China imposed trade restrictions on dozens of U.S. entities, including two producers of rare-earth minerals, in a sign that tensions between the two countries haven’t dimmed following the summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Wall Street Journal reported. Earlier this month, the Pentagon added a number of Chinese companies to a blacklist of entities that it said were linked to China’s military. On Monday, China’s Commerce Ministry responded by adding 10 U.S.
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As many as 100 million Chinese consumers are struggling to service their personal debt, fueling a largely hidden crisis that threatens Beijing's efforts to revive the world's second-largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Bad consumer loans from credit cards to mortgages have surged over the past few years. Non-performing household debt soared 21% last year to a record of at least 2.22 trillion yuan ($329 billion), according to Gavekal Dragonomics.
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European Union leaders will debate new and tougher measures on Thursday that could be needed to curb the bloc's growing trade deficit with China and its heavy reliance on the world's second-largest economy for rare earths and other critical supplies, Reuters reported. EU diplomats say there is a gradual convergence of views among the 27 EU members that there is a problem with the goods trade deficit with China, which now amounts to some €1 billion ($1.15 billion) per day. The situation is more critical as transatlantic tariffs diminish access to the U.S. market.
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China has taken the next step in its quest to put its financial markets on a par with the U.S. and make the yuan a global reserve currency, Bloomberg News reported. People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng unveiled measures on Wednesday aimed at upgrading the central bank's toolkit and making yuan-denominated assets more attractive to overseas investors. He hinted at a shift toward an overnight policy-rate framework, and launched a facility for foreign central banks and financial organizations to obtain yuan liquidity against government bond holdings.
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China’s consumer spending slowdown deepened in May as retail sales unexpectedly fell from a year earlier, in the latest sign that the country’s housing market crash has left millions of families reluctant to spend, the New York Times reported. Retail sales dropped 0.6 percent in May from the same month a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. It was the first year-over-year decline since December 2022, when a wave of coronavirus infections swept the country and kept consumers at home after Beijing abruptly dismantled its stringent “Covid zero” restrictions.
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A trade group representing U.S. shippers of grain, soybeans and other agricultural commodities say a push by Democrats to renew port taxes on Chinese ships docking at American ports could put some crop producers out of business, Freight Waves reported. Democratic Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts want the Trump administration to reinstate port fees on Chinese cargo vessels calling U.S. ports. The charges, which were implemented earlier this year, came after a U.S.
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China’s factory-gate inflation accelerated in May as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continued to drive up energy and commodity costs, the Wall Street Journal reported. The producer-price index jumped 3.9% from a year earlier in May, accelerating from a 2.8% increase in April, according to data released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. The data marks the third consecutive monthly rise, ending a grueling 41-month deflationary stretch.
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A Chinese buyer is taking over long-established chemicals company Perlon after the group fell into insolvency, the law firm overseeing the restructuring said on Monday, DPA International reported. The Perlon Group, which comprises seven companies in Germany, Poland and China, is being acquired by Wuxi Xingda Nylon Company, according to law firm SGP Schneider Geiwitz. The purchase price was not disclosed. Around 450 of the total of approximately 510 jobs at the group's three German sites are to be retained, and the sale has already been completed, according to the law firm.
China's exports picked up pace in May, rising 19.4% from a year earlier, its customs agency said Tuesday, as technology-related shipments remained robust despite impacts from the Iran war, the Associated Press reported. The stronger than expected performance was an improvement from April's 14.1% year-on-year increase. Imports in May jumped 27.4%, also at a faster pace compared with April's 25.3% year-on-year expansion. Exports to the U.S. in May surged more than 35% from the year before — the strongest pace since early 2021 — after an 11% increase in April.
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China is erecting walls to prevent money, technology and companies from leaving the country, Reuters reported. This week, the State Council, China’s cabinet, announced new rules requiring national security screening for Chinese companies seeking to invest overseas. The move follows regulations introduced in April that allowed the authorities to intervene when foreign companies tried to relocate supply chains out of China.
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