Hong Kong businesses can leverage Xinjiang’s connectivity with Central Asia to expand into new markets while the city’s financial, trade and professional services can help businesses in the region enter Southeast Asia, according to political analysts. But an economist and a textile industry veteran have warned of potential risks for Hong Kong businesses building ties with Xinjiang in northwestern China. Western countries have imposed sanctions on officials and entities tied to the Xinjiang Uygur...
Indonesia wants to build a financial centre to rival Singapore, Hong Kong or Dubai, but analysts say the real work of persuading global investors has barely begun. Parliament’s passage of the enabling legislation on Tuesday laid the legal foundation for the hub, marking a milestone in President Prabowo Subianto’s push to attract more foreign capital into Southeast Asia’s largest economy and lift growth towards 8 per cent by the end of his term in 2029. Yet observers caution that the centre,...
The coalition government is systematically resolving the problems of farmers, says Minister Atchannaidu
The education of millions of children is at risk because of the current global financial order. We need change
The chamber has urged the FCI to release rice stocks under the open market sale scheme to stabilise prices and ensure sufficient supply.
Close to 170 mainland Chinese motorists are expected to arrive in Hong Kong on Saturday under an expanded cross-border travel scheme, with hotels rolling out accommodation, dining, shopping and parking packages to attract the new visitors. The Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme was extended to cover five more cities – Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing – from Saturday, with the daily quota of urban trips doubling to 200. A total of nine mainland cities in the Greater...
RDPR Minister Eshwar Khandre suggested that the orchards be leased annually through a transparent auction process to unemployed youth from the respective villages.
For years, Syria was a wound the world watched fester: a country carved up by war, sanctioned into isolation and reduced to a byword for state collapse. Its economy needs US$216 billion to rebuild, according to World Bank estimates. This month, for the first time since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, it began to look like it might actually get there. On July 8, the government of Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former jihadi commander turned president – established a supreme constitutional...
4.98 crore RuPay card holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in Bihar; it was revealed in data released by the Union Finance Ministry.
By day, Adele Lee juggles schedules and administrative work as a personal assistant to a senior director at a financial advisory firm. Three evenings a week, the 32-year-old logs back on, this time to sell second-hand clothes through TikTok livestreams, fielding questions from viewers and packing orders herself after the broadcast ends. The side hustle brings in about S$500 (US$390) a month, supplementing her monthly salary of almost S$4,000. The extra cash helps pay for her insurance premiums...
EU accuses US tech giant of favouring its own services in search results, as Trump lashes out against bloc.
Bali has “aura” and political titan Luhut Pandjaitan wants to channel it to transform Indonesia’s famed resort island into an international financial centre. But President Prabowo Subianto’s special adviser and economic tsar is not relying on subtle nods to Gen Z slang to sell paradise. Instead, he conjures up a striking image to make his case. A friend recently sent him a photograph of kamikaze drones lighting up the skies over Abu Dhabi, accompanied by a plea: help us get out. Indonesia,...
Beijing is doubling down on overland trade routes across Central Asia as continued disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region expose the vulnerability of global shipping chokepoints. A new link to Afghanistan via Uzbekistan offers a practical example of this long-term diversification push. However, observers caution that security concerns and capacity constraints could make a meaningful shift away from sea freight difficult. Officially launched in May with pilot shipments, the...
In lawsuit on Friday, two small businesses said latest round of tariffs on 60 countries needs to be legally justified.
Two US small businesses on Friday challenged President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners, saying that the new policy, like most of Trump’s previous tariffs, went beyond the president’s authority to tax imports. The lawsuit, filed in the US trade court in New York, argues that the new tariffs require more detailed country-specific findings about “forced labour” to be legally justified. The two small businesses, backed by a non-profit legal group that...
Canada cancelled planned cross-border ribbon-cutting ceremony and the milestone opening was only among Canadians.
US President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on products from the European Union in retaliation for the bloc’s US$1 billion (€890 million) fine of Alphabet’s Google. The president in a social media post on Friday said the US would launch a trade investigation “into the practice of ‘ROBBING’ American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer”. “The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment,” Trump...
The US president says fines against Google, as well as Apple, Meta and Amazon, should be "entirely reversed."
While the India-U.K. CETA eases trade barriers, important questions on investment protection, patent rules and carbon border taxes have been left for future negotiations
Countries question Trump administration's latest round of tariffs, which relate to forced labour claims.
