Asia Pacific

China Prioritises Consumer Spending Ahead of Technology as Economic Worries Weigh

Spurring reluctant Chinese consumers to spend has been elevated to the top of Beijing's to-do list for 2025, leap-frogging technology and industrial production, as lawmakers look to rectify imbalances in the world's second-largest economy, Reuters reported. Chinese Premier Li Qiang's report on Wednesday to the annual meeting of the country's parliament on major tasks for 2025 promised a "special action plan" for vigorously boosting consumption and stimulating domestic demand as the country set a roughly 5% growth target for 2025.
China
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Australia’s Economy Gathers Momentum as Fresh Storms Brew

Australia’s economy grew at a faster pace in the fourth quarter of 2024, shrugging off the threat of a recession just as the global outlook has dimmed amid a rapidly escalating trade war led by the U.S., and a sharp rise in geopolitical risks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The economy grew 0.6% sequentially in the December quarter, and by 1.3% from a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. The economy had clocked an annual growth rate of 0.8% in the prior quarter.
Australia
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Country Garden Sales Slump Drags On Amid Broader Home Struggles

Country Garden Holdings Co.’s sales slump continued in February, as new home transactions saw only a tepid recovery across China and homebuyers shifted to state builders, Bloomberg News reported. Contracted sales dropped 38% from a year earlier to 2.3 billion yuan ($317 million), following a 59% year-on-year drop in January, Bloomberg calculations based on corporate filings show. Sales were little changed from the previous month. China is trying to put a floor under the real estate meltdown amid weak domestic demand and a worsening job situation.
China
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Trump Triggers Trade War, Price Hikes with Tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico

U.S. President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%, sparking trade wars that could slam economic growth and lift prices for Americans still smarting from years of high inflation, Reuters reported. The tariff actions, which look set to upend nearly $2.2 trillion in annual U.S. trade with its top three trading partners, went live at 12:01 a.m. (0501 GMT).
United States
Canada
China
Mexico
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