Day: May 1, 2025

China signals opening for trade talks with US

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chinese state media has said there would be “no harm” in holding trade talks with the Trump administration, indicating a softening of Beijing’s position as both sides look for a way out of their crushing tariff war. The gesture comes as the fallout from the trade war has begun to show in China’s economic data, with factory activity in April dropping the most since 2023 as export orders dried up.…

BlackRock-backed Suez taps HSBC to review China assets

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French utility group Suez is reviewing its Chinese water-infrastructure assets, people familiar with the matter said, as the company looks at potential ways to streamline its global operations. Advertisement The BlackRock-backed company is working with HSBC Holdings to study options for the business, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. It has approached a select group of potential buyers to gauge their interest, according to the people. A transaction could value the China water business at more than US$1 billion, some of the people…

Star deputy at China’s top securities regulator Wang Jianjun in corruption probe

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A corruption investigation into Wang Jianjun, a well-known deputy at China’s top securities regulatory body, has sent a new round of shock waves through the country’s financial sector. Advertisement The top political disciplinary and anti-corruption body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said on Wednesday that Wang, 57, was suspected of “serious violations of discipline and laws” – a standard euphemism for corruption. In this position, which he held since 2021, Wang, oversaw financial institutions, market and bond regulations. He previously spent more than five years at the Shenzhen…

Philippines arrests Chinese man for operating surveillance device near voting agency

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TAIPEI, Taiwan – The Philippines has arrested a Chinese man for operating a surveillance device near the offices of its election commission, less than two weeks before the country’s midterm polls, adding further strain to relations between the two countries. Tensions have been rising between Manila and Beijing, fueled by rival flag-raising displays on the disputed Sandy Cay in South China Sea. “When we made the arrest, that was the third time he had come to Comelec,” said Philippine National Bureau of Investigation spokesman Ferdinand Lavin on Wednesday, referring to…

Trump believes in ‘good chance’ of China trade deal as US envoy says no talks under way

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US President Donald Trump says there is “a very good chance” of reaching a trade deal with China, even as his own trade envoy acknowledged just hours earlier that no tariff discussions are taking place between Washington and Beijing. Advertisement “Will we make a deal? There’s a very good chance we’re going to make a deal … and it [is] got to be fair,” Trump told US cable channel NewsNation on Wednesday. “We were ripped off by China, we were ripped off by everybody, but really by China. They were…

Poll finds quarter of non-Asian Americans consider Chinese-Americans a possible threat

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One in four non-Asian Americans regard Chinese-Americans as a potential threat, especially related to national security, while four in 10 fear that Asian-Americans have greater allegiance to their countries of origin than to the United States, according to a poll released on Thursday. Advertisement The results from an Asian American Foundation survey come as US-China relations plummet and add to concerns in the diverse community about the ability to assimilate at a time of growing social tension. “The poll underscores a troubling and ongoing disconnect between how Asian-Americans are perceived…

Foreign companies flock to ‘panda bond’ market in hunt for China hedge

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Multinational companies are flocking to China’s bond market at a record rate as they try to secure cheaper financing and hedge against deteriorating relations between Beijing and the US. So-called panda bond issuance — renminbi borrowing by overseas companies in mainland Chinese markets — hit Rmb194.8bn ($26.5bn) in 2024, the highest level on record for a full year. In the first quarter of this year it reached Rmb41.6bn,…