Hong Kong can take on a new role as a “super converter” for technical standards, legal norms and innovations exchanged between mainland China and the wider world, the city’s finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stressed that Hong Kong’s reputation for quality had established the city as a “brand name” that was trusted by the international community. Citing the Middle East as an example, he said: “In general they will automatically give the go-ahead to those products that...
Salary growth for Hong Kong degree graduates slowed to a five-year low in 2025, with average annual earnings rising by just 2 per cent and sitting at HK$28,000 (US$3,570) a month as underemployment hit a record high. The University Grants Committee (UGC) released the graduate employment figures for last year on its website on Friday. According to the data, the average annual salary of degree graduates stood at HK$336,000. The figure represented an average of HK$28,000 per month and a 2 per cent...
Hong Kong’s trade promotion body will set up a new office in Egypt within the next nine months to expand its footprint in Africa, while recalibrating resources for Nordic countries through its European bases as traditional markets face slower growth. Hong Kong Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said on Friday that the organisation had revamped its corporate structure to better help companies in six new industry clusters develop promotional strategies. Ma, a former commerce...
Southeast Asia’s governments have spent months trying to blunt the effects of war-driven energy shocks from the Middle East, but renewed fighting between the United States and Iran has exposed how limited those defences are, analysts have warned. The latest flare-up has revived fears of a second round of fuel disruption across the region, where many economies remain heavily dependent on imported oil and shipping routes linked to the Gulf. Southeast Asian leaders expressed “grave concern” over...
The BBC's Samira Hussain explains how President Trump's tariffs affect US economy, who pays the price, and whether they're working.
Countries accounting for almost all of the US's trade have been hit with tariffs between 10 and 12.5 percent.
After devoting the first half of 2026 to an ineffectual, expensive and inconclusive military adventure in Iran, it seems US President Donald Trump is about to turn afresh to the wars he loves best – the tariff wars he still believes can make America great again. He can’t quite walk away from the war in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s refusal to capitulate has left Trump with an awkward obligation to fight on, despite the widespread unpopularity of the conflict, even among his base, and the need to...
The US imposed tariffs as high as 12.5 per cent on 60 trading partners, including China, after President Donald Trump adopted a different method for pursuing his global trade war. The levies, which are related to forced labour, replaced a temporary 10 per cent global tariff that expired on Friday. The 10 per cent tax was imposed after previous Trump tariffs were struck down by the US Supreme Court. Trump’s new taxes, targeting imports from 80-plus countries, can probably withstand legal...
China has added 14 entities from the European Union to its export control list, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday. Effective immediately, the order means the export of dual-use items – products with civilian as well as military application – from China to the named entities is prohibited, as is the shipment of dual-use items of Chinese origin to the listed companies and institutions. The move came after another round of sanctions from Brussels against Russia, announced on Thursday,...
First, the US-Israeli war on Iran sparked a Diet Coke shortage in India by squeezing supplies of aluminium cans, triggering an unusual wave of “Diet Coke parties” in one of the world’s largest consumer markets. But now, the fizzy drink is getting pricier. Across India, Coca-Cola has hiked prices of Diet Coke – sold predominantly in aluminium cans in the country – by more than 10 per cent due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which has choked its supply chain. As a result, the company had...
The new tariffs will come into effect as U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary worldwide tariff of 10% expires
Barely four months into its implementation, South Korea’s new labour-friendly law is coming under growing scrutiny as workers’ demands for bonuses tied to a fixed percentage of corporate profits spread across the country. If left unchecked, critics warn, the revised Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act – commonly known as the Yellow Envelope Act – could fuel labour disputes, create uncertainty for businesses and threaten an economy that is only beginning to recover. At the heart of...
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US slaps fresh tariffs on China, 50-plus countries in latest wave The United States imposed late on Thursday a fresh wave of tariffs against 60 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states,...
A potent cocktail of domestic and international political headwinds continues to weigh on the Philippines’ economic recovery, even as inflation eased in June. Economists point to turmoil in the Senate and a recent corruption scandal that rocked the nation as internal shackles holding back an already fragile economy reeling from energy shocks and extreme weather. Dutch financial think tank ING said in a recent report that political uncertainties compounded the Philippines’ economic pressures...
With existing 10 percent levies set to expire, Trump issues new tariffs on 60 countries under forced labour provision.
