Day: May 28, 2025

China courts Asian and Gulf partners at ‘inflection point’ for global trade

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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. Addressing south-east Asian and Middle Eastern leaders in Kuala Lumpur this week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang had a clear message: at a time when US President Donald Trump is shaking the global trading system, Beijing wants to do business. At a gala dinner following summit meetings with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council, Li pointed out that the assembled countries together accounted for nearly a…

Saudi sukuk ETFs debut in Hong Kong’s milestone in Middle East ties

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Hong Kong is taking another big step to strengthen financial-market linkages with the Middle East with the launch of Asia’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking Saudi Arabia’s Islamic government bonds, or sukuk. Advertisement The ETF, called Premia BOCHK Saudi Arabia Government Sukuk ETF, started trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday, giving local investors access to the world’s second-largest market for sharia-compliant debt securities. The ETF trades in Hong Kong dollars under code 3478 and in US dollars under code 9478. The fund tracks the performance of the…

Why remaining tariffs could clip Chinese airlines’ wings, and Boeing’s

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Despite recent tariff cuts, remaining duties on imports from the US could force Chinese buyers of Boeing jets to pay millions of US dollars more than before and, along with worldwide delivery delays, contribute to a sharp slowdown in the growth of China’s aviation capacity, analysts said. Advertisement Held back by tariffs and global supply chain constraints, China’s civil aviation passenger capacity is likely to grow by an average of 3.1 per cent a year until 2028, analysts at China International Capital Corporation (CICC) said in a note released on…

India’s Instagram prince wants to make his dynasty fit for the 21st century

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For the past three centuries, whenever the Maharaja of Jaipur is in residence, two pachranga — five-coloured flags — have flown above his City Palace. The palace itself is an exuberant red, pink and cream stone labyrinth of arches, gardens, courtyards and mirrored rooms in north-west India. If you couldn’t see the flags, though, you would be in no doubt that the head of the city’s royal family is in residence today from the swell of activity. As Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh — known as Pacho by family and friends or HH,…

The Mumbai billionaire taking aim at India’s business obstacles

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Jamshyd Godrej has big plans for Mumbai — if only he could get through the country’s red tape. For years, the 76-year-old who heads one of India’s oldest conglomerates has been on a mission to transform its vast factory complex in the city. By moving production to an industrial park outside Mumbai, Godrej Enterprises Group will free up valuable real estate and expand its capacity to make everything from safes to components for India’s space programme. But in an interview in the now semi-repurposed complex on Mumbai’s eastern flank, which…

China extends destroyer strike range with airborne early warning system: CCTV

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China’s most powerful destroyer can now strike beyond visual-range targets with pinpoint precision by linking to an airborne early warning system – the same technology used by the Pakistan Air Force in the recent Kashmir conflict – according to state broadcaster CCTV. Advertisement On Sunday, CCTV confirmed for the first time that the Type 055 stealth guided-missile destroyer Lhasa could use data links to synchronise with People’s Liberation Army’s airborne early warning platforms, enabling it to conduct long-range anti-ship and air-defence strikes without relying solely on the ship’s radars. Song…

US will ‘aggressively’ revoke visas of Chinese students, Rubio says

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President Donald Trump’s administration has said it will “aggressively” revoke visas of Chinese students, one of the largest sources of revenue for American universities, in the latest attack on US higher education. The announcement by secretary of state Marco Rubio came after China criticised his department’s decision a day earlier to suspend visa appointments for students worldwide at least temporarily. The Trump administration has already sought to end permission for all international students at Harvard University, which has rebuffed pressure from the president. The United States will “aggressively revoke visas…

Trump tariffs blocked by US federal trade court – US politics live

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From 30m ago US trade court blocks Trump’s tariffs A federal trade court on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law. The ruling from a three-judge panel at the New York-based court of international trade came after several lawsuits arguing Trump has exceeded his authority, left US trade policy dependent on his whims and unleashed economic chaos. “The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the court ruled,…

Taco trade? US leader challenges claim that ‘Trump always chickens out’ in talks

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US President Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday on a new acronym making the Wall Street rounds to describe a way to profit from his fitful negotiating style, Taco, short for “Trump always chickens out”. Advertisement Trump, who was evidently not aware of the term when asked about it in the Oval Office by a reporter, responded with equal parts sarcasm and indignation. The Taco trade refers to an investment strategy that benefits from the rise in share prices after the US president relents. “Oh, isn’t that nice. I’ve never heard…

China plans to arm Tiangong space station with self-defence bots: scientist

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China is developing a rapid-response space defence system to intercept suspicious spacecraft and push them away, according to a senior scientist. Advertisement If an unidentified object approaches China’s Tiangong space station or other critical space infrastructure, a small robotic thruster could be deployed to latch onto the intruder and push it to a safer distance, said Sun Zhibin of the National Space Science Centre in Beijing. “Sometimes another spacecraft may deliberately come close – maybe just to take a look – but it can still interfere with our operations,” Sun…