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UnionPay Signs 11 New Cross-Border Payment Deals in Global Push

China’s UnionPay signed 11 new cross-border payment agreements this week as Beijing’s global payments push continues to gather partners from Southeast Asia to Latin America. The signings were announced in Shanghai. The latest group includes PayNet and Hong Leong Bank ...

China–U.S. Rivalry: Singapore FM on ASEAN Pragmatic Non-Alignment

Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, at a public forum moderated on Friday, said Southeast Asia is refusing a China–U.S. binary choice between China and the United States. Balakhrisnan thinks Southeast Asia is pivoting to integration, keeping economies open to ...

China–ASEAN FTA 3.0 Set for October: All On Digital Trade Rules

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN will sign an upgrade to their free-trade agreement at the ASEAN–China summit in Kuala Lumpur in October. The deal sets digital trade, from e-commerce to data governance and payments, ...

China–Indonesia Launch Yuan–Rupiah Settlements, QR Payments

China and Indonesia on Thursday launched a local-currency settlement framework for bilateral transactions. Both countries also began a two-way trial of cross-border QR code payments. The central bank chiefs called the steps important milestones. Bank Indonesia said the local-currency scheme ...

China Eyes Yuan Stablecoins to Expand Global Currency Role

China is considering allowing the launch of yuan-backed stablecoins for the first time, in what would mark a significant shift in its approach to digital assets and a new step in efforts to expand the currency’s global reach.

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

2026: Africa-China Relations in a World Shaped by North-South Geopolitics

When talking about Africa–China relations, one is always moving along a sliding scale. There are myriad interactions with Chinese entities that concern only individual African countries, segueing into trends affecting the whole continent and sliding further into global dynamics shaping the developing world, of which Africa is the heart.

The Africa-China relationship is its own thing, but Africa’s fate can’t easily be separated from factors affecting the wider Global South, ...