Given a likely 20 percent drop in India's imports from China in 2020, the trade between China and India may have reached a turning point, according to a report published on Nikkei's Chinese website on Wednesday.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Monday, outgoing US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer urged President-elect Joe Biden to keep all tariffs imposed on China, even if that considerably raises prices for US businesses and consumers.

Bitcoin has been on a roller coaster ride lately. The leading crypto-currency plunged as much as 21 percent from Sunday to Monday to as low as $32,389. The fall came just days after bitcoin soared 40 percent at the beginning of the new year to reach an all-time high of nearly $42,000.

No matter how bad things get, investors in the US stock market seem to be seeing only good news supporting the crazy upward march.

Australia's trade surplus shrank to A$5 billion ($3.9 billion) in November, down from A$6.6 billion in October, according to figures released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Like many pinning hopes of ending the pandemic on vaccines, European countries have also bet their economic recovery on a cure for the virus, which is also why the EU organized the joint procurement program earlier in 2020 to ensure the vaccine availability for all of its member states. Yet, the slow progress underlines that this is actually a test of a country's manufacturing and supply chain strength.

On Tuesday, the onshore yuan rate broke the 6.45 mark and hit 6.4303 against the US dollar, the highest level since June 2018. In the first two trading days of the new year, the currency gained about 1 percent in the onshore market after strengthening 6.26 percent against the dollar in 2020.

While some Indians pin high hopes of ending the country's public health crisis on the COVID-19 vaccine, it may not necessarily be a shot in the arm for India's economy.

Through the joint efforts of all parties led by the government, China has lifted its rural population out of absolute poverty and removed all poverty-stricken counties from the poverty list, accomplishing the target of eradicating extreme poverty by the end of 2020, the Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council announced last week.

Due to the resurgence of sporadic COVID-19 cases, some Chinese cities and scenic spots announced that they will not arrange festive activities on New Year's Eve.

Political gamesmanship to hurt Australian employment

The UK appears to be turning to the Indo-Pacific region as one of its pivots for post-Brexit economic and trade cooperation, which, however, makes more geopolitical sense than it does from an economic perspective.

With the Chinese economy recovering a long way ahead of most other economies, the continuing flow of capital into China's bond and stock markets is expected to maintain the yuan's appreciation trend into 2021.

Britain and the European Union agreed to a new Brexit trading arrangements on Christmas Eve, CNBC reported. The deal is a Christmas gift not only for the British economy but also for the COVID-19-battered global financial market.

The Canadian government vetoed a bid by China's Shandong Gold Mining Co to acquire the asset of TMAC Resources Inc on national security grounds, the Chinese state-owned company confirmed in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

Even as bilateral ties between China and India fell to their lowest point in decades this year, following a deadly border clash on the Himalayas in June, Indian companies and traders are still buying goods from China, according to exporters from Dongguan, one of the world's leading maufacturing hubs in South China's Guangdong Province.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday confirmed on its website Australia had officially lodged a complaint against China over anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed on its barley exports.

As a new mutation of the coronavirus in Britain reportedly rages out of control, the country is now facing a bigger health crisis than the no-deal Brexit.

The possibility of imported cold-chain food products causing another moderate wave of COVID-19 outbreak in China is casting a shadow over the upcoming holiday economy.

In a recent interview with Reuters, outgoing US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sought to defend the US' multi-year trade war with China and even suggested that the incoming Joe Biden administration should keep tariffs on Chinese goods and "hold their feet to the fire" on the China-US phase one trade agreement.

In an attempt to diversify raw materials for steel-making and reduce the industry's over-reliance on iron ore, China has officially issued a set of new national standard for steel scrap recently, the Xinhua News Agency said on Thursday, citing the China Iron and Steel Association.

With the US economic recovery remaining fragile due to a voracious resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic, many central banks around the world continued to dump US Treasury bonds, as they are pessimistic about the US economy's performance in the upcoming months.

The violent attack at Wistron's iPhone plant in southern India resulted in losses of up to NT$200 million ($7.12 million), but major production facilities did not suffer serious damage, the Taiwan-based contract manufacturer said in a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The Trump administration is obsessed with hyping up the Lancang-Mekong River water resource issues, but fails to realize its position of utter flagrancy and arrogance will only be a burden for regional players.

A seemingly trivial fishery project between China and Papua New Guinea (PNG) may have struck a nerve with some in Australia amid the deteriorating China-Australia relationship.

Impacts of the downward spiral of China-Australia relations on Australian exports are striking in both scope and severity. As the most important part of China-Australia trade, iron ore may be less vulnerable to political shocks compared to other products, but it is not completely immune.

Buttressed by the sustained economic recovery from COVID-19, the Chinese currency, or yuan, has seen a stellar run gaining much value against the world's other currencies in recent months. A steadily rising Chinese currency could also help easing economic and trade frictions between Beijing and incoming Joe Biden administration.

With a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU still up in the air, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels for a face-to-face meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a last-minute attempt to reach a historic trade and security deal, according to media reports.

Recent market attention over whether coal will be the next commodity to be impacted by the precipitating deterioration of China-Australia relations is understandable. Although BIMCO figures indicated that Australia was the best performer among all the major coal exporters to China during the first 10 months of this year with Chinese coal imports from Australia hitting a record high of 77.4 million tons, but it is economically feasible for China to reduce Australian coal imports, significantly.

After completing the first spacecraft rendezvous in lunar orbit, the orbiter-returner of China's Chang'e-5 probe separated from the ascender, waiting for the right time to return to Earth with its lunar samples, the China National Space Administration announced on Sunday.

US President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday offered the clearest signal of his approach toward the multi-year trade war and overall economic and trade relations with China. In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Biden said that he would not immediately remove tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese products against WTO rules, and that he would "consult" with US allies to develop a "coherent strategy" against China.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release trade data for October on Thursday, which may not show a free-fall drop yet as many have concerned amid cascading trade tensions with China.

Hong Kong Disneyland will close on Wednesday as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced new restrictions on public gatherings due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

Japan and India will sign an unprecedented memorandum of understanding to support the introduction of Japanese 5G networks, fiber-optic sea cables and other technology in India, the Nikkei reported on Sunday.

With its retail sales hitting a record high of 41.2 trillion yuan ($6.26 trillion) in 2019, China will soon surpass the US as the world's largest retail market for consumer goods, Lian Weiliang, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said on Sunday.

The norms of upholding broad multilateral cooperation and win-win engagement with China ought to be pursued by the US, as the incoming Joe Biden administration is weighing up its new strategy on how to manage what many pundits define as the most important bilateral relationship in the world.

The Trump administration has imposed new tariffs on Chinese twist-ties, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, in a worrying sign that the US-China economic conflict may be rekindled.

The Indian government has announced on Tuesday its intention to block more Chinese apps, including AliExpress, in a list of 43 on "spurious national security grounds."

The list of Canadian politicians who have joined the campaign to release Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou continues to grow. According to Canadian media reports, two Canadian members of parliament, the New Democratic Party's Niki Ashton and the Green Party's Paul Manly, are set to speak at an online panel discussion calling for the release of Meng on Tuesday.

It seems highly likely that sitting US President Donald Trump will move to inflame trade tensions with China during his final months in office, no matter whose interests he is bent on hurting.

In the wake of the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has inevitably attracted much attention, especially after China expressed an open and positive attitude toward joining CPTPP.

Some food-exporting countries are increasingly dissatisfied with China's tighter scrutiny and testing of imported frozen products for coronavirus, according to media reports.

India's resistance to Chinese investment seems to show signs of easing as the Indian government is reportedly mulling a plan of loosening previous restrictions on foreign direct investment from countries sharing a boundary with India, including China.

The trade tensions between China and Australia seems to have fallen for a propaganda stunt by some Australian media outlets that are obsessed with fueling market panic over every trade frustration with China.

The milestone signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the formation of the world's largest free trade zone that excludes the US and the EU, appears to have stoked a sense of urgency for Europe. Some European media outlets expressed concern over the possibility that the EU as an economic community could be marginalized by the RCEP, while some more provocative views called for the EU to concentrate on cooperation with India to avoid being an outsider in the Pan-Asian industrial chain.

In a rare press conference on Saturday, Pakistani senior officials claimed that they have extensive evidence of India supporting terrorism aimed at destabilizing Pakistan and sabotaging its economic partnership with China. According to Pakistani military spokesman Maj Gen. Babar Iftikhar, Indian intelligence agents were specifically targeting Chinese development projects initiated through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and India even sponsored a 700-member militia for the purposes of wrecking this flagship program under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), media reports said.

While Canada appears to be eager to repair trade relations with the next US administration, China-Canada tensions are not necessarily the recipe for the goal.

Brazil's trial of coronavirus vaccines seems to have been overshadowed by growing political uncertainty, a lamentable development that other countries should avoid.

The US Federal Aviation Administration is set to approve Boeing's 737 MAX jets for a return to service as early as next week, Reuters reported on Monday.

The 20th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is set to be held virtually on Tuesday, and it is widely expected to focus on discussions about the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and economic cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era.

As the decline in Australian exports to China continues, the growing tension in bilateral economic and trade ties may serve as a reminder for Australia about the urgency of reflecting on how to bring bilateral relations back on the right track.

With only one week or so remaining for Diwali, the Indian market has reportedly witnessed an obvious drop in demand for Chinese lamps and decorative items amid the ongoing border tensions between China and India.

American businesses' enthusiasm for the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) is undimmed by political tensions, even though the US and China are likely to face more uncertainties over the next four years.

Amid the border tension between China and India, infrastructure construction on both sides of the disputed border has become one of the focal points of public attention.

While there is undeniably a certain amount of tension in China-Australia trade, it is still unfortunate to see bilateral trade sink into an atmosphere of paranoia that could escalate any normal trade issue into a political one.

It was a busy night for some young Chinese, out enjoying the Halloween celebrations before rushing to the battlefield of Alibaba's annual Double 11 shopping festival, which kicked off on Sunday.

While Huawei's smartphone business may be able to get some relief from the US sanctions, China's domestic chip industry may face even more severe challenges ahead.

The Brookings Institution on Tuesday released a list of actionable foreign policy ideas for the next president, of which the first is pursuing deeper trade ties with the island of Taiwan.

While China's carbon neutrality target has not yet had any impact on its coal trade with Australia, the fact that Mongolia has replaced Australia to become China's top source of coking coal suggests another blow is on the way for Australia's export-driven economy.

Tesla has achieved another milestone success at its Shanghai Gigafactory, which officially announced on Monday the launch of its vehicle export business, with the first batch of domestically made Tesla Model 3 cars to leave on Tuesday for European countries like Germany, France and Italy.

A potential coronavirus vaccine from China appears to have set off a controversy in Brazil.

With the clock ticking on the Brexit transition period, Britain's efforts to diversify trade beyond the EU have finally appeared to pay off.

Political tensions between China and Canada have cast doubt on the future of a Chinese company's acquisition of a gold mine in the Canadian Arctic, making it a potential new flashpoint in ongoing diplomatic frictions.

Despite the fact that relations between China and Australia seem to be in a downward spiral, perhaps it's time to feel more optimistic about the two countries' economic and trade ties, since a good number of Australian companies still appear enthusiastic about the Chinese market.

The Indian government may soon issue guidelines that will put foreign direct investment proposals with even the smallest Chinese holding under government approval, a move aimed at tightening rules for investment flows from China against the backdrop of border tensions, The Times of India reported on Monday.

Following market concerns over a reported China ban on coal imports from Australia, fears that Australian cotton may become the latest casualty amid the China-Australia trade tension surfaced over the weekend.

Given the complex and changeable macroeconomic environment and rising uncertainties in the world, faced by China's economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, many are looking forward to seeking clues from China's economic data for the third quarter, which will be released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, to help gauge the actual economic situation.

Apple unveiled on Tuesday its much-anticipated iPhone 12 lineup with 5G connectivity, the sales of which is expected to reveal whether the US-China tech war has hit its consumer loyalty in the world's largest 5G smartphone market.

Whether or not China has fired a shot at coal imports from Australia has become the focus of attention in political and business circles. According to trade publication S&P Global Platts, Chinese state-owned power plants and steel mills received verbal notice from authorities to stop buying Australian thermal and coking coal.

The spiraling tech war between the US and China has seen the US become increasingly reckless in its suppression of Chinese companies and investment in the name of national security. Against this backdrop, some in other Western countries, siding with the US, appear equally inclined to abuse the concept of national security to smear China.

The news that Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) is in talks to purchase rival chipmaker Xilinx Inc marks the latest development in the semiconductor industry consolidation, but it is unsettling and abnormal to see non-US companies being increasingly marginalized in the chip merger mania that may have profound impacts on global tech industries in the long term.

US congressional investigators concluded in a long-awaited report released on Tuesday that tech titans Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google parent-company Alphabet had exerted their own form of "monopoly power" and sweeping changes need to be made to the country's antitrust laws.

The upcoming National Day holiday may be one of the most eagerly anticipated ones in China. Whether China's tourism industry that was hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak could see a strong rebound and release the pent-up domestic consumption will be revealed after the 8-day-long holiday.

Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), said on Sunday at a forum that China's Ministry of Commerce is likely to veto US major chipmaker Nvidia's acquisition of British chip designer Arm.

For the first time in 18 months, there is real hope in sight for Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft to fly again, according to some Western media reports.