The tariffs target around 60 trading partners over claims they failed to properly stop forced labour.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the new tariffs on 60 countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act on July 24, a day before the expiration of 10% additional levies on all countries
The Houthis' blockade of Bab al-Mandeb threatens a vital global trade route.
Even as local retail spending remains resilient, Hong Kong consumers are shopping more across the border in mainland China, drawn by lower prices and wider adoption of digital payments, according to data from payment giant UnionPay International. Offline UnionPay card spending in mainland China by Hong Kong residents rose nearly 30 per cent year on year in the first half of 2026, while online and digital transactions recorded even stronger growth, data released on Thursday showed. The trend...
US senators broadly agree that Chinese connected vehicles should be kept off American roads. But a bipartisan attempt to codify and expand existing restrictions has exposed divisions over whether the proposed ban could ensnare European carmakers and increase costs for American electric-vehicle producers. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation advanced the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026, a bill that would prohibit the import, manufacture and sale of connected...
The United States imposed late on Thursday a fresh wave of tariffs against 60 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states, hours before a temporary 10 per cent blanket levy was due to expire. The tariffs, ranging from 10 to 12.5 per cent, are the outcome of a Section 301 investigation into forced labour, with Washington arguing that existing measures have failed to keep goods produced with forced labour out of supply chains. “Today’s action will begin...
Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan to inaugurate Indo-Arab Connect 2026 tourism summit on August 31
State pitches Mysuru as premier Tier-II tech destination at Big Tech Show
At Zion Foodtrucks in the US state of Colorado, American-made steel and aluminium are combined with globally sourced stoves, refrigerators, vents and titanium piping to transform everyday vehicles into mobile restaurants. But instead of benefiting from Donald Trump’s push to revive US manufacturing, the company says it has been squeezed by higher costs and tougher competition. Since taking office, the US president’s import taxes on steel and aluminium have hit 50 per cent tied to his “beautiful”...
Insurance rates through Hormuz are currently four times the five-year average.
A worker in Cairo can afford 22 hamburgers a month. In Tel Aviv, more than 200. AJLabs counts a salary in Big Mac meals.
It aims to establish world-class training standards and structured migration pathways for skilled technical professionals from the State seeking employment in Germany’s railway and allied technical sectors
The meeting proposed to be held in Vijayawada will evolve a strategy and press the government to resolve the problems being faced by the farmers, say leaders
Beijing and Washington are actively soliciting industry feedback on potential bilateral tariff reductions under the newly established board of trade, according to China’s commerce ministry. “The Chinese side is widely soliciting views from stakeholders – including domestic firms, business associations, local governments as well as American firms and business associations – on relevant tariff reduction arrangements,” Meng Huating, director of the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Foreign...
Shanghai, already home to the world’s largest container port, has unveiled a strategic road map to further bolster its shipping-services sector, escalating a challenge to hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and London. The Port of Shanghai, China’s most prominent commerce and trading gateway, aims to leverage tech, including artificial intelligence and automation, to boost efficiency and expand value-added industries, from financing and insurance to legal services, according to a five-year plan...
China’s durian imports rose 47 per cent, year on year, in the first half of 2026, with Thailand and Malaysia posting particularly strong gains, according to customs data, as Southeast Asian exporters offloaded a glut of the fruit that had sparked a price drop. Thailand exported nearly US$3.79 billion worth of the pungent spiky fruit shipped to China in the first half of 2026, the Chinese customs data showed, taking an 81 per cent share of the market. Thai shipments reached US$2.56 billion in the...
The collaborations are aimed at providing start-ups in Karnataka access to international markets, investors, innovation networks and cross-border partnerships
The Union Government has assured the A.P. delegation that alternative incentive mechanisms will be explored to safeguard farmers’ interests
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing mounting domestic backlash over a potential trade deal with the United States that would place India at the centre of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to redirect agricultural exports displaced by the US-China trade conflict, raising fresh questions about New Delhi’s broader strategic alignment with Washington against Beijing. Thousands of farmers from the northern state of Punjab marched towards Delhi on Tuesday to oppose what they described as a...
Economist Mary Lovely dismisses the claims that getting automakers to produce more cars in America proves tariffs work.
Canada's dairy supply management system is in the spotlight after the US president singled it out as one of three main irritants used to justify new tariffs.
