Month: January 2026

At Davos, US President Donald Trump declared he had “always had a very good relationship with President Xi” Jinping, calling the Chinese leader “an incredible man”, “highly respected by everybody”. Trump also praised TikTok’s decision to transfer parts of its US business to a consortium of US investors, thanking Xi on social media. This broadly friendly rhetoric is likely to be a signal of Washington’s keen interest in finalising a trade deal with the world’s second-largest economy. Trump’s effusive praise for Xi stood in stark contrast to his dismissive, if…

British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said on Thursday it plans to invest US$15 billion in China through 2030, signalling renewed momentum in UK-China commercial ties. The investment – the biggest deal announced so far during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing aimed at strengthening trade ties – will support expanded medicines manufacturing as well as research and development (R&D), the company said in a statement. “Unlocking opportunities for British businesses across the globe and delivering for working people back home is always the driving force behind my international engagements,”…

A Chinese court has executed 11 people, including several citizens of Myanmar, linked to a notorious telecoms fraud group based in the Southeast Asian country for crimes including fraud, drug trafficking and murder. The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in eastern Zhejiang province carried out the executions of people who formed the core leadership of the Ming family crime syndicate and associated telecoms fraud groups, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday. According to China’s Supreme People’s Court, which reviewed and approved the death sentences, the gang operated extensively in Myanmar’s Kokang…

After testing Tesla’s driver assistance system FSD earlier this month, Chinese economist Ren Zeping exclaimed that autonomous driving’s large-scale real-world implementation was progressing much faster than he thought. Though driverless taxis are so far only being tested in designated areas in Chinese cities, he prophesied that autonomous driving would soon become widespread. “Autonomous driving will erupt in the next couple of years. Large models enable a unified driving paradigm, letting tens of millions of vehicles reach or exceed ‘old pro’ driver levels – and become significantly safer,” Ren wrote in…

The European Union has surpassed the United States as the economy with the most serious trade disputes with China, driven by conflicts over semiconductor materials, rare earth magnets and other strategic sectors, according to a Chinese trade body. A monthly index released on Wednesday by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), a semi-official Beijing-based organisation, found that in November 2025 – the last month tracked – the EU ranked as China’s top source of trade tensions among 20 economies. The bloc scored first on the trade…

Beijing has released footage of flight tests of an upgraded J-20A stealth fighter, with signs that the jets have been equipped with long-awaited high-thrust WS-15 engines and better avionics. According to a social media post by state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday, these aircraft are new prototypes of the J-20A, an upgraded version of the original J-20 stealth fighter. Advertisement The footage showed at least three J-20As in a yellow zinc-chromate primer taxiing on a runway. In the Chinese aerospace industry, the coating means the aircraft is in the pre-delivery…

The Taiwan government has cleared Nvidia to establish a NT$3.3 billion (US$105 million) headquarters on the island that produces most of the world’s advanced semiconductors, which the Silicon Valley chip designer will need to feed the red-hot global artificial intelligence sector. Nvidia would use the Taipei site for a “commercial office” building and the acquisition of land for a “comprehensive business park”, the island’s Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Wednesday. Advertisement Although neither company confirmed a meeting, analysts said Nvidia – reportedly TSMC’s biggest client after displacing Apple –…

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney does not mince his words. Writing for The Economist last November, Carney argued the post-Cold War had collapsed and said the world was “entering an era of ‘variable geometry’” involving “pragmatic coalitions, built around shared interests, and occasionally shared values, rather than shared institutions”. The essay, it turns out, was the prelude to a hard-hitting speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 20. Carney told attendees that it was important to recognise that the international system was “in the midst of…

A widely shared video on Chinese social media shows customers scrambling to get furniture and even fighting over items during what appears to be a clearance sale at an Ikea outlet in the country. The multinational furniture retailer has announced plans to close seven of its stores in China from February 2. The move is part of a strategy to shift Ikea’s focus from scale expansion to targeted growth. China’s weak property market and sluggish consumer spending have dampened demand for Ikea goods. South China Morning Post