Month: July 2025

Huawei Technologies topped mainland China’s smartphone market in the second quarter – the first time in four years – “underscoring its strong brand appeal and effective shipment management”, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). Advertisement However, China’s smartphone sales shrank 4 per cent to 69 million units in the April to June quarter due to weak consumption and reduced government subsidies for electronic devices, data from the consultancy released on Tuesday showed. It was the first quarterly contraction after six consecutive periods of growth, according to IDC. Shenzhen-based Huawei, which…

China’s top trade negotiator has criticised Western efforts to de-risk and reshore manufacturing, presenting the world’s second-largest economy as a defender of global stability at a high-profile supply chain expo in Beijing. Advertisement Vice-Premier He Lifeng called for a global supply chain system that leverages the comparative advantages of all countries, taking into account their different resource endowments and levels of economic development. “Some countries are currently intervening in the market in the name of de-risking, using measures such as additional tariffs and restrictions to promote so-called ‘manufacturing reshoring’,” He…

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to push for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” and reform of the global governance system. Advertisement Wang told a meeting of foreign ministers from the Eurasian security bloc’s 10 members in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin: “Hegemonism and power politics are going against the trend of the times, protectionism is surging, and regional conflicts are emerging one after another.” Against that backdrop, he said the bloc needed to “stick to the right path” and defend fairness and…

In a rare admission of misconduct, a county government in southern China has promised to “promptly correct” plagiarised sections of an official document. Advertisement The government of Pingle county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region said on Tuesday that it had detected plagiarism in “a limited number of paragraphs” in its 2023-2030 forest fire prevention plan. Authorities checked the document after media reports of suspected plagiarism and found the claim was “essentially true”, the county government said on its official social media page. “We’ll promptly correct and reissue the document, strengthening…

Washington and Beijing are on a “creeping path towards some kind of a deal”, former US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on Tuesday, while offering some rare support for US President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy towards China. Advertisement Burns, who served as envoy to Beijing under former president Joe Biden from 2022 until this year, told a crowd at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado that both sides had strong economic incentives to reach a trade agreement. He also pushed back against the argument made by some critics of…

Global sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles surged 24 per cent in June from a year earlier, driven by strong demand in China and Europe, while the US fell behind, according to the market research firm Rho Motion. Advertisement A total of 1.8 million battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids were sold last month, the London-based firm said on Tuesday. Sales in China jumped 28 per cent to 1.11 million units, or 60 per cent of the worldwide total, while Europe’s demand rose 23 per cent to 390,000…