Category: Economy
Biden Administration Grabs Last Chance to Push Debt Trap Narrative
U.S. President Joe Biden argued on Wednesday that the United States is striving to be a qualitatively different investor from China in Africa. In making this case, administration officials couldn’t resist one last reference to a meme cherished by Democrats and ...
More Japanese Companies Start Moving Production from China to Southeast Asia
Japanese companies are moving production bases from China to Southeast Asia, driven by China’s slowing growth, increasing business risks, and Southeast Asia’s attractive economic environment. Concerns about China's unpredictable regulations, rising labor costs, and a declining market have accelerated this ...
Nepal PM Kicks off China Visit Eyeing Investment Deals
Nepal's prime minister was in Beijing on Tuesday to meet Chinese leaders, seeking to expand infrastructure cooperation after breaking with the longstanding tradition of new leaders making their first official visit to neighboring India. Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, who returned to ...
Malaysia Warns Chinese Firms: Don’t Use Us to Dodge U.S. Tariffs
Malaysia urged Chinese companies to avoid using the country as a base to evade U.S. tariffs. “Over the past year or so... I have been advising many businesses from China not to invest in Malaysia if they were merely thinking ...
China Manufacturing Expands for Second Straight Month
China saw an uptick in industrial output for the second straight month in November, government data showed Saturday, an encouraging sign for officials as they battle stagnant activity. Beijing has, in recent weeks, announced a slew of the most aggressive measures ...
Southeast Asia’s Trade at Risk: How Trump’s Tariffs and Chinese Imports Threaten Regional Economies
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to introduce sweeping tariffs poses significant economic challenges for economies in Southeast Asia. The region could become a battleground for redirected Chinese exports, flooding local markets and disrupting industries. At the same time, trade imbalances, protectionist measures, and deficits add to the ...
Bolivia Announces $1 Billion Deal With CATL Unit to Build Lithium Plants
Bolivia said Tuesday it had signed a $1 billion deal with China's CBC, a subsidiary of the world's largest lithium battery producer CATL, to build two lithium carbonate production plants in the country's southwest. Bolivia's state-owned Bolivia Lithium Deposits (YLB) said ...
Mexico Pivots as Trump Announces Tariffs
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump promised to impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada and an “additional” 10% on Chinese imports as a response to irregular border crossings and drug trafficking. He said the measures would be implemented on “day 1” of his term. ...
Two Projects in Asia and Africa Highlight the New Realities of Chinese Development Finance
Two very interesting stories this week highlight the complexity of China's development finance initiatives in Asia and Africa. In Cambodia, people close to the massive $1.7 billion Funan Techo canal project hint that Chinese financing isn't as secure as Prime Minister Hun Manet made it sound when ...
Mexico Not a Backdoor for Chinese Products, President Sheinbaum Says
Chinese products are not entering the United States and Canada through Mexico, the president of the Latin American nation said on Friday, and the government will make that clear in upcoming trade meetings. "In the meetings we have with Canada and ...
Mounting Concerns in Cambodia Chinese Funding for Controversial Canal May Fall Through
When construction of Cambodia's $1.7 billion Funan Techo canal got underway in August, Prime Minister Hun Manet confidently assured everyone that Chinese funding for the project would come through. Now, though, there are mounting concerns the Prime Minister's assurances may have been ...
China’s Future Role in Zimbabwe Power Plant Uncertain Amid Debt Crisis
Zimbabwe's business community is sounding the alarm over the prospect that one of the country's largest sources of electricity could be shuttered due to its failure to repay debts to Chinese creditors. Zimbabwe power authorities have reportedly fallen behind in servicing ...