Month: July 2025

China slams EU banking sanctions as tensions rise ahead of key summit

Media Library

Beijing has called on the European Union to “immediately cease its wrong practice” of sanctioning two Chinese banks, vowing to take action to defend the interests of Chinese companies just days ahead of a key leaders’ summit. Advertisement “China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to this move,” China’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) said in a statement on Monday. “China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and financial institutions.” On Friday, in its latest package of measures designed to hobble Russia’s…

China land sales in smaller cities hit lowest level in a decade

Media Library

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Land sales across smaller and less wealthy Chinese cities have fallen to their lowest levels since at least 2011, highlighting the bleak prospects for a full recovery across a national real estate market mired in a slowdown. Data from financial information provider Wind shows the total value of all land transactions in third-tier mainland Chinese cities, as ranked by population and economic development, fell 4 per cent to Rmb362bn ($50bn)…

Tech shocks to industry have only just begun

Media Library

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A few weeks ago, I had one of those “blink” moments that changed my view of the labour market in America. I was in a shipbuilding factory in Marinette, Wisconsin, owned by the Italian company Fincantieri. Among other things they build giant frigates for the US Navy, vessels that are more than 400-feet long and many stories high. It used to take hundreds of men years to do the kind…

Chinese rust-belt city gambles on the skies – and Russia – to fuel revival

Media Library

A new airport project in Hegang, a rust-belt city near China’s northeastern border with Russia, marks a high-stakes effort at economic revival in a place better known for its cheap housing – where homes once sold for as little as 20,000 yuan (US$2,790), analysts said. Advertisement The initiative is part of a broader effort to revive the city’s economy after years of stagnant growth, industrial decline and a shrinking population. Hegang’s local population has dropped from about 1.1 million in the 2010s to 850,000 today, while its GDP decreased from…

Daimler Truck considers China production exit as it faces ‘crazy’ down cycle

Media Library

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Automobiles myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Daimler Truck’s chief executive has said the group will not rule out an exit from manufacturing in China as the world’s largest truck producer grapples with a “crazy” global down cycle, compounded by US tariffs and weak demand in Europe. The German group’s struggles in China have coincided with restructuring measures in Europe. Last week it announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs in its home country by the end of the…

SBI Shinsei makes a comeback as Japan’s megabanks rally

Media Library

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. In Japan, cash accounts for about 40 per cent of all transaction value, around double that of regional peers. That reflects the country’s relative late start in financial digitisation. At the same time, its banking sector is structurally overbuilt, crowded with regional lenders in a growth constrained economy. Yet even in this saturated market, a new entrant should not be dismissed. Japan’s big three megabanks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo…

Daimler Truck mulls China production exit as it faces ‘crazy’ down cycle

Media Library

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Automobiles myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Daimler Truck’s chief executive has said the group will not rule out an exit from manufacturing in China as the world’s largest truck producer grapples with a “crazy” global down cycle, compounded by US tariffs and weak demand in Europe. The German group’s struggles in China have coincided with restructuring measures in Europe. Last week it announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs in its home country by the end of the…

Why China is surging ahead of Trump’s US in green energy race

Media Library

As US-China tensions continue, one contrast stands out sharply between the big power rivals – their approach to energy and climate issues. Advertisement Even as the Trump administration cripples green energy endeavours with executive orders and the “Big Beautiful Bill”, China is building on its title as the world’s largest renewable energy investor. According to the State Grid Energy Research Institute, China is expected to bolster its national power grid by a record 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity this year. The energy debate unfolds with the rapidly warming…

Japan’s Ishiba remains PM to negotiate tariffs despite historic defeat

Media Library

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday he would continue to lead Japan as prime minister and press for quick talks with Donald Trump on trade after the Liberal Democratic party lost its majority in both houses of parliament for the first time. The LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, emerged from Sunday’s pivotal election to the 248-seat upper house at least two seats short of the figure needed to retain a…

Japan’s Ishiba loses majority in historic defeat

Media Library

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Japan’s Liberal Democratic party, the political bloc that has governed the country almost exclusively for 70 years, has lost its majority in both houses of parliament for the first time. The LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, emerged from Sunday’s pivotal election to the 248-seat upper house at least two seats short of the figure needed to retain a majority.  The result of the election, which was fought against a…