The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan in the first half of 2025 rose to the highest level in 11 years, with those hurt by a labor shortage showing a notable increase, a survey by a credit research company showed Tuesday, Japan Today reported. The failures involving debts of at least 10 million yen were up 1.2 percent from the same period a year earlier, rising for the fourth consecutive year and reaching their highest level since 2014, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.

Chinese businesses and investors are primed for the yuan to stay steady for now and eventually depreciate as U.S. trade tensions drag on, and a string of measures and hints from monetary authorities suggest they may be on the money, Reuters reported. A growing pile of foreign exchange deposits at banks and a rise in currency swaps show Chinese corporates and households are wagering they can exchange their dollars for more yuan if they wait. That conviction, in the face of the U.S.

The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would seek to limit Chinese and foreign purchases of American farmland, citing a threat to national security, the New York Times reported. In a seven-point national security plan, the Agriculture Department said it would enhance public disclosures of foreign ownership of farmland, enact steeper penalties for false filings and work with Congress and states to ban purchases from foreign adversaries.

Sentiment in Japan's service sector improved slightly in June, a government survey showed on Tuesday, as solid demand for summer clothing and leisure offset the gloom from U.S. tariffs, Reuters reported. But corporate bankruptcy cases in the first half of this year rose 2.4% from a year earlier to hit a 12-year high of 5,003, a survey by private think tank Teikoku Databank showed, as rising raw material and labour costs hit margins. The batch of data highlight the fragile nature of Japan's economy, which is expected to see the strain from U.S.

Chinese government advisers are stepping up calls to make the household sector's contribution to broader economic growth a top priority at Beijing's upcoming five-year policy plan, as trade tensions and deflation threaten the outlook, Reuters reported. Leaders are gathering proposals for their 15th five-year plan, a voluminous document that lays out priorities up to 2030. The plan is expected to be endorsed at a December Communist Party conference and approved by parliament in March.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of FTX customer claims are at risk of being held up or potentially not being paid because the account holders live in China, Afghanistan or 47 other areas that restrict cryptocurrency activity, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A creditor trust set up by the defunct crypto exchange said last week that it shouldn’t make distributions to customers in those “potentially restricted” markets until it determines that it can do so without breaking foreign laws.

China has long been Taiwan’s most important trading partner, the main buyer of its exports and the place where many of its companies make their products, the Wall Street Journal reported. China is also Taiwan’s greatest threat and claims that the island democracy is part of its territory. Now, Taiwan’s ruling political party says it wants to do more to dismantle the commercial ties that for decades have propelled Taiwan’s economic growth. President Lai Ching-te is calling for companies that make semiconductors — Taiwan’s main industry — to stop buying from and selling to China.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other nations that would go into effect on Aug. 1, the Associated Press reported. Trump provided notice by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of the various countries. The letters warned them to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase tariffs.