a means to branch out from its raw materials-based economy, a model which cannot last forever.

When India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was introduced in 2016, it replaced a fragmented web of recovery laws with a single economic logic: fast resolution would preserve value. Nearly a decade later, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has concluded that each of the Code's core pillars, speed, certainty and creditor control, is now under strain, the Economic Times of India reported. Over 30,600 insolvency cases are pending before the National Company Law Tribunal, which operates with only about 30 fully functional benches.

Parliament has fast-tracked a major overhaul of Fiji’s 81-year-old bankruptcy system, referring the new Personal Insolvency, Financial Rehabilitation and Entrepreneurial Rescue Bill 2025 to the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights for urgent review next year, FijiTimes.com reported. The Bill aims to give struggling individuals and small business owners a clear path to recover financially, with what Government calls a “modern approach to personal insolvency”.

China’s exports returned to growth in November following an unexpected contraction the month before. Shipments to the United States, however, dropped nearly 29% from a year earlier, marking the eighth straight month of double-digit declines, EuroNews.com reported. Overall exports from China in November were 5.9% higher than last year in dollar terms, according to customs data released Monday. The total came to $330.3 billion (€283.21bn), exceeding economists’ estimates and signalling an improvement from a 1.1% contraction in October.

China's annual car sales dropped 8.5% in November in a second straight monthly decline, for their biggest fall in 10 months, data showed on Monday, amid a waning scramble to buy vehicles before government subsidies dwindle at year-end, Reuters reported. Car sales in the world's biggest auto market stood at 2.24 million last month, following October's slide of 0.8%, according to the data from the China Passenger Car Association.

Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines said on Monday it has signed an agreement to acquire the biggest Czech airline, Smartwings, along with its owner, Czech Airlines, from Prague City Air, the Associated Press reported. Pegasus said that the deal, which is worth 154 million euros (almost $180 million) was a “step forward in our continued global growth journey.” The process of transferring the ownership of Czech Airlines should be completed in 12 months, Smartwings spokeswoman Vladimíra Dufková said.

Japan's economic revitalisation minister, Minoru Kiuchi, called on the central bank to closely communicate with the government in setting monetary policy on Friday, but did not voice opposition to a near-term interest rate hike, Reuters reported. Asked about growing prospects of an interest rate hike by the central bank in December, Kiuchi said that specific policy means was for the Bank of Japan to decide.

Japanese household spending unexpectedly slumped at the fastest pace in nearly two years in October, government data showed Friday, raising concerns about the economic outlook as the Bank of Japan gears up for a rate hike as early as this month, Reuters reported. Consumer spending fell 3.0% in October from a year earlier, internal affairs ministry data showed, the first decrease in six months and falling at the steepest pace since January 2024. It was worse than the median market forecast for a 1.0% rise.