Month: July 2025

High stakes, low expectations as EU and China prepare for summit in Beijing

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Advertisement The murmurs of a détente that grew in the first quarter have given way to fresh tensions, with the problems between the two sides multiplying and widening to a surprising degree before Thursday’s showdown in the Chinese capital. In recent months, trade friction and China’s support for Russia have resurfaced as flashpoints, dashing any prospect for a feel-good summit. In a sign of its frustration at how poorly things are going, China cancelled the summit’s second day in Hefei, an industrial city in Anhui province where European Commission chief…

Amazon shuts down Shanghai AI research lab

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Ecommerce group Amazon is shutting down its Shanghai artificial intelligence lab, becoming the latest US company to retreat from Chinese research efforts amid rising geopolitical tensions. Amazon’s pullback in China follows similar moves by US tech groups, including IBM and Microsoft, which have scaled back their China-based research and development efforts as US officials intensify scrutiny of all China-related AI work. Wang Minjie, a scientist in the Shanghai lab established…

China at the negotiating table

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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. This article is an on-site version of our Unhedged newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters Good morning. The S&P 500 eked out another record high yesterday, closing barely above flat. It was dragged up by US homebuilders PulteGroup and DR Horton, which rose 12 per cent and 17 per cent,…

Would you like a handbag with that latte? Luxury brands in China think so

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International fashion and luxury groups are opening coffee shops in major Chinese cities, entering an intensely competitive space in a bid to draw in customers amid a slowdown in luxury spending. Advertisement In Shanghai, French luxury conglomerate LVMH added a cafe and dining space to The Louis, a massive three-storey, boat-shaped concept store that opened in the bustling HKRI Taikoo Hui shopping centre in late June. That followed French fashion house Celine’s debut of a garden-themed coffee shop nearby in April. In Nanjing, capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, Spanish…

China hits out at EU ahead of tough talks in shadow of trade and Ukraine war

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China has issued a stern rebuke to the EU for imposing sanctions on the country’s banks, setting the stage for what are expected to be tough talks in Beijing on Thursday. China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao “lodged solemn representations” over the sanctions with EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, the ministry said on Wednesday. The restrictions, which targeted two small Chinese banks for facilitating trade with Russia, were imposed days before a summit on Thursday with EU and Chinese leaders, which will mark half a century of ties between the sides.…

McKinsey bars China practice from generative AI work amid geopolitical tensions

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Video of UAV hints at sleek future of China’s ‘loyal wingman’ military drones

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A new video circulating online shows what appears to be a Chinese tailless drone flying in formation with a turboprop, offering a rare glimpse at the country’s progress in developing collaborative combat aircraft. Advertisement The footage, first circulated at the weekend on China’s social media platform Weibo, reveals the tailless aircraft with a distinctive diamond-shaped delta wing configuration. Accompanying the drone is a Y-8 or Y-9 turboprop-powered transport aircraft, with another similar aircraft trailing separately. An additional still image, apparently a frame from a separate video featuring the same drone,…

Chinese officials warn women comedians that men are no laughing matter

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Chinese provincial officials have warned comedians against stirring up discord between the genders, instructing them to criticise constructively rather than “for the sake of being funny”. The warning came from authorities in eastern Zhejiang province on WeChat over the weekend after a comedian referred to her allegedly abusive marriage in a performance that went viral on Chinese social media. Women’s rights are sensitive territory in China – over the last decade, authorities have cracked down on almost every form of independent feminist activism. Zhejiang’s publicity department chastised some comedy shows…

US and Japan agree trade deal

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world The US has agreed a trade deal with Japan that will impose 15 per cent tariffs on goods imported into America from the world’s fourth-largest economy. The 15 per cent levy is lower than the 25 per cent President Donald Trump had threatened in a letter earlier this month, but higher than the 10 per cent rate that had been in force while the countries negotiated. The higher…

Total recall? Campaigners employ quirk of Taiwan’s political system to turn on ‘pro-China’ candidates

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On a steamy night deep in one of Taipei’s most conservative suburbs, a group of elderly neighbours are yelling at each other next to a garbage truck. They have just been handed a leaflet by a university student calling on them to recall – expel – their sitting legislator. There are hundreds of these campaigners across Taiwan, targeting members of the Kuomintang (KMT) opposition who they accuse of being too pro-China. But this neighbourhood is deeply loyal to the party, and the campaigners are not welcome. A woman shouts angrily:…