The Chinese economy slowed noticeably in July, according to official statistics released on Friday, highlighting a complex set of challenges facing China amid growing global tensions over trade, the New York Times reported. The government attributed the slowdown partly to the trade war with the United States, though China’s economy is still suffering the overhang of a four-year-long crash in real estate values. What’s more, officials recently have taken deliberate steps to slow its factories as many countries have begun imposing tariffs on China’s massive and still rising exports.

China's new home prices fell again in July, dropping 0.3% on month, but declines eased slightly in major cities as more local governments rolled out incentives for homebuyers, though further support is still needed, Reuters reported. The month-on-month decline was calculated by Reuters, based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday. In June, prices fell 0.3%. China's property market has been stuck in a severe slump for more than four years, with declining prices, sales, new investment and construction starts weighing on economic growth.

Japan's economy grew much faster than expected in the second quarter as export volumes held up well against new U.S. tariffs, giving the central bank some of the conditions it needs to resume interest rate hikes this year, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.0% on an annualised basis, government data showed on Friday, marking the fifth straight quarter of expansion after the previous quarter's contraction was revised to growth. However, analysts warn global economic uncertainties fuelled by U.S.

Japan's government on Friday brushed aside rare and explicit comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who said the Bank of Japan was "behind the curve" on policy, which appeared to be aimed at pressuring the country's central bank into raising interest rates, Reuters reported. However, some analysts saw Bessent's comments, coupled with unexpectedly solid domestic growth data, as heightening the chance of a near-term rate hike by the BOJ - a view that pushed up Japanese government bond (JGB) yields and the yen on Friday. "It's a sign from the U.S.

In the ongoing trade battles between the United States and China, one besieged front line runs through the factories, warehouses and ports of Thailand, the Washington Post reported. Under pressure to close tariff loopholes, officials in the Southeast Asian country are poring over receipts and cross-checking business registration documents from exporters who want to sell wire rods, steering wheels and hard disks to American buyers. They’re conducting spot checks at factories to verify that products claiming to be made in Thailand are genuinely manufactured in the country.

President Trump recently delayed for 90 days raising tariffs on China to give the two sides more time to negotiate a trade deal. Where the sides ultimately end up is an open question: The president hasn’t said how much more he will impose on China beyond the 30% currently in place if a deal isn’t reached, the Wall Street Journal reported. But this much is clear: The U.S.’s reliance on Chinese goods has fallen off since Trump first put tariffs on China in 2018. China now accounts for only about 12% of all U.S.

Pressure is mounting within the Bank of Japan to ditch a vaguely defined gauge of inflation as worries about second-round price effects prompt some board members to call for a more hawkish communication of policy and a clearer path to future rate hikes, Reuters reported. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has justified going slow on rate hikes by explaining that "underlying inflation," which focuses on the strength of domestic demand and wages, remains short of the central bank's 2% target.

Japan's annual wholesale inflation slowed for the fourth straight month in July, data showed on Wednesday, underscoring the central bank's view that upward price pressure from raw material costs will dissipate, Reuters reproted. But the wholesale prices of food and agriculture goods continued to rise in a sign of broadening price pressure that will likely keep alive market expectations of an interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ).