Day: March 19, 2026

China cracks down on fuel and fertiliser exports

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China is throttling exports of jet fuel, diesel and fertilisers, adding to fears in some of Asia’s biggest resource, manufacturing and agricultural nations that supplies could run short because of the war in the Middle East. The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, has in recent days told fertiliser exporters to halt overseas shipments of some product lines, according to industry insiders, diplomats and analysts. This follows NDRC’s instructions earlier this month to large state-backed oil refiners to stop overseas shipments of jet fuel, diesel and kerosene.…

China’s crackdown on fuel and fertiliser exports spurs supply fears

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China is throttling exports of jet fuel, diesel and fertilisers, adding to fears in some of Asia’s biggest resource, manufacturing and agricultural nations that supplies could run short because of the war in the Middle East. The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, has in recent days told fertiliser exporters to halt overseas shipments of some product lines, according to industry insiders, diplomats and analysts. This follows NDRC’s instructions earlier this month to large state-backed oil refiners to stop overseas shipments of jet fuel, diesel and kerosene.…

Adani’s win against Vedanta in takeover fight leaves shareholders with nothing

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This article is an on-site version of the India Business Briefing newsletter. To receive it in your inbox regularly, sign up if you’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription here. Good morning. The war has escalated with both Israel and Iran hitting oil and gas reserves in the Middle East. This, added to the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold US interest rates, caused Indian stock markets to plunge on Thursday, with the benchmark indices posting losses of more than 3.2 per cent. The other big business news came from the…

China has been preparing for a global energy crisis for years. It is paying off now

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Xi Jinping has been preparing for a crisis like this for years. China must secure its energy supply “in its own hands”, its president was reported to have said during a visit to one of its vast oilfields in 2021. The US-Israel war on Iran plunged the Middle East into a deep conflict, with the strait of Hormuz – one of the most important waterways in global trade – all but closed and key energy facilities across the region under attack. Oil exports from the Middle East have tumbled 61%…

Can China commercial satellite’s ‘octopus tentacle’ pass low-orbit refuel test?

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China has followed last year’s secretive high-orbit satellite-to-satellite refuelling test with another in-orbit servicing mission that is aimed at advancing docking and refuelling technologies, while also testing ways to speed up the disposal of satellites at the end of their usefulness. Hukeda-2, which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert on Monday, is China’s first commercial test satellite equipped with a flexible robotic arm to capture other spacecraft, the state-owned Science and Technology Daily said. “Unlike the rigid robotic arms commonly used on space stations,…

Supermicro co-founder charged in conspiracy to export Nvidia chips to China

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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. Supermicro’s co-founder and two others working for the company have been charged in New York for allegedly violating US export controls by smuggling $2.5bn of Nvidia’s AI chip servers to Chinese customers. The US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York said Wally Liaw, a co-founder and member of Supermicro’s board of directors, conspired with a Taiwan-based Supermicro employee and a contractor to co-ordinate illegal shipments of chips…

Trump praises Japan’s ‘tremendous support’ over Iran war

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world President Donald Trump said Japan was “stepping up to the plate” over the Iran conflict as he welcomed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to the White House just days after urging Tokyo to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Sitting beside Takaichi in the Oval Office after the pair embraced each other outside the White House, Trump said they would discuss Japan’s support for the war against Iran…

How long will US-Israel war on Iran last? Chinese analysts offer clues

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Iran’s missile and drone stockpiles will last another two or three months as US-Israeli strikes continue, while the US military is also depleting its interceptors, Chinese analysts have noted. However, how long the war lasts would depend less on stockpiles alone than on the effectiveness of new US deployments and President Donald Trump’s political calculus, one of them cautioned. Iran has continued its attacks on Israel and on US assets across the Middle East since the conflict was triggered on February 28 by US-Israeli strikes targeting its top leadership. Advertisement…

China’s high household savings reflect old values and new anxieties

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My grandmother kept her banknotes under the mattress. Even after savings accounts became common and the money my siblings and I gave her began to accumulate, she still preferred to hide cash away at home. She loved saving and hated spending. I thought of her when China’s leaders again emphasised the need to boost domestic consumption at this year’s “two sessions” meetings. With exports facing geopolitical headwinds and the property sector struggling, policymakers hope households will become a stronger engine of economic growth. Yet persuading Chinese families to loosen their…

SEC urged to restrict Chinese companies’ access to US capital markets

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is facing fresh pressure from lawmakers to restrict Chinese companies from accessing US capital markets. In a rare display of bipartisanship, Republican Senate banking committee chair Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, his Democratic counterpart, on Thursday sent a letter to Paul Atkins, who has served as SEC chair since April 2025 after being nominated by President Donald Trump to run…