New Zealand’s economy is showing signs of a full blown recovery with manufacturing activity surging in December to its highest level since 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported. The BusinessNZ performance of manufacturing index rose 4.4 points to 56.1 points in December from November, well above the average of 52.5 points since the survey began. All five sub-index values were in expansion during December, led by new orders, which achieved its highest level of activity since July 2021.
Read more
South Korea is tightening its grip on how crypto platforms reach users, using app stores as an enforcement lever as regulators sharpen the boundary between compliant digital finance and unregistered crypto activity, Decrypt.com reported. The country has advanced legislation establishing a legal framework for security token offerings, creating a regulated pathway for blockchain-based issuance and trading of tokenized securities.
Read more
China announced on Wednesday the world’s largest trade surplus ever, even adjusting for inflation, as a tsunami of exports flooded markets around the world last year, the New York Times reported. China’s surplus, the value of goods and services it sold abroad versus its imports, reached $1.19 trillion, an increase of 20 percent from 2024, according to data released by the country’s General Administration of Customs. The number had already exceeded $1 trillion through November.
Read more
China’s auto exports surged 21% in 2025, driven by rising shipments of electric vehicles, while domestic demand slowed, an industry association said Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Confronted with grueling competition in an overcrowded domestic market, Chinese auto manufacturers have stepped up sales around the globe. As they expanded further into overseas markets last year, exports of new energy vehicles such as EVs and plug-in hybrids doubled from the previous year to 2.6 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Read more