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The News Feed is curated by CGSP’s editors in Asia and Africa.

China’s Soy Imports Reach New Record as Shift From U.S. to Brazil Accelerates

China imported a record 13.9 metric tons of soybeans in May, a 129% increase over the previous month, as buyers moved aggressively to bulk up on inventories in anticipation of rising prices brought ...
by Eric Olander

China Turns to Global South to Make Up for Trade Losses With the United States

Shipping containers are stacked at a port in Shanghai on June 9, 2025. AFP
China’s total global trade edged slightly higher in the first five months of the year to about $2.5 trillion, buoyed by a 7.2% increase in exports. Those positive figures, though, mask a ...
by Eric Olander

India to Work with Central Asian Countries on Rare Earths

The Indian-made Tata Harrier electric SUV at its launch on 3 June 2025. The Indian automotive sector has been hit by Chinese curbs on the export of rare earths and magnets used in the manufacturing of EVs.
India has reportedly reached a collaboration agreement with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan for the exploration and development of rare earth minerals. The agreement, which was finalized at the recent India-Central Asia ...
by CGSP Staff

Pakistan to Acquire Chinese Missile Defense System

The official X page of the Pakistani government announced on Friday that it had been offered a range of advanced Chinese weapons. They include the HQ-19 long-range air defense missile system. The ...
by CGSP Staff

World Economy Nervously Watches U.S.-China Trade Talks

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (L) and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speak to the media after their talks with Chinese officials in Geneva on May 11. Photo by VALENTIN FLAURAUD / AFP
U.S. and Chinese delegations are meeting in London on Monday for their second round of trade talks. He Lifeng, China’s Vice Premier for Economic Policy, will lead the Chinese side, while the U.S. will ...
by CGSP Staff

China Exports Slow as Trade War Takes Toll

Shipping containers are stacked at a port in Shanghai on June 9, 2025. AFP
By Peter Catterall Chinese exports grew slower than expected in May, according to official data Monday, as shipments to the United States tumbled amid global trade turmoil triggered by Donald Trump’s tariff blitz. ...
by Agence France-Presse

Chinese Aircraft Carrier Enters Japan’s Economic Waters: Tokyo

A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, Tokyo’s defense ministry said Monday. The Liaoning carrier, two missile destroyers and one ...
by Agence France-Presse

Philippines Buys More Korean FA-50 Jets Amid South China Sea Tensions

A Philippine Air Force FA-50 and a U.S. Air Force F-16 at Clark Air Base Image via Patrick de Jesus.
The Philippine government has signed a $700 million FA-50 jets contract with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) for the purchase of 12 new FA-50 Block 20 light combat aircraft, expanding its current fleet ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

Asian Markets Wobble as Trump-Xi Talks Offset by Musk Row

Photo by JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Asian markets stuttered Friday as optimism from “very positive” talks between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping was wiped out by the stunning public row between the U.S. leader and Elon Musk. The ...
by Agence France-Presse

Australia Says China Anxiety, Geography Driving Closer Indonesia Ties

Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin together with his Australian counterpart in Jakarta on June 5, 2025. Image via @sjafriesjams.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday that security anxiety over China was partly driving deepening ties with Indonesia in a region riven by rivalry between Beijing and Washington. His visit to meet ...
by Agence France-Presse

Namibia Shows Off Newly-Acquired Chinese Drone

A still image from television coverage of the NDF parade on June 2, 2025, appears to show a likely ASN-209 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Credit: Namibian Broadcasting Corporation
Namibia may have quietly revealed a significant addition to its defense arsenal during a military parade this week: what appears to be a Chinese-made Aisheng ASN-209 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The drone was ...
by Eric Olander

China Tops Favorability Rankings in Africa, Outpacing U.S. and EU, New Survey Shows

China is viewed more positively than any other global or regional power in Africa, according to a new survey conducted across 29 countries by Afrobarometer, the continent’s leading public opinion measurement agency. The ...
by Eric Olander

“Vietnam’s Just a Pathway of China” to the U.S., Says Commerce Secretary

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 04, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
The pressure on Vietnam in the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China went up significantly on Wednesday when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made it very clear that eliminating all trade tariffs on ...
by CGSP Staff

Vietnam, U.S. to Speed up Trade Talks: Hanoi

Vietnamese garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City on April 3, 2025. Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia face U.S. tariff pressure and China’s scrutiny as July 9 nears, testing regional supply chain loyalties. (Photo by Huu Kha / AFP)
Vietnam and the United States have agreed to speed up trade talks, Hanoi said Thursday, as it announced $600 million in deals to buy U.S. agricultural products. Vietnam has the third-biggest trade surplus ...
by Agence France-Presse

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

BRICS Announces Numerous New Initiatives

The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...

