Apple has entered the mixed reality game, announcing a long-anticipated new headset, the Vision Pro, on Monday that CEO Tim Cook claimed "seamlessly blends the real world and the virtual world." Some Apple fans believe the era of smart glasses has arrived - and it is an era in which smart glasses will profoundly change our lives, similar to smartphones over the past decade or so.
The possibility that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will likely ask the US to support the UK's global credentials in high tech areas during his visit to Washington will further reinforce the impression that Britain is in decline. If anything, looking up to the US won't help Britain address its domestic economic woes.
There is every reason to believe that as Chinese manufacturing continues to move up the value chain, there will be more Chinese products which deliver both leading technology and price advantages.
Despite Washington's ill-intentioned chip war, China is still an irreplaceable market for US chipmakers, including Nvidia, which has now undergone increasing pressure on supporting stock price.
Although China's economy picked up impetus in the first quarter with an impressive growth rate of 4.5 percent, the government should continue to be more proactive and ramp up its fiscal and financial policy support to ensure the second quarter GDP growth to reach seven percent or above. And, the average monthly growth rate from July to December this year should be no lower than five percent so that the annual growth will reach 5.2% or above.
China-Latin America cooperation is on the steady rise. In the latest development, China and Argentina took a series of steps to expand bilateral ties during Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa's trip to China last week. On Friday, the two countries signed a cooperation plan on jointly promoting the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The two countries also inked a deal to renew and expand their currency swap program. China has also reportedly voiced support for Argentina to join BRICS.
The political partisanship, severe social divide, polarization of wealth, and the US government's wrong policies are hurting the country's competitiveness and its avowed contest with China in the 21st century.
If India still fails to recognize the reality that the US will only make it a pawn instead of helping the Modi government to achieve its strategic aspiration of becoming an industrial power, its economic prospects will sink without a trace.
There have been a series of signs that the momentum of China-US business exchanges is on the rise recently. The business communities on both sides showed a strong willingness to step up exchanges after top commerce officials from the world's two largest economies held "candid" discussions on the trade relationship last week.
Top US and EU officials began a two-day meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council in Sweden on Tuesday, during which China has become a major focus. While the US has pushed for a more confrontational approach to China, EU states agreed on a watered-down version of joint conclusions, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
The first yuan-denominated "Yulan Bond," issued by the Bank of China through its Macao branch, has been successfully registered with the Shanghai Clearing House on Tuesday, according to the clearing institution's website.
While the resumption of ministerial talks on China-US trade is a welcome development, a real breakthrough for any substantial improvement in bilateral economic and trade relations would require the US to recognize the failure of the trade war in the first place.
An important context of Elon Musk's visit to China is that Tesla has started shipping vehicles to North America market from its Shanghai factory, which shows foreign companies like Tesla have no interest in being made part of the US' harmful geopolitical games against China.
Even though the US has frantically increased its attacks on China in recent months, rational voices underlining China's role as a key partner have emerged in America's European allies. The latest example is remarks from Liesje Schreinemacher, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, who was quoted in a Financial Times report as saying that Europe's green transition will be impossible without China.
The maiden commercial flight by China's first domestically-manufactured large passenger aircraft C919 on Sunday marks its official entry into the civil aviation market, which represents not only a milestone for China's high-end manufacturing, but also ushers in a new era for the cooperation between Chinese manufacturers and foreign companies.
US President Joe Biden said during the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan earlier this month that he "is expecting" a thawing in Sino-American tensions "soon," which has raised hopes and optimism that the steady deterioration in bilateral relations since his inauguration in 2021 may be reversed, or at least not deteriorate further. But not everyone is that certain his remarks will bear fruit, if the US government does not repudiate its reckless policy of technological and industrial "decoupling" from China.
The US move of labeling China for committing "economic coercion" is putting its allies like South Korea in an awkward position when it comes to the latter's normal economic and trade cooperation with China. Their economies could face significant risks if they don't adopt a pragmatic approach to the dilemma.
It is indisputable that our planet is becoming hotter and we are exposed to rising risk of heat stress in the summertime because of global climate change. Temperatures on Earth are predicted to soar to record highs over the next five years, driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, forecasters at the World Meteorological Organization said in a report released on May 17.
A double-digit drop in German exports to China has triggered debate and concerns in Europe's biggest economy over whether it has become the victim of "mounting security and trade tensions between Beijing and Washington," the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
After US legislators voted with sinister intention to challenge China's status as a developing nation, Western public opinion has seen debate on how to view China's rise. The latest example is an article in Foreign Policy claiming China is a developed, developing hybrid.
Despite the drastic changes in the external environment due to the sharp rise in global geopolitical risks and the growing major power rivalry, Chinese companies are still showing strong interest in overseas investment. This requires not only a focus on execution, but also support from the government as to how to maintain record enthusiasm.
After the US and it's key allies announced the establishment of the Minerals Security Partnership, a US-centered cliques serving US national interests under the pretense of critical mineral supply security, some Western forces have turned their eyes on lithium resources in Australia.
While some in Australia may appear to see China's joining of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as an important bargaining chip at a time when China-Australia economic and trade relations face a critical period of thawing and returning to the right track, what they shouldn't miss is the bigger picture that China's participation in the partnership could be of great significance to the trade and investment treaty's future development.
The Japanese stock market is booming, but Japan's real economy is now facing various challenges. The deviation between Japan's economic fundamentals and its stock market is like two gears pulling in opposite directions, and the longer the deviation exists, the more financial risks will be accumulated in the economy.
The latest round of talks between US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on raising the country's federal debt ceiling ended without a deal on Monday, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence. The failure to compromise and reach a deal prompted growing market jitters that the deadlock may continue and possibly exacerbate ahead of the early-June deadline, which will trigger an unprecedented US government default.
With the Group of Seven (G7) countries at the Hiroshima summit aligned on a "de-risk, not decouple" approach toward China, some Western media outlets had claimed that Japan appears to be a beneficiary under this new development. However, the problem is what Japan is going to pay for "decoupling" from China.
Against the backdrop of US Federal Reserve's radical interest rate hikes, the Chinese yuan exchange rate has undergone some adjustment, which is quite normal. However, some Western media outlets had interpreted a mild adjustment for the yuan as the sign of unsustainable recovery in the Chinese economy. Such a misreading reflects Western elites' bias toward China.
While some European politicians appear to have hardened their China stance, European companies are busily ramping up investment in China. Such a profound contradiction is a reflection that it is not easy for Europe to “decouple” from the Chinese economy.
Prior to and during the G7 leaders' gathering at Hiroshima, Japan over the weekend, there were media reports that US President Joe Biden cajoled the six American allies to take a uniform action to do something to stifle China's economic growth, which in essence is part of his "decoupling from China" push.
The danger of an “Economic NATO” is that it is encouraging countries that maliciously impinge on China's red lines of core interests and tying all member countries to a chariot that is rushing to engage in economic warfare with China.
Regarding economic relations with China, some European politicians emphasize de-risking. However, falling into US' narrative trap and disrupting the normal economic cooperation with China is the real risk facing Europe.
Despite the seemingly strengthened US-South Korea alliance, the importance of China-South Korea economic cooperation is still irreplaceable for the South Korean economy.
Chinese economists could never have imagined that barbecue would be used as leverage to attack the Chinese economy, but it has happened. It reflects the West's lack of understanding on the Chinese economy.
Whether the Western expectations for China's economy are high or low, it won't affect China from continuing to do its own things at its own pace, which, at the current moment is to carefully protect its momentum of returning to a normal growth track.
The China-Central Asia Summit will help deepen regional economic and trade cooperation, break the development bottleneck of landlocked countries in Central Asia, and unleash their economic and trade potential.
For the first time in over 30 years the top leaders from China and the five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - will meet in person to discuss their burgeoning nation-nation ties and how to enter a new era of closer trade, economic, political and security cooperation.
It is the concept of equality and mutual benefits that unites China and Central Asian countries, which is in stark contrast to the way the US ropes in allies and forms small circles in geopolitical games under the banner of cooperation.
If India wants to make itself the top automobile manufacturer in the world, the country must make itself an ideal investment destination for global automakers, especially Chinese NEV brands.
The theory of “China's rise is about to peak” is nothing but a new variation of the tired “China collapse” cliché. It reflects American elites' lack of confidence in dealing with current economic challenges.
As the US is increasingly using the dollar as a weapon to punish other countries, it is imperative for China and other economies to embrace a new alternative payment currency, like the yuan.
Despite the increasing positive signs for the thawing of China-Australia economic and trade relations, whether bilateral trade is really heading toward “a warm spring” is still up to whether Canberra can find a pragmatic point in balancing its economic and political imperatives.
As the US' ill-intentioned #chip war against China escalates, Washington is trying to rope more countries into its clique, with #India being one of US' key targets. In face of this pressure, Indian politicians should maintain strategic sobriety.
During South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the US, South Korea and the US issued a series of documents such as the US-ROK joint statement. Through the summit, the two sides agreed to enhance alliances on security, economy, technology, culture and information.
With the global de-dollarization trend gaining momentum, the US trick of raising its debt limit to mitigate its default risk may now be very close to pushing the US treasuries to a dangerous tipping point.
China's exports and imports with Russia surged by 41.3 percent to 73.15 billion in the January-April period from a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed on Tuesday. Against the backdrop of Western sanctions against Russia, trade growth between China and Russia has gained massive attention from the outside world.
To reach the goal of achieving modernization by 2035, China should secure average annual economic growth of 4.6%, but based on current trends, China's economic growth rate will fall below 4.6% within 3 years. Therefore, striving for long-term stable economic growth should be the focus.
Those who suggest increasing tariffs on Chinese-made EVs are playing a dangerous game by trying to create conflict between European countries and China, where rising EV sales are propping up European companies' global performance.
Whether the Italian government will renew its BRI deal with China, which is set to expire early next year, has recently become a new target among Western media outlets. But China-Italy cooperation should not be undermined by such idle reports.
A high-profile meeting on economic policy held last week lists population as one of the nation's top priorities in coming years, which shows the nation's inclination to addressing urgent demographic issues, like aging population.
At a time when the US is trying to shift some manufacturing orders to ASEAN and Latin American countries, it should be noted that Chinese exports to those developing countries are also booming.
China's customs authority is about to release trade figures for April soon, with bilateral trade between China and Australia in the spotlight. Among the discussions surrounding future possibilities and challenges facing China-Australia relations, Australian exports to China has become a focus of media attention.
The collapse of SVB exposes systemic risks hidden in the global financial system. As the US is already seeing the fourth bank – PacWest – in crisis, rising global financial risks need to be closely monitored: former IMF official
The EU's needs to speed up its energy transition and China's huge advantages in related industries still represent great potential for China-EU new-energy cooperation, which is also a key area to test the EU's policy stance toward China.
The whole world hopes the policymakers in Washington could this time temper their political posturing and reach an early deal on debt ceiling and avoid creating another 2008-style financial debacle.
The US has advanced the formation of a Western buyers' club for minerals, with the apparent aim of squeezing China out of key mineral supply chains. Such “decoupling” has come at the expense of the global environment.
After doing business in India for more than fifteen years, Wistron, an iPhone assembler, is reportedly winding up its local operations. The Hindu Business Line said in a recent report that the Taiwan-based assembler will mostly withdraw from India, and likely to approach the National Company Law Tribunal and the Registrar of Companies to dissolve its India operations within the next year.
As a sovereign country, Malaysia has the right to pursue economic development, and in this process, creating a fair business environment for foreign enterprises and opposing US long-arm jurisdiction will help it to better achieve its own prosperity.
The turmoil in the US banking system is hardly over, as the country's 14th-largest private lender, First Republic Bank, capsized and was sold to JPMorgan Chase on Monday.
Global semiconductor sales have been slowing down over the past few months amid a lingering glut which is expected to last through 2023. This round of semiconductor sales slowdown is likely to have not reached its bottom yet, as global semiconductor business revenue in February declined 24 percent year-on-year, the second worst drop following the financial crisis in 2008, according to a report by Japanese media outlet Nikkei, citing data from World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Organization.
Weaponization of the dollar has made the dollar face a growing credibility crisis. The “plundering” sanctions against Russia have made countries that have economic & trade ties with Russia worry they may be implicated.
With the May Day holiday approaching, the world, especially countries that are rich in tourism resources, has been eagerly awaiting the return of Chinese tourists. In April, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau began the first round of roadshows in major Chinese cities to introduce the country's tourism sector and lure Chinese visitors.
Fears of further bank collapses after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are seemingly haunting the market again as US regional banks at the heart of the liquidity crunch storm continue to struggle to stay afloat. It proves one thing that the Biden administration can hardly find quick fix to crisis incurred by long-time problems.
By further specifying espionage in emerging areas such as cyberspace, the latest revision of China's anti-espionage law protects the normal business actions of foreign firms, which improves China's business environment, not the opposite.
It is not China or any other country, but the US itself that sets off the inevitable trend of de-dollarization, thanks to its hegemonic behaviors such as unilateral sanctions. What people fight against is not US dollar, but US dollar hegemony.
China's equities market is undergoing a significant overhaul this year, as more emphasis is being placed on strict day-to-day supervision and scrutiny of corporate information disclosure. The country's top financial regulators are also implementing across-the-board registration-based reforms and optimizing the independent director system to bring the capital market in line with global standards and practices.
Green cooperation is also an important lever for deepening China-Europe cooperation, especially under the current situation. Cooperation between the two sides will play a crucial role in enhancing mutual trust.
There may be a short-term effect on the EV industry caused by Washington's green-energy subsidies and economic “decoupling from China” push, but efforts to revive its domestic manufacturing industry through non-market means are doomed to fail.
It turns out the US' narrative of “economic dependence” – the theoretical basis for economic “decoupling” from China – is a false proposition fabricated by anti-China forces. European countries should avoid being stranded in a geopolitical trap set by Washington.
The US' attempt to force South Korean chipmakers to share the losses American companies suffered in the Chinese market is an apparent act of bullying full of arrogance.
China's importance for EU has grown over the past years. With the rapid economic recovery in China in post-pandemic era, Europe's broad auto, chemicals, luxury, travel and leisure sectors all stand to benefit.
India has accelerated its de-dollarization process in foreign trade. While Washington has been luring India into its containment campaign against China, India's abandoning the US dollar in certain trade is significant.
China will likely constitute 60% of the global electric vehicle fleet by 2030, making the nation an undisputable industry leader. It is endorsing free market competition that helps the country to attain this advantage.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned on Monday that the US could not take for granted the US dollar's continued role as the go-to currency for world trade, though for now it remains unchallenged. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also admitted that US economic sanctions against Russia and other countries may weaken the hegemony of the US dollar.
Italian officials hinted they may pull out of a pact with the Chinese mainland as they sought to secure help with chips from Taiwan island, Bloomberg reported. Italy should be wary of Taiwan secessionists' political deals, which won't bode well for its economy.
If India cannot improve the quality of its domestic workforce and create enough jobs, the country's so-called demographic dividend could become a demographic disaster.
The US' “decoupling” push against China has seen major semiconductor manufacturing regions roll out their own plans to support their domestic semiconductor industries, which plunges the global supply chain into greater volatility.
In addition to illegal tariffs, India should eliminate all forms of non-tariff barriers. Providing a better business environment for Chinese smartphone manufacturers is of benefit to India's own economy.
The Netherlands' General Intelligence and Security Service's assertion that China is a “threat” shows that the Dutch government is falling into the US' trap. The fact remains that the real threat to the Dutch economy is not China but the US.
Bangladesh and Russia agreed to use the Chinese yuan to settle payment for a nuclear plant, further highlighting the yuan's internationalization and de-dollarization trend, which is exacerbated by the US' own actions.
