The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised up Asia's economic growth forecast on Thursday, but warned that renewed escalation in U.S.-China tensions could deal a heavy blow to a region heavily integrated in global supply chains, Reuters reported. Economic activity in the Asia-Pacific was holding up better than expected in April, despite the region bearing the brunt of U.S. tariffs, said Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department.

Supertanker freight rates surged this week and are set to stay elevated on U.S.-China tit-for-tat hikes in port fees and concerns about the fallout from U.S. sanctions on a major Chinese crude oil terminal, Reuters reported. Chinese retaliatory port fees announced on Friday would add more than $7 a barrel in shipping costs for a Very Large Crude Carrier linked to the U.S., traders estimated. That would be equivalent to a charge of around $15 million - a sum that would put anybody off chartering ships related to the United States.

Solar glass producer Haikong Sanxin New Energy Materials will apply for bankruptcy to curb mounting losses, in the latest sign of the financial difficulties facing the solar industry in China, home to around 80% of global production, Reuters reported. Haikong Sanxin posted a net loss of 194.5 yuan ($27.3 million) for January-June 2025 and 659 million yuan in debt, parent company Hainan Development Holdings Nankai said in a filing on Thursday.

The U.S. is one week away from imposing port fees on certain vessels with links to China, a move expected to cost the top 10 carriers $3.2 billion next year as President Donald Trump seeks to address China's growing dominance on the high seas, Reuters reported. "While some observers believe the October 14 deadline may be extended — or even scrapped — as part of broader negotiations, the uncertainty has already unsettled carriers, adding another layer of geopolitical risk to fleet deployment strategies," S&P said in a report this week.

China's manufacturing activity shrank for a sixth month in September, an official survey showed on Tuesday, suggesting producers are waiting for further stimulus to boost domestic demand, as well as clarity on a U.S. trade deal, Reuters reported. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to a six-month high of 49.8 in September versus 49.4 in August. It remained below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. The prolonged slump underlines the twin pressures on China's economy: domestic demand has failed to mount a durable recovery in the years since the pandemic while U.S.

The U.S. on Monday cracked down on companies in China and other countries that use subsidiaries or other foreign affiliates to get around curbs on chipmaking equipment and other goods and technology, Reuters reported. The Commerce Department issued a new rule expanding its restricted export list, known as the Entity List, to automatically include subsidiaries owned 50 percent or more by a company on the list, according to a posting in the U.S. Federal Register. The action greatly increases the number of companies that require licenses to receive American goods and services.

China's Premier Li Qiang and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen stressed cooperation during their meeting in New York, as the world's No.2 and No.3 economies looked to defuse trade tensions while squeezed by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, Reuters reported.