China Outraged Over U.S. Veto of Gaza Ceasefire Resolution at UN Security Council

China's ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, blamed the U.S. for the Security Council's failure to act to resolve the war in Gaza. Image via @chinaambun.
By Gregory Walton UN Security Council members criticized the United States Wednesday after it vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington said undermined ongoing diplomacy. ...
by Agence France-Presse

U.S. Demands That Vietnam Cut Trade with China

Tô Lâm, the General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party and U.S. President Donald Trump. Photos by BAY ISMOYO and SAUL LOEB / AFP
The United States reportedly sent a “long” list of “tough” requests to Vietnamese trade negotiators as a prerequisite for a trade deal. The demands include reducing its imports of Chinese-made industrial components and ...
by CGSP Staff

A Chinese Scholar Uncovers Cuba’s Chinese Migrant Past

Postcard that's part of a collection of correspondences from some of the early Chinese settlers in Cuba.
When the U.S. Prohibition Act (1920–1933) banned alcohol, it unexpectedly turned Cuba into a vice paradise—and reshaped the destiny of Chinese migrants fleeing America’s anti-Chinese racism. As thirsty Americans flooded Havana’s bars and casinos, the ...
by Han Zhen

Chinese Community Alarmed as Ex-Worker Kills Boss in Zambia – Latest in Disturbing Trend

In a crime that exposes the deadly risks of insider betrayal, Chinese farm owner Zhai Jianfeng was killed  on May 29  in a meticulously planned robbery carried out, in part, by his own current and ...
by Han Zhen

Kenya or Tanzania? Chinese Investors in Africa Face a Clear Choice

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: “To do business in East Africa, should I choose Tanzania or Kenya? That is the question."
For Chinese entrepreneurs eyeing East Africa, one question looms large: Tanzania or Kenya? Longtime Africa WeChat commentator Xiao Nie (小聂说事儿), who spent 3 years in Tanzania and 11 years in Kenya, cuts through the debate ...
by Han Zhen

Pakistan, Afghanistan Agree to Promote Regional Railway Project

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar (L) speaks during a bilateral meeting with his Afghanistan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul on April 19, 2025.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan’s Acting FM Amir Khan Muttaqi agreed to push forward a regional rail project that would connect the two countries to Uzbekistan. This emerged after a call between ...
by CGSP Staff

Why China’s “Overcapacity” Looks Very Different in the Global South

Graph via Financial Times
A new Financial Times article about rapid changes in Pakistan’s electricity mix highlights how the large-scale production of solar panels and batteries in China, criticized as overcapacity by G7 governments, provides Global South ...
by CGSP Staff

China Factory Activity Hits Lowest Since 2022, Survey Shows

An employee works on a tractor assembly line at a factory in Qingzhou, in eastern China's Shandong province on May 27, 2025. AFP
Chinese factory activity hit a more than two-year low in May, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday, as a detente in Beijing’s trade war with Washington was offset by ongoing domestic problems in ...
by Agence France-Presse

Chinese Commerce Minister Visits South Asia

A March 2025 file image of Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at a gathering in South Korea. Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP
Wang Wentao, China’s Minister of Commerce led a large business delegation to Sri Lanka. Speaking at the Sri Lanka-China Trade and Investment Forum in Colombo during the weekend, Wang promoted a three-pronged ...
by CGSP Staff

Philippine Defense Chief in Testy Exchange at Shangri-La Dialogue

Philippines' Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr delivers a speech during the fifth plenary session at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense gathering in Singapore on June 1, 2025. Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP.
Gilberto Teodoro, the Defense Secretary of the Philippines, got into a tense back-and-forth with Chinese officials at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday. During a plenary session, two People’s Liberation Army officers asked him ...
by CGSP Staff

U.S.-China Tensions Rise at Defense Dialogue

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during the Sharngri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31, 2025. Photo by Keiichiro Azuma / Yomiuri / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP
Global tensions ticked up this weekend as U.S. Secretary of State Pete Hegseth said China wants to “fundamentally alter” security relations in the Asia-Pacific region. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on ...
by CGSP Staff

China’s Industrial Machinery and Mechanical Equipment Drives Indonesia’s Imports in 2025

China accounted for nearly 40% of Indonesia’s non-oil imports in early 2025, led by machinery, as trade dependence on Chinese industrial goods deepens. STR/AFP
Nearly four in ten non-oil imports entering Indonesia now originate from China, most of them industrial machinery. In just four months, Chinese goods worth $25.7 billion entered Southeast Asia’s largest economy, ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C

France's President Emmanuel Macron (2nd L) and Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto (obscured) applaud after France's Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu (L) and Indonesia's Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin signed an agreement at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
Many Chinese military fans were surprised when Indonesia announced on May 28th that it had signed a defense agreement with France, including plans to purchase Rafale fighter jets, despite the Chinese J-10C’s impressive performance in ...
by Han Zhen

How Apartheid Shaped U.S. Policy on South Africa: China Study

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: “Why did U.S.–South Africa relations suddenly break down?”
A provocative analysis from a Chinese think tank examines the collapse of U.S.-South Africa relations, uncovering an unexpected driver: the influence of three tech titans—Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks—all of whom spent ...
by Han Zhen

BYD’s Brazil Scandal Sparks Rare Self-Reflection in China

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: “Why is the Brazilian labor court seeking compensation on behalf of Chinese workers?”
When news broke that Chinese automaker BYD was being sued in Brazil for labor violations involving over 220 Chinese workers, the reaction on Chinese social media was swift and defensive. Conspiracy theories surged—some claimed ...
by Han Zhen

Pentagon Chief Warns China ‘Preparing’ to Use Military Force in Asia

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers an address at the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore on May 31, 2025. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
By Ty McCormick U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday that China was “credibly preparing” to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, vowing the United States was ...
by Agence France-Presse
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