When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...
Category: Economy
Constructive Responses to Net Negative Transfers: What Next for China’s Financial Relationship With Low-Income Countries
By Rebecca Ray In the last few years, China’s net debt transfers (new disbursements minus repayments) to low-income countries have turned negative. This trend means that poor countries are now repaying China more each year for past years’ lending than they ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: China Moves to Build an Advanced Copper Supply Chain
Reuters reports that Chinese scientists have completed the country’s first extreme ultraviolet lithography machine, used to produce the advanced semiconductors used to power artificial intelligence applications. The prototype was reportedly reverse-engineered by scientists who used to work at the Dutch chip leader ASML. They reportedly plan to start ...
Automakers Seem the Target in Mexico–China Tariffs, but Small Exporters Take the Hardest Hit
Most media coverage of Mexico’s new tariffs on Chinese goods has zeroed in on the obvious visible targets: automakers and auto parts, where duties climb as high as 50 percent. These sectors are capital-intensive, politically sensitive, and easy to frame as symbols of shifting trade policy.
China Pushes Gulf Cooperation Council to Conclude Free Trade Agreement
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the Gulf Cooperation Council to conclude a free trade agreement that has been in discussion for decades. Wang’s meeting with Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, on Sunday in Riyadh, ...
China and Jordan Discuss Closer Ties
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday, the conclusion of his trip to the Middle East. He also met with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. The conversations focused on boosting economic cooperation, channeling more ...
China Orders Banks and Commerce to Boost Consumption
China orders banks and commerce officials to work more closely to boost consumption, directing coordination between financial institutions and commerce agencies as part of a domestic demand push. Consumption has been positioned as a core focus of economic planning under ...
Xi Elevates Domestic Demand as Core of China’s Economic Strategy
Chinese President Xi Jinping has again placed expanding domestic demand at the core of China’s economic strategy. He argues that growth driven mainly by exports and investment is no longer sufficient as globalization faces headwinds and external conditions change. The ...
Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Makes Surprise Appearance in Rwanda
Jack Ma, the legendary Chinese tech mogul and founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, made a surprise appearance in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on Saturday to attend the African Business Heroes awards, which he launched in the late 2010s. Ma was ...
Inside the Himalayas’ Last Living Trade Route
A recent in-depth feature published on the Guangzhou-based renowned newspaper Southern Weekly takes readers into Purang (Burang) on Tibet’s remote Ali Plateau, a tri-border junction between China, Nepal, and India, where one of the Himalayas’ oldest trading systems is still alive. And timing matters: 2026 will ...
Xi Jinping Says Efforts to ‘Choke’ China Cannot Succeed
China’s leadership is signaling that U.S.-led economic and technology pressure will not change Beijing’s development course. President Xi Jinping made the remarks at the Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing last Thursday. He uses the key economic planning meeting to ...
Xpeng in Talks with Malaysia’s EPMB for EV Production in 2026
China's EV maker Xpeng said Friday it is in negotiations to partner with Malaysia’s EP Manufacturing Bhd, or EPMB, to begin mass production of electric vehicles in Malaysia in 2026. The company said it plans to leverage EPMB’s existing capacity ...
Indonesia to Resume U.S. Tariff Talks After Reports Deal at Risk
Indonesia will send a negotiating team to Washington next week to resume tariff talks with the United States. Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said Friday The move follows reports that a July trade framework is at risk. Airlangga said ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Nvidia China Deal Tests U.S. Export Rules
China convened representatives from 43 countries at the United Nations in New York to establish the Group of Friends of Global Governance, a group dedicated to the implementation of China’s Global Governance Initiative. In a joint statement, the group said: “We emphasized that the international community must address ...