US lawmakers are examining tariffs, port fees and sanctions targeting China’s shipbuilding industry, as US Congress searches for ways to rebuild America’s severely diminished commercial fleet without increasing costs for US importers and consumers. At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday, members of both parties described China’s dominance of commercial shipbuilding as an economic and national security vulnerability, but witnesses cautioned that penalties alone would do little...
Chile wants to widen the group of countries buying its copper and attract about US$100 billion in mining investment over the next decade, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, in the most explicit move yet by the new government in Santiago to reduce its exposure to Chinese demand. “The market is highly concentrated and we need to broaden the number of places that buy our copper,” Francisco Perez Mackenna said at a Bloomberg summit in Singapore, part of a tour through the Asia-Pacific. He said...
Washington is still not receiving sufficient critical mineral exports from China, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday, even as top American and Chinese officials met to finalise key economic deliverables for President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to the White House. “We are getting a flow of critical minerals from China. It’s not as much as we would want. It’s not at the pace we would want, but we are getting them,” Greer said during his testimony before the Senate Finance...
Tiruppur Exporters’ Association optimistic about getting orders from overseas buyers who visited the fair
Billionaires are on the rise as the rest struggle with inequality, poverty and cost of living crisis.
About 6 million barrels of crude per day that pass through the strait to Asia are now at risk, experts say.
Stabilising Syria means stabilising its economy. It urgently needs international support and a safer investment climate.
On July 9, a fire burned through a shoe factory in Jinjiang, Fujian province, killing at least 28 people. The accident signals a larger problem: firms operating under financial pressure often cut costs by compromising safety. China’s low-cost business model needs reform, but why has change been so difficult? The plant that burned employed hundreds of workers, yet company filings for 2025 indicate that only a handful of them were enrolled in pension and medical insurance plans. A fire-safety...
A leading Chinese bank has processed the largest cross-border transactions yet via mBridge, a multilateral central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform, marking a major milestone for the emerging payment network as well as Beijing’s global yuan ambitions. Two transactions, worth more than US$1.7 billion each, were carried out by the Bank of China’s Shenzhen and Fujian branches in June and July, respectively. They showed mBridge’s ability to support high-value cross-border settlements across...
International luxury car brands from Mercedes-Benz to Land Rover took a further beating in China last month as wealthy consumers continued to shun expensive petrol-powered vehicles. Struggling against competition from China’s rising electric vehicle (EV) powerhouses, international marques would find it more difficult to retain their market share and maintain profitability in the world’s largest automotive market, analysts said. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA),...
Japan is turning to five lesser-used straits in Southeast Asia as insurance against the next maritime shock, with plans to create detailed nautical charts for ships to navigate through these waters and bring vital goods to its economy. Tokyo would work with Indonesia and the Philippines to chart their respective straits, the foreign ministry told the Yomiuri newspaper, as it stepped up efforts to mitigate disruption to global trade arising from the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. The...
China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry sits at the centre of numerous economic and geopolitical trends: consumer spending, environmental protection, trade policy, high-end manufacturing, technology and more. In this short series, we assess the current state of the sector within these broader contexts. Here, Yeon Woo Lee asks whether Beijing has written a blueprint for developing countries to kick-start their own contenders in the field. Emerging markets once seemed like also-rans in the global...
Over the past year, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has seen rapid development in Central Asia. This has been evidenced by the launch of several railway and road routes connecting China’s industrial and economic centres to logistics hubs in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. China’s improved transport to the region reflects two interrelated trends: growing trade momentum and Central Asia’s strengthening position in continental logistics. Last year, China became the largest trading partner...
Relations between Canada and its largest trading partner have been tested by Trump's repeated jibes, threats and tariffs
Minister Kunhalikutty said the report is a vital step for transforming Kerala into the most preferred GCC destination in the country
US President Donald Trump’s administration is using another tariff threat to put fresh pressure on Canadian provinces to end their boycotts of American alcohol. But provincial leaders are not backing off. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would not lift his province’s ban on the sale of American wine and spirits in government-run stores unless the US removes sectoral tariffs on cars and steel. “We have to negotiate through strength, not weakness. And we need to throw everything on the table,” he...
US Trade Rep Jamieson Greer hints at new tariffs on 60 trading partners as Trump's temporary tariffs expire on Friday.
Dubai-based Floor Masters International has plans to use A.P. as its export base for 25 countries; UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism lauds government’s investor-friendly policy
The collaboration aims to support the Farmer Training and Common Facility Centres established by NABARD across seven districts, namely Bidar, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagara.
The Centre has said that only 10 investment projects monitored by DPIIT and Invest India have been grounded in Andhra Pradesh, and only two of them have completed construction, while the remaining are under various stages of implementation
US leader imposes new sweeping tariffs on Canada, straining already tense ties with its second-largest trading partner.
Its share in India’s electronics exports increased from 32.84% in 2023-24 to 38% in 2024-25, before rising further to 41.63% in 2025-26
The India-U.K. trade deal came into effect on July 15, 2026. In a written interview with The Hindu, Chris Hayward, Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation, the U.K.’s financial and commercial hub, discusses the implications of the agreement, including what it means for manufacturing, infrastructure and financial services, as well as how investors can navigate changes in U.K. political leadership.
While Beijing has lifted refined fuel export restrictions this month amid elevated global oil prices and ample national reserves, it has also introduced compliance requirements for refiners – a cautious pivot aimed at safeguarding domestic stockpiles, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. “With the interim truce between Washington and Tehran having collapsed, Beijing has adopted a more cautious stance on easing curbs for fuel exports,” a person familiar with the matter said in...
Nvidia’s H200 chips, a step down from its most advanced Blackwell line, have resumed imports into China, albeit in small quantities. Meanwhile, China’s chip exports nearly doubled in the first half of this year. Much of these exports are mature logic integrated circuits for applications in consumer electronics and automotive sectors. While the US is the undisputed leader in the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips, China is emerging as a dominant player in mass market legacy...
The Centre has released a revised series of the ICI, updating the base year, sectoral coverage and weights. Here is what has changed and what it means for industrial growth
BYD has rolled out its 100,000th new-energy vehicle from its Brazilian assembly line, underscoring the growth potential for Chinese products in South America, just as electric cars fuel fresh tension in Europe. China’s largest electric vehicle (EV) producer reached the landmark on July 16, reflecting BYD’s rapid expansion as governments increasingly push for local manufacturing and job creation. The milestone vehicle was a BYD Seagull, which came off the line at the Camacari plant, which has...
Tariffs apply to Canadian wine, hockey sticks, cement, and other products, sparking fears of escalating trade tensions.
Chinese tourists are being unfairly blamed for Kyoto’s overtourism crisis, according to a new report, even as data shows mainland visitor numbers have fallen sharply amid worsening ties between China and Japan. The report released earlier this month by the Kyoto City Tourism Association’s destination management organisation said many local residents assumed crowded public transport, congestion at popular sights and rising hotel prices were being driven by mainland Chinese tour groups. But...
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says that about 40% of the cocoons yielding the golden silk currently go unused due to the absence of proper processing facilities
China imported 12.08 million tonnes of Brazilian soybeans in June, up 13.7 per cent from a year earlier, while volumes from the United States fell 20.6 per cent to 1.27 million tonnes, far off the pace implied by the purchasing deal agreed by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, according to figures released on Monday by China’s General Administration of Customs. Total arrivals of the oilseed reached 13.55 million tonnes, a record for the month, lifted by Brazilian supply and by the clearing...
The duties take effect within 30 days and mark a major escalation in trade tensions between the North American neighbours.
US President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50 per cent tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American cars, alcohol and dairy products. The move could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inflation and further fraying of relations between two nations that had been closely woven together before Trump’s return to the White House. The administration official previewing the action said that Canada was one of the only nations...
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at reducing dependence on China for defence-related critical minerals, directing military contractors to shift away from Beijing-linked supply chains beginning in January 2027. Without naming China, Trump’s executive order stresses the need to maintain US military dominance “in an era of renewed great power competition”. “The United States must secure its supply chains against physical, cyber, and economic subversion,” it...
Oil prices are set to rise once more as renewed US attacks on Iran leave the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery of oil trade, closed again. With US strategic petroleum reserves at their lowest in over 40 years, America will have trouble keeping oil prices below US$100 a barrel, as it has mostly done in the war so far. Analysts warn that sustained oil prices above US$100 risk accelerating inflation, depressing consumption and inviting recession. They have also turned their attention to China and...
US petrol prices reach $4.00 per gallon (3.78 litres), marking the second week of increased costs for consumers.