Day: February 13, 2025

It is not known whether Xi Jinping has ever strapped planks to his feet and raced down a mountain at speed. But at a banquet welcoming dignitaries to the opening of the Asian Winter Games in the north-eastern city of Harbin on February 7th, China’s leader made clear that he hoped more compatriots would soon be shredding the gnar. “Ice and snow are as valuable as gold and silver,” he said, suggesting that frozen water could be an engine for Harbin’s “high-quality development”. Plastered across national media, his comments are…

American soyabean farmers could draw some comfort from the tariffs that China imposed on an array of American imports on February 10th. Foodstuffs like theirs were not affected by China’s countermeasures against the 10% levy on Chinese imports that had been ordered a few days earlier by President Donald Trump. But growers in farming states like Illinois and Iowa still have reason to worry. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, wants to wean his country off food from the West. Amid rising geopolitical tensions, he sees self-sufficiency and diversity of supply as…

Panama responded quickly to Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Chinese influence in the Panama Canal. On February 2nd it said it would not renew participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (bri), China’s global-development scheme, and it has launched an audit of the Hong Kong firm that runs the ports at each end of the canal. Leaders are reported to be considering cancellation of the contract. The Economist