An inter-ministerial review meeting, chaired by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, focused on building a robust and future-ready maritime ecosystem to safeguard national supply chains
The chief of China’s top economic planner has outlined strategies and priorities to safeguard economic security, as Beijing reassesses its preparedness and vulnerabilities amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israeli war on Iran. Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), warned external risks were mounting and said China had to reinforce its strategic reserves and response capabilities. “The evolution of the international situation is...
Asia-Pacific economies are likely to suffer a slowdown in growth this year, as rising costs linked to the US-Israel war on Iran combine with lingering trade uncertainty to threaten global trade flows, according to forecasts by top international organisations. The predictions come despite China showing resilience in the first quarter by posting better-than-expected growth of 5 per cent and finance minister Lan Foan last week stressing that the world’s second-largest economy would remain an engine...
The European Union on Monday launched the critical minerals section of its energy and materials procurement platform, which aims to give more power to regional buyers and cut dependence on dominant producer China by aggregating their purchases. The platform is part of the bloc’s RESourceEU strategy, announced in December to develop its supply chains for rare earths and other strategic minerals needed for the energy transition and defence applications. China controls up to 90 per cent of...
The war in Iran is not just a regional crisis. It is reshaping global energy flows, disrupting shipping routes and forcing governments to reassess the vulnerability of their supply chains. For China, the conflict has exposed an increasingly urgent problem: the risks of heavy reliance on maritime energy imports from the Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most critical chokepoints, carrying roughly a fifth of global oil and gas under normal conditions. Any sustained disruption –...
In classrooms and training centres across China, a growing number of students from Southeast Asia, Africa and beyond are learning not just the Chinese language, but how the country’s factories operate, how supply chains are managed and how products are marketed and sold across borders. Hebei Software Institute, in the northern city of Baoding, has been at the forefront of the push. The vocational college said it had established multiple overseas-oriented programmes in recent years, particularly...