Day: September 14, 2025

Can China stop its EV price wars?

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Watching the carnage playing out in China’s car industry, the nation’s most powerful man and its biggest electric vehicle maker have come to similar conclusions: the bloodbath has to stop. Chinese President Xi Jinping in July gave his clearest warning yet against “involution” — extreme price competition stemming from industrial overcapacity — when he pointed to reckless investment plans and questioned whether every province needed EV factories. Stella Li, the executive vice-president of BYD, China’s dominant EV maker, last week said Beijing’s crackdown on aggressive discounting could see as many…

China’s economy shows signs of slowdown as US trade war weighs

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China’s economy has shown signs of a general slowdown, with retail sales and industrial output growing at the most subdued rate this year amid the strains from a trade war with the US and domestic weaknesses. Retail sales rose 3.4 per cent year on year in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday, falling short of analysts’ forecasts of 3.9 per cent and July’s 3.7 per…

China retail sales and factory output grow at slowest pace this year

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China’s retail sales and industrial output growth undershot expectations last month, with both expanding at the slowest rate this year as the economy showed signs of strain from a trade war with the US and domestic weaknesses. Retail sales rose 3.4 per cent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday, falling short of analysts’ forecasts of 3.9 per cent and July’s 3.7 per cent…

US-China trade talks set for day two as TikTok deadline looms

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US and Chinese officials will hold a second day of trade talks in Spain on Monday as the deadline for the Chinese owner of TikTok to find a buyer or face a ban in America looms. The negotiations, led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, are the latest attempt to end a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Top level trade delegations from Beijing and Washington last met in July, when they struck a deal to extend their tariffs truce by another…

China’s economy strains in August as retail sales, industrial output miss forecasts

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China’s economy showed signs of strain in August, as sluggish domestic demand, headwinds from the US trade war and a prolonged property downturn continued to weigh on several major indicators. Advertisement Retail sales, a major gauge of consumption, rose by 3.4 per cent in August from a year earlier, slower than the 3.7 per cent growth observed in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. The figure fell short of the 3.82 per cent growth forecast in a poll by financial data provider Wind. Industrial…

ANZ fined record $160mn over bond trading and customer account issues

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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. Australian bank ANZ has been hit with a record A$240mn (US$160mn) penalty by the country’s corporate watchdog for a range of issues including its handling of a government bond sale and failing to refund fees charged against the accounts of deceased customers.  The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said on Monday that the total penalty was the largest announced by the regulator against one entity and reflected the seriousness of…

China’s Victory Day parade was a message to the Global South

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China’s Victory Day military parade presents a fascinating paradox. With over 12,000 troops reportedly marching through Tiananmen Square, this spectacle celebrates a defensive military doctrine while showcasing power-projection capabilities that would make any expeditionary force envious. It reveals how Beijing is pioneering a new grammar of military power that particularly resonates with the Global South. Advertisement The parade’s most consequential audience may not be Washington but middle powers from Jakarta to Johannesburg, governments that are grappling with how to develop military capabilities for an interconnected world while avoiding Cold War…

Zheng Yongnian on why China must look beyond the West to build a better AI

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Zheng Yongnian is a leading political scientist and government adviser in China. His academic work is mainly about contemporary politics, the country’s transformation and external relations. In his second in-depth interview with the Post, Zheng discusses AI governance and how China can consolidate its narrative amid growing geopolitical risks. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here. Advertisement For many years, you have called for the rebuilding of China’s own knowledge system. Recently, you have also voiced concerns about “intellectual colonialism”…

UK’s Sainsbury’s ends talks to sell Argos to China’s JD.com

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British supermarket group Sainsbury’s said on Sunday it has terminated talks with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com over selling the Argos general merchandise retailer, a day after it had confirmed discussions were continuing. Advertisement “JD.com has communicated that it would now only be prepared to engage on a materially revised set of terms and commitments,” Sainsbury’s said in a statement, adding that as that was in the best interest of the shareholders of the British company, they had terminated discussions. The company also said it will continue to expect to deliver…

Death of 3 bright young scientists highlights China’s ruthless academic system

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The death of three prominent young scientists from top Chinese universities in recent months has again put the country’s ambitious science goals and ruthless academic system under scrutiny. Advertisement While none of their institutions has issued any official statement about the deaths, the cases have once again prompted criticism of China’s flawed talent system, which is characterised by cutthroat competition that can push young academics to the limits. Issues within China’s academic system include an “up or out” tenure race, dwindling chances to get funding and a crushing workload. Guo…