Pragmatic economic cooperation serves as the cornerstone of China-EU relations. It's positive to see that, following Macron's just-concluded trip to China, rational voices have emerged. It shouldn't be spoiled by the narrow geopolitical mind-set of some bad faith actors.
With China's green manufacturing showing strong momentum, the Canton Fair has also seen business enthusiasm in green products, which could be a bright spot in future exports helping Chinese manufacturing defy the US' “decoupling” push.
US sanctions on Chinese firms for alleged involvement with Russia lack a legal basis and legitimacy in international law. China-Russia economic cooperation does not target any third party. It also does not tolerate any third party's interference or coercion.
As yuan counter in the HK stock market advances along yuan internationalization, HK's status as a world-class wealth management center and financial center will be strengthened amid Western banking woes.
India needs a more open economy to leverage economic virtue of its 1.4 billion population, as its reluctance to integrate into Asia-Pacific supply chains hampers domestic industry development.
The raft of measures, which aims to limit China's access to high-tech chips, has built a maze trapping US high-tech companies into red tape. Amid the US' technology decoupling push, Gelsinger's China trip can perhaps provide some useful reference points in how to find an exit.
If an investment project that has already been approved by the German government can be repeatedly blocked for political reasons, many would see that as proof indicating the investment atmosphere in the country is worrying.
Western eagerness to emphasize the US stance on Lula's visit to Huawei is, first of all, a disrespect to Brazil's will, reflecting a kind of anxiety over China-Brazil cooperation that is bound to extend to more scientific and technological areas.
China-Australia consensus on resolving barley dispute is a positive signal to the Australian business community that China and Australia are able to resolve bilateral trade frictions. Canberra needs to contribute by showing good faith, and resisting the pressure from Washington.
Today, energy cooperation between the two great powers, China and Russia, is at an unprecedentedly high level. This notion was repeatedly expressed by the leaders of our countries during President Xi Jinping's historic visit to Moscow. This type of cooperation not only contributes to the prosperity of our nations, but it also helps to defend our national interests on the international arena.
Cutting off from Chinese manufacturing will never be a solution to boosting American manufacturing, but another pit politicians are digging for domestic manufacturing.
Senior Chinese officials have met with business leaders from the Taiwan region in recent days, sending a renewed signal that the vast mainland market welcomes Taiwan companies with open arms, should they choose not to be pawns in the US' containment against the mainland.
The focus on the new central bank governor in Japan highlights the severity and complexity of challenges facing the Japanese economy, especially at a time when Japan has been inclined to blindly follow Washington's “decoupling” push.
For a long time, Western lenders have not become the focus of global attention for debt relief because many people in the world have been deceived into believing that China, not the West, is the biggest sovereign creditor to developing nations. That is flat-out wrong.
There are many causes of the economic problems between China & the US…The answer here is for everyone to recognize there is a problem, and that cooperation & understanding is required. And not for the US to demonize China & to make the world a much more dangerous place.
There have been growing signs that the Taiwan island's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' attempt to use its semiconductor manufacturing sector as proof of allegiance to win Washington's support is gradually pushing the region's industrial chain to the brink.
The IMF said recently the global economy will largely remain dormant in the coming five years, growing by merely 3 percent annually because of inflation and higher borrowing costs in the developed countries led by the US. The figure is well below the average 3.8 percent GDP growth the world has attained during the past two decades.
There is every reason to worry that the investment climate in the UK is getting worse for Chinese companies. Particularly, Chinese companies that are being targeted by the US could be treated unfairly in the UK.
As semiconductors become a US geopolitical tool, it's understandable that the EU is trying to reinforce its capabilities in chip manufacturing, but this means the EU should strengthen, not reduce, its connection with the Chinese market.
At a time when the global trade, energy, and manufacturing landscape is shifting, the further development of China-EU cooperation will inevitably require more flexibility and effort from both sides to overcome difficulties and challenges.
US Senator Marco Rubio's “sanction inability” theory has once again highlighted the urgency for countries to cut their reliance on the US dollar, as it adds to evidence that the US is unlikely to stop its steps in weaponizing US dollar hegemony.