Companies snap up bargains in Hong Kong’s prime office rental market

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Multinational companies in Hong Kong are taking advantage of decade-low lease rates to expand or upgrade their premises, as agents and landlords hold out hope that the Asian financial hub’s prime office market might be bottoming out. Companies including private equity group General Atlantic, hedge fund Point72 and law firm Akin Gump have planned moves to newer, more centrally located facilities in recent months, according to property agents and industry…

China to show off military might in parade attended by anti-west leaders

Leaders from countries united in their opposition to the west will gather in Beijing this week in a show of support for China’s president, Xi Jinping, at a second world war commemoration parade designed to show off China’s military strength and geopolitical might. Described by western analysts as “the axis of upheaval”, the military, economic and political collaboration between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea has been on display on the battlefield in Ukraine and in the Middle East this year. But on Wednesday it will be Beijing that takes…

The Guardian view on Donald Trump and India: the tariff war that boosted China | Editorial

Donald Trump’s imperial tendencies see the US president wield tariffs and sanctions in the expectation that America will receive tributes. Yet his latest move – punishing India with 50% tariffs for Russian oil purchases once encouraged by the US – has produced not submission but spectacle. It has sent India’s Narendra Modi to China for the first time in seven years as Xi Jinping hosted more than 20 leaders for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin. And it is in Tianjin, not Washington, where it looks as if…

SCO has a 10-year plan for a multipolar world, China’s Wang Yi says

Advertisement The strategy comes at a time when the regional bloc, in a joint declaration, has acknowledged that escalating geopolitical tensions pose an increasing threat to its security. Speaking to reporters after a summit on Monday, Wang said that the SCO Development Strategy until 2035 had “set the tone and a clear direction” for the decade to come, holding this up as one of the most important outcomes from the gathering. The 25th SCO summit took place against the backdrop of heightened tensions between some of its key members and…

As US sanctions take toll, Xi Jinping presses SCO to target ‘bullying’

China has urged member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to strengthen their collective financial security and voice in the world as pressure mounts from the United States and its allies. Advertisement Without naming any country, President Xi Jinping told the SCO state leaders – many of them facing blanket sanctions and punitive tariffs from the US – that the organisation needed to speed up and achieve “real results” to better protect themselves from “hegemonic” bullying. To that end, Xi suggested that the group, which is meeting in the…

As US adds more semiconductor hurdles, Chinese firms could seize an opportunity

China’s drive for economic self-reliance is raising the spirits and prospects of its semiconductor industry, as insiders expect more home-grown technologies after Washington revoked waivers for some foreign-owned chipmakers’ factories in China to use US technologies in their operations. Advertisement The Chinese branches of South Korean chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix, as well as Intel Semiconductor (Dalian), will lose their fast-track status for compliance as “validated end-users”, meaning they will need to obtain licences to send certain US chipmaking equipment to their plants in China, according to a statement released…

SCO summit opening, self-charging smartwatches: SCMP daily highlights

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. 6 takeaways from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit opening Chinese President Xi Jinping called on members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to uphold international fairness and justice while pursuing mutually beneficial economic and cultural cooperation. 2. China’s yuan could strengthen to 7 per US dollar as Fed sends dovish signals The Chinese yuan is set to continue making gains against the US dollar over…

India signals no oil import cut from Russia, ‘eagerly’ awaits Putin visit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that the two countries should deepen cooperation “in all sectors”. Advertisement The remark was a strong indication that New Delhi would not cut back on crude oil imports from Russia despite pressure from the US. Modi also expressed strong enthusiasm for welcoming Putin to India, in a subtle rebuke of US President Donald Trump. As they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, Modi told Putin: “1.4 billion Indians are eagerly waiting…

China’s exporters ahead in tariff game, paying estimated 9% share of costs

Chinese exporters appear to hold significant bargaining power in their trade with the United States, according to an estimate from one of Beijing’s top investment banks, carrying 9 per cent of the cost burden created by the tariffs US President Donald Trump levied earlier this year. Advertisement The findings from China International Capital Corporation (CICC) run contrary to earlier claims by US officials – including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – that Washington has been on the winning side of the global tariff blitz rolled out in April. “US importers, sandwiched…

Modi hails India’s energy ties with Russia despite US anger

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed his country’s growing energy ties with Russia at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, defying punitive tariffs levied on New Delhi by the US over its purchases of discounted Russian oil. At a meeting on the sidelines of a regional summit in China on Monday, Modi told Putin that “even in the most difficult circumstances India and Russia have walked together, shoulder to…