While Facebook denied reports that it would shut down the European business over a data transfer ban, it appears to be facing similar challenges as its Chinese peers amid the growing regulatory scrutiny over data security.

The gap between rich and poor is approaching a tipping point of social unrest in the US, and the recent anti-racism protests and crowd violence in some American cities could just be a reflection of such dangerous development.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei will reportedly continue to cut jobs and investment in its Australian business, a development widely seen as the result of the souring ties between China and Australia.

Just days after an abrupt decision to ban exports of onions, the Indian government is working on an arrangement to relax restrictions and release onion consignments to some of its neighboring countries, according to Indian media over the weekend.

Thailand has become the first Southeast Asian country to relax tourism restrictions introduced during the combat against the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, a series of epidemic prevention and control requirements for tourists show that it is not so easy for Thailand to revive its tourism sector under the threat of an outbreak.

Despite the deteriorating China-Australia relationship, there have been calls and wishes for continued bilateral cooperation in economic and trade aspects. On Wednesday, John Howard, former Australian prime minister, said on the sidelines of the Singapore Summit that Australia and China need to find common ground despite their differences because the economic relationship between them is very important.

The long-anticipated new iPhone-12 was missing on Apple's Times Flies launch event on Tuesday.

Amid the persistent push by the Trump administration to "decouple" from China in the technology sphere, the mere possibility that British chip designer Arm may become a US subsidiary is disturbing for not only Chinese technology companies but also a large number of European companies using Arm's technology.

The Canadian government and telecommunications operators are set to be locked in a fight over compensation issues for Ottawa's political move that has in fact blocked Huawei equipment from its 5G networks.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Indian counterpart in Moscow on Thursday and reached a five-point consensus that is widely believed will help de-escalate border tensions between the two states.

The UK has officially opened discussions on a potential accession with chief negotiators from the 11 members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the British government announced on Wednesday.

The US stock market appears to be entering a period of heightened volatility, led by big technology and internet companies, which seem facing greater uncertainty after several months of untethered price surges.

To address new problems and challenges in an increasingly digital era, China is ready to launch a global initiative to safeguard global data security that welcomes the participation of all parties, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared China's effort on Tuesday at a seminar on global digital governance.

That a cooling off in China-Australia trade relations has arrived comes as no surprise amidst escalating tensions between the two sides, begging a further question: how low can bilateral trade between the countries go?

According to media reports, Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, president of Czech piano maker Petrof, said a customer in Beijing just canceled an order on the grounds that Czech Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil's recent visit to Taipei city had severely disrupted a normal China-Czech relationship. The cancellation has attracted rising attention among Chinese netizens as some began to suggest it was Beijing's "retaliation" against the Czech Republic.

It is no secret that the US national debt is on an unsustainable path, but the question is how far it is from a real debt crisis. The US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Wednesday that federal debt held by the public was projected to reach or surpass the size of the US GDP in the fiscal year that begins on October 1.

India's economy is sinking, but it is perplexing that the Modi government appears more interested in drilling more holes in its economic ship instead of fixing it.

The trade ministers of Australia, Japan and India met virtually on Tuesday and agreed to work toward achieving supply chain resilience in the Indo-Pacific region. The ministers instructed their officials to promptly hammer out details for an initiative to strengthen supply chains for launch later this year, according to a joint statement, the NDTV reported.

Roberto Azevêdo steps down as the director-general of WTO on Monday, Reuters reported, a year before his term is up. His departure should serve as a wake-up call for those complacent about the risks of reversing globalization, which have pushed this multilateral institution to the brink of crisis.

At a time when China-Australia relations are severely strained, mostly resulting from Canberra's ill-intentioned moves to hamstring China, even some non-political decisions by Beijing could be easily interpreted as a tit-for-tat by this country, much to the detriment of bilateral economic ties that urgently need a breath of fresh air.

If there is anything more frustrating for Chinese and Australian business circles than the deteriorating relationship between the two countries, then it is the lack of hope that the shadow over bilateral ties would dissipate in the short term.

Despite political tensions between the US and China that will likely continue for a while, there is no need for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take sides.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy of India, Asia's third largest, and its spillover effects are moving in a worrying direction.

The fate of a proposed purchase in Australia by Chinese dairy behemoth Mengniu Dairy has caught the attention of Chinese netizens. Despite Australian media reports that the Morrison government will block the A$600 million ($431 million) acquisition of Australian domestic dairy brand Lion-Dairy & Drinks, Mengniu claims that the approval process is